Not 100% History but...

Rowan · Post by **Rowan** » Thu December 11th, 2008, 4:36 pm

Okay first of all, let me mention this little disclaimer that I do not condone anything that these girls did, but I did find one small aspect of what they did rather interesting.

Suit details girl's torment at exclusive school
Cruel clique at all-girls campus allegedly harassed student for months

HARTFORD, Connecticut - The bullying came at school dances and in class, on Facebook and back at the dorm by girls who called themselves "Oprichniki," a Russian attack squad notorious for torturing suspected enemies of a 16th-century czar.

I mean how often do you find students today who know enough about the 16th century of any country to use a name for a group from that period to apply to themselves?

Rowan · Post by **Rowan** » Thu December 11th, 2008, 4:39 pm

Incidentally this is from Wikipedia's article on Oprichnik:

An Oprichnik (plural Oprichniki) was a member of an organization established by Tsar Ivan the Terrible to govern the division of Russia known as the Oprichnina (1565-1572.) It is thought by some scholars that it was Ivan's second wife Maria Temrjukovna who first gave the Tsar the idea of forming the organisation.

The Oprichniki were responsible for the torture and murder of internal enemies of the Tsar. Notorious for their violent means of enforcement, they could be compared to modern "death squads" or even secret police. Guided by Ivan, they laid waste to civilian populations. They dressed in black garb, similar to a monastic habit, and bore the strange insignia of a severed dog's head (to sniff out treason and the enemies of the Tsar) and a broom (to sweep them away). The dog's head was also symbolic of "nipping at the heels of the Tsar's enemies." They were sometimes called the "Tsar's Dogs" on account of their loyalty to him. They also rode black horses in order to inspire greater terror. The Oprichniki were given orders to execute anyone who was disloyal to Ivan IV. Their most odious member was Malyuta Skuratov.

donroc · Post by **donroc** » Thu December 11th, 2008, 5:19 pm

They must have one great European/Russian History teacher, or their leader is exeptionally well read and dangerous.

I can also imagine one of the girls coming from the Russian immigrant section of Brighton Beach as the organizer.

Rowan · Post by **Rowan** » Thu December 11th, 2008, 5:34 pm

[quote=""donroc""]I can also imagine one of the girls coming from the Russian immigrant section of Brighton Beach as the organizer.[/quote]

Don't know much about that area of the country to know where the immigrants have congregated, but that's a very plausible idea.

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Thu December 11th, 2008, 6:01 pm

Or someone in the clique was exceptionally clever at Googling for likely names. Is that Miss Porter's School?

Rowan · Post by **Rowan** » Thu December 11th, 2008, 6:25 pm

Why yes it is. How'd you know?

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Thu December 11th, 2008, 6:35 pm

[quote=""Rowan""]Why yes it is. How'd you know?[/quote]

I lived in nearby New Haven for a while, and I'm a fan of Dorothy Parker, who went to Miss Porter's.

Rowan · Post by **Rowan** » Thu December 11th, 2008, 7:19 pm

Did you read the full story? Do you think it's surprising that the bullying happened?