Why the fragile girl was nicknamed "the invisible nightmare": The first woman sniper in history

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The sniper Rosa Shanina was distinguished among her fellow-in-arms by the ability to conduct high-precision shooting at a moving target. On the account of the young woman, according to various sources, from 60 to 75 Wehrmacht soldiers, of which at least 12 are enemy snipers. The newspapers of the allied countries called Shanina the "invisible horror" of the Nazis of the East Prussian Front, and Soviet magazines published on their covers a photo of a charming sniper girl. Rose did not live to see the Victory for several months, remaining in history as the 1st female sniper awarded the Order of Glory.

A girl with character and the adventures of youth

Rosa Shanina was brought up in a large Arkhangelsk family of a disabled person from the First World War. The daughter was named after the revolutionary Luxemburg. The blond tall girl was distinguished by an energetic character from an early age. At the end of four primary classes, Shanina had to walk about ten kilometers to the neighboring village to continue her studies. At fourteen, Rosa, against the will of her parents, walked about 200 kilometers through the taiga to go from the nearest railway station to Arkhangelsk. The desire to enter a technical school was so strong.

Living in a hostel, Shanina, according to the recollections of her friend Ani Samsonova, often returned home long after midnight. Rosa went on foot to visit friends and relatives in the neighboring area, caring for a sick aunt. Since the doors of the dormitory were tightly closed at night, a desperate student climbed into the room through the window on tied sheets that her comrades threw out to her.

On the eve of the war, paid education was introduced in Soviet educational institutions, and the scholarship fund was also reduced. Shanina, who did not have material support, in September 1941 got a job as a teacher in a kindergarten in Arkhangelsk, where she was provided with free housing. In the evenings, Rosa continued to study, and in kindergarten she became the favorite of the pupils.

Requirements for sending to the front and brilliant successes of the cadet

In the front diary, which Rosa kept despite the prohibitions of the command, the girl often talked about the future. She dreamed of going to college and in the future to devote her life to raising orphans. By the way, Shanina's parents raised three more adopted children in addition to their own children. At the end of 1941, Rosa was shocked by a tragedy - her 19-year-old brother Mikhail died at the front. By nature, a strong and restrained girl did not fall into suffering, but went straight to the military registration and enlistment office. There she demanded to be immediately sent to the front line, which she was denied due to her minor age. She made several more similar attempts, but she was not taken to the front. Shanina achieved her goal only in June 1943, when she was sent to a women's sniper school.

Rose showed brilliant success, graduating from high school with special marks. Even during the training period, she mastered her trademark doublet, as if hitting 2 targets at once. Subsequently, her skill was repeatedly noted by experienced commanders, who called the girl the best rifleman of the division. The school committee suggested that Rosa stay at the school as an instructor, but the girl saw herself exclusively at the front. In April 1944, Rosa Shanina arrived at the location of the rifle division, falling into a separate female sniper platoon.

The first destroyed Germans and the first awards

In the very first days at the front, Shanina hit her first live target. Co-workers recalled that Rosa did not easily endure this event, collapsing after falling into a trench in a depressed state. But the adaptation of an unfired fighter went quickly, and in the future Shanina did not allow herself to be weak. The commander's report indicated that in one week in April, a trainee sniper had killed 13 German soldiers under artillery fire. By the summer of 1944, she had achieved a result of 18 killed Nazis, for which she was awarded the first Order of Glory. In the ranks of the third Belorussian Front, this event became a precedent. Until then, such awards were given only to men. In the last military September, Rosa participated in the battles near East Prussia, where the female sniper group mowed down not only enemy infantry, but also experienced Nazi snipers. On September 16, 1944, senior sergeant Shanina received her second Order of Glory. By that time, the number of killed Nazis had already exceeded fifty.

The command appreciated and cherished the effective young lady, but Rose with incredible persistence rushed to the front line. It happened that the girl was willful, for which she was repeatedly punished with all kinds of penalties. Her close comrades assumed that she was deliberately violating discipline so that she was sent to serve her sentence in some "hot" place. After receiving a wound in the shoulder and a month of rehabilitation, Rosa Shanina, who did not surrender, received official permission from the commander of the 5th Army, General Krylov, to take part in the first line of battles.

Commander rescue and heroic death

Finally, the goal was achieved, and the well-aimed sniper Rosa now not only sat in sniper ambushes, but also went into attacks and reconnaissance. Her last battle took place in East Prussia. On that day, Shanina left a note in her diary, suggesting a quick death. The Germans in its sector carried out strong and continuous mortar attacks, and only 6 survived in a battalion of 78 fighters. On January 25, 1945, Rose threw herself under fire to save the wounded commander of the artillery unit. The burst of another shell next to the 21-year-old girl did not leave her a chance to survive. Rose's heart stopped in the hospital a few months before the Great Victory.

During wartime, very little was known about many female snipers. Historians drew details of Shanina's life and service, as they say, from first hand. The girl, who was not lazy to keep a front-line diary, left a lot of interesting recorded facts from the front. Her notes were later published, and the full version of the diary was released in the sniper girl's homeland in 2011.

But fate smiled at the other sniper girl, also from the USSR, much more welcoming. She after the war she became a friend of the President of the United States.