Rosa and the Cherezvichaykas in South Russia, 1919
Femme Fatale
If you were a White solider captured by the Reds in Kiev or Kharkov area of Russia, odds are that you would encounter severe torture at the hands of a woman names Rosa. She would look like a guy if the clothing was differrent, physically speaking, her hair was short like a Mia Farrow.
Unlike the White's who would also torture their POWs, the Reds, as discovered by a British reporter at the scene had their Cherezvichayas, which means "Extraordinary Commission". This "Commission" was really simply a system of torture of all POWs.
The Reds allowed the reporter to witness their methods before the White Army had succeeded in seizing the area from them. In Kharkov, the houses for POWs were coined "slaughter houses". The Commander of the prison, lived in the best of circumstances, a large and pretentious mansion with a beautiful yard taken from wealthy Russian citizens in 1917. Other houses were for the POWs. POWs were forced to dig a vast trench and toss bony, diseased dead bodies of the Whites or other pro-White citizens into the trench in the hundreds before it was their own turn. The reporter was disgusted when he witnessed nails being driven into the shoulders of captured White officers, one nail for each star on their shoulder causing severe agony and screams. Worse, causing the reporter to vomit, was witnessing strips of flesh being cut with a knife from their chest and thighs that would correspond with any medals or decorations the solider was wearing, casterating the man and stuffing his mouth with them. The Reds would also hammer nails under their fingernails.
Rosa was at the Kiev Cherezvichaya, a city bordering on famine as no food existed in the stores. The reporter managed to get a cup of coffee for 12 schillings. In Kiev, there were five POW prisons or houses of torture. Just passing by one caused one to hold their breath from the foul, putrid smell of decaying bodies. Once the torture was complete, the White POW was usually dead and thier body was taken into public view for ID by relatives and to send a message.
The house from the outside looked like a nice cottage with a charming garden, yet the garden revealed 30 nude disfigured bodies. The reporter was told that a particular dead body was that of a man who simply had "too much" money! In another hole, the reporter puked at the100 decomposed bodies and stench just rotting in a heap. Each of these bodies had a smashed in skull. Some were headless. The Reds showed the reporter where the infamous tortures took place, a nearby unsuspecting garage. Upon entering, the reporter was shocked to see blood stained walls and ceilings covering just about every inch. The floor was no better. Filled with human remains and dried blood and a ton of flies. The Reds proudly told the reporter that over 400 White soldiers had seen their fate here.
Life as a POW was just as horrible. The POWs were housed in very overcrowded cells under the house. Never get fresh air or light until they get tortured. Food was nil and the POWs sat and slept in their own excrement.
Rosa, was not a Red patriot, but one of the prisoners, who in exchange for sexual favors received a special relationship with her Red captors. The Reds used her to conduct perhaps the most sensual and horrific types of torture on a man. Using her womanly advantages, she would tease and physically excite the man before conducting barbarous atrocities. Her favorite was to excite the man and then pull out a gun shoot the man in the knee, followed by a shot in the thigh, followed by the arm. Then she lowered and closed in, aiming at the groin and fired, killing the man. She loved doing this to White officers. Other times, she would pull out a knife and cut off the man's penis. Rosa was the ultimate femme fatale.