Definitely some propaganda but not all. I don't think they were given much special treatment though - most just had to be either nurses or guerilla warriors (partisans) since they weren't really accepted in the regular ranks commonly. Some had to hide as boys by shaving hair etc to join first and then once proven tough (or even just capable I guess) were allowed to stay. As far as I know, they were only officially accepted on the front as either nurses/snipers/ or pilots. Here is a good example of one of the "tough" ones with 309 confirmed kills, and most here probably have heard of the night witches.5.5 lb to pull a trigger? I think they can swing that. There were some girls in stalingrad that I heard were pretty tough that might have just been propaganda though.. I think it comes down to can do and proper motivation. It's upper management that's the problem.