Andrei Romanovich Chikatilo seemed to be like an ordinary man. He had a wife, two children, was a professor of Russian literature, an engineer and a proud member of the Soviet party. No one would have ever guessed that he was one of the world's most notorious serial killers. By day he was an ordinary literature professor, but by night he indulged in a darker passion that involved rape and murder. He lured his victims to devastated places with a sadistic intention unknown to them. Chikatilo managed to reveal his secrets for over a decade without any suspicion. His evil desires came from his childhood. Andrei Romanvich Chikatilo was born on October 16, 1936 in Yablochnoye, Ukraine. He had a younger sister and supposedly an older brother who had been cannibalized before he was born, from what his mother always told him. At the time of his birth, famine was spreading across much of Ukraine, and his early childhood was consumed by poverty. Its situation worsened when the USSR entered World War II against Germany, causing constant bombing of Ukraine. In addition to Chikatilo starving and hiding from German soldiers, he reportedly suffered from a condition called "water on the brain" at birth. This caused him genitourinary problems later in life, including bedwetting for him before adolescence and the inability to maintain an erection as he aged, although he was able to ejaculate (A+E Networks). Another possibility for his incapacity could be the fact that he witnessed his mother being raped by a German soldier during the war (Bio Movie). Chikatilo's father only made his life worse. He was enlisted in the fight against Germany, allowed himself to be captured and held prisoner. When his father finally returned...... middle of paper...... drove him to a form of madness he could not control. This caused his anger and frustration to grow, leading him into a murderous rampage of sexual pleasure. He knew it was wrong when he first killed, but irresistible urges kept him from ignoring those dark desires. People knew he didn't want to be like that. All he wanted was to be like everyone else, but the system of the Soviet Union let him go too far for too long. Works Cited “Biography of Andrei Chikatilo”. Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, and Web. November 18, 2013. Lourie, Richard. Cast out the devil. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1993. Print. Cullen, Robert. The Department of Killers. London: Orion, 1993. PrintBeast of Ukraine. Sd TelevisionKrivich, Mikhail and Olʹgert Olʹgin. Comrade Chikatilo: The psychopathology of the famous Russian serial killer. Fort Lee, New Jersey: Barricade, 1993. Print.