Per the title, a witch hunt refers to panic-induced searches for perceived wrong-doers such as the McCarthy Hearings' search for communists during the Cold War. Traditional witch hunts and trials occurred in Europe and America from the 15th to the 17th centuries resulting in tens of thousands of people executed. The most sensational period in American history was in the town of Salem Massachusetts in 1692 when 20 men and women were tried and executed for practicing witchcraft. It is no coincidence that playwright Arthur C. Miller wrote about the Salem witch trials in 'The Crucible' which was a veiled attack on the McCarthy Communist witch hunts.