'I did not regard myself as a slacker. Even in childhood I taught myself
to carry out tasks entrusted conscientiously and carefully. In war, it
is no secret that the casual don't survive'.
Yevgeni Nikolaev was one of Russia's leading snipers of World War II and
his memoir provides and unparalleled account of front-line action in
crucial theaters of war. Nikolaev is credited with a remarkable 324
kills and his wartime service included time in the siege of Leningrad in
1941/1942.
His memoir is not a neutral, apolitical account. Far from it. Nikolaev
asserts, for example, that Finland attacked Russia. As a member of the
NKVD, it is not surprising that his memoir full of historical
misinterpretation and justification of the agency's actions.
Equally, Nikoalev is dismissive of his Nazi opponents. On several
occasions, he discusses his Nazi counterparts as bandits and scum, and
implores the reader to "take a look, fellows, at the beast of a bastard
I've laid low".
In vivid, arresting recollections he paints his actions in a saintly
heroic light. He describes the comfort of the German foxholes, wired
with telephone connections, relative to the Russians who fasted without
food or water awaiting the moment for a perfect shot. He claims the
Russian soldier was a moral warrior, killing only with head or heart
shots.
In addition to describing details of his kills, Nikolaev explains how
his life was saved when an explosive rifle bullet struck a watch that he
kept in his jacket pocket. His life was saved by a surgeon who extracted
all the watch parts.
