“Shall we have our way with her?” one of the soldiers said, Ms. Yurinova recalled. “No way, look at her, she looks too old and haggard,” said another. Instead, he suggested bringing Ms. Yurinova’s 16-year-old daughter to the base. She said she pleaded with the guards to leave her daughter alone.

The Russians then brought Ms. Yurinova out of the basement. Her husband was outside on his knees, his mouth sealed with duct tape, his hands tied, his nose bloodied and broken. Three other villagers were in the same group, with one of them trying to persuade the troops that he had not meant any ill intent in taking a snapshot of the convoy. A Russian soldier kicked Mr. Yurinov, another fired a bullet into the ground, she said.

She was then separated from the others, waiting in the dark of the basement until she was released around 2.30 pm that afternoon. “Go home and educate your children, not in the Nazi propaganda you have been fed, but to be normal people,” a soldier told her.