Yasha Bochkareva’s Dream
"I had a vision. I saw millions of Russian soldiers rise in an invincible advance after I and my three hundred women had disappeared into No Man’s Land on the way to the German trenches. Surely, the men would be shamed at the sight of their sisters going into battle. Surely the front would awake and rush forward like one man, to be followed by the powerful armies of the rear. No force on earth could withstand the irresistible momentum of fourteen million Russian soldiers…. I felt that Russia’s manhood was ready to follow the Battalion and strike the final blow for the salvation of the country. It was an illusion and my disenchantment was not very long delayed."
Commandant Maria Bochkareva, leader of the Russian military’s Women’s Death Battalion.
