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The 588th Bomber Regiment, or The Night Witches
Feared and despised by German soldiers, the Night Witches earned their name from the German word "Nachthexen" for two main reasons:
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"The Germans called us Night Witches because we never let them get any sleep." - Nadezhda Popova |
"When bandying about the term “Night Witches,” keep in mind that the survivors of the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment hated the term—it had been coined by the Germans (“Nachthexen”), and as they advanced with the Red Army they reported found newly liberated locals were surprised to find them to be normal and sometimes even attractive young ladies, rather than the “ugly witches” described by the Germans!"
-Jon Guttman
Described by the Germans as “precise, merciless and [coming] from nowhere” (Childs), the Night Witches used psychological warfare. They lowered German morale, especially because they were women. Germans’ fear of them made them more successful as harassment bombers and showed people the power of the Night Witches. "We flew in sequence, one after another, and during the night we never let them rest. And the Germans made up stories. They spread the rumor that we had been injected with some unknown chemicals that enabled us to see so clearly at night" (Nadezhda Popova, through translator) |