My grandma lived through that time, as a teenage girl.
One day when she was home alone, someone broke the glass pane on the back door and tried to open the door handle inside.
She panicked, grabbed the axe from the fireplace, and swung at him.
Chopped off the intruder’s hand and he fled.
When her dad and older brother got home, they grabbed their guns and went looking for the intruder, but couldn’t find him.
They threw the hand in the nearest river and cleaned up the house.
Police never showed up, and wasn’t called either.