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witch noun - a woman thought to have magic powers, especially evil ones, popularly depicted as wearing a black cloak and pointed hat and flying on a broomstick

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The persecution and punishment of witches was a common practice from the beginning of the XV century to the XVIII century. The terror was in the fact that neither silence nor confession would save you. If you are accused of being a witch or witcher you are tortured until you confess your guilt and then a severe punishment follows. 

Witch Hunt appeared in Europe, Asia, and even the colonies in North America. Despite the great distances, the pattern was almost the same. It always started with an accusation, and often the accused were women due to the belief they were less protected from the devil and an easy target for him.  The accused people were most commonly poor, old, or different from the other. The accused people were arrested and tortured until they confess they are witches or witchers. Then a sentence followed and sometimes execution.

Witch hunts were not that often in terms of time and occured in periods of poor harvest, illness among the livestock, or an unusual increase in the newborns with disabilities. Therefore the victims varied from a few to a few hundred and even more.  

Most people did not search for any evidence. They believed it was their duty to keep the community clean from evil. But there were many reasoning people with whose help the witch hunts were finally brought to an end. 

Although they ended the attempts of the ruling authorities to channel the fear of people to the wrong targets continued. In the XX century in the USA an event similar to the witch trials occurred and is known as the Mccarthy Era. It was a political movement initiated by Joseph Mccarthy and was characterized by increased fear from soviet spies and people sympathizing with the now-former USSR. Many people were accused with insufficient or unreal evidence and lost their jobs while some even lost their freedom. 

Today the witch hunt is a thing of the past but there are many cases when people with power try to mobilize the community against false threads. However, it is much easier to refute such attempts now.

The witch hunt.