On September 13, 1943, the honorary title of Heroes of the Soviet Union was posthumously awarded to the young defenders of the Motherland, members of the underground organization "Young guard", which launched its activities in the German-occupied city of Krasnodon. Later, after the War, streets, organizations, ships will be named after them, many books will be written about them, films will be made.
They were not even 20 years old, the youngest of them - Oleg Koshevoy - was only 16, when they began their struggle with the German conquerors of their native city. In the fall of 1942, the children of the miners united in the Komsomol underground organization, which they called the Young Guard.
Oleg Koshevoy's poem written during the occupation can be called his personal manifesto:
It's hard for me!.. Wherever you look
Everywhere I see Hitler's rubbish,
Everywhere a hateful form before me,
Esses badge with a dead head.
I decided that it was impossible to live like this!
Look at the pain and suffer yourself.
We must hurry before it's too late
Destroy behind enemy lines.
I made up my mind and I will do it!
I will give my whole life for my Motherland,
For our people, for our dear
Beautiful Soviet country.
Today, the Decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and awarding orders to members of the Young Guard Komsomol organization, which operated during the German occupation in the Voroshilovgrad region, are being published. The children of miners - members of the underground organization "Young Guard" - showed themselves as selfless patriots of the fatherland, forever inscribing their names in the history of the sacred struggle Soviet people against the Nazi occupiers.
Neither cruel terror nor inhuman torture could stop the young patriots in their striving to fight with all their might for the liberation of the Motherland from the yoke of hated foreigners. They decided to fulfill their duty to the fatherland to the end. In the name of fulfilling their duty, most of them died the death of heroes.
In the dark autumn nights of 1942, the underground Komsomol organization "Young Guard" was created. It was headed by a 16-year-old boy Oleg Koshevoy. His direct assistants in organizing the underground struggle against the Germans were 17-year-old Sergei Tyulenin, 19-year-old Ivan Zemnukhov, 18-year-old Ulyana Gromova and 18-year-old Lyubov Shevtsova. They united around themselves the best representatives mining youth. Acting boldly, courageously, cunningly, the members of the Young Guard soon became a thunderstorm for the Germans. Leaflets and slogans appeared at the doors of the German commandant's office. On the anniversary of the October Revolution in the city of Krasnodon, on the building of the Voroshilov school, on the very tall tree park, red flags were raised on the hospital building, made from a Fascist banner stolen from a German club. Several dozen German soldiers and officers were killed by members of an underground organization led by Oleg Koshev. Their efforts organized the escape of Soviet prisoners of war. When the Germans tried to send the youth of the city to forced labor in Germany, Oleg Koshevoy and his comrades set fire to the building of the labor exchange and thus disrupted the Germans' event. Each of these feats required great courage, steadfastness, endurance, composure. However, the glorious representatives of the Soviet youth found enough strength in themselves to skillfully and prudently resist the enemy and inflict cruel, crushing blows on him.
When the Germans managed to uncover the underground organization and arrest its members, Oleg Koshevoy and his comrades endured inhuman torture, but did not give up, did not give up, but with great fearlessness of true patriots accepted martyrdom. They fought and fought like heroes, and heroes went down to the grave!
Before joining the underground organization “Young Guard”, each of the young people took a sacred oath: “I swear to mercilessly avenge the burned and devastated cities and villages, for the blood of our people, for the martyrdom of 30 miners. And if this revenge requires my life, I will give it without a moment's hesitation. If I break this sacred oath under torture or because of cowardice, then may my name, my family be forever damned, and I myself will be punished by the harsh hand of my comrades. Blood for blood, death for death!
Oleg Koshevoy and his friends fulfilled their oath to the end. They died, but their names will shine in eternal glory. The youth of our country will learn from them the great and noble art of fighting for the holy ideals of freedom, for the happiness of the fatherland. The youth of all countries enslaved by the German invaders will learn about their immortal feat, and this will give them new strength to accomplish feats in the name of liberation from oppression.
The nation that gives birth to such sons and daughters as Oleg Koshevoy, Ivan Zemnukhov, Sergei Tyulenin, Lyubov Shevtsova and Ulyana Gromova is invincible. All the strength of our people was reflected in these young people, who absorbed the heroic traditions of their homeland and did not disgrace their native land in a time of difficult trials. Glory to them!
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council, Elena Nikolaevna Koshevoy, mother of Oleg Koshevoy, was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree. She raised the hero, she blessed him to accomplish high and noble deeds - glory to her!
The Germans came to our land as uninvited guests, but here they encountered a great people filled with unshakable courage and readiness to defend the fatherland with boundless fury and anger. Young Oleg Koshevoy is a vivid symbol of the patriotism of our people.
The blood of heroes has not been shed for nothing. They contributed their share to the common great cause of defeating the Nazi occupiers. The Red Army is driving the Germans to the west, liberating Ukraine from them.
Sleep well, Oleg Koshevoy! The cause of victory, for which you and your comrades fought, we will bring to the end. With enemy corpses we will mark the road of our victory. We will avenge your martyrdom to the full extent of our anger. And the sun will shine forever over our Motherland and our people will live in glory and greatness, being an example of courage, courage, valor and devotion to duty for all mankind!
During the six months that the organization existed, young men and women managed to do a lot in the fight against the Nazis. Komsomol members on their own were able to assemble a primitive printing house, where not only leaflets and small posters were printed, but also temporary Komsomol tickets.
The occupiers felt themselves in the occupied city like on a powder keg. Soviet leaflets appeared again and again on the walls of houses and at the doors of the German commandant's office.
The children received information for leaflets by listening to Oleg Koshevoy's tube radio at home, which, due to the lack of electricity, was connected to a special device. The latest news was briefly recorded, and then leaflets were compiled, which weekly informed the population about events at the front, in the Soviet rear and in the world, and reports from the Soviet Information Bureau. Even rumors were used to spread information.
Other sources were also used as leaflets. So one night Lyuba Shevtsova made her way into the post office and, destroying the letters of German soldiers and officers, stole several letters from former residents of Krasnodon who were in Germany. The letters, still uncensored, were distributed around the city as leaflets describing the horrors of German hard labor. As a result, the recruitment of those wishing to go to Germany, carried out by the Nazi authorities, was thwarted.
Before the organization of the printing house, leaflets were written by hand and distributed by all members of the youth underground. The city was conditionally divided into sections, which were assigned to specific members of the organization. According to an unspoken rule, leaflets were placed in places where as many people as possible would read them: a bazaar, a water supply system, a hand mill. The guys usually went to paste up in twos - a guy and a girl, so as not to arouse suspicion. Sometimes they gathered in groups and, pretending to have fun, scattered leaflets. And Oleg Koshevoy, tying a white armband on his sleeve ( distinctive sign policemen), scattered leaflets in the park at night.
Also, thanks to the underground workers, loaded cars disappeared in the city every now and then, German soldiers lost machine guns, pistols and cartridges.
The Young Guards did not forget about the arrested communists either. With the money of the financial fund, formed from Komsomol membership fees, products were purchased and secretly transported to the Gestapo dungeons.
The Young Guards freed more than 90 of our fighters and commanders from concentration camp and organized the escape of twenty prisoners of war from the Pervomaiskaya hospital. Also, about 2,000 people were rescued after Komsomol members set fire to the building of the labor exchange, where lists of citizens intended to be sent to Germany were stored.
Along with subversive activities, Komsomol members were also preparing for the celebration of the next anniversary of the October Revolution: red flags were sewn from red-dyed white pillowcases, red scarves, and even from the German banner. On the night of November 7, when it blew strong wind and it was raining, forcing the police patrols to hide, the Young Guards were able to attach the flags with ropes to the pipes on all the buildings quite freely. Lyuba Shevtsova and Tosya Mashchenko attached a pole to the ceiling on the building of the regional consumer union, dismantling the tiles, and Georgy Shcherbakov and Alexander Shishchenko were able to hang flags on the hospital and on the highest tree in the park.
The German traps, cunningly placed with the aim of capturing the underground, remained empty. Cops found proclamations in their own pockets. Then the police themselves were found hanged in abandoned mine adits.
The organization was preparing for a decisive armed attack.
Despite the intelligence network organized by the Young Guard, the Germans still managed to uncover the underground. The arrests began. Only a few managed to get to the units of the Red Army. The rest of the occupation authorities were imprisoned. The Young Guard had to experience inhuman torture in the last days of their lives. Those of them who did not die after the torture were thrown alive by the Germans into the pit of an abandoned mine.
Arrested after the liberation of Donbass, the investigator of the district police M.E. Kuleshov, who led the case of the Young Guard, told during interrogations that during torture, the eyes of the arrested Young Guards were gouged out, their breasts and genitals were cut out, they were beaten half to death with whips.
From the memoirs of Vera Alexandrovna Ivanikhina, sister of Lily and Tonya Ivanikhin: |
“... In December 1942, Serezha Tyulenev, Valya Borts, Vitya Tretyakevich, Zhenya Moshkov, Oleg Koshevoy, Vanya Zimnukhov and other guys took everything out of the German car, which was “... They tortured me terribly - they put me on the stove, drove me under the nails needles carved on the skin of the star. And, in the end, they were executed - they were thrown alive into mine No. 5. Behind them, dynamite, sleepers, trolleys flew into the mine. My older sister Nina, a doctor by education, subsequently processed the bodies of the sisters herself and saw with her own eyes that there were no lumbago, but only the hair remained alive. Relatives recognized the heroes only by special signs and clothes. It was all terrible." |
In the city of Krasnodon, Voroshilovgrad region, the Germans felt like they were on a volcano. Everything around was seething. Soviet leaflets appeared on the walls of houses every now and then, red flags flew up on the roofs. Loaded motor vehicles disappeared, like gunpowder warehouses of grain caught fire. Soldiers and officers lost machine guns, revolvers, cartridges.
Someone acted very boldly, cleverly and deftly. Cunningly placed German traps remained empty. The fury of the Germans knew no end. They searched in vain through the lanes, houses, attics. And warehouses with grain caught fire again. The police found the proclamations in their own pockets. Then the policemen themselves were found hanged in abandoned mine adits.
On the night of December 5-6, the building of the labor exchange broke out. Lists of persons to be sent to Germany perished in the fire. Thousands of residents, who were waiting with horror for a rainy day when they were taken into captivity, perked up. The fire infuriated the invaders. Special agents were called from Voroshilovgrad. But the traces were mysteriously lost in the winding streets of the mining town. In what house do those who set fire to the labor exchange live? Hatred lived under every roof. Special agents put in a lot of effort, but they left with nothing.
The underground Komsomol organization acted more and more boldly. Insolence has become a habit. The experience of conspiracy accumulated, combat skills became a profession.
Quite a bit of time has passed since that memorable September day, when the first organizational meeting was held in Oleg Koshevoy's apartment at No. 6 on Sadovaya Street. There were thirty young people here who knew each other from school years, for joint work in the Komsomol, for the fight against the Germans. They decided to name the organization "Young Guard". The headquarters included: Oleg Koshevoy, Ivan Zemnukhov, Sergei Tyulenin, Lyubov Shevtsova, Ulyana Gromova and others. Oleg was appointed commissar and elected secretary of the Komsomol organization.
There was no experience of underground work, there was no knowledge, there was only an indestructible, burning hatred for the invaders and a passionate love for the Motherland. Despite the danger that threatened the Komsomol members, the organization grew rapidly. More than a hundred people joined the Young Guard. Everyone took an oath of allegiance to the common cause, the text of which was written by Vanya Zemnukhov and Oleg Koshevoy.
We started with flyers. The Germans began at this time to recruit those wishing to go to Germany. Leaflets appeared on telegraph poles and fences exposing the horrors of fascist hard labor. The recruitment broke. Only three people agreed to go to Germany.
A primitive radio was installed at Oleg's house and listened to the "breaking news". A short record of the latest news was reproduced in the form of leaflets.
With the expansion of the underground organization, its “five”, created for conspiracy, appeared in nearby villages. They published their leaflets. Now the underground workers had four radios.
Komsomol members also created their own primitive printing house. Letters they collected on the conflagration of the building of the regional newspaper. The frame for choosing the font was made by ourselves. The printing house printed not only leaflets. Temporary Komsomol tickets were also issued there, on which it was written: "Valid for the duration of the Patriotic War." Komsomol tickets were issued to newly admitted members of the organization.
The Komsomol organization frustrated literally all the activities of the occupation authorities. Neither the first, so-called "voluntary" recruitment, nor the second one, when they wanted to forcibly take away to Germany all the inhabitants of Krasnodon selected by them, failed the Germans.
As soon as the Germans began to prepare for the export of grain to Germany, the underground, on the instructions of the headquarters, organized the burning of bread stacks, warehouses, and infected some of the grain with a tick.
The Germans requisitioned livestock from the surrounding population and drove it in a large herd of 500 heads to their rear. Komsomol members attacked the guards, killed them, and drove the cattle into the steppe.
So every undertaking of the Germans was thwarted by someone's invisible, domineering hand.
Ivan Zemnukhov was the eldest among the staff members. He was nineteen years old. The youngest was the commissioner. Oleg Koshevoy was born in 1926. But both of them acted like mature, highly experienced people, hardened in secret work.
Oleg Koshevoy was the brain of the whole organization. He acted wisely and slowly. True, sometimes youthful enthusiasm prevailed, and then he participated, despite the prohibition of the headquarters, in the most risky and daring operations. Either with a box of matches in his pocket, he sets fire to huge stacks under the very noses of the policemen, then, wearing a policeman's armband or taking advantage of the darkness of the night, sticks leaflets on the buildings of the gendarmerie and police.
But these enterprises are not reckless. Putting on a police bandage and going out at night, Oleg knew the password. In the farms and settlements of the region, Oleg planted his agents. Which carried out only his personal instructions. He received regular information about everything that was happening in the area. Moreover, Oleg had his own people in the police. Two members of the organization worked there as policemen.
Thus, the plans and intentions of the police authorities became known to the headquarters in advance, and the underground could quickly take their countermeasures.
Oleg also created the financial fund of the organization. It was compiled on monthly 15-ruble membership dues. In addition, in case of need, members of the organization paid one-time contributions. With this money, assistance was provided to needy families of soldiers and commanders of the Red Army. These funds were used to purchase food for sending parcels to Soviet people languishing in a German prison. Products were also handed over to prisoners of war who were in a concentration camp.
Each operation, whether it was an attack on a passenger car, when the Young Guard exterminated three German officers, or the escape of twenty prisoners of war from the May Day hospital, was developed by the headquarters under the leadership of Oleg Koshevoy in every detail and detail.
Sergey Tyulenin carried out all the dangerous military operations. He performed the most risky tasks and was known as a fearless militant. He personally destroyed ten fascists. It was he who set fire to the building of the labor exchange, hung out red flags, led a group of guys who attacked the guards of the herd, which the Germans drove to Germany. The "Young Guard" was preparing for an open armed offensive, and Sergei Tyulenin led a group to collect weapons and ammunition. For three months, they collected and stole from the Germans and Romanians 15 machine guns, 80 rifles, 300 grenades, more than 15 thousand cartridges, pistols, explosives on the former battlefields.
On the instructions of the headquarters, Lyuba Shevtsova went to Voroshilovgrad to establish contact with the underground. She has been there several times. At the same time, she showed exceptional resourcefulness and courage. She told the German officers that she was the daughter of a major industrialist. Lyuba stole important documents, obtained secret information.
One night, on the instructions of the headquarters, Lyuba snuck into the post office, destroyed all the letters of German soldiers and officers, and stole several letters from former residents of Krasnodon who were at work in Germany. These letters, which had not yet been censored, were distributed throughout the city like leaflets on the second day.
In the hands of Ivan Zemnukhov were concentrated appearances, passwords, direct contact with agents. Thanks to the skillful methods of conspiracy of the Komsomol members, the Germans could not attack the trail of the organization for more than five months.
Ulyana Gromova participated in the development of all operations. She arranged for her girls to work in all kinds of German institutions. Through them, she carried out numerous sabotage.
She also organized assistance to the families of Red Army soldiers and tortured miners, the transfer of parcels to prison, and the escape of Soviet prisoners of war. The Young Guards released more than 90 of our fighters and commanders from the concentration camp.
The Nazis managed to get on the trail of the organization. In the dungeons of the Gestapo, young men and women were tortured in the most brutal ways. The executioners repeatedly put a noose around Lyuba Shevtsova's neck and hung her from the ceiling. She was beaten until she lost consciousness. But the cruel torture of the executioners did not break the will of the young patriot. Having achieved nothing, the city police sent her to the district gendarmerie department. There, Lyuba was tortured with more sophisticated methods: needles were driven under her nails, a star was cut out on her back, burned with a red-hot iron.
The Germans also subjected other young patriots to the same terrible tortures, inhuman torments. But they did not extract a single word of recognition from the lips of the Komsomol members. Tortured, bloody, half-dead Komsomol members, the Germans threw them into the shaft of an old mine.
Immortal is the feat of the Young Guard! Their fearless and uncompromising struggle against the German occupiers, their legendary courage will shine through the ages as a symbol of love for the Motherland!
A. Erivansky
You see, comrade, the affairs of Krasnodon
a little light is illuminated by rays of glory.
In deep darkness the Soviet sun
behind their young stood shoulders.
For the happiness of Donbass they endured
and hunger, and torture, and cold, and flour,
and they pronounced a sentence on the Germans
and lowered a stern hand.
Neither the gnash of torture, nor the cunning of the detective
Enemies failed to break the Komsomol!
In the darkness, an immortal spark arose,
and explosions again thundered across the Donbass.
And fearlessly they parted with life,
they died with simple words,
deep underground they remained
captive city masters.
No one saw their fire and lodging for the night
in the gloomy darkness of the German rear,
but the feat of Ulyana, the heroism of Oleg
Motherland saw and illuminated.
You see, comrade, the affairs of Krasnodontsy,
they will never be forgotten by us,
immortal glory, like the eternal sun,
rises, shining, over their names.
Semyon Kirsanov
The "Young Guard" was preparing to fulfill its cherished dream - a decisive armed attack on the Krasnodon garrison by the Germans.
Vile betrayal interrupted the combat activities of the youth.
As soon as the arrests of the Young Guards began, the headquarters gave the order - all members of the "Young Guard" to leave and make their way to the units of the Red Army. But, unfortunately, it was already too late. Only 7 people managed to escape and stay alive - Ivan Turkevich, Georgy Arutyunyants, Valeria Borts, Radiy Yurkin, Olya Ivantsova, Nina Ivantsova and Mikhail Shishchenko. The remaining members of the "Young Guard" were captured by the Nazis and imprisoned.
Young underground workers were subjected to terrible torture, but none of them backed down from their oath. The German executioners went berserk, for 3, 3 hours in a row they beat and tortured the Young Guards. But the executioners could not break the spirit and iron will of the young patriots.
Sergei Tyulenin was beaten by the Gestapo several times a day with whips made of electrical wires, broke fingers, drove a red-hot ramrod into the wound. When this did not help, the executioners brought their mother, a 58-year-old old woman. In front of Sergei, she was undressed and tortured.
The executioners demanded that he tell about his connections in Kamensk and Izvarino. Sergei was silent. Then the Gestapo, in the presence of his mother, hung Sergei in a noose from the ceiling three times, and then gouged out his eye with a red-hot needle.
The Young Guards knew that the time of execution was coming. In their last hour they were also strong in spirit. Ulyana Gromova, a member of the headquarters of the Young Guard, transmitted in Morse code to all cells:
- The last order of the headquarters ... The last order ... they will lead us to execution. We will be led through the streets of the city. We will sing Ilyich's favorite song ...
Exhausted, mutilated, young heroes left prison on their last journey. Ulyana Gromova walked with a star carved on her back. Shura Bondareva - with cut off breasts. Volodya Osmukhin had his right hand cut off.
The Young Guards went on their last journey with their heads held high. Solemnly and sadly rushed their song:
"Tortured by heavy bondage,
You died a glorious death
In the fight for a job
You honestly folded your head ... "
The executioners threw them alive into the fifty-meter shaft of the mine.
In February 1943, our troops entered Krasnodon. A red flag hoisted over the city. And looking at how it rinses in the wind, the inhabitants again remembered the Young Guard. Hundreds of people went to the prison building. They saw bloody clothes in the cells, traces of unheard-of torture. The walls were covered with inscriptions. Above one of the walls, a heart pierced by an arrow is carved. In the heart are four surnames: "Shura Bondareva, Nina Minaeva, Ulya Gromova, Angela Samoshina." And above all the inscriptions in the entire width of the bloodied wall is the inscription: "Death to the German occupiers!"
This is how the glorious pupils of the Komsomol lived, fought and died for their fatherland, young heroes whose feat will survive the centuries.
One of the leaflets of the "Young Guard"
“Read it and pass it on to a friend.
Comrades Krasnodontsy!
The long-awaited hour of our liberation from the yoke of the Nazi bandits is approaching. The troops of the Southwestern Front have broken through the defense line. On November 25, our units, having taken the capital Morozovskaya, advanced 45 kilometers.
The movement of our troops to the west continues rapidly. The Germans are fleeing in panic, dropping their weapons! The enemy, retreating, plunders the population, taking away food and clothing.
Comrades! Hide everything you can so that the Nazi robbers do not get it. Sabotage the orders of the German command, do not succumb to false German agitation.
Death to the German invaders!
Long live our liberator - the Red Army!
Long live the free Soviet homeland!
"Young guard".
For 6 months, "Young Guard" in Krasnodon alone issued more than 30 leaflets, with a circulation of over 5,000 copies.
After the liberation, the inhabitants of the city preserved the memory of the brave young men and women who fought against the German regime, and the domestic press made their feat known to all Soviet citizens. Sergei Tyulenin, Oleg Koshevoy, Ivan Zemnukhov, Lyubov Shevtsova, Ulyana Gromova became symbols of youth patriotism.
Not! Our youth cannot be killed
And don't kneel!
She lives and will live
Just like the great Lenin taught.
For honor, for truth, for the people,
Who is the most honest in the world,
She will go to the scaffold
Any torture will proudly meet.
And even death won't win
Her daring of the living, -
Shine brightly over the world
Star of Oleg Koshevoy.
And be pure beauty
To call for a feat from the best of the best
For the cause of the Motherland, the saint.
For what Stalin teaches us.
Not! Torture won't make us shudder!
Immortal scarlet banners
Where is the youth
Like the Komsomol members of Krasnodon!
Bibliographic description:
Nesterova I.A. Young Guard [Electronic resource] // Educational encyclopedia site
In the light of modern attempts to remake history, devalue the feats Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War, it is necessary to preserve the people's memory of the thousands of Soviet citizens tortured by fascist fiends. So that no one wants to apologize to the Bundeswehr for the fate of the "unfortunate" Nazis. The Young Guard is an example of courage and patriotism. Everyone should know about their fate.
Officially, during the Great Patriotic War in the USSR, the existence of 3,350 underground Komsomol and youth organizations that carried out anti-fascist activities in the temporarily occupied territories was recognized. Among these organizations is called the "Young Guard".
is a youth underground organization. She acted in the rear of the Nazis on the territory of Donetsk Krasnodon.
It cannot be said that in young guard included only Russians or Ukrainians. It was multinational: Russians, Ukrainians, Armenians, Belarusians, Jews, an Azerbaijani and a Moldavian.
After the Great Patriotic War began and the city was occupied, scattered groups of teenagers began to carry out active anti-fascist activities in Krasnodon. However, for greater effectiveness of anti-fascist attacks, it was necessary to create a single underground organization with a common controlled center.
Ulyana Gromova
Date of formation Young Guard is an September 30, 1942. The backbone of the organization included Ivan Zemnukhov as chief of staff, Vasily Levashov as commander of the central group, Georgy Arutyunyants and Sergei Tyulenin as ordinary members of the headquarters. Viktor Tretyakevich was elected Commissar of the Young Guard. Later, Uliana Gromova, Lyubov Shevtsova, Oleg Koshevoy and Ivan Turkenich joined the headquarters. Number of Young Guard According to official figures, it ranged from 70 to 100 people. Some local researchers speak of 130 Young Guards.
In recent years, exclamations have been heard with renewed vigor that the Young Guard is a propaganda legend, that teenagers have not done anything important, and so on. However, we must not forget that the Young Guards are just teenagers. The youngest of them was 14 years old. They organized very dangerous sorties. Literally on the verge of life and death. They successfully distributed anti-fascist leaflets and information from the Soviet Information Bureau. Ukrainian traitors who worked as policemen for the Nazis often found leaflets of the Young Guards in their pockets.
In list exploits of the Young Guard we can safely call the raising of red flags over the school, hospital and park of the occupied Krasnodon. This happened on the anniversary of the October Revolution. The flags were made from a Nazi banner stolen from a German club.
The Germans tried to send the city's young, able-bodied residents to Germany as a labor force. However, the Young Guard set fire to the building of the labor exchange, thereby preventing the citizens of Krasnodon from being sent into fascist slavery.
In addition to the above-mentioned exploits of the Young Guard, the guys also helped the local population with food, burned the barns of the Nazis and poisoned their bread and water, freed prisoners of war. In addition, they took weapons from warehouses from the Nazis. By the beginning of December 1942, the Young Guard had accumulated 15 machine guns, 80 rifles, 300 grenades, about 15 thousand rounds of ammunition, 10 pistols, 65 kilograms of explosives and several hundred meters fickford cord.
On January 1, 1943, Yevgeny Moshkov, Viktor Tretyakevich and Ivan Zemnukhov were arrested. This was followed by a series of arrests of other members of the underground organization. There are two versions according to which the Nazis managed to arrest members of the Young Guard:
The version of betrayal was not fully confirmed, although the suspects were shot.
There were so many members of the Young Guard operating in Krasnodon that the city's prison was overcrowded with teenagers. They were brutally tortured. The city jail looked like a slaughterhouse. The blood of the Young Guards is splattered everywhere. In order not to hear loud screams in the prison, a gramophone was turned on at full power.
The arrested young guards were severely beaten, they were cut with knives, their bones were broken and crushed, their eyes were gouged out, but none of them told anything of what the fascists and Ukrainian traitors, who had gone over to the side of the enemy, asked about.
During the arrests and investigations, policemen Solikovsky, Zakharov, as well as Plokhikh and Sevastyanov tried their best. They mutilated Ivan Zemnukhov beyond recognition. Yevgeny Moshkov was doused with water, taken out into the street, then put on the stove, and then again taken for interrogation.
After the most severe torture, the young guards, barely alive, were ordered to be shot. in the area of the old mine. The first group of members of the Young Guard underground was shot on January 15, 1943. The second group of guys was killed in the same place, but already on January 16th. The third group was shot on January 31, 1943. The last four guys, including Oleg Koshevoy, were shot on February 9, 1943 in the town of Rovenky, Krasnodonsky district.
Among the first group of those shot was Viktor Tretyakevich. When they took him and put him on the edge of the pit, he managed to grab the deputy chief of police by the neck. He tried to drag him along with him to a depth of 50 meters. However, he was prevented by other fascists.
Ivan Turkenich, Valeria Borts, Olga and Nina Ivantsov, Radik Yurkin, Georgy Arutyunyants, Mikhail Shishchenko, Anatoly Lopukhov and Vasily Levashov managed to escape. Levashov managed to escape on his way to the execution. For a while he hid with his girlfriend.
On February 14, 1943, the city of Krasnodon was liberated from the Nazis by the troops of the Red Army. On February 17, the bodies of the Young Guards began to be removed from a deep mine.
After the liberation of the city, during the investigation, rumors spread that during interrogation Tretyekevich could not stand it and handed over his comrades. Only in 1959 this version was refuted. Decree of December 13, 1960 of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR rehabilitated Viktor Tretyakevich and awarded him the Order of the Patriotic War, I degree.
Feat of the Young Guard was of great importance for the country, both during the Great Patriotic War and after it. It was the Young Guards who, by their actions, supported the morale of the soldiers and the mood to fight among the population of the occupied territories. Pain and suffering from hunger faded against the background of what the young guards suffered before their death. People remembered their exploits and created their own for the good of the motherland.
Postage stamp of the USSR, 1944: "Glory to the Heroes-Komsomol members of the Young Guard of the city of Krasnodon!".
The history of the Young Guard gained fame thanks to the book by Alexander Fadeev "The Young Guard". Films were made about the Young Guards, they wrote in newspapers. They were set as an example to the rising post-war generation.
Now feat of the Young Guard not forgotten. Museums dedicated to the Young Guard operate throughout Russia, are being restored soviet monuments young guards, in schools there are lessons dedicated to their feat.
Literature
is the largest youth organization in the country. Regional branches of the "Young Guard" operate in the vast majority of subjects Russian Federation and unite about 170 thousand people.
Voronova Tatiana – Chairman of the MGER Coordinating Council from 2005 to 2006, deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the fifth convocation, from 2010 to 2013 - member of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, since 2013 - Head of the Department of the Internal Policy Department of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation. On March 3, 2015, she was appointed head of the internal policy department of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation. On October 22, 2016, she was appointed Head of the State Duma Staff.
Turchak Andrey – Coordinator of the youth policy of the United Russia Party from 2005 to 2008, since 2007 - Chairman of the MGER Coordinating Council, since 2007 - Member of the Federation Council from the Pskov region, 2009-2017. – Governor of the Pskov region, October 12, 2017 was appointed Acting Secretary of the General Council of the Party.
Borisov Alexander – from 2005 to 2009 – Head of the Central Headquarters of the MGER, Coordinator of the youth policy of the United Russia Party from 2008 to 2011, Chairman of the Public Council of the MGER from 2010 to 2011, since 2009 - Member of the Federation Council from the Pskov Region.
Orlova Nadezhda– from 2006 to 2008 – Chairman of the Political Council of the MGER, since 2011 – Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the fifth convocation.
Gattarov Ruslan – since 2005 head of the Chelyabinsk regional branch of the MGER, Member of the MGER Coordinating Council from 2005 to 2008, MGER Coordinator for the Ural Federal District, Chairman of the Political Council of the MGER 2008-2010, since 2010 - Member of the Federation Council from the Chelyabinsk Region, since 2014 - Vice - Governor of the Chelyabinsk region.
Fadeev Denis – from 2007 to 2011 - Deputy of the Saratov Regional Duma, Member of the MGER Coordinating Council from 2008 to 2010, MGER Coordinator for the Volga Federal District, Chairman of the MGER Coordination Council from 2009-2010, since 2012 - Vice Governor, Chief of Staff of the Governor of the Saratov Region.
Prokopenko Timur – from 2010 to 2012 - Chairman of the MGER Coordinating Council, in 2011 he was elected to the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the sixth convocation, since 2012 - Deputy Head of the Internal Policy Department of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation.
Turov Artem – Head of the Smolensk regional headquarters of MGER from 2006-2008, from 2008 to 2010 - Member of the MGER Coordination Council, Coordinator for MGER CFD, from 2008 to 2009 - Chairman of the MGER Coordination Council, from 2010 to 2012 - Co-Chairman of the MGER Coordination Council , since 2012 - Coordinator for youth policy Party "United Russia", Chairman of the Public Council MGER. In October 2015, a member of the MGER Coordinating Council received a mandate as a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation.
Arshinova Alena – from 2010 to 2012 - Co-Chairman of the MGER Coordinating Council, since 2012 - Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the sixth and seventh convocations.
Rudnev Maxim – since 2010 - member of the MGER Coordinating Council, since 2012 - Chairman of the MGER Coordination Council, from 2014 to 2016 - head of the Central Election Commission of the United Russia party, since 2016 - deputy head of the Central Election Commission of the United Russia party.
Mazurevsky Konstantin – from 2011 to 2012 - head of the Central Headquarters of the MGER, since 2012 - first deputy head of the Central Election Commission of the United Russia party.
Stenyakina Ekaterina – head of the Rostov regional headquarters of MGER since 2008, since 2010 member of the MGER Coordinating Council, MGER Coordinator for the Southern Federal District, from 2012 to 2014 - Co-Chairman of the MGER Coordination Council, since 2013 - Deputy of the Legislative Assembly Rostov region.
Grachev Evgeny – since 2011 - Head of the Moscow City Regional Branch of MGER, since 2012 - Head of the Central Headquarters of MGER, since 2013 - Head of the Department for Work with Public Organizations of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation.
Kvashin Dmitry – since 2008 - head of the Samara regional headquarters of MGER, since 2010 - member of the MGER Coordinating Council, MGER Coordinator for the Volga Federal District, from 2013 to 2014 - head of the MGER Central Headquarters.
Artemov Vladislav– from 2014 to 2015 - Head of the MGER Central Headquarters and member of the MGER Coordinating Council.
Pospelov Sergey- since 2011 - Head of the Moscow City Regional Branch of MGER, since 2013 - Co-Chairman of the MGER Coordinating Council, since 2014 - Head of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, since 07.10.2016 - First Deputy Chief of Staff of the State Duma.
Davydov Denis- since 2012 - Head of the Organizational Department of the Central Headquarters of the MGER, since 2014 - Chairman of the Coordinating Council of the MGER.
Demin Artem– from 2015 to 2016 – Head of the MGER Central Headquarters and member of the MGER Coordinating Council.
Galkin Alexander– from 2014 to 2016 – co-chairman of the MGER Coordinating Council.
Perepelov Sergey– since 2016 – Acting Head of the Central Headquarters of MGER. Since November 2016 - Head of the Central School of MGER.
The history of MGER began in 2005 - on November 15-16, Voronezh hosted the 1st Congress of the "Young Guard of United Russia", at which the Coordinating Council, consisting of coordinators for federal districts, was appointed as the governing body of the Organization. The first leader of the "Young Guard" - the chairman of the Coordinating Council - was Tatyana Voronova, who at that time was the coordinator for the Siberian Federal District.
This year, the II Congress of the Young Guard of United Russia was held, following which Andrey Turchak was elected the head of the Organization. The federal volunteer project “I am a volunteer” was presented at the Congress. In addition, the Public Council was created, which brought together representatives of friendly youth organizations and public opinion leaders who support the goals and projects of the Organization.
On the eve of the upcoming election campaign in 2007, by decision of the leadership of the United Russia Party, MGER receives a 20% quota for youth in party lists. In order to select the best youth representatives for their subsequent nomination as candidates, the Organization is launching the PolitZavod project. In total, in 2006 more than 2,000 people from 24 regions of the Russian Federation took part in the Young Guard program "PolitZavod".
In 2007, Andrei Turchak becomes a member of the Federation Council from the Pskov region. This is the first public office federal level, which is occupied by a representative of the "Young Guard".
MGER takes an active part in the elections to the State Duma in December 2007. As a result of the activities of the PolitZavod project, several dozen young guardsmen became deputies of various levels according to the lists of the Party in the regions.
In June, the III Congress of the "Young Guard" takes place. At the Congress, a new composition of the governing bodies is elected. Ruslan Gattarov, who previously coordinated the work of the Ural Federal District, becomes the new leader of the MGER in the status of the head of the MGER Political Council.
During the Congress, several priority programs and projects were identified, in particular: “I am a citizen” (patriotic and social direction) - coordinator Nadezhda Orlova; "Factory of Meanings" - coordinator Roman Romanov; "Youth parliamentarism" - coordinator Alexei Shaposhnikov, as well as "Ecology", "Furious construction team", "My History" and others. The common unifying motto of the "Young Guard" is the call "Youth to Power", which is reflected in the Manifesto of the Organization.
In 2009, young guard Andrey Turchak was proposed by the President of the Russian Federation to the post of governor of the Pskov region. In the same year, Alexander Borisov, head of the Central Staff, became a member of the Federation Council from the same region.
In the summer of 2009, the first All-Russian Youth Political Forum "Guards - 2020" is held in the Lipetsk region.
In July 2010, MGER organized the All-Russian Youth Political Forum "Caucasus-2020" in Nalchik.
December 22, 2010 in Moscow under the motto "Evolution" is the IV Congress of the "Young Guard". The Political Council of the Organization is abolished. The role of the highest political body returns to the Coordinating Council. Timur Prokopenko is elected as the new leader of the "Young Guard" - the chairman of the Coordinating Council. Artem Turov and Alena Arshinova become co-chairs.
The key projects of the Organization were: “I am a lifeguard”, “Wi-Fi Epidemic”, “I am for fair elections”, “Accessible environment” and others.
In 2011, on the birthday of MGER, the Call of the Young Guard was presented, replacing the 2008 Manifesto. It outlines the general principles of the Organization's activities: deed, audacity, trust, duty.
2011 is an election year. In December, elections to the State Duma are held, in March 2012 - elections of the President of Russia. These events are central to the activities of the "Young Guard" in this period. On April 27, MGER launched the Youth Primaries 2011 and I am a Deputy project aimed at promoting young candidates throughout the country.
According to the results of the elections in December 2011, five young guardsmen go to the State Duma: Timur Prokopenko, chairman of the MGER Coordinating Council, Maria Kozhevnikova and Magomed Selimkhanov, members of the MGER Public Council, and Vladimir Burmatov and Sergey Ten. 10 members of the Organization become deputies of the Legislative Assemblies of the subjects of the Russian Federation. In total, by the end of 2011, more than ten thousand Young Guardsmen became deputies of various levels. Later, in 2012, Alena Arshinova added to the list of Young Guard deputies in the State Duma.
In August 2012, at the site of the Federal Educational Forum MGER "Gvardeysk", the V Congress of the "Young Guard" was held. By the decision of the Congress, Maxim Rudnev becomes the Chairman of the Coordinating Council. Ekaterina Stenyakina, previously coordinator for the Southern Federal District, is elected as co-chair. The composition of the Coordinating Council itself is being substantially updated: the coordinators of seven of the eight federal districts are changing.
New MGER projects are also being approved: "Agents", "Media Guard", "I am a Volunteer", "School of Political Leadership" and others.
In February 2012, the head of the Central Headquarters of the Young Guard, Konstantin Mazurevsky, moved to the post of First Deputy Head of the Central Election Commission of the United Russia Party. Evgeny Grachev became the head of the Central School of MGER, who later went to work in the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation.
In 2013, the Congress of the Young Guard approves the concept of the development of the Organization for the period up to 2018. This is the first forward-looking strategic document that sets out the goals and directions of the Organization beyond the two-year period of the governing bodies of the Organization. At the same time, Dmitry Kvashin became the head of the Central Headquarters. By decision of the MGER Coordinating Council in November 2013, Sergey Pospelov, head of the Moscow regional branch of the Young Guard, was elected co-chairman of the MGER CC.
In November 2013, an educational forum for the regional branches of MGER was held in the Moscow region, at which a presentation of the new project "Heroes of Our Time" took place.
In 2014, Sergei Pospelov, co-chairman of the Young Guard Coordinating Council, became the head of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs.
In July of the same year, Maxim Rudnev went to work at the Central Election Commission of the United Russia Party. At the moment he is the deputy head of the CEC of the Party. Denis Davydov becomes Chairman of the Young Guard Coordinating Council.
On December 10, 2014, the 7th MGER Congress was held in Moscow, at which a new composition of the Organization's governing bodies was elected. Denis Davydov was elected Chairman of the CC, Alexander Galkin became Co-Chairman of the CC.
Since April 2014, young deputies have been systematically promoting legislation in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation that prohibits the sale of alcoholic energy drinks. Currently, the ban is already in effect in 56 Russian regions, and in 19 other regions, relevant bills are being prepared for adoption.
"Young Guard", an underground Komsomol organization operating in the city of Krasnodon, Voroshilovgrad region. during the Great Patriotic War 1941-45, during the period of temporary occupation Nazi German troops Donbass.On the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory, "Young Guard" within the framework of the Federal project MGER "Heroes of Our Time" initiated a collection of memoirs of veterans of the Great Patriotic War, which were included in the book " Diary of a veteran. The untold history of the war».
Within the framework of the federal project "School of the municipal deputy" young candidates who participated in the election campaign were provided with advisory assistance. For the participants, educational lectures were organized by well-known political technologists for a more in-depth study of the basics of conducting an election campaign, and centralized legal and technological support was provided during the election campaign. In total, about four thousand young candidates from all over the country took part in the project.
According to the results single voting day On September 13, 2015, two young guardsmen became deputies of the legislative assemblies of the Russian regions, 24 people became deputies of the representative authorities of the administrative centers of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, and 1302 people became deputies of municipalities.
In October 2015, on the basis of the decision of the General Council of United Russia, the CEC of the Russian Federation transferred the vacant mandate of a State Duma deputy to Artem Turov, a member of the Coordinating Council of the Young Guard.
At the end of 2015, the MGER Coordinating Council decided to reform the institution of the federal districts "Young Guard" - they were transformed into territorial groups.
The "Young Guard" arose under the leadership of the party underground, headed by F.P. Lyutikov. After the occupation of Krasnodon by the Nazis (July 20, 1942), several anti-fascist youth groups were formed: I. A. Zemnukhova, O. V. Koshevoy, V. I. Levashov, S. G. Tyulenin, A. Z. Eliseenko, V. A. Zhdanov , N. S. Sumsky, U. M. Gromova, A. V. Popov, M. K. Peglivanova.
On October 2, 1942, communist E. Ya. Moshkov held the first organizational meeting of the leaders of youth groups in the city and nearby villages. The created underground organization was named "M. g.". Its headquarters included: Gromova, Zemnukhov, Koshevoy (commissioner "M. G."), Levashov, V. I. Tretyakevich, I. V. Turkenich (commander "M. G."), Tyulenin, L. G. Shevtsov.
"Young Guard" consisted of 91 people. (including 26 workers, 44 students and 14 employees), of which 15 are communists. the organization had 4 radios, an underground printing house, weapons and explosives. Issued and distributed 5,000 anti-fascist leaflets of 30 titles; on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, she hung out 8 Soviet flags in the city. Members of the organization destroyed enemy vehicles with soldiers, ammunition and fuel. On November 15, 1942, the Young Guards released 70 Soviet prisoners of war from a fascist concentration camp, and 20 Soviet prisoners of war who were in the hospital were also released.
As a result of the arson on the night of December 6, 1942, the building of the fascist labor exchange, where lists of people intended for export to Germany were stored, about 2 thousand Krasnodon residents were saved from being deported into fascist slavery.
The underground party organization of the city and the "Young Guard" were preparing an armed uprising in order to destroy the fascist garrison and meet the Soviet Army. The betrayal of the provocateur Pocheptsov interrupted this preparation.
In the fascist dungeons, the Young Guard bravely and steadfastly withstood the most severe tortures. On January 15, 16 and 31, 1943, the Nazis, partly alive, partly shot, threw 71 people. in the pit of mine No. 5, with a depth of 53 m. Koshevoy, Shevtsova, S. M. Ostapenko, D. U. Ogurtsov, V. F. Subbotin, after brutal torture, were shot in the Thundering Forest near the city of Rovenka on February 9, 1943. 4 people. shot in other areas. 11 people left the police pursuit: A. V. Kovalev went missing, Turkenich and S. S. Safonov died at the front, G. M. Arutyunyants, V. D. Borts, A. V. Lopukhov, O. I. Ivantsova, N. M. Ivantsova, Levashov, M. T. Shishchenko and R. P. Yurkin survived. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 13, 1943, Gromova, Zemnukhov, Koshevoy, Tyulenin, Shevtsova were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, 3 participants "M. g." were awarded the Order of the Red Banner, 35 - the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, 6 - the Order of the Red Star, 66 - the medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" of the 1st degree. The feat of the heroes of "M. g." depicted in the novel by A. A. Fadeev "The Young Guard". The new city of Voroshilovgrad region was named in memory of the organization. - Molodogvardeysk (1961); the names of the heroes are named settlements, state farms, collective farms, ships, etc.
Lit .: Young Guard. Sat. documents and memories, 3rd ed., Donetsk, 1972.
Materials provided by the Rubricon project
Fighting affairs of the Krasnodon underground
MINISTRY OF CULTURE OF THE Ukrainian SSR
Krasnodon State Order of Friendship of Peoples Museum "Young Guard"
Krasnodon, Voroshilovgrad region, pl. them. Young Guard, tel. No. 2-33-73
The Nazis occupied Krasnodon on July 20, 1942. About this time, the commander of the "Young Guard" Ivan Turkenich in his report "Days of the Underground" wrote: "A council was created, a labor exchange, the police were introduced, the Gestapo arrived. Mass arrests of communists, Komsomol members, order bearers, old red partisans began. All of them were shot. .. In the days of the bloody fascist revelry, our "Young Guard" was born. A headquarters was created, which included Ivan Turkenich (commander), Oleg Koshevoy (commissar), Ulyana Gromova, Ivan Zemnukhov, Vasily Levashov, Viktor Tretyakevich, Sergei Tyulenin, Lyubov Shevtsova.
All combat activities of the youth organization took place under the direct supervision of the party underground, which was carried out through the headquarters of the "Young Guard". The communists set before the young underground workers the task of debunking the lies of Hitler's propaganda, instilling faith in the inevitable defeat of the enemy. The Young Guards considered it their duty to rouse the youth and the population of Krasnodon region to an active struggle against the Nazis, provide themselves with weapons and, at a convenient moment, go over to open armed struggle.
From the first days of their rule, the Nazis tried to get the mines working. Therefore, following the occupied troops, the so-called Directorate No. 10 arrived in Krasnodon, which is part of the system of the "Eastern Society for the Exploitation of Coal and Metallurgical Enterprises", designed to pump out Krasnodon coal. The work of the Central Electromechanical Workshops was resumed, where, at the risk of their lives, the leaders of the underground, communists Filipp Petrovich Lyutikov and Nikolai Petrovich Barakov settled down. Using their official position, they accept underground workers into the workshops and from here they lead the "Young Guard". Everything necessary is being done so that the enterprise, which, according to the plan of the occupiers, was supposed to restore the mines of Krasnodon, does not work at full capacity. Young heroes spoiled the equipment, slowed down the work, destroying individual parts of the machines, committed sabotage. So, on the eve of the launch of mine No. 1 "Sorokino", Yuri Vizenovsky sawed a rope, with the help of which the cage was lowered into the shaft. The multi-ton cage broke off, destroying everything in its path restored with such difficulty by the occupiers. Thanks to the vigorous activity of the people's avengers, the fascists failed to take out a single ton of coal from the Krasnodon mines.
Great importance the Young Guards gave to the distribution of leaflets among the population. Radio receivers were installed in the apartments of Nikolai Petrovich Barakov, Oleg Koshevoy, Nikolai Sumsky, Sergey Levashov. Underground workers listened to the reports of the Soviet Information Bureau, based on their texts they compiled leaflets, with the help of which they conveyed to the inhabitants of the city and the region the truth about the Red Army, about our Soviet power. In the beginning, proclamations were written by hand on pieces of school notebooks. It took a lot of time, so the headquarters of the "Young Guard" decided to create an underground printing house. She was in the house of Georgy Harutyunyants on the outskirts of the city. Having closed the windows with shutters, Ivan Zemnukhov, Viktor Tretyakevich, Vasily Levashov, Vladimir Osmukhin, Georgy Arutyunyants and other guys spent the night at a primitive machine, printing leaflets.
The first printed leaflets appeared in the city on November 7, 1942. When spreading their underground, they showed initiative and ingenuity. Oleg Koshevoy, for example, at night put on a police uniform and, moving freely along the street after curfew, posted leaflets; Vasily Pirozhok managed to put leaflets into the pockets of Krasnodon residents at the market, even attaching them to the backs of policemen; Sergei Tyulenin "patronized" the cinema. He appeared here before the beginning of the session. At the most convenient moment, when the projectionist turned off the lights in the hall, Sergei threw leaflets into the auditorium.
Many leaflets went outside the city - to the Sverdlovsk, Rovenkovsky, Novosvetlovsky districts, to the Rostov region. In total, during the occupation, the Young Guard distributed more than 5,000 copies of leaflets of 30 names.
The headquarters constantly carried out work to involve young people in the ranks of the "Young Guard". If in September there were 35 people in the underground, then in December there were 92 underground members in the organization. On the recommendation of the Communists, all members of the "Young Guard" were divided into fives, with whom the headquarters maintained contacts through liaisons.
At the end of September, the Young Guards, led by Ivan Turkenich, hanged in the city park two traitors to the Motherland, who were especially zealous in reprisals against civilians. Shock groups of youth carried out successful operations to destroy German vehicles on the roads going from Krasnodon to Sverdlovsk, Voroshilovgrad, Izvarino.
The 25th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution was approaching. The Communists instructed the Young Guards to hang red flags over the occupied city. On the night of November 7, eight groups of underground fighters set off to carry out a combat mission. The day before, the girls had prepared the cloths by sewing together pieces of cloth and repainting them into red cloth. In the morning, Krasnodon residents saw red flags blazing in the autumn wind. This military operation of the underground made a huge impression on the inhabitants of the city. “When I saw the flag at the school,” said M.A. Litvinova, an eyewitness of the events, “an involuntary joy seized me. I woke up the children and quickly ran across the road to Mukhina. She said: “Maria Alekseevna, this was done for us Soviet people. We are remembered, we are not forgotten by ours ... ".
On this unforgettable day, young underground workers distributed leaflets throughout the city and region and provided financial assistance families of veterans. “... We prepared holiday gifts for the families of workers, especially those who suffered at the hands of German executioners,” wrote Ivan Turkenich. “We allocated money for them from our Komsomol fund and bought food. I remember that on the eve of the holiday I went with a bundle under my arm to the outskirts where the family of my comrade-front-line soldier lived. He was also, like me, a Soviet officer. His wife, an old mother and four children remained in Krasnodon. And so I brought them a holiday gift. The hungry children unfolded the paper and, with a cry of joy, found bread and a little cereal. How grateful the weary people were to us for these modest gifts."
In December, Ivan Zemnukhov, Ivan Turkenich, Anatoly Popov, Demyan Fomin helped 20 prisoners of war escape from captivity, who were placed by the Nazis in the building of the Pervomaiskaya hospital, and soon a group of Yevgeny Moshkov released more than 70 Soviet soldiers from the prisoner of war camp, which was located in the Volchensky farm of the Rostov region.
The glory of the "Young Guard" grew. The underground workers of Krasnodon were not limited to activities in the city and the region. The communists believed that it was necessary to look for connections with the partisans of other districts and regions. To establish contacts with the people's avengers operating in the Rostov region, the headquarters sent a messenger Oksana. Olga Ivantsova worked underground under such a pseudonym. Oksana repeatedly visited the Kamensky partisans, met with messengers and the command of the detachment. It was about uniting the forces of partisans and underground fighters for a joint action against the Nazis behind enemy lines.
The vigorous activity of the underground workers aroused impotent anger among the occupiers. The police begin to intensively search for the perpetrators of anti-fascist measures. The most severe regime is established in the city. To disguise the activities of the underground, Ivan Zemnukhov, Yevgeny Moshkov, Viktor Tretyakevich, Valeria Borts, Lyubov Shevtsova, Vladimir Zagoruiko, Vasily Levashov and others, on the advice of the Communists, get a job at the Gorky Club. Three circles began to operate here, in which most of the participants were underground workers. Young people, hiding behind classes in circles, could meet without arousing suspicion from the authorities. From here the guys went on combat missions.
Once Lyuba Shevtsova came excitedly to a meeting of the headquarters. She learned that the Nazis were going to steal young people to work in Germany. Lists have already been prepared at the labor exchange. The headquarters decided to disrupt the recruitment. To this end, several leaflets were issued, in which they called on the population to save their children from fascist slavery. And Lyuba Shevtsova, Viktor Lukyanchenko and Sergey Tyulenin, on the night of December 5, carried out a brilliant operation to set fire to the labor exchange. Documents prepared by the Nazis for more than 2,000 Krasnodon residents were burned in the fire. By morning, only charred walls remained from the ominous building of the exchange, which the people called the "black exchange".
The headquarters attached great importance to the armament of the underground. The Young Guards obtained weapons and ammunition by all means. They stole them from the Nazis, collected them in places of recent battles, and finished them off in armed clashes with the enemy. The weapon was stored in the cellars of the destroyed building of the city bath. Ivan Turkenich noted in his report that by the end of 1942 "the warehouse had 15 machine guns, 80 rifles, 300 grenades, about 15,000 rounds of ammunition, 10 pistols, 65 kg of explosives and several hundred meters of Fickford cord." The underground workers were going to direct all these weapons against the Nazis located on the territory of Krasnodon. The Young Guards were actively preparing for an armed uprising. Their plan was to destroy the enemy and thereby help the Red Army to liberate their hometown faster. But vile betrayal interrupted the preparations for an armed uprising. Most of the Young Guards were arrested and, after severe torture in January 1943, were thrown into the pit of mine No. 5.
Directorate of the Museum "Young Guard"
Legends of the Great Patriotic War. "Young guard"
More than sixty years have passed since the world learned about the brutal massacre perpetrated by the fascist invaders on members of the underground organization "Young Guard" operating in the Ukrainian mining town of Krasnodon. However, to this day, despite the abundance of documented eyewitness accounts and court verdicts, it is not known for certain who was responsible for the defeat of the Krasnodon underground.
In mid-February 1943, after the liberation of Donetsk Krasnodon by Soviet troops, several dozen corpses of teenagers tortured by the Nazis, who during the period of occupation were in the underground organization "Young Guard", were removed from the pit of mine N5 located near the city.
A few months later, Pravda published an article by Alexander Fadeev "Immortality", on the basis of which the novel "Young Guard" was written a little later, dedicated to the events that resulted in the death of people found in the mine. Subsequently, it was from this work that the vast majority of citizens, first of the Soviet Union, and then of Russia, formed an idea of the activities of the Krasnodon underground during the occupation. Until the end of the 80s, Fadeev's novel was perceived as a canonized history of the organization, and any other interpretation of events was impossible by definition.
Meanwhile, it is no secret to anyone that the novel, which glorified its heroes - young underground workers, had a rather difficult fate. The book was first published in 1946. However, after some time, Alexander Fadeev was sharply criticized for the fact that the “leading and guiding” role of the Communist Party was not clearly expressed in the novel. The writer took into account the wishes, and in 1951 the second edition of the novel "Young Guard" saw the light. At the same time, Fadeev repeated more than once: "I wrote not true story young guards, but a novel that not only allows, but even suggests fiction.
These circumstances have become fertile ground for the emergence of many speculations about the reality of the events described in the novel. At first, distrust of the official version manifested itself mainly at the level of quiet whispers in the kitchens and vulgar children's jokes, and with the beginning of perestroika, it spilled over into the pages of newspapers and magazines.
And for more than a decade and a half, between those who continue to adhere to the traditional version, and those who do not stop trying to separate the facts from the fiction of the author of the novel "The Young Guard", there has been a rather lively correspondence discussion, the end of which is not yet in sight. Moreover, most copies break around several key points: the reality of the events described by Fadeev, the names of the real organizers and leaders of the underground, as well as the true culprits of the death of most members of the organization.
Parade of "traitors"
In fairness, it should be noted that there were not so many of those who tried to challenge the very existence of an underground youth organization in Krasnodon. The facts collected in the post-war years, the memories of eyewitnesses, as well as the surviving members of the Young Guard, indicated that the underground organization really existed. And not only existed, but also conducted a very active activity.
In 1993, a press conference was held in Lugansk by a special commission to study the history of the Young Guard. As Izvestiya wrote then (05/12/1993), after two years of work, the commission gave its assessment of the versions that had excited the public for almost half a century. The conclusions of the researchers were reduced to several fundamental points. In July-August 1942, after the capture of the Luhansk region by the Nazis, many underground youth groups spontaneously arose in the mining Krasnodon and the surrounding villages. They, according to the memoirs of contemporaries, were called "Star", "Sickle", "Hammer", etc. However, there is no need to talk about any party leadership. In October 1942, Viktor Tretyakevich united them into the Young Guard. It was he, and not Oleg Koshevoy, who, according to the findings of the commission, became the commissioner of the underground organization. There were almost twice as many members of the "Young Guard" as later recognized by the competent authorities. The guys fought like a partisan, risky, suffering heavy losses, and this, as was noted at a press conference, ultimately led to the failure of the organization.
At the suggestion of Alexander Fadeev, the image of the main culprit in the death of the "Young Guard" - Yevgeny Stakhovich, who, under torture, gave out the names of most of the underground fighters, firmly settled in the public mind. At the same time, although Fadeev himself repeatedly stated that the traitor Stakhovich is a collective image and resemblance to real Young Guards by chance, very many, and first of all the participants in those events who managed to survive, were deeply convinced that its prototype, paradoxically, was the already mentioned Viktor Tretyakevich. The debate about how the hero suddenly turned into a traitor has not subsided so far.
In 1998, the newspaper "Duel" (09/30/1998) published an article by A.F. Gordeev Heroes and Traitors. It described in sufficient detail the history of the emergence, activity and collapse of the Krasnodon underground, which differed significantly from that described by Fadeev in the novel The Young Guard.
According to Gordeev, the "Young Guard" (the real name of the organization "Hammer") was created in early October 1942 on the initiative of Viktor Tretyakevich. The anti-fascist Komsomol youth groups of Ivan Zemnukhov, Yevgeny Moshkov, Nikolai Sumsky, Boris Glavan, Sergey Tyulenin and others, which spontaneously arose and acted separately in Krasnodon and its environs, became the core of it. On October 6, 1942, Gennady Pocheptsov, whose stepfather , V.G. Gromov, collaborated with the occupation authorities and subsequently played a fatal role in the history of the "Young Guard".
"Duel", referring to archival documents, writes that after learning about the arrest of the leaders of the underground (Zemnukhov, Tretyakevich and Moshkov were captured on January 1, 1943) and not finding a way out of the current situation, Pocheptsov turned to his stepfather for advice. Gromov immediately suggested that his stepson immediately inform the police about the underground workers. Gromov confirmed this treacherous parting word during interrogation on May 25, 1943: "I told him that he could be arrested and, in order to save his life, he must write a statement to the police and extradite the members of the organization. He listened to me."
On January 3, 1943, Pocheptsov was taken to the police and interrogated first by V. Sulikovsky (head of the Krasnodon district police), and then by investigators Didyk and Kuleshov. The informant confirmed the authorship of the applicant and his affiliation with an underground Komsomol organization operating in Krasnodon, named the goals and objectives of its activities, indicated the location of the storage of weapons and ammunition hidden in Gundor mine No. 18. As Kuleshov later testified, “Pocheptsov said that he really a member of the underground Komsomol organization ... called the leaders of this organization, or rather, the city headquarters, namely: Tretyakevich, Lukashov, Zemnukhov, Safonov, Koshevoy. Pocheptsov called Tretyakevich the head of the citywide organization. He himself was a member of the May Day organization. " That information secret character, which Pocheptsov owned and which became the "property" of the police, turned out to be quite enough to uncover the Komsomol youth underground and liquidate it. In total, more than 70 people were arrested for belonging to the underground in Krasnodon and its environs.
"Duel" cites the testimony of some participants in the brutal massacre of underground workers.
During the interrogation on July 9, 1947, the head of the gendarmerie, Renatus, said: “... The translator Lina Artes asked to be released from work, since the gendarmes during interrogations treat the arrested too rudely. Guardsman Zons allegedly beat the arrested severely after dinner. I granted her request and spoke on this issue with Zons. He admitted that he really beat the arrested, but for the reason that he could not get evidence from them in any other way. "
Police investigator Cherenkov about Sergey Tyulenin: “He was mutilated beyond recognition, his face was covered with bruises and swollen, blood oozed from open wounds. Three Germans immediately entered and after them Burgardt (translator A.G.), called by Sulikovsky, appeared. One German asked Sulikovsky what kind of person he was beaten like that. Sulikovsky explained. The German, like an angry tiger, knocked Sergey down with a blow of his fist and began to torment his body with forged German boots. He struck him with terrible force in the stomach, back, face, trampled and tore to pieces his clothes along with the body. At the beginning of this terrible execution, Tyulenin showed signs of life, but soon he fell silent and was dragged dead out of the office. "
Courageously kept on interrogations and other young guards. Ulyana Gromova was hung up by her hair, a five-pointed star was carved on her back, her chest was cut off, her body was burned with a red-hot iron, salt was sprinkled on her wounds, and she was put on a red-hot stove. However, she was silent, just as Bondareva, Ivanikhina, Zemnukhova and many others, who were subsequently thrown into the pit of mine N5, were silent.
Pocheptsov, according to Duel, managed to hide for some time after the arrival of the Soviet troops, and he was arrested only on March 8, 1943. To mitigate his guilt, Pocheptsov already at the first interrogation cast a shadow of suspicion on Viktor Tretyakevich. Answering the question of the Soviet investigator about what prompted him to hand over the members of the underground organization, he referred to Ivan Zemnukhov, who allegedly told him on December 18, 1942 that Tretyakevich had betrayed the Young Organization and that the police had information about it. This news allegedly prompted Pocheptsov to file a statement with the police.
At the same time, in 1999, the Sovershenno Sekretno newspaper (03/17/1999), referring to the materials of Case N20056 on charges of policemen and German gendarmes in the massacre of the underground organization Young Guard, expressed the opinion that the "official traitor" Pocheptsov did not told investigators nothing new. Before him, Olga Lyadskaya allegedly managed to tell the Germans about the activities of the underground in detail, who was not an underground worker and was arrested quite by accident.
After the arrest of Zemnukhov, Tretyakevich and Moshkov came to Tosya Mashchenko in search of Valya Borts, who by that time had already gone to the front line. The policeman liked Tosya's tablecloth and decided to take it with him. Under the tablecloth lay Lyadskaya's unsent letter to her friend Fyodor Izvarin. She wrote that she did not want to leave for Germany in "SLAVERY". That's right: in quotation marks and capital letters. The investigator promised to hang Lyadskaya in the bazaar for her capital letters in quotation marks, if he did not immediately name others who were dissatisfied with the new order. Further, the publication cites the testimony of Lyadskaya contained in Case No. 20056:
“I named the people whom I suspected of partisan activity: Kozyrev, Tretyakevich, Nikolaenko, because they once asked me if we had partisans on the farm and if I helped them. And after Solihovsky threatened to beat me, I gave girlfriend Mashchenko, Borts ... "
As for Pocheptsov, according to Top Secret, he really betrayed the group in the village of Pervomaisky and the headquarters of the Young Guard in the following order: Tretyakevich (chief), Lukashev, Zemnukhov, Safonov and Koshevoy. In addition, Pocheptsov named the commander of his "five" - Popov. However, his testimony, according to the publication, was no longer so important, since Tretyakevich was betrayed by another member of the underground - Tosya Mashchenko. Tretyakevich himself, after that, "betrayed Shevtsova and began to call the 'Young Guards' whole villages."
But "Top Secret" is not limited to this list of traitors and notes that in the documents a certain Chinese Yakov Ka Fu is also mentioned as a traitor to the "Young Guard". He allegedly could be offended by the Soviet government, because before the war he was fired from his job because of his poor knowledge of the Russian language.
... for lack of corpus delicti
For a long time, Zinaida Vyrikova was considered another culprit for the death of the Young Guard. She, like Lyadskaya, was one of the anti-heroines of the novel The Young Guard. At the same time, Fadeev did not even change the names of the girls, which subsequently greatly complicated their lives. Both Vyrikova and Lyadskaya were convicted of treason and sent to camps for a long time. As "Moskovsky Komsomolets" notes (06/18/2003), the stigma of traitors was removed from women only in 1990, after their numerous complaints and strict inspections by the prosecutor's office.
"MK" quotes the "certificate" that Olga Alexandrovna Lyadskaya received after 47 years of shame (according to the information of the publication, Zinaida Vyrikova also received approximately the same document): "Criminal case on charges of Lyadskaya O.A., born in 1926, reviewed by the military tribunal of the Moscow Military District on March 16, 1990. The decision of the Special Conference under the Ministry of State Security of the USSR of October 29, 1949 in relation to Lyadskaya O.A. was canceled, and the criminal case was dismissed due to the absence of corpus delicti in her actions. rehabilitated."
There is not a word in the material of Moskovsky Komsomolets about whether Lyadskaya's confession that she betrayed Kozyrev, Tretyakevich, Nikolaenko, Mashchenko, Borts was taken into account when deciding on the rehabilitation. At the same time, the article mentions two more new names of persons through whose fault the "Young Guard" could have been crushed.
"MK", as well as four years earlier, the newspaper "Sovershenno sekretno", refers to materials found in the archives of the FSB. Namely, a criminal case against 16 traitors to the Motherland who worked for the Germans in the occupied Krasnodon. 14 of them openly collaborated with the German gendarmerie. And only two defendants, according to the publication, are somewhat out of the general picture of absolute traitors - 20-year-old Georgy Statsenko and 23-year-old namesake of the author of the novel "Young Guard" Gury Fadeev.
George's father - Vasily Statsenko - was the burgomaster of Krasnodon. That's why George got "on the pencil." In addition, he was a Komsomol member and knew the Young Guard: Zemnukhov, Koshevoy, Tretyakevich, Levashov, Osmukhin, Turkenich, and others.
Moskovsky Komsomolets cites excerpts from the testimony of Statsenko, who was arrested on September 22, 1946:
“Being a Komsomol member, I enjoyed the trust of my comrades, because outwardly I showed myself devoted to the Soviet regime. I told my father about Levashov’s proposal to me to join the underground Komsomol organization. He also said that Zemnukhov showed me a leaflet, read poems written by him against the Germans. And in general, I told my father, my schoolmates: Zemnukhov, Arutyunyants, Koshevoy and Tretyakevich, are members of an underground organization and are actively working against the Germans.
Gury Fadeev, according to MK, also knew the Young Guards, was especially friendly with the family of Oleg Koshevoy. He became suspicious after one night he got into the police - at an odd hour a German patrol caught him on the street and, during a search, found an anti-fascist leaflet in his pocket. However, for some reason he was quickly released from the gendarmerie. And then, according to witnesses, he allegedly almost did not get out of the police.
"After I was recruited by the police to identify those who were distributing Young Guard leaflets, I met with Deputy Police Chief Zakharov several times. During one of the interrogations, Zakharov asked: "Which of the partisans recruited your sister Alla?" I, knowing about this, according to my mother, betrayed Zakharov to Vanya Zemnukhov, who really made an offer to my sister to join an underground anti-fascist organization... I told him that in the apartment of Korostylev (Oleg Koshevoy's uncle), sister Korostyleva Elena Nikolaevna Koshevaya and her son were listening to radio broadcasts from Moscow Oleg, who writes down messages from the Sovinform Bureau."
From the words of Fadeev, recorded in the protocol of interrogation, it turned out that during the occupation he entered the service of the German directorate as a geologist and was engaged in redrawing geological maps compiled under the Soviet regime, plans for mines and developments. At the same time, Fadeev gave a signature stating that he undertakes to help the police in identifying partisans.
The most curious thing about this story is that neither Statsenko nor Fadeev were shot. On March 6, 1948, by a special meeting at the Ministry of State Security of the USSR for treason, Guriy Fadeev was sentenced to 25 years in camps, and Georgy Statsenko to 15 years (the remaining 14 people involved in this case received 25 years each). But the amazing adventures of Statsenko and Fadeev did not end there either. In 1954, with the coming to power of Khrushchev, the "case of traitors" was reviewed: the sentence was left unchanged to everyone except Statsenko. His sentence was reduced by 5 years.
Moskovsky Komsomolets quotes case materials that shed light on the reasons for the unexpected commutation of the sentence:
“During the interrogation on October 4, 1946, Statsenko admitted his guilt, but later retracted his testimony. He claimed that the arrests of the Young Guards began long before his conversation with his father. his son ... None of the convicts in this case showed that the burgomaster's son would have provided any information that would have been used by the police in the arrest of the Young Guards ... Thus, the accusation of the convicted Statsenko G.V. organization "Young Guard" is not proved by the materials of the investigation.
Fadeev also had a chance to be released ahead of time, for whom a large number of relatives, neighbors and acquaintances interceded. The Chief Military Prosecutor's Office was not too lazy to interrogate everyone who had testified against Fadeev ten years earlier. The military prosecutor Gorny even prepared a protest to the military tribunal of the Moscow Military District with a request "to cancel the decision of the Special Meeting of the Ministry of State Security dated March 6, 1948 in relation to Fadeev, to stop the case for lack of evidence of the charge." However, someone's bossy hand on the same document scribbled in blue ink: "I find no grounds for making a protest. Fadeev's complaint should be dismissed."
However, Fadeev was still released ahead of schedule. According to "MK", out of 25 years he served only 10. His criminal record was removed, but he was refused rehabilitation. So formally, he is still considered the main traitor of the Young Guard.
Parcel truck
Meanwhile, the last of the eight Young Guardsmen who survived the war, Vasily Ivanovich Levashov, shortly before his death (he died in 2001), gave an interview to the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper (06/30/1999) in which he stated that in fact there were no traitors, and " the organization burned down because of stupidity."
The former underground worker said that after the first reading of Fadeev's book, he had the most contradictory feelings. On the one hand, he was delighted by how subtly the writer captured the moods and feelings of the Young Guard. On the other hand, Levashov was outraged by the free treatment of some facts: the traitor Stakhovich appeared in the novel, but there was no person with such a surname in the organization, so there was a clear allusion to Viktor Tretyakevich, the commissioner of the Young Guard.
“In fact, there were no traitors, the organization burned out because of stupidity,” Vasily Ivanovich said. “A truck with parcels for the Germans arrived in Krasnodon for Christmas, and we decided to capture them. We dragged everything into the barn at night to one of our guys, "and the next morning they sent him in torn bags to the club. On the way, a box of cigarettes fell out. A boy of about twelve was spinning nearby, grabbed it. Tretyakevich gave him cigarettes for his silence. And a day later, the Germans grabbed the boy in the market."
According to Levashov, Tretyakevich was slandered by the police for his steadfastness during interrogations. Vasily Ivanovich's father was sitting in the same cell with the commissioner of the "Young Guard" and saw how he was taken away for interrogation, and dragged back by the legs of the beaten, almost alive. And the names of the underground, according to Levashov, the Nazis could find out from the lists of employees of the club, the director of which was Moshkov, a young guard. The latter compiled these lists for the labor exchange: hundreds of young people were driven to work in Germany, and for club workers they were given "reservations".
Viktor Tretyakevich was rehabilitated only in 1959. Prior to that, his relatives had to live with the stigma of the traitor's relatives. According to Vasily Levashov, Victor's rehabilitation was achieved by his middle brother Vladimir. Viktor Tretyakevich was posthumously awarded, but he was never reinstated in the rank of commissar of the Young Guard.
Levashov, in a conversation with a Komsomolskaya Pravda correspondent, also touched upon the fate of another resident of Krasnodon, who was accused of betrayal - Georgy Statsenko:
“Statsenko served 15 years for betraying the Young Guard,” said Levashov. “I got out of prison and wrote a letter to the KGB asking him to remove the blame because he did not betray. And he asked me and Harutyunyants to be called as witnesses. for interrogation at the KGB, and I said that Statsenko had nothing to do with the Young Guard, and therefore could not know anything. The blame was removed from Statsenko."
At the same time, some facts indicate that not everything is so simple in the story of the rehabilitation of Viktor Tretyakevich, as Vasily Levashov told about it. And there are still many pitfalls in this case ...
One of the mythologized pages of the history of the USSR, which, unfortunately, is perceived by many now, but which has always been true. In mid-February 1943, after the liberation of Donetsk Krasnodon by Soviet troops, several dozen corpses of teenagers tortured by the Nazis, who during the occupation period were in the underground organization "Young Guard" were removed from the pit of mine N5 located near the city ...
At an abandoned mine, most members of the underground Komsomol organization Young Guard, which fought against the Nazis in the small Ukrainian town of Krasnodon, died in 1942. It turned out to be the first underground youth organization about which it was possible to collect quite detailed information. The Young Guards were then called heroes (they were heroes), who gave their lives for their homeland. Just over twenty years ago, everyone knew about the Young Guard.
The novel of the same name by Alexander Fadeev was studied in schools; at the screening of Sergei Gerasimov's film, people could not hold back their tears; motor ships, streets, hundreds of educational institutions and pioneer groups. What were they like, these young men and women who called themselves Young Guardsmen?
The Krasnodon Komsomol youth underground included seventy-one people: forty-seven boys and twenty-four girls. The youngest was fourteen, and fifty-five of them never turned nineteen. The most ordinary, no different from the same boys and girls of our country, the guys were friends and quarreled, studied and fell in love, ran to dances and chased pigeons. They were engaged in school circles, sports sections, played the strings musical instruments, wrote poetry, many drew well.
They studied in different ways - someone was an excellent student, and someone with difficulty overcame the granite of science. There were also a lot of tomboys. dreamed of the future adulthood. They wanted to become pilots, engineers, lawyers, someone was going to enter the theater school, and someone - to the pedagogical institute.
The “Young Guard” was as multinational as the population of these southern regions of the USSR. Russians, Ukrainians (there were Cossacks among them), Armenians, Belarusians, Jews, Azerbaijanis and Moldavians, ready to help each other at any moment, fought against the Nazis.
The Germans occupied Krasnodon on July 20, 1942. And almost immediately the first leaflets appeared in the city, a new bathhouse, already ready for the German barracks, was on fire. It was Seryozhka Tyulenin who began to act. One.
On August 12, 1942, he turned seventeen. Sergey wrote leaflets on pieces of old newspapers, and the policemen often found them in their pockets. He began to collect weapons, not even doubting that they would definitely come in handy. And he was the first to attract a group of guys ready to fight. It initially consisted of eight people. However, by the first days of September, several groups were already operating in Krasnodon, not connected with one another - in total there were 25 people in them.
The birthday of the underground Komsomol organization "Young Guard" was September 30: then the plan for creating a detachment was adopted, specific actions for underground work were outlined, and a headquarters was created. It included Ivan Zemnukhov - chief of staff, Vasily Levashov - commander of the central group, Georgy Arutyunyants and Sergey Tyulenin - members of the headquarters.
Viktor Tretyakevich was elected commissar. The guys unanimously supported Tyulenin's proposal to name the detachment "Young Guard". And in early October, all the scattered underground groups were united into one organization. Later, Uliana Gromova, Lyubov Shevtsova, Oleg Koshevoy and Ivan Turkenich joined the headquarters.
Now you can often hear that the Young Guards did nothing special. Well, they put up leaflets, collected weapons, burned and contaminated the grain intended for the invaders. Well, they hung out several flags on the day of the 25th anniversary of the October Revolution, burned the Labor Exchange, saved several dozen prisoners of war. Other underground organizations have existed longer and done more!
And do these unfortunate critics understand that everything, literally everything, these boys and girls committed on the verge of life and death. Is it easy to walk down the street when warnings are posted on almost every house and fence that if you don’t hand over your weapon, you will be shot. And at the bottom of the bag, under the potatoes, there are two grenades, and you have to walk past several dozen policemen with an independent air, and everyone can stop ... By the beginning of December, the Young Guard already had 15 machine guns, 80 rifles, 300 grenades, about 15 thousand rounds of ammunition, 10 pistols, 65 kilograms of explosives and several hundred meters of Fickford cord.
Isn't it scary to sneak past the German patrol at night, knowing that for appearing on the street after six in the evening there is a threat of execution? But most of the work was done at night. At night, they burned the German Labor Exchange - and two and a half thousand Krasnodon residents were delivered from German hard labor. On the night of November 7, the Young Guards hung out red flags - and the next morning, when they saw them, people experienced great joy: “We are remembered, we are not forgotten by ours!” At night, prisoners of war were released, cut telephone wires, attacked German vehicles, recaptured a herd of cattle of 500 heads from the Nazis and dispersed it to the nearest farms and villages.
Even leaflets were pasted mostly at night, although it happened that they had to do it during the day. At first, leaflets were written by hand, then they began to be printed in the same organized printing house. In total, the Young Guards issued about 30 separate leaflets with a total circulation of almost five thousand copies - from which Krasnodon residents learned the latest reports from the Sovinformburo.
In December, the first disagreements appeared at the headquarters, which later became the basis of the legend that still lives on and according to which Oleg Koshevoy is considered the commissar of the Young Guard.
What happened? Koshevoy began to insist that a detachment of 15-20 people be singled out from all the underground workers, capable of operating separately from the main detachment. It was in him that Koshevoy was supposed to become a commissar. The guys did not support this proposal. Nevertheless, Oleg, after another admission to the Komsomol of a youth group, took temporary Komsomol tickets from Vanya Zemnukhov, but did not give them, as always, to Viktor Tretyakevich, but issued them to the newly accepted ones himself, signing: “Commissar of the Molot partisan detachment Kashuk.”
On January 1, 1943, three young guards were arrested: Yevgeny Moshkov, Viktor Tretyakevich and Ivan Zemnukhov - the Nazis fell into the very heart of the organization. On the same day, the remaining members of the headquarters urgently gathered and decided: all the Young Guards should immediately leave the city, and the leaders should not spend the night at home that night. All underground workers were informed about the decision of the headquarters through messengers. One of them, who was in the group of the village of Pervomaika, Gennady Pocheptsov, having learned about the arrests, got cold feet and wrote a statement to the police about the existence of an underground organization.
The entire punitive apparatus was set in motion. Mass arrests began. But why didn't the majority of the Young Guards follow the order of the headquarters? After all, this first disobedience, and hence the violation of the oath, cost almost all of them their lives! Probably due to the lack of life experience.
At first, the guys did not realize that a catastrophe had happened and their leading trio could no longer get out of prison. Many could not decide for themselves: whether to leave the city, whether to help the arrested, or voluntarily share their fate. They did not understand that the headquarters had already considered all the options and took the only correct one into action. But most of them didn't do it. Almost everyone was afraid for their parents.
Only twelve young guards managed to escape in those days. But later, two of them - Sergei Tyulenin and Oleg Koshevoy - were nevertheless arrested. Four cells of the city police were packed to capacity. All the guys were terribly tortured. The office of the chief of police, Solikovsky, looked more like a slaughterhouse - it was so spattered with blood. In order not to hear the screams of the tortured in the yard, the monsters started the gramophone and turned it on at full volume.
Underground workers were hung by the neck to the window frame, simulating execution by hanging, and by the legs, to ceiling hook. And they beat, beat, beat - with sticks and wire whips with nuts on the end. The girls were hung by braids, and the hair could not stand it, it broke off. The Young Guards were crushed by the door with fingers, shoe needles were driven under the nails, they were put on a hot stove, stars were cut out on the chest and back. Their bones were broken, their eyes were gouged out and burnt out, their arms and legs were cut off…
The executioners, having learned from Pocheptsov that Tretyakevich was one of the leaders of the Young Guard, decided at all costs to force him to speak, believing that then it would be easier to cope with the rest. He was tortured with extreme cruelty, he was mutilated beyond recognition. But Victor remained silent. Then a rumor was spread among the arrested and in the city: Tretyakevich had betrayed everyone. But Victor's comrades did not believe it.
On a cold winter night on January 15, 1943, the first group of Young Guardsmen, including Tretyakevich, was taken to the ruined mine for execution. When they were put on the edge of the pit, Victor grabbed the deputy chief of police by the neck and tried to drag him along with him to a depth of 50 meters. The frightened executioner turned pale with fear and almost did not resist, and only the gendarme arrived in time, hitting Tretyakevich on the head with a pistol, saved the policeman from death.
On January 16, the second group of underground workers was shot, on the 31st - the third. One of this group managed to escape from the place of execution. It was Anatoly Kovalev, who later went missing.
Four remained in prison. They were taken to the city of Rovenki in the Krasnodon region and shot on February 9 along with Oleg Koshev, who was there.
On February 14, Soviet troops entered Krasnodon. February 17 became a day of mourning, full of weeping and lamentations. From a deep, dark pit, the bodies of tortured young men and women were taken out with a bucket. It was difficult to recognize them; some of the children were identified by their parents only by their clothes.
A wooden obelisk was placed on the mass grave with the names of the dead and with the words:
And drops of your hot blood,
Like sparks flare up in the darkness of life
And many brave hearts will be lit!
The name of Viktor Tretyakevich was not on the obelisk! And his mother, Anna Iosifovna, never took off her black dress again and tried to go to the grave later so as not to meet anyone there. She, of course, did not believe in her son's betrayal, just as most of her fellow countrymen did not, but the conclusions of the commission of the Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League under the leadership of Toritsin and the subsequently published wonderful novel by Fadeev had an impact on the minds and hearts of millions of people. One can only regret that Fadeev's novel The Young Guard did not turn out to be equally remarkable in respecting historical truth.
The investigating authorities also accepted the version of Tretyakevich's betrayal, and even when the true traitor Pocheptsov, who was subsequently arrested, confessed to everything, the charge was not removed from Viktor. And since, according to party leaders, a traitor cannot be a commissar, Oleg Koshevoy was elevated to this rank, whose signature was on the December Komsomol tickets - “Commissar of the Molot partisan detachment Kashuk.”
After 16 years, one of the most ferocious executioners who tortured the Young Guards, Vasily Podtynny, was arrested. During the investigation, he stated: Tretyakevich was slandered, but he, despite severe torture and beatings, did not betray anyone.
So almost 17 years later, the truth triumphed. By decree of December 13, 1960, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR rehabilitated Viktor Tretyakevich and awarded him the Order of the Patriotic War, I degree (posthumously). His name began to be included in all official documents, along with the names of other heroes of the Young Guard.
Anna Iosifovna, Victor's mother, who never took off her mourning black clothes, stood in front of the presidium of the solemn meeting in Voroshilovgrad when she was presented with her son's posthumous award.
The crowded hall, standing up, applauded her, but it seemed that what was happening no longer pleased her. Maybe because the mother always knew: her son - fair man... Anna Iosifovna turned to her comrade who awarded her with only one request: not to demonstrate the film “Young Guard” in the city these days.
So, the stigma of a traitor was removed from Viktor Tretyakevich, but he was never restored to the rank of commissar and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, which was awarded to the rest of the dead members of the Young Guard headquarters, was not awarded.
Finishing this short story about the heroic and tragic days of Krasnodon, I would like to say that the heroism and tragedy of the Young Guard are probably still far from being revealed. But this is our history, and we have no right to forget it.
Crimea, Feodosia, August 1940. Happy young girls. The most beautiful, with dark braids - Anya Sopova.
On January 31, 1943, after severe torture, Anya was thrown into the pit of mine No. 5. She was buried in a mass grave of heroes in the central square of the city of Krasnodon.
... now "Young Guard" is on television. I remember how we loved this picture as a child! They dreamed of being like the brave Krasnodontsy... vowed to avenge their deaths. What can I say, the tragic and beautiful story of the Young Guards shocked the whole world at that time, and not just the immature children's minds.
The film became the leader of the box office in 1948, and the leading actors, unknown students of VGIK, immediately received the title of Laureates of the Stalin Prize - an exceptional case. "Woke up famous" - it's about them.
Ivanov, Mordyukova, Makarova, Gurzo, Shagalova - letters from all over the world came to them in bags.
Gerasimov, of course, took pity on the audience. Fadeev - readers.
What really happened that winter in Krasnodon, neither paper nor film could convey.
Uliana Gromova, 19 years old
".... a five-pointed star is carved on the back, right hand broken, broken ribs" (KGB archive at the Council of Ministers of the USSR).
Lida Androsova, 18 years old
"... extracted without an eye, an ear, a hand, with a rope around the neck, which strongly cut into the body. Baked blood is visible on the neck" (Museum "Young Guard", f. 1, d. 16).
Anya Sopova, 18 years old
"They beat her, hung her by her scythes ... They lifted Anya from the pit with one scythe - the other broke off."
Shura Bondareva, 20 years old
"... extracted without a head and right breast, the whole body is beaten, bruised, has a black color."
Lyuba Shevtsova, 18 years old (in the photo, first from the left in the second row)
Lyuba Shevtsova, 18 years old
On February 9, 1943, after a month of torture, she was shot in the Thundering Forest near the city, along with Oleg Koshev, S. Ostapenko, D. Ogurtsov and V. Subbotin.
Angelina Samoshina, 18 years old.
"Traces of torture were found on Angelina's body: her arms were twisted, her ears were cut off, a star was carved on her cheek" (RGASPI. F. M-1. Op. 53. D. 331)
Shura Dubrovina, 23 years old
“Two images stand before my eyes: the cheerful young Komsomol member Shura Dubrovina and the mutilated body raised from the mine. I saw her corpse only with the lower jaw. Her girlfriend, Maya Peglivanova, lay in a coffin without eyes, without lips, with twisted arms ... "
Maya Peglivanova, 17 years old
"Maya's corpse is disfigured: her breasts are cut off, her legs are broken. All outer clothing has been removed." (RGASPI. F. M-1. Op. 53. D. 331) In the coffin she lay without lips, with twisted arms.
Tonya Ivanikhina, 19 years old
"... extracted without eyes, the head is tied with a scarf and wire, the breasts are cut out."
Serezha Tyulenin, 17 years old
"On January 27, 1943, Sergei was arrested. Soon his father and mother were taken away, all his belongings were confiscated. In the police, Sergei was severely tortured in the presence of his mother, they confronted Viktor Lukyancheiko, a member of the Young Guard, but they did not recognize each other.
On January 31, Sergei was tortured for the last time, and then, half-dead, he, along with other comrades, was taken to the pit of mine No. 5 ... "
The funeral of Sergei Tyulenin
Nina Minaeva, 18 years old
"... My sister was recognized by the woolen gaiters - the only clothes that remained on her. Nina's hands were broken, one eye was knocked out, there were shapeless wounds on her chest, her whole body was in black stripes ..."
Tosya Eliseenko, 22 years old
"The corpse of Tosi was disfigured, torturing her, they put her on a red-hot stove."
Victor Tretyakevich, 18 years old
"... Among the latter, Viktor Tretyakevich was raised. His father, Iosif Kuzmich, in a thin patched coat, stood day after day, grabbing a pole, not taking his eyes off the pit. And when they recognized his son, - without a face, with a black with a blue back, with shattered arms, - he, as if knocked down, fell to the ground. No traces of bullets were found on Victor's body - which means they threw him alive ... "
Oleg Koshevoy, 16 years old
When arrests began in January 1943, he made an attempt to cross the front line. However, he is forced to return to the city. Near the railway station Kortushino was captured by the Nazis and sent first to the police, and then to the district office of the Gestapo in Rovenka. After terrible torture, together with L.G. Shevtsova, S.M. Ostapenko, D.U. Ogurtsov and V.F. Subbotin, on February 9, 1943, he was shot in the Thundering Forest near the city.
Boris Glavan, 22 years old
"From the pit, he was taken face to face with barbed wire connected with Yevgeny Shepelev, his hands were cut off. His face was mutilated, his stomach was ripped open."
Evgeny Shepelev, 19 years old
"...Eugene's hands were cut off, his stomach was pulled out, his head was smashed...." (RGASPI. F. M-1. Op. 53. D. 331)
Volodya Zhdanov, 17 years old
"Extracted with a lacerated wound in the left temporal region, the fingers are broken and twisted, there are bruises under the nails, two strips three centimeters wide, twenty-five centimeters long are cut on the back, the eyes are gouged out and the ears are cut off" (Museum "Young Guard", f. 1, d .36)
Klava Kovaleva, 17 years old
"... removed swollen, cut off the right breast, the soles of the feet were burned, cut off left hand, the head is tied with a handkerchief, traces of beatings are visible on the body. It was found ten meters from the trunk, between the trolleys, it was probably thrown alive" (Museum "Young Guard", f. 1, d. 10)
Evgeny Moshkov, 22 years old (pictured left)
"... Communist Young Guard Yevgeny Moshkov, having chosen a good moment during interrogation, hit the policeman. Then the fascist beasts hung Moshkov by his legs and held him in that position until blood gushed from his nose and throat. They removed him and again they began to interrogate. But Moshkov only spat in the face of the executioner. The enraged investigator, who tortured Moshkov, hit him with a bang. Exhausted by torture, the communist hero fell, hitting the back of his head on the door frame and died. "
Volodya Osmukhin, 18 years old
“When I saw Vovochka, disfigured, almost completely without a head, without his left arm to the elbow, I thought I would go crazy. I didn’t believe that it was him. He was in one sock, and the other leg was completely bare. warm. No outer clothing. The hungry animals took off.
Head is broken. The back of the head fell out completely, only the face remained, on which only Volodya's teeth remained. Everything else is ruined. The lips are distorted, the nose is almost completely absent. My grandmother and I washed Vovochka, dressed her, decorated her with flowers. A wreath was nailed to the coffin. Let the road rest in peace."
Ulyana Gromova's parents
Uli's last letter
The funeral of the young guards, 1943
In 1993, a press conference was held in Lugansk by a special commission to study the history of the Young Guard. As Izvestiya wrote then (05/12/1993), after two years of work, the commission gave its assessment of the versions that had excited the public for almost half a century. The conclusions of the researchers were reduced to several fundamental points.
In July-August 1942, after the capture of the Luhansk region by the Nazis, many underground youth groups spontaneously arose in the mining Krasnodon and the surrounding villages. They, according to the memoirs of contemporaries, were called "Star", "Sickle", "Hammer", etc. However, there is no need to talk about any party leadership. In October 1942, Viktor Tretyakevich united them into the Young Guard.
It was he, and not Oleg Koshevoy, who, according to the findings of the commission, became the commissioner of the underground organization. There were almost twice as many members of the "Young Guard" as later recognized by the competent authorities. The guys fought in a partisan way, risky, carrying big losses, and this, as was noted at the press conference, ultimately led to the failure of the organization.
“…. Blessed memory to these girls and boys… who were infinitely stronger… all of us, millions, combined.…”
