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The Villager

The Student News Site of The Village School

The Villager

The Student News Site of The Village School

The Villager

The Soviet Sniper

The beautiful and deadly, Roza Shanina.
The beautiful and deadly, Roza Shanina.

There are a lot of people that you may know who were around in 1941 such as Joe DiMaggio, Frank Sinatra, and Walt Disney.  But here is someone you might not know.
Her name was Roza Shanina and she was a college- educated kindergarten teacher during World War II. In 1941, her first brother was killed on the front line, so Roza decided to enlist. Initially, she was turned away because of how hot it was in the front.

But after loosing two more siblings in 1942, she finally succeeded in joining the Soviet Army as a female sniper. Roza made it through Central Female Sniper Academy with no problem.The Soviet military believed that women made good snipers because of their greater flexibility, patience, and ability to endure combat hardships better than their male counterparts.

In April 1944,  Roza killed her first Nazi soldier and within a month she killed about 17 more. One brisk day, when Roza was under heavy artillery fire and her commanders told her to withdrawal but she ignored the orders and continued to support the advancing infantry. Roza was a fighter and that’s where she felt at home. She excelled at shooting doublets, which means hitting two targets in rapid succession. Her bravery earned her military commendations and wide renown among her countrymen.

Before she died, Roza had killed 59 people in a 8 month span when stacked up with other great snipers, she had the most kills in the least amount of time. In comparison, Carlos Hathcock who was a American fighting in the Vietnam war killed 96 people in a 2 year period and Chris Kyle who fought in Fallujah and Ramadi, killed 255 people in 10 years.

Rosa’s short tour of duty finally came to an end On January 27, 1945 when she was severely injured while shielding a wounded artillery officer. She was found by two soldiers disemboweled, with her chest torn open by a shell fragment.

And that is the story of the young, beautiful and extremely deadly Roza Shanina.

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