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THE STORY OF "YASHKA": COMMANDER OF THE RUSSIAN WOMEN'S BATTALION OF. DEATH
While pursuing a graduate degree in history at The George Washington University, I came across the stories of many magnificent and courageous women during the period of World War I. Most people today are fairly well-acquainted with the exploits of women during World War II, especially those of American women, probably because our country spent four long and arduous years in that war, as compared to a much shorter period in WWI. Then, too, few people are alive today for whom the events of WWI remain within the realm of personal experience. in researching what European women contributed to their national defense efforts in WWI, I was astounded at the extent of the roles they played on the battlefield.
Probably the most fascinating tale of all the women that I encountered is that of Maria Botchkareva, a poor young Russian girl who, in a few short years, became the commander of the Russian Women's Battalion of Death, internationally known and long since forgotten. The following account is drawn from her memoirs: Yashka, My Life as Peasant, Officer and Exile as set down by Isaac Don Levine (New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1919).
Maria was born in 1889 to a very poor family in Tomsk, Russia. She attempted to escape her poverty by marrying at a very young age, following low-paying menial jobs she had worked in for years. Unfortunately, her husband was an alcoholic and abusive; eventually, Maria escaped from him and her town, which was highly irregular behavior in those days. She must have been relatively attractive for she was recruited as a prostitute by a high-class madam, but Maria escaped from her clutches as well before plying this trade. A positive experience occurred next, when Maria fell in love with a young man from a decent family, and the two lived together as husband and wife, as permitted by common law. Her husband came into trouble with the government and was sentenced to exile in Siberia. Maria went with him and supported them by establishing a bakery that the community sorely needed.
In September, 1914, however, Maria was hit hard with patriotic fervor. As she relates in her memoirs:
My heart...