The period of modern national history, called "perestroika", skated through not only the living, but also the heroes of the past.

The debunking of the heroes of the revolution and the Great Patriotic War in those years was put on stream. This cup also did not pass the underground workers from the "Young Guard" organization. "The debunkers of Soviet myths" poured a huge amount of slop on the young anti-fascists destroyed by the Nazis.

The essence of the "revelations" boiled down to the fact that no organization "Young Guard" supposedly existed, and if it did exist, then its contribution to the fight against the Nazis was so insignificant that it was not worth talking about.

More than others got Oleg Koshevoy, who in Soviet historiography was called the commissioner of the organization. Apparently, the reason for the special hostility towards him on the part of the “whistleblowers” ​​was precisely the status of the “commissar”.

It was even claimed that in Krasnodon itself, where the organization operated, no one knew about Koshevoy, that his mother, who was a wealthy woman even before the war, earned on the posthumous fame of her son, that for this she identified the corpse of some old man instead of Oleg's body ...

Elena Nikolaevna Koshevaya, Oleg's mother, is not the only one on whom they wiped their feet in the late 1980s. In the same tone and almost the same words they insulted Lyubov Timofeevna Kosmodemyanskaya- mother of two Heroes of the Soviet Union who died during the war, - Zoe and Alexandra Kosmodemyanskikh.

Those who stamped on the memory of heroes and their mothers still work in the Russian media, wear high degrees of candidates and doctors of historical sciences and feel great ...

"The arms are twisted, the ears are cut off, a star is carved on the cheek ..."

Meanwhile, the real story of the "Young Guard" is captured in the documents and testimonies of witnesses who survived the Nazi occupation.

Among the testimonies of the true history of the "Young Guard" are the protocols of the examination of the corpses of the Young Guard, raised from the pit of mine No. 5. And these protocols best of all speak of what the young anti-fascists had to endure before their death.

The shaft of the mine where the members of the underground organization "Young Guard" were executed by the Nazis. Photo: RIA Novosti

« Ulyana Gromova, 19 years old, a five-pointed star is carved on the back, the right arm is broken, the ribs are broken ... "

« Lida Androsova, 18 years old, extracted without an eye, ear, hand, with a rope around its neck, which cut hard into the body. Clotted blood is visible on the neck. "

« Angelina Samoshina, 18 years. Traces of torture were found on the body: hands were twisted, ears were cut off, a star was carved on the cheek ... "

« Maya Peglivanova, 17 years. The corpse is disfigured: the breasts and lips are cut off, the legs are broken. All outer clothing was taken off. "

« Shura Bondareva, 20 years old, extracted without a head and right breast, the whole body is beaten, bruised, has a black color ”.

« Victor Tretyakevich, 18 years. Extracted without a face, with a black and blue back, with crushed hands. " Experts did not find bullet marks on Viktor Tretyakevich's body - he was among those who were thrown into the mine alive ...

Oleg Koshevoy together with Any Shevtsova and several more Young Guards was executed in the Thundering Forest near the town of Rovenka.

The fight against fascism is a matter of honor

Ivan Turkenich, commander of the Young Guard. 1943 year. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

So what was the Young Guard organization and what role did Oleg Koshevoy play in its history?

The miners' town of Krasnodon, in which the Young Guards operated, is located 50 kilometers from Lugansk, which was called Voroshilovgrad during the war.

In Krasnodon, at the turn of the 1930-1940s, there lived a lot of working youth, brought up in the spirit of Soviet ideology. For young pioneers and Komsomol members, participation in the fight against the Nazis who occupied Krasnodon in July 1942 was a matter of honor.

Almost immediately after the occupation of the city, several underground youth groups formed independently of each other, which were joined by the Red Army soldiers who had escaped from captivity who found themselves in Krasnodon.

One of these Red Army soldiers was a lieutenant Ivan Turkenich, elected as the commander of a united underground organization created by young anti-fascists in Krasnodon and named "Young Guard". The creation of the united organization took place at the end of September 1942. Among those who entered the headquarters of the "Young Guard" was Oleg Koshevoy.

An exemplary student and good friend

Oleg Koshevoy was born in the city of Priluki, in the Chernihiv region, on June 8, 1926. Then Oleg's family moved to Poltava, and later to Rzhishchev. Oleg's parents separated, and from 1937 to 1940 he lived with his father in the city of Anthracite. In 1940, Oleg's mother, Elena Nikolaevna, moved to Krasnodon to live with her mother. Soon Oleg also moved to Krasnodon.

Oleg, according to the testimony of most of those who knew him before the war, was a real role model. He studied well, was fond of drawing, wrote poetry, went in for sports, danced well. In the spirit of that time, Koshevoy was engaged in shooting and fulfilled the standard for obtaining the Voroshilovsky shooter badge. After learning to swim, he began helping others and soon became a lifeguard.

Commissioner and member of the headquarters of the underground Komsomol organization "Young Guard" Oleg Koshevoy. Photo: RIA Novosti

At school, Oleg helped the laggards, sometimes taking "in tow" five people who were not doing well in their studies.

When the war began, Koshevoy, who, among other things, was also the editor of the school wall newspaper, began to help the wounded soldiers in the hospital, which was located in Krasnodon, published the satirical newspaper Krokodil for them, prepared reports from the front.

Oleg had a very warm relationship with his mother, who supported him in all his endeavors; friends often gathered in the Koshevs' house.

Oleg's school friends from the Gorky school No. 1 in Krasnodon became members of his underground group, which in September 1942 joined the Young Guard.

He could not do otherwise ...

Oleg Koshevoy, who turned 16 in June 1942, was not supposed to stay in Krasnodon - just before the Nazis took the city, he was sent to evacuation. However, it was not possible to go far, since the Germans advanced faster. Koshevoy returned to Krasnodon. “He was gloomy, blackened with grief. A smile no longer appeared on his face, he walked from corner to corner, depressed and silent, did not know what to put his hands on. What was happening around, no longer amazed, but with terrible anger crushed the soul of his son, ”recalled Oleg's mother Elena Nikolaevna.

During perestroika times, some “rippers of the veil” put forward the following thesis: those who, before the war, declared their loyalty to communist ideals, during the years of severe ordeals, thought only about saving their own lives at any cost.

Based on this logic, the exemplary pioneer Oleg Koshevoy, who was admitted to the Komsomol in March 1942, had to hide and try not to attract attention to himself. In fact, everything was different - Koshevoy, having survived the first shock from the spectacle of his city in the hands of the invaders, begins to gather a group of his friends to fight the Nazis. In September, the group assembled by Koshev becomes part of the Young Guard.

Oleg Koshevoy was involved in planning the operations of the Young Guard, he himself took part in actions, was responsible for liaising with other underground groups operating in the vicinity of Krasnodon.

A still from the film "Young Guard" (director Sergei Gerasimov, 1948). The scene before the execution. Photo: Still from the film

Red banner over Krasnodon

The activities of the "Young Guard", which consisted of about 100 people, may really seem to someone not the most impressive. During their work, the Young Guards issued and distributed about 5 thousand leaflets calling for the fight against the Nazis and with messages about what is happening on the fronts. In addition, they committed a number of sabotage actions, such as destroying grain prepared for export to Germany, dispersing a herd of cattle, which was intended for the needs of the German army, and blowing up a passenger car with German officers. One of the most successful actions of the Young Guard was the arson of the Krasnodon labor exchange, as a result of which the lists of those whom the Nazis intended to hijack to work in Germany were destroyed. Thanks to this, about 2,000 people were saved from Nazi slavery.

On the night of November 6-7, 1942, the Young Guards hung out red flags in Krasnodon in honor of the anniversary of the October Revolution. The action was a real challenge to the invaders, a demonstration that their power in Krasnodon would be short-lived.

The red flags in Krasnodon had a strong propaganda effect, which was appreciated not only by residents, but also by the Nazis themselves, who intensified the search for underground fighters.

The "Young Guard" consisted of young Komsomol members who had no experience of conducting illegal work, and it was extremely difficult for them to resist the powerful apparatus of Hitler's counterintelligence.

One of the last actions of the Young Guard was a raid on cars with New Year's gifts for German soldiers. The underground workers intended to use the gifts for their own purposes. January 1, 1943 two members of the organization, Evgeny Moshkov and Victor Tretyakevich were arrested after sacks stolen from German cars were found.

German counterintelligence, seizing on this thread and using previously obtained data, within a few days revealed almost the entire underground network of Young Guards. Mass arrests began.

Koshevoy issued a Komsomol ticket

Mother of the Hero of the Soviet Union, partisan Oleg Koshevoy, Elena Nikolaevna Koshevaya. Photo: RIA Novosti / M. Gershman

Those who were not arrested immediately, the headquarters gave the only order possible under these conditions - to leave immediately. Oleg Koshevoy was among those who managed to get out of Krasnodon.

The Nazis, who had already testified that Koshevoy was the commissar of the Young Guard, detained Oleg's mother and grandmother. Elena Nikolaevna Kosheva was injured during interrogation and her teeth were knocked out ...

As already mentioned, no one prepared the Young Guard for underground work. This is largely why most of those who managed to leave Krasnodon were unable to cross the front line. Oleg, after an unsuccessful attempt on January 11, 1943, returned to Krasnodon to go to the front line the next day.

He was detained by the field gendarmerie near the town of Rovenka. They did not know Koshevoy in the face, and he could well have avoided exposure, if not for a mistake that is completely impossible for a professional illegal intelligence officer. During the search, they found a Komsomol ticket sewn into his clothes, as well as several other documents exposing him as a member of the Young Guard. According to the requirements of the conspiracy, Koshevoy was supposed to get rid of all the documents, but boyish pride for Oleg turned out to be above common sense.

It is easy to condemn the mistakes of the Young Guard, but after all, we are talking about very young boys and girls, almost adolescents, and not about seasoned professionals.

"I had to shoot at him twice ..."

The invaders did not show leniency to the members of the "Young Guard". The Nazis and their accomplices subjected the underground workers to sophisticated torture. Oleg Koshevoy did not pass this fate either.

He, as a "commissar", was tormented with special zeal. When the grave with the bodies of the Young Guards executed in the Thundering Forest was discovered, it turned out that 16-year-old Oleg Koshevoy was gray-haired ...

The Young Guard commissar was shot on February 9, 1943. From the testimony Schultz- the gendarme of the German district gendarmerie in the city of Rovenki: “At the end of January I took part in the shooting of a group of members of the underground Komsomol organization“ Young Guard ”, including the leader of this organization, Koshevoy ... I remember him especially clearly because I had to shoot at him twice. After the shots, all the prisoners fell to the ground and lay motionless, only Koshevoy got up and, turning, looked in our direction. It made me very angry Fromme and he ordered the gendarme Drewitz finish it off. Drevitz went up to the lying Koshevoy and killed him with a shot in the back of the head ... "

Schoolchildren at the pit of mine No. 5 in Krasnodon - the place of execution of the Young Guard. Photo: RIA Novosti / Datsyuk

Oleg Koshevoy died just five days before the city of Krasnodon was liberated by the Red Army.

The "Young Guard" became widely known in the USSR because the history of its activities, unlike many other similar organizations, was documented. The persons who betrayed, tortured and executed the Young Guard were identified, exposed and convicted.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated September 13, 1943 to the Young Guards Ulyana Gromova, Ivan Zemnukhov, Oleg Koshevoy, Sergei Tyulenin, Lyubov Shevtsova was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. 3 participants of the "Young Guard" 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.

Reproduction of portraits of the leaders of the underground Komsomol organization "Young Guard". Photo: RIA Novosti

"Blood for blood! Death for death! "

The commander of the "Young Guard" Ivan Turkenich was among the few who managed to cross the front line. He returned to Krasnodon after the liberation of the city as the commander of a mortar battery of the 163rd Guards Rifle Regiment.

In the ranks of the Red Army, he went from Krasnodon further to the west, to take revenge on the Nazis for his killed comrades.

On August 13, 1944, Captain Ivan Turkenich was mortally wounded in the battle for the Polish city of Glogów. The command of the unit nominated him for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but it was awarded to Ivan Vasilyevich Turkenich much later - only on May 5, 1990.

"Krasnodontsy". Sokolov-Skalya, 1948 reproduction of the painting

Oath of the members of the organization "Young Guard":

“I, joining the ranks of the Young Guard, in front of my friends in arms, in front of my native long-suffering land, in front of all the people, solemnly swear:

Unquestioningly carry out any task given to me by my senior comrade. To keep in the deepest secrecy everything related to my work in the "Young Guard".

I swear to avenge mercilessly for the burned, devastated cities and villages, for the blood of our people, for the martyrdom of thirty hero miners. And if this revenge takes my life, I will give it without a moment of hesitation.

If I break this sacred oath under torture or out of cowardice, then may my name, my relatives be cursed forever, and may I myself be punished by the stern hand of my comrades.

Blood for blood! Death for death! "

Oleg Koshevoy continued his war with the Nazis after his death. Aircraft of the squadron of the 171st Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 315th Fighter Aviation Division under the command of the captain Ivana Vishnyakova carried the inscription “For Oleg Koshevoy!” on their fuselages. The squadron pilots destroyed several dozen fascist aircraft, and Ivan Vishnyakov himself was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Monument "Oath" in Krasnodon, dedicated to members of the underground Komsomol organization "Young Guard". Photo: RIA Novosti / Tyurin

Original taken here

YOUNG GUARD

"On February 9, 1943, in the town of Rovenki in the Thundering Forest, the last of the arrested Young Guard members were shot - Oleg Koshevoy, Lyubov Shevtsova, Semyon Ostapenko, Dmitry Ogurtsov, Viktor Subbotin. All the Young Guard members were tortured and tortured before death.

This mining town of Eastern Ukraine was under fascist occupation for seven months. Seven months of grief, tears, deaths brought by enemies-destroyers, and unparalleled courage, honor, self-sacrifice, patriotism of the Soviet people.

Soon, the underground organization “Young Guard” will be recognized throughout the Soviet Union. And in those February days, seven decades ago, Krasnodon residents were happy to get rid of the occupation. And, as in hundreds and hundreds of liberated Soviet cities and villages, they recorded the first terrible results of the fascist invasion, and calculated the losses. Krasnodon buried its heroes, martyrs, their children ...

More than seventy bodies were recovered from one mine alone. Men, women, boys, girls. “On January 15, 16 and 31, on a dark night, after repeated cruel tortures, the German fascists and traitors to the Motherland shot, and partly threw 71 Soviet citizens into the pit of mine No. 5 alive. Of these, Komsomol members, members of the Young Guard organization, who fought against the fascist invaders, there were 49 people, "- said in the" Act of the regional commission to investigate the atrocities of the German fascists in the Krasnodon region, committed in the period from July 10, 1942 to February 14. 1943 ".

“Androsova Lidia Makarovna - born in 1924. Extracted without an eye, ear, hand, with a rope around its neck, which cut hard into the body ... Gromova Ulyana Matveevna - born in 1924. A five-pointed star is carved on the back, the right arm is broken, the ribs are broken ... Zemnukhov Ivan Alexandrovich - born in 1923. Extracted headless, beaten. The foot of the left leg and the left arm at the elbow are twisted ... Oleg Vasilievich Koshevoy - born in 1926. The body bore traces of inhuman torture: there was no eye, there was a wound in the cheek, the back of the head was knocked out, the hair on the temples was gray ... Lukyanchenko Viktor Dmitrievich - born in 1927. Extracted without hand, eye, nose. "

Vitya Lukyanchenko was detained for the first time on 12 January. But the police did not have any evidence of his affiliation with the Young Guard. As his mother Anastasia Prokofievna said, a few days later he was released badly beaten. She begged her son to leave the city, to wait out the terrible times, but he invariably answered: "Mom, do they really run away from the front?" On January 27 at night Viktor was arrested again, and on January 31, after cruel torture, he was shot.

15-year-old Semyon Ostapenko, who joined the Komsomol already as an underground Young Guard, was captured on January 27, 1943. On February 9, together with Oleg Koshev, Lyuba Shevtsova, Dmitry Ogurtsov and Viktor Subbotin, the Nazis shot him in the Thundering Forest. They were the last of the executed Young Guards. In the dungeons, where the underground fighters were tortured and tortured, the cannonade of the approaching battles was already clearly heard, the guys understood that the expulsion of the fascists was a matter of a matter of days. How scary it must be to die, realizing that salvation is very close. But this gave strength, instilled courage: it was not in vain, the struggle was not in vain, the enemy would answer in full for their torment, their young torn lives.

And so it happened. The fallen heroes of the Young Guard, together with the living, fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, restored their hometown and the whole country after the Victory, together with new generations they strove for great achievements. Just as the beloved hero, Pavka Korchagin, helped the 16-year-old Young Guard commissar Oleg Koshevoy in battles and trials, so Oleg himself and his underground friends were an example for millions of Soviet people.

THREE DECADES ago, who of the then schoolchildren did not know the names of Seryozha Tyulenin, Lyuba Shevtsova, Ulyana Gromova, Ivan Zemnukhov, Volodya Osmukhin?

It is bitter to realize, but surely those who, at the turn of the nineties, became the destroyers of the Soviet Union, read books and watched films about the "Young Guard" (or even spoke lofty words about heroism). This destruction would have been impossible without a blow to Soviet heroes, symbols and legends.

No wonder so much lies and filth were poured out by the newly-minted anti-Soviets on Alexander Matrosov, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, the Young Guard. They, who died heroically, were attempted a second time: they say, there was no heroic deed, and if there was, it was in vain and senseless. Just think, five thousand leaflets were distributed, a red flag was hung in the center of the occupied city, the labor exchange was burned and thus two thousand people were saved from being hijacked to Germany! They didn't save themselves, why sacrifice yourself for the sake of the "chimera of patriotism"?

But it soon became clear that without sincere love for the Motherland, without the ability to self-sacrifice, society and the state are degrading ...

“If they ruin us on our native land, there is no need for tears and don’t waste candles, replace the grave cross with a star, write“ I was a Komsomol member! ” - these lines were written by 18-year-old Nina Gerasimova, a future underground worker, in the first days of the occupation of Krasnodon. A year ago, on the seventieth anniversary of the death of Nina and her Komsomol friends, there were candles and tears. But the main thing is to have a grateful and honest memory. Then there is hope to cope with the current detractors and destroyers!

Ekaterina POLGUEVA
["The Mirror of History" - VKontakte, 02/09/2015]

"Ulyana Matveyevna Gromova was born on January 3, 1924 in the village of Pervomayke, Krasnodon District. The family had five children, Ulya is the youngest. Father, Matvey Maksimovich, often told children about the glory of Russian weapons, about famous military leaders, about past battles and campaigns, raising children are proud of their people and their homeland.Mother, Matryona Savelyevna, knew many songs, epics, was a real folk storyteller.
In 1932, Ulyana went to the first class of May Day School No. 6. She studied excellently, passed from class to class with Certificates of Merit. “Gromova is rightfully considered the best student of the class and school, - said the former director of secondary school № 6 I. A. Shkreba. - Of course, she has excellent abilities, high development, but the main role belongs to work - persistent and systematic. She studies with a soul, Thanks to this, Gromova's knowledge is broader, her understanding of phenomena is deeper than that of many of her fellow practitioners. "
Ulyana read a lot, was a passionate admirer of M. Yu. Lermontov and T. G. Shevchenko, A. M. Gorky and Jack London. She kept a diary, where she entered the expressions she liked from the books she had just read.

In 1939, Gromova was elected a member of the Uchkom. In March 1940, she joined the ranks of the Komsomol. With the first Komsomol assignment - a leader in a pioneer detachment - she successfully coped. I carefully prepared for each gathering, made clippings from newspapers and magazines, selected children's poems and stories.

Ulyana was a tenth grader when the Great Patriotic War began. By this time, as I. A. Shkreba recalled, "she had already developed firm concepts of duty, honor, morality. This is a strong-willed nature." She was distinguished by a wonderful sense of friendship, collectivism. Together with her peers, Ulya worked in the collective farm fields, looked after the wounded in the hospital. In 1942 she graduated from high school.

During the occupation, Anatoly Popov and Ulyana Gromova organized a patriotic youth group in the village of Pervomayka, which became part of the Young Guard. Gromova was elected a member of the headquarters of the underground Komsomol organization. She takes an active part in the preparation of military operations of the Young Guards, distributes leaflets, collects medicines, works among the population, agitating Krasnodon residents to thwart the occupants' plans to supply food, to recruit young people to Germany.
On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Great October Revolution, together with Anatoly Popov, Ulyana hung a red flag on the pipe of mine No. 1 bis.
Ulyana Gromova was a decisive, courageous underground worker, distinguished by her firm convictions, the ability to instill confidence in others. These qualities manifested themselves with particular force in the most tragic period of her life, when in January 1943 she was sent to the Nazi torture chambers. As Valeria Borts' mother recalls, Maria Andreevna, Ulyana spoke with conviction about the fight in the cell: “We must not bend in any conditions, in any situation, but find a way out and fight. ".

Ulyana Gromova behaved with dignity during interrogations, refusing to give any testimony about the activities of the underground.
"... They hung Ulyana Gromova by her hair, cut out a five-pointed star on her back, cut off her chest, burned her body with a hot iron and sprinkled her wounds with salt, put them on a hot stove. The torture continued for a long time and mercilessly, but she was silent. When, after another beatings, the investigator Cherenkov asked Ulyana why she was behaving so defiantly, the girl replied: “I didn’t join the organization in order to ask your forgiveness later; I only regret one thing, that we had little time to do! But nothing, maybe the Red Army will still have time to rescue us! ... "From the book of AF Gordeev" Feat in the name of life "
After brutal torture on January 16, 1943, she was executed by the executioners and thrown into the pit of mine No. 5.
"Ulyana Gromova, 19 years old, a five-pointed star was carved on her back, her right arm was broken, her ribs were broken" (Archives of the KGB under the USSR Council of Ministers, files 100-275, vol. 8).
She was buried in the mass grave of heroes in the central square of the city of Krasnodon.
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 13, 1943, a member of the headquarters of the underground Komsomol organization "Young Guard" Ulyana Matveevna Gromova was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. "

["The Mirror of History" - VKontakte, 09/30/2013]

"Young guard"

The heroic story of the underground organization of Krasnodon youths and girls who fought against the Nazis and laid down their heads in this struggle was known to every Soviet person. Now this story is remembered much less often ...

The famous novel played a huge role in the glorification of the feat of the Young Guard Alexandra Fadeeva and the film of the same name Sergey Gerasimov... In the 90s of the last century, people began to forget about the "Young Guard": Fadeev's novel was removed from the school curriculum, and the story itself was declared almost an invention of Soviet propagandists.

Meanwhile, in the name of freedom of their homeland, young men and women of Krasnodon fought against the German invaders, showing fortitude and heroism, withstood torture and abuse and died very young. It is impossible to forget about their feat, says the doctor of historical sciences Nina PETROVA- the compiler of the collection of documents "The true history of the" Young Guard "".

Almost everyone died ...

- Did the study of the heroic history of the Krasnodon Komsomol underground begin during the war years?

- In the Soviet Union, it was officially believed that 3350 Komsomol and youth underground organizations operated in the temporarily occupied territory. But we do not know the history of each of them. For example, practically nothing is known about the youth organization that emerged in the city of Stalino (now Donetsk). And the Young Guards really were in the spotlight. It was the largest organization in terms of numbers, almost all of whose members died.

Soon after the liberation of Krasnodon on February 14, 1943, Soviet and party organs began collecting information about the Young Guard. Already on March 31, the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR Vasily Sergienko reported on the activities of this organization to the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine Nikita Khrushchev... Khrushchev brought the information received to the attention of Joseph Stalin, and the history of the "Young Guard" received wide publicity, they started talking about it. And in July 1943, based on the results of a trip to Krasnodon, the deputy head of the special department of the Central Committee of the Komsomol Anatoly Toritsyn(later Major General of the KGB) and instructor of the Central Committee N. Sokolov prepared a memorandum on the emergence and activities of the "Young Guard".

- How and when did this organization appear?

- Krasnodon is a small mining town. Mining villages grew up around it - Pervomayka, Semeikino and others. At the end of July 1942 Krasnodon was occupied. It is officially recognized that the "Young Guard" appeared at the end of September. But it must be borne in mind that small youth underground organizations appeared not only in the city, but also in the villages. And at first they were not related to each other.

I believe that the process of forming the "Young Guard" began at the end of August and was completed by November 7. The documents contain information that in August an attempt to unite the youth of Krasnodon was made Sergey Tyulenin... According to the recollections of the teachers, Sergei was a very proactive young man, thoughtful, serious. He loved literature, dreamed of becoming a pilot.

In September in Krasnodon appeared Victor Tretyakevich... His family came from Voroshilovgrad (now Lugansk). Tretyakevich was left underground by the regional committee of the Komsomol and immediately began to play a leading role in the activities of the underground organization of Krasnodon. By that time, he had already managed to fight in a partisan detachment ...

- Disputes about how responsibilities were distributed at the headquarters of the organization have not subsided for more than 70 years. Who headed the "Young Guard" - Viktor Tretyakevich or Oleg Koshevoy? As far as I understand, even the few surviving Young Guards expressed different opinions on this matter ...

– Oleg Koshevoy was a 16-year-old boy , who joined the Komsomol in 1942. How could he create such a militant organization when older people were around? How could Koshevoy seize the initiative from Tretyakevich, having come to the "Young Guard" later than him?

We can confidently say that Tretyakevich, a member of the Komsomol since January 1939, led the organization. Ivan Turkenich, who served in the Red Army, was much older than Koshevoy. He managed to avoid arrest in January 1943, spoke at the funeral of the Young Guard and managed to tell about the activities of the organization in hot pursuit. Turkenich died during the liberation of Poland. From his repeated official statements, it followed that Koshevoy had appeared in the "Young Guard" on the eve of November 7, 1942. True, after some time Oleg really became the secretary of the Komsomol organization, collected membership fees, took part in some actions. But he was not the leader after all.

- How many people were in the underground organization?

- There is still no consensus on this. In Soviet times, for some reason, it was believed that the more underground members, the better. But, as a rule, the larger the underground organization, the more difficult it is to maintain conspiracy. And the failure of the Young Guard is an example of this. If we take the official data on the number, then they range from 70 to 100 people. Some local researchers speak of 130 Young Guards.

Advertising poster for the film "Young Guard" directed by Sergei Gerasimov. 1947 year

In addition, the question arises: who should be considered members of the "Young Guard"? Only those who worked in it constantly, or also those who helped occasionally, performing one-time assignments? There were people who sympathized with the Young Guard, but personally did nothing within the organization, or did very little. Should we consider those who, during the occupation, wrote and distributed only a few leaflets, as underground workers? This question arose after the war, when it became prestigious to be a Young Guard, and people whose participation in the organization was previously unknown began to apply with a request to confirm their membership in the Young Guard.

- What ideas and motives were at the heart of the activities of the Young Guard?

- Young men and women grew up in families of miners, were educated in Soviet schools, were brought up in a patriotic spirit. They loved literature - both Russian and Ukrainian. They wanted to convey to their fellow countrymen the truth about the true state of affairs at the front, to dispel the myth of the invincibility of Hitlerite Germany. Therefore, leaflets were distributed. The guys were eager to do something to harm the enemies.

- What damage did the Young Guards inflict on the invaders? What are they credited with?

- The Young Guards, not thinking about what their descendants will call them and whether they are doing everything right, just did what they could, what they could do. They burned down the building of the German labor exchange with lists of those who were going to be hijacked to Germany. By the decision of the headquarters of the "Young Guard", over 80 Soviet prisoners of war were released from the concentration camp, a herd of 500 heads of cattle was beaten off. In the grain that was prepared for shipment to Germany, bugs were launched - this led to the spoilage of several tons of grain. The young men attacked the motorcyclists: they obtained weapons in order to begin an open armed struggle at the right moment.

SMALL CELLS ARE CREATED IN DIFFERENT LOCATIONS OF KRASNODON AND IN THE REGIONAL VILLAGES... They were divided into fives. The members of each five knew each other, but they could not know the composition of the entire organization

Members of the "Young Guard" exposed the misinformation spread by the occupiers, instilled in the people faith in the inevitable defeat of the invaders. Members of the organization wrote by hand or printed leaflets in a primitive printing house, distributed reports of the Sovinformburo. In the leaflets, the Young Guards revealed the lies of fascist propaganda, tried to tell the truth about the Soviet Union, about the Red Army. In the first months of the occupation, the Germans, calling young people to work in Germany, promised a good life for everyone there. And some succumbed to these promises. It was important to dispel illusions.

On the night of November 7, 1942, the guys hung red flags on the buildings of schools, gendarmerie and other institutions. The flags were hand-sewn by girls from white fabric, then painted in scarlet - a color that symbolized freedom for the Young Guards. On New Year's Eve, 1943, members of the organization attacked a German car carrying gifts and mail for the invaders. The guys took the presents with them, burned the mail, and hid the rest.

Unconquered. Hood. F.T. Kostenko

- How long did the Young Guard operate?

- The arrests began immediately after Catholic Christmas - at the end of December 1942. Accordingly, the period of active activity of the organization lasted for about three months.

Young Guards. Biographical sketches about members of the Krasnodon party and Komsomol underground / Comp. R.M. Pharmacist, A.G. Nikitenko. Donetsk, 1981

The true story of the "Young Guard" / Comp. N.K. Petrov. M., 2015

Who betrayed after all?

- Different people were blamed for the failure of the Young Guard. Is it possible today to draw final conclusions and name the one who betrayed the underground fighters to the enemy and is guilty of their death?

- He was declared a traitor in 1943 Gennady Pocheptsov, whom Tretyakevich accepted into the organization. However, 15-year-old Pocheptsov had nothing to do with the governing bodies and was not even very active in the "Young Guard". He could not know all of its members. Even Turkenich and Koshevoy did not know everyone. This was hindered by the very principle of building an organization proposed by Tretyakevich. Small cells were created in different parts of Krasnodon and in the surrounding villages. They were divided into fives. The members of each five knew each other, but they could not know the composition of the entire organization.

Testimony against Pocheptsov was given by a former lawyer of the Krasnodon city government who collaborated with the Germans Mikhail Kuleshov- during the occupation, an investigator of the district police. He stated that on December 24 or 25 he entered the office of the Krasnodon District Commandant and the local police chief Vasily Solikovsky and saw Pocheptsov's statement on his desk. Then they said that the young man, allegedly through his stepfather, handed over to the police a list of Young Guards. But where is this list? Nobody saw him. Pocheptsov's stepfather, Vasily Gromov, after the release of Krasnodon, testified that he did not carry any list to the police. Despite this, on September 19, 1943, Pocheptsov, his stepfather Gromov and Kuleshov were publicly shot. Before the execution, a 15-year-old boy rolled on the ground and shouted that he was not guilty ...

- And now there is an established point of view about who was the traitor?

- There are two points of view. According to the first version, he betrayed Pocheptsov. According to the second, the failure happened not because of betrayal, but because of poor conspiracy. Vasily Levashov and some other survivors of the Young Guard claimed that if it had not been for the attack on the car with Christmas gifts, the organization could have survived. Boxes with canned food, sweets, biscuits, cigarettes, and other things were stolen from the car. All this was carried home. Valeria Borts took her raccoon coat. When the arrests began, Valeria's mother cut her fur coat into small pieces, which she then destroyed.

Young underground fighters got caught on cigarettes. I sold them Mitrofan Puzyrev... The police were also on the trail of candy wrappers, which the guys threw anywhere. And so the arrests began even before the new year. So, I think, the organization was ruined by non-observance of the rules of conspiracy, the naivety and gullibility of some of its members.

Everyone was arrested before Evgeniya Moshkova- the only communist among the Young Guard; he was brutally tortured. On January 1, they took Ivan Zemnukhov and Viktor Tretyakevich.

After the liberation of Krasnodon, there were rumors that Tretyakevich allegedly could not stand the torture and betrayed his comrades. But there is no documentary evidence for this. And many facts do not fit with the version of Tretyakevich's betrayal. He was one of the first to be arrested and until the very day of his execution, that is, for two weeks, he was brutally tortured. Why, if he has already named everyone? It is also unclear why the Young Guards were taken in groups. The last group was taken on the night of January 30-31, 1943 - a month after Tretyakevich himself was arrested. According to the testimony of the Nazi accomplices who tortured the Young Guard, the torture did not break Viktor.

Contradicting the version of his betrayal and the fact that Tretyakevich was thrown into the mine first and still alive. It is known that at the last moment he tried to drag Zons, the chief of the police Solikovsky and the chief of the German gendarmerie Zons, into the pit with him. For this, Victor received a blow to the head with the handle of a pistol.

During the arrests and the investigation, policemen Solikovsky, Zakharov, as well as Plokhikh and Sevastyanov tried their best. They disfigured Ivan Zemnukhov beyond recognition. Evgeny Moshkov was doused with water, taken out into the street, then put on the stove, and then again led for interrogation. Sergei Tyulenin was cauterized by a wound on his arm with a red-hot rod. When Sergei's fingers stuck in the door and closed it, he screamed and, unable to bear the pain, lost consciousness. Ulyana Gromova was hung from the ceiling by braids. They broke their ribs, chopped off their fingers, gouged out their eyes ...

Ulyana Gromova (1924-1943). The girl's suicide letter became known thanks to her friend Vera Krotova, after the liberation of Krasnodon, she went around all the cells and found this tragic inscription on the wall. She copied the text onto a sheet of paper ...

"There was no party underground in Krasnodon"

- Why were they tortured so brutally?

- I think that the Germans wanted to go underground, so they tortured me. And there was no party underground in Krasnodon. Not having received the information they needed, the Nazis executed members of the Young Guard. Most of the Young Guard were executed near mine No. 5-bis on the night of January 15, 1943. Fifty members of the organization were thrown into the pit of a mine 53 meters deep.

–In print, you can find the number 72 ...

- 72 people - this is the total number of those executed there, so many corpses were raised from the mine. Among the dead were 20 communists and prisoners of the Red Army, who had nothing to do with the "Young Guard". Some of the Young Guard were shot, someone was thrown into the pit alive.

However, not everyone was executed that day. Oleg Koshevoy, for example, was detained only on January 22. On the road near the Kartushino station, policemen stopped him, searched him, found a pistol, beat him and sent him under escort to Rovenki. There he was searched again and, under the lining of his coat, they found two forms of temporary membership cards and a homemade seal of the Young Guard. The police chief recognized the young man: Oleg was the nephew of his friend. When Koshevoy was interrogated and beaten, Oleg shouted that he was the commissar of the Young Guard. In Rovenki, Lyubov Shevtsova, Semyon Ostapenko, Viktor Subbotin and Dmitry Ogurtsov were also tortured.

The funeral of the Young Guard in the city of Krasnodon on March 1, 1943

Koshevoy was shot on January 26, and Lyubov Shevtsova and all the others were shot on the night of February 9. Just five days later, on February 14, Krasnodon was released. The bodies of the Young Guards were taken out of the mine. On March 1, 1943, a funeral took place in the Lenin Komsomol Park from morning to evening.

- Which of the Young Guards survived?

- Anatoly Kovalev was the only one who fled on the way to the place of execution. According to the memoirs, he was a brave and courageous young man. Little was always said about him, although his story is interesting in its own way. He enrolled in the police, but only served there for a few days. Then he became a member of the "Young Guard". He was arrested. Anatoly was helped to escape by Mikhail Grigoriev, who untied the rope with his teeth. When I was in Krasnodon, I met Antonina Titova, Kovalev's girlfriend. At first, the wounded Anatoly was hiding with her. Then his relatives took him to the region of Dnepropetrovsk, where he disappeared, and his further fate is still unknown. The feat of the Young Guard was not even awarded the medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War", because Kovalev served as a policeman for several days. Antonina Titova waited for him for a long time, wrote her memoirs, collected documents. But she never published anything.

ALL DISPUTES ON SPECIFIC ISSUES AND ABOUT THE ROLE OF INDIVIDUALS IN THE ORGANIZATION SHOULD NOT CAST A SHADOW ON THE GREAT FEAT accomplished by the young underground workers of Krasnodon

Ivan Turkenich, Valeria Borts, Olga and Nina Ivantsovs, Radik Yurkin, Georgy Arutyunyants, Mikhail Shishchenko, Anatoly Lopukhov and Vasily Levashov were saved. I will say more about the latter. On April 27, 1989, employees of the Central Archives of the Komsomol met with him and Tretyakevich's brother Vladimir. A tape recording was made. Levashov said that he fled under Amvrosyevka, to the village of Puteinikov. When the Red Army arrived, he announced his desire to go to war. In September 1943, during an inspection, he admitted that he was in the temporarily occupied territory in Krasnodon, where he had been abandoned after graduating from a reconnaissance school. Not knowing that the story of the "Young Guard" had already become famous, Vasily said that he was a member of it. After the interrogation, the officer sent Levashov to the barn, where some young man was already sitting. They got into conversation. At that meeting in 1989, Levashov said: "After only 40 years, I realized that it was the agent of that security officer when I compared what he asked and what I answered."

As a result, they believed Levashov, he was sent to the front. He liberated Kherson, Nikolaev, Odessa, Chisinau and Warsaw, and took Berlin as part of the 5th Shock Army.

Roman Fadeeva

- Work on the book "Young Guard" Alexander Fadeev started in 1943. But the original version of the novel was criticized for not reflecting the leadership of the Communist Party. The writer took the criticism into account and revised the novel. Did the historical truth suffer from this?

- I believe that the very first version of the novel was successful and was more in line with historical realities. In the second version, a description of the leading role of the party organization appeared, although in reality the party organization of Krasnodon did not show itself in any way. The communists who remained in the city were arrested. They were tortured and executed. It is significant that no one attempted to recapture the captured communists and young guards from the Germans. The guys were taken home like kittens. Those who were arrested in the villages were then taken in sleighs to a distance of ten kilometers or more. They were accompanied by only two or three policemen. Has anyone tried to fight them off? No.

Only a few people left Krasnodon. Some, like Anna Sopova, had the opportunity to escape, but did not take advantage of it.

Alexander Fadeev and Valeria Borts, one of the few surviving members of the Young Guard, at a meeting with readers. 1947 year

- Why?

- We were afraid that because of them relatives would suffer.

- How accurately did Fadeev manage to reflect the history of the "Young Guard" and in what way did he deviate from the historical truth?

- Fadeev himself said about this: “Although the heroes of my novel have real names and surnames, I did not write the real story of the Young Guard, but a work of fiction, in which there is a lot of fictionalism and even there are fictional persons. The novel has a right to that. " And when Fadeev was asked whether it was worth making the Young Guards so bright and ideal, he replied that he wrote as he saw fit. Basically, the author accurately reflected the events that took place in Krasnodon, but there are also discrepancies with reality. So, in the novel, the traitor Stakhovich is written out. This is a fictional collective image. And he wrote from Tretyakevich - one to one.

Discontent with how certain episodes of the story of "Young Guard" were shown in the novel, were expressed in full voice by the relatives and friends of the victims immediately after the book was published. For example, the mother of Lydia Androsova turned to Fadeev with a letter. She argued that, contrary to what was written in the novel, her daughter's diary and other entries never reached the police and could not be the reason for the arrests. In a reply letter dated August 31, 1947 to D.K. and M.P. Androsov, Lydia's parents, Fadeev admitted:

“Everything I have written about your daughter shows her as a very loyal and persistent girl. I deliberately made it so that her diary, as if after her arrest, fell into the hands of the Germans. You know better than me that there is not a single entry in the diary that speaks of the activities of the Young Guard and could serve the Germans well in the sense of disclosing the Young Guard. In this respect, your daughter was very careful. Therefore, having admitted such a fiction in the novel, I do not put any stain on your daughter. "

- Parents thought differently ...

- Of course. And most of all, the residents of Krasnodon were outraged by the role assigned to the writer Oleg Koshevoy. Koshevoy's mother claimed (and this was included in the novel) that the underground members gathered at their house on Sadovaya Street, 6. But the Krasnodon residents knew for sure that German officers were quartered with her! This is not Elena Nikolaevna's fault: she had decent housing, so the Germans preferred it. But how could the headquarters of the "Young Guard" sit there ?! In fact, the headquarters of the organization gathered at Arutyunyants, Tretyakevich and others.

Koshevoy's mother was awarded the Order of the Red Star in 1943. Even Oleg's grandmother, Vera Vasilievna Korostyleva, was awarded the medal "For Military Merit"! The stories in the novel about her heroic role look anecdotal. She did not perform any feats. Later Elena Nikolaevna wrote the book "The Story of the Son". More precisely, other people wrote it. When the regional committee of the Komsomol asked her if everything in the book was correct and objective, she replied: “You know, writers wrote the book. But from my story. "

- Interesting position.

- Even more interesting is that Oleg Koshevoy's father was alive. He was divorced from Oleg's mother and lived in a neighboring town. So Elena Nikolaevna declared him dead! Although the father came to the grave of his son, he mourned him.

Koshevoy's mother was an interesting, charming woman. Her story greatly influenced Fadeev. I must say that the writer held meetings with the relatives of not all of the dead Young Guard. In particular, he refused to accept the relatives of Sergei Tyulenin. Elena Nikolaevna regulated access to the author of Molodaya Gvardiya.

Another thing is also noteworthy. Parents and grandmothers strive to preserve drawings and notes made by their children and grandchildren at different ages. And Elena Nikolaevna, being the head of the kindergarten, destroyed all of Oleg's diaries and notebooks, so there is no way even to see his handwriting. But the poems written by Elena Nikolaevna's hand have survived, which she declared belonged to Oleg. It was rumored that she had composed them herself.

We must not forget about the main thing

- The surviving Young Guards could clarify the controversial issues. Did they meet after the war?

- All together - never. In fact, there was a split. They did not agree on the question of who should be considered the Commissioner of the Young Guard. Borts, Ivantsov and Shishchenko considered them Koshevoy, and Yurkin, Arutyunyants and Levashov considered Tretyakevich. Moreover, in the period from 1943 to the end of the 1950s, Tretyakevich was considered a traitor. His older brother Mikhail was dismissed from the post of secretary of the Lugansk regional party committee. Another brother, Vladimir, an army political worker, was declared a party penalty, he was demobilized from the army. Tretyakevich's parents were also very upset by this injustice: his mother was ill, his father was paralyzed.

In 1959, Victor was rehabilitated, his feat was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree. However, in May 1965, only Yurkin, Lopukhov and Levashov from the Young Guard came to the opening of the monument to Tretyakevich in the village of Yasenki, Kursk region, where he was born. According to Valeria Borts, the Central Committee of the Komsomol in the 1980s gathered the surviving members of the Krasnodon underground organization. But there are no documents about this meeting in the archives. And the disagreements between the Young Guard were never eliminated.

Monument "Oath" on the central square of Krasnodon

- What impression did the films about young underground workers make on you? After all, the story of "Young Guard" has been filmed more than once.

- I like the film by Sergei Gerasimov. The black-and-white film accurately and dynamically conveyed that time, the state of mind and feelings of the Soviet people. But for the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory, veterans and the whole country received a very strange "gift" from Channel One. The series "Young Guard" was announced as the "true story" of the underground organization. On the basis of what this supposedly true story was created, they did not bother to explain to us. The heroes of the Young Guard, whose images were captured on the screen, must have turned over in their coffins. Historical filmmakers should carefully read documents and works that faithfully reflect a bygone era.

- Roman Fadeeva, who has been part of the school curriculum for many decades, has long been excluded from it. Do you think it might be worth bringing it back?

- I like the novel, and I advocate that it be included in the school curriculum. It faithfully reflects the thoughts and feelings of young people of that time, and their characters are truthfully given. This work rightfully entered the golden fund of Soviet literature, combining both documentary truth and artistic interpretation. The educational potential of the novel is still preserved. In my opinion, it would be good to republish the novel in its first version, not corrected by Fadeev himself. Moreover, the publication should be accompanied by an article that would summarize what we talked about. It must be emphasized that the novel is a novel, and not the story of Young Guard. The history of the Krasnodon underground must be studied from documents. And this topic has not been closed yet.

In this case, we must not forget about the main thing. All disputes on specific issues and on the role of individuals in the organization should not cast a shadow on the greatness of the feat accomplished by the young underground fighters of Krasnodon. Oleg Koshevoy, Viktor Tretyakevich and other Young Guards gave their lives for the freedom of the Motherland. And we have no right to forget about it. And further. Speaking about the activities of the "Young Guard", we must remember that this is not a feat of loners. This is a collective feat of Krasnodon youth. We need to talk more about the contribution of each Young Guard to the struggle, and not argue over who held what position in the organization.

Interviewed by Oleg Nazarov
MOSCOW
Central Committee of the CPSU (b)
To comrade STALIN I.V.
In August 1942, in the city of Krasnodon, Voroshilovgrad region, on the territory occupied by the Germans, an underground Komsomol organization "Young Guard" emerged.
Having started its activity in the composition of five people, the organization has grown to 100 young people, mainly students in grades 9-10, children of miners.
The underground Komsomol organization "Young Guard" for five months of its activity under the conditions of the German occupation carried out a great deal of political work to organize youth for an active struggle against the German invaders ...
.
In July 1942, the Germans, having burst into the city of Krasnodon, immediately began mass arrests and reprisals against the most active part of the party and Soviet activists. They dealt with particular cruelty over thirty communists who evaded registration. All thirty people were buried alive.
This barbaric act caused an explosion of indignation among the population of the city. The youth reacted especially sharply. By this time the Komsomol members Oleg KOSHEV, Ivan ZEMNUKHOV and Sergei TYULENEV created the underground group "Young Guard", which later grew into a large organization.
The group aimed to take revenge on the invaders for their atrocities, to take revenge by all possible means.
The Young Guard began their activity with the creation of a primitive printing house. Students in grades 9-10 - members of an underground organization - made a radio receiver on their own. After a while, they were already receiving messages from the Soviet Information Bureau and began publishing leaflets. Leaflets were posted everywhere: on the walls of houses, in buildings, on telephone poles. Several times the Young Guards contrived to stick leaflets on the backs of the police.
Leaflets, which had a tremendous influence on the population, informed mainly about the situation at the fronts, about the measures of the Soviet government. A significant number of leaflets were devoted to the removal of Soviet youth by the Germans to Germany. Thanks to the widespread distribution of these leaflets calling for the sabotage of the mobilization of the population to Germany, the German recruitment campaign failed.
In total, over 5000 leaflets were distributed among the population of the city of Krasnodon.
Members of the Young Guard also wrote slogans on the walls of houses and fences. On religious holidays, they came to church and shoved handwritten leaflets into the pockets of believers with the following content: "As we lived, we will live as we were, and we will remain under the Stalinist banner *, or:" Down with Hitler's 300 grams, give Stalin's kilogram. "
On the day of the 25th anniversary of the October Revolution, a red banner hoisted over the city by members of the underground organization. On the same day, the families of workers, especially those who suffered from the German invaders, as well as orphans, received gifts collected by the Young Guard.
The residents of Krasnodon remember this day with deep emotion.

All the activities of the "Young Guard" contributed to the strengthening of the population's resistance to the invaders, instilled confidence in the inevitability of the defeat of the Germans and the restoration of Soviet power.
The Young Guards had to work in very difficult conditions, constantly in danger of being beaten by disclosed Gestapo agents who were scouring the city in search of fearless patriots. But the difficulties did not frighten the members of the organization; they tempered them, enriched them with the experience of underground work.
"Young Guard" was not limited to propaganda work, she was actively preparing for an armed uprising "For this purpose, they collected: 15 machine guns, 80 rifles, 300 grenades, more than 15,000 cartridges and 65 kg of explosives. By the beginning of the winter of 1942, the organization represented a cohesive, combat detachment with experience in political and combat activities.
The underground workers thwarted the mobilization of several thousand residents of Krasnodon to Germany, burned down the labor exchange, saved the lives of dozens of prisoners of war, recaptured 500 heads of cattle from the Germans and returned them to the inhabitants, carried out a number of other sabotage and terrorist acts.
Members of the "Young Guard" were real combat organizers of youth behind enemy lines, they showed examples of selfless bravery and courage in the fight against the German invaders.
The existence and activities of the "Young Guard" are widely known to the youth and the population of Krasnodon and other regions of Donbass.
The heroism and courage of the Young Guards in the fight against the German occupiers arouses true admiration among the population and has become a significant factor in the political upsurge of young people in the liberated regions of Ukraine.
To perpetuate the memory of the dead and popularize their heroic deeds, I ask:
1. To confer / posthumously / KOSHEVO Oleg Vasilievich, ZEMNUKHOV Ivan Aleksandrovich, TYULENIN Sergey Gavrilovich, GROMOVA Ulyana Matveyevna, SHEVTSOVA Lyubov Grigorievna the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, as the most outstanding "Young organizers and leaders".
2. To award 44 people of the "Young Guard" activists with the Orders of the USSR for their valor and courage in the fight against the German invaders behind enemy lines (37 of them - posthumously).
3. To award KOSHEVA Elena Nikolaevna, mother of KOSHEVOY Oleg, the Order of the Patriotic War of the 2nd degree for the active assistance rendered to the "Young Guard".

SECRETARY OF THE CC CP / B / U N. KHRUSHCHOV
8 / IX - 1943
Sent through the Central Committee of the LKSMU

Not all of the Young Guards died.
11 underground fighters managed to escape from the persecution of the fascists, who began the arrests of the Young Guard in early January 1943.

The commander of the "Young Guard" Turkenich Ivan Vasilyevich crossed the front line and in the ranks of the Soviet Army passed through the whole of Ukraine. In the summer of 1944, after becoming a communist, I.V. Turkenich was appointed to the post of assistant chief of the political department of the 99th Rifle Zhitomir Red Banner Division in the Komsomol. On August 14, 1944, during the liberation of the fraternal Polish people from fascist tyranny, he died a hero's death. I.V. Turkenich was buried at the cemetery of Soviet soldiers in the city of Rzeszow (Poland).

Levashov Vasily Ivanovich - a member of the staff of the "Young Guard" - left Krasnodon towards the front. At the station Amvrosievka, Donetsk region. hid with relatives until the arrival of the Red Army. After his release, he joined the Soviet Army, in the ranks of which he fought from Krasnodon to Berlin and took part in the storming of Berlin. Was injured. Soon after the war, the former underground worker graduated from the Military-Political Academy. IN AND. Lenin, served in the Navy.

Safonov Stepan Stepanovich crossed the front line in early January. In the ranks of the Red Army, which was liberating Donbass, he took part in the battles for the city of Kamensk. He died on January 20, 1943. He was buried in a mass grave at the Ryginsky cemetery in Kamensk.

Kovalev Anatoly Vasilyevich until the end of January was in deep underground in the city of Krasnodon. Arrested on January 28. On the 31st, he escaped from the execution from the pit of mine N5. During the escape he was wounded in the arm. For a week he was hiding with relatives and friends in Krasnodon. Escaping the police pursuit, he fled the city. It is known that until May 1943 he was on the territory of the Zaporozhye region, then his traces are lost. Kovalev Anatoly disappeared without a trace.

Arutyunyants Georgy Minaevich left for the front when the arrests began in Krasnodon. Before the arrival of the Red Army, he was hiding with relatives in the city of Novocherkassk. From March 1943 he served in the ranks of the Soviet Army. He was injured. In 1957 he graduated from the Military-Political Academy. IN AND. Lenin. Was in the military.

Borts Valeria Davydovna hid with relatives in Lugansk before the arrival of Soviet troops. After the war she studied at the Institute of Foreign Languages. She served in the army.

Ivantsova Nina Mikhailovna, escaping the pursuit of the Nazis, hid in villages and farms near Krasnodon. With the arrival of the Soviet troops, she voluntarily left for the Soviet Army. She took part in battles on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. After the war, she was in the Komsomol and party work, she graduated from the pedagogical institute in absentia. She worked in the apparatus of the Lugansk regional committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine.

Ivantsova Olga Ivanovna was hiding with her sister. After her release, she worked in the labor reserve system as a political commander. For a long time she worked in managerial work in trade organizations of the Luhansk region.

Lopukhov Anatoly Vladimirovich before the arrival of our troops was hiding with friends in mines and in villages near the city of Lugansk. After the fascists were driven out, he was drafted into the Soviet Army. Was wounded. Graduated from the Military-Political Academy. V.I. Lenin. He served in the army.

Shishchenko Mikhail Tarasovich, during the arrests of the Young Guard, went deep underground. After the liberation of Krasnodon, he was sent to the secretary of the Rovenkovsky district committee of the Komsomol. Since 1946 he was at party work in the mines of the Frunzeugol trust. Luhansk region

Yurkin Radiy Petrovich until the liberation of Krasnodon hid with residents of suburban villages and farms. With the arrival of our troops, he received a referral to the school of military pilots, after graduating from which he served in the ranks of the Soviet Army. He worked as a mechanic of a car fleet in Krasnodon.

As for the relatives of the Young Guard, the most famous of them was the mother of Oleg Koshevoy. The mother of the other hero did not like this.

The first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee comrade Brezhnev L.I. from Tyulenina Alexandra Vasilievna

Dear Leonid Ilyich!

This letter is being written to you by Alexandra Vasilievna Tyulenina, mother of the Hero of the Soviet Union Sergei Tyulenin, a member of the staff of the "Young Guard", the Krasnodon underground organization.
Earlier, I repeatedly orally addressed various central organizations with a request to sort out the case with Elena Nikolaevna Kosheva - the mother of Oleg Koshevoy, who also participated in the Young Guard, and he was also awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Every time they promised me to figure it out, but no one figured it out. The comrades I turned to probably thought that the old one had nothing to do - so she complains.
I'm really not young. I have lived in the world for over 80 years. Raised ten children. How they were raised not only to me, but also seen from the outside. None of my children have ever been on trial or under investigation. In the difficult times of the German occupation, most of them fought with the enemy, some at the front, some in the rear, and from the party members who are in our family, you can make up a separate party organization. For my children, for my grandchildren and great-grandchildren, I would be ashamed to report to Vladimir Ilyich Lenin himself. This is Ilyich in 1922, when I addressed him with a letter, he saved our family from ruin and starvation.
You, Leonid Ilyich, I ask you to investigate the following case:
For what reason do the local authorities raise E.N. Kosheva so high? She is a member of the regional party committee, and a deputy, in business and not in business she is awarded orders. After all, she did not take any part in the fight against the Germans, and in her current job - the head of a kindergarten - (she, too) at the mine N1bis them. Sergei Tyulenin, she also does nothing outstanding. If her son Oleg plays a role in this case, whom she passes off as the commissioner of the "Young Guard", so he was not the commissioner of this organization either. And if for the fact that in 1943, when our eyes did not dry out from tears for the dead children, she entangled the chairman of the commission of the Central Committee of the Komsomol Toritsyn, as well as the writer Fadeev who came to Krasnodon, who lived in her apartment and to whom she only allowed those who told the writer what she wanted, I think it’s time to end it. My daughter Nadezhda and I stood under the windows, where Fadeev invited us for a conversation, but she did not let us into the dm.
Under the dictation of Kosheva, Fadeev described in the book "Young Guard" that Oleg Koshevoy was the commissar of the "Young Guard", and her and her brother NN Korostylev, as people who helped Oleg in his underground work. And they not only helped, but almost supervised the entire work of the Young Guard. Everyone knows that this is not true. Oleg Koshevoy has never been the commissar of the Young Guard. The Commissioner was Viktor Tretyakevich. She, Koshevaya, slandered Victor. She told Fadeev that Viktor Tretyakevich was allegedly a traitor. And how could she know that. She was not arrested by the police. She was not interrogated. It was me and our family who were bullied by the police. They beat me, not her, until they lost consciousness. I, not she, knows what questions were asked and what the policemen wanted to know. I, not she, knows who did what in the "Young Guard".

Leonid Ilyich, my heart is bleeding from the fact that because of the slander against Tretyakevich, erected by Kosheva, his brothers suffered, his father went crazy and died, for more than 15 years she did not receive a pension for her son tortured by the executioners, Victor's mother, Anna Iosifovna. That's what Koshevaya is. It is she, Koshevaya, young and healthy, since 1943 she has received a pension for Oleg. She worked, received a salary and received a pension in addition.
And Korostylev. You don't know, but we know that he worked in the German directorate as an engineer. We know that German officers lived in his house almost all the time and that there were never any meetings of the headquarters of the Young Guard. And on that house, on the house of the German servant, there is still an inscription that there were meetings of the headquarters. Who needs deception? Coming to Krasnodon, people will still learn the truth. And who needs a lie, even though it is written in gold letters. If Korostylev had fought with the Germans, the head of the Roven'kovskaya police would not have let Orlov go home, but would have sent him to execution, as he had sent Lyuba Shevtsova and other guys.
After being freed from the Germans, when Korostylev was arrested as a German servant, Koshevaya began to rescue him. It was then that she told the writer Fadeev that Korostylev helped the guys in underground work, that Oleg was a commissar, that all meetings of the headquarters were held in Korostylev's house. She wrote this lie in a letter to MI Kalinin, deceiving Soviet power. And later this lie was written by Kosheva in the book "The Tale of the Son".
Leonid Ilyich, Lenin taught to tell the truth to people, no matter how bitter it was. The new party program has written about this. And correctly written. And Koshevaya, on the contrary, wrote a lie in her book and probably thinks that it is beneficial. And from this untruth only harm to our youth. They read the book and think that the truth is written there, but they come to Krasnodon and find out that there is a lie and stop believing not only the parents of the Young Guard, but also the party, the Soviet people. Who gave Kosheva the right to undermine the youth's faith in the most sacred, faith in the Motherland ?!
And one more question that I wanted to find out. Where did Oleg Koshevoy die? In the film "Young Guard" it is shown that he is the first to be thrown into the pit of mine N5 in Krasnodon. And he was not even near the pit, they did not pull him out of the pit, and they did not bury him in a mass grave in Krasnodon. Koshevaya writes in the book that she buried her son in Rovenki. And there are no documents about this. Whom she buried in Rovenki, no one knows. Where is Oleg Koshevoy?
Leonid Ilyich, in my life I have seen and experienced both good and bad, but I have never deceived people in either big or small. After the war, I did not apply to the government with such a letter, since I did not have faith that they would be able to correctly understand the matter. Many years ago I turned to Lenin with a letter on a personal matter; and now I am addressing an issue of great national importance, on the issue of restoring the truth, which our local leaders are trying to replace with lies. I want everyone to occupy such a place in life that they deserve, not by deception, not by nonsense, but by honest work, an honest struggle for Soviet power.
Leonid Ilyich! I would write to you more, but I am not literate. And the people who write this under my dictation are already tired.
I want one thing - to receive a message from you that the truth will be restored.

Tyulenina
My address: Krasnodon, Lomonosov st. 8,
Tyulenina Alexandra Vasilievna.
RGASPI, F-1, Inventory 53, File 41

Tyulenin's mother had reason to be offended: after all, it was Sergei Tyulenin who was the first to begin the fight against the Nazis. On the second day of the occupation, leaflets appeared, which he wrote wildly and pasted on the walls of houses.
But otherwise she is wrong. Of course, Koshevoy died. Many people saw his corpse. They say that the young guy's whiskey was gray.

Passions for the Young Guards have not subsided until now. Ukrainians are now trying to make them fighters of the OUN. They fought for a Ukraine independent from the communists!

Or such opuses:
« Let's start with a subject, apparently completely unknown to "patriots". From the Hague Convention on the Rules of Conduct of Hostilities. Conventions that Germany has signed (as opposed to the USSR). The exact name of the convention is "On the Rights and Customs of War on Ground", adopted at the 2nd Hague Conference on October 18, 1907.

Contrary to some misconceptions, this convention does not prohibit guerrilla operations. However, it puts forward four conditions, only under which the militia will be considered not a war criminal subject to a military tribunal (and, as a rule, the death penalty), but a combatant, to whom all the rights of a prisoner of war apply.

First, "to have a definite and clearly visible from a distance a distinctive sign." The distinguishing mark of a combatant, that is. Ideally - to wear a military uniform (that is why the fighters of the UPA, the Home Army, the Baltic "forest brothers", etc. preferred to wear the uniform of the corresponding armed forces). However, a red stripe on a headdress or even an armband will also work.

Secondly, it is open to carry arms. Third, observe the norms and customs of war. And, finally, fourthly, to be not a "free shooter", but part of a detachment with a responsible commander.

Therefore, alas and ah, but Oleg Koshevoy, who was detained in civilian clothes without any distinctive sign and with a weapon in his pocket, was a military (that is to say, a criminal) criminal under all the norms of international law and was shot in full accordance with the norms of international law. Like all, without exception, the underground workers who carried weapons in secret.

The notorious Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya was already twice a criminal. Firstly, because she - like Koshevoy - was taken in civilian clothes with a revolver in her pocket and, secondly, because the purpose of her task was to carry out Stalin's savage order No. 0428, in comparison with which all Nazi occupation orders - petty hooliganism.

You can, of course, say that all this international law is not a decree for us in our "holy war" ... but this automatically puts the Red Army on the same level with the Einsatzgruppen, and the Stalinist regime - with the Nazi (also grossly violating the Hague Convention).

A responsible historian (as opposed to an agitprop worker) has no right to ignore international military law. Therefore, the activities of the "Young Guard" must be considered, including from a legal point of view.

.... The reality of life “under the invaders” in Krasnodon was strikingly different from propaganda propaganda (although, it should be noted, in his novel, Fadeev also draws a completely calm and comfortable life, the quality of which was an order of magnitude superior to life “under Stalin”). With these realities, I highly recommend that you familiarize yourself with the "patriots", foaming at the mouth, spreading propaganda fables about the "Slavic Holocaust", "Ost plan", etc.

First, the occupiers have eliminated criminal offenses. Harsh and inevitable punishments. For petty thefts, the culprits were mercilessly flogged (by the way, in full accordance with the traditions of the Don Cossacks). For larger ones, they were shot and hanged. But when the "liberators" appeared ... then such a wave of criminality arose that they could not calm down until the 60s. Either it was not before, or the methods turned out to be inappropriate ...

Yes, the invaders have introduced compulsory labor service (where without it). But, firstly, it was much softer than labor mobilization at defensive sites under Soviet rule. And, secondly, this duty guaranteed a piece of bread - and better and more than "under the Soviets." The occupiers allowed private property and private enterprise, which instantly filled the markets with goods. Yes, and there were no "requisitions" at all. The invaders either paid for food (usually with Soviet rubles, although it happened that they also had special “occupation stamps”), or exchanged them for goods that the local population, vegetating in poverty under the Soviets, had never seen in the “Stalinist paradise”.

Mines were rebuilt, private shops, businesses and even restaurants were opened. By the way, although Wehrmacht units entered Krasnodon on July 20, 1942 (without meeting the slightest resistance, it should be noted), the occupation administration was appointed only at the end of August. For a month in the city there was a real self-government (also not so rare in the occupied territories of the USSR).

It is very important that there was no trace of arbitrariness of the occupation administration. First, the occupiers did not interfere with the daily activities of the magistrate. Secondly, they introduced a clear system of laws and regulations, which were unconditionally followed. The notorious "Ordnung" was introduced, in other words. The population, tired of the insane and endless arbitrariness and lies of Stalin's officials, breathed a sigh of relief.

An interesting touch - in the same regional hospital in Krasnodon, wounded soldiers of the Wehrmacht, and prisoners of the Red Army, and local residents were treated. However, it has long been known that the Wehrmacht medical staff and even the Waffen-SS did not care who to treat. The Hippocratic Oath, however ...

In short, the occupiers tried with all their might to provide themselves with a calm, working rear. Therefore, they tried to provide the population with the most comfortable living conditions (as much as possible in wartime conditions and the unconditional priority of the interests of the occupiers). As a result, the population of Krasnodon simply did not have incentives to organize resistance. And since the NKVD simply could not technically throw “external” detachments into the Donetsk steppes, it was impossible to provoke the Germans into repressions against the population.

Therefore, the archival documents of the invaders inexorably testify: not a single occupant or collaborator in the Krasnodon region suffered at the hands of partisans or underground fighters.
What does Young Guard mean to an impartial researcher? And only one thing - during its existence, this organization has done absolutely nothing that could somehow attract the attention of the local police. That is, the arson of the stock exchange, and the release of prisoners of war, and leaflets, and red flags - all these are myths of Soviet and Russian propaganda. Pure myths.
the robbery of cars with gifts could well have been an ordinary criminal "trip to the case" that had nothing to do with the activities of the "Young Guard". Judging by the fact that food and cigarettes were put on sale through markets and restaurants, it was so. But in any case, this trick of teenagers (Moshkov and Tretyakevich were 18-19 years old) had the most tragic consequences. And for them, and for dozens of young men and women of Krasnodon.

For the disclosure of a criminal case, of course, raises the prestige of the police chief in the eyes of the authorities. But far from being the same as the disclosure of a huge, ramified underground organization. As soon as Moshkov, Tretyakevich, and then Zemnukhov were in the prison cell, Solikovsky immediately remembered Pocheptsov's denunciation. Realizing that fate gives him a great chance to earn a lot of points in the eyes of the German authorities (not at all superfluous on the eve of the inevitable evacuation).
The robbery of Moshkov / Stakhovich and the denunciation of Pocheptsov launched a terrible, inhuman machine, which grind down the "Young Guard". If you believe the official version, then with monstrous, insane, inhuman cruelty ...

Why not believe? Let's turn to the physical evidence. The bodies of the Young Guard were thrown into pit No. 5 of one of the Krasnodon mines. The pit depth is 80 meters. This is the height of a 27-storey building. Ask any forensic scientist (or just a pathologist) - what will happen to the human body if it falls from such a height onto the frozen rock? And if you still lower a couple of trolleys from above? How can one distinguish intravital injuries from posthumous ones?

Even if you really want to distinguish. And if you consider that the investigation into the Molodaya Gvardia case was, in fact, the same forensic experts who, without batting an eye, recognized the Katyn execution as the work of the Germans ... then the reliability of their conclusions raises, to put it mildly, serious doubts. There is no trust in the testimony of police investigators in this part - the NKVD knew how to persuade to give "necessary" testimony. For these were exactly the same investigators (in fact, or even by name) who carried out the Great Terror. And the methods were the same. However, the masters of the allies were not far from their backing affairs. Until they were appeased by the "Malmödi affair" ...

Therefore, only one thing can be asserted with certainty - the police investigators managed to get the "necessary" testimonies from the young men and women under investigation. And slanderousness of friends and acquaintances, and confessions of what they did not commit. As is often the case, the beaten out (it is clear that it was not without certain measures of physical pressure) testimony was then unceremoniously used by the masters of Stalin's agitprop, attributing to the Young Guard acts that they did not commit.
Throwing alive into the mine is also, most likely, pure agitprop demonization of the enemy (as well as a strong exaggeration of the cruelty of physical influences). The pit was chosen, firstly, for convenience (digging a hole in the frozen ground is not a pleasure) and, secondly, because it gave a chance to conceal the crime (hence the trolleys dropped from above). Therefore, most likely, the main group of the Young Guards was simply shot (along with the five Jews who "fell under the arm"). The rest (Koshevoy, Shevtsova and others) were shot later - in Rovenki.

Let's summarize the final results. The real "Young Guard" was a small group (about a dozen people) of Krasnodon boys and girls who refused to fully submit to the occupation authorities and went into a kind of "internal emigration".

They created a secret society in the image and likeness of the Komsomol organization (the only model known to them), in which they observed certain rituals typical for such societies (vows, membership cards, meetings, etc.). This society did not conduct any active actions to combat the occupiers, although it may have prepared an armed uprising in the city. And therefore, it did not cause any harm to the invaders and did not have the slightest influence on the course of the war, even locally.

As a result of the betrayal of one of the members of the organization (most likely, more out of fear than for ideological or mercantile reasons), as well as a criminal offense committed by two members of the community, it "got on the radar" of the local police and gendarmerie. Which, out of their own selfish careerist interests, came up with an organization and its actions, which never existed and never happened. As a result, both the members of this organization and other young men and women of the city who had nothing to do with it were arrested, subjected to severe methods of physical pressure, and then shot.
Immediately upon the arrival of the invaders, as many as two Cossack hundreds were formed in Krasnodon. The Cossacks staged a parade in Krasnodon on October 24, 1941 and, marching in front of the German officers, swore allegiance to Hitler and received a blessing "to fight the enemy" from a local priest. Absolutely sincere, because the occupants restored the churches and returned the priests, and the "liberators" from the Red Army destroyed the churches and shot the priests. "

http://www.litsovet.ru/index.php/material.read?material_id=427684
See how simple it is? And you thought it up for yourself.

Let's take the point of view of the bastard who wrote the quoted opus. So to speak, there were only about a dozen underground workers, or rather young hooligans. They could not harm the Germans in any way, but were caught stealing. Since the Germans fought against crime, the thieves were imprisoned.
The fascists would not touch the partisans if they wore badges or armbands with the inscription "partisans". But here it is Stalin's fault, who did not sign the Hague Convention, holy for the Germans.
The inhabitants of Krasnodon prospered under the Germans. There was no persecution. So, they shot some communists ... But the communists were good too: they killed the innocent Poles in Katyn.
For the rest, real European grace came: mines worked, wages were paid, groceries and manufactured goods were sold in stores, churches were opened and services began, and a local government was appointed. We practically overcame crime. Happy and grateful townspeople formed hundreds of Cossacks to fight the Soviets.
But then what is called the kurtosis of the performer happened, and the police, consisting of local nuggets, overdid it a little. Wanting to receive an award, instead of ten, the police arrested a hundred. Then they were tortured a little, well, slightly, and shot.

Is it okay to just shoot a hundred young people for nothing? Maybe the occupation was not such a happiness as some Ukrainians and our fellow citizens imagine today?

Needless to say, the residents of Krasnodon themselves saw all the corpses and traces of torture. Here they are trying to prove that the injuries on the corpses are of a posthumous nature, as if the experts (the same ones who worked in Katyn - there were no other experts in the USSR) were all lying, etc. There are no stars on the back and on the face from falling into the mine will not appear, and the breasts will not be cut off by themselves either.

Well, and most importantly, the policemen, under the leadership of their German superiors, were doing all this literally under the cannons of the Soviet troops - after all, it was clear that Krasnodon was about to be taken by the Red Army.
And the policemen tried to kill as many people as possible, young people at that. Did they do this so that the Germans would take them with them? After all, they did not take all the same. Or did they not believe that the Red Army would take Krasnodon? Or were they driven by an incredible hatred of those who did not surrender to the Germans?

Exactly the same hatred that motivates today those who write such opuses about the Young Guard, who these days slander the Victory.
Their faith in the West and hatred for the USSR and Russia is so great that even at the very last moment of their worthless life they will only think about how to harm us more.

Top thematic table of contents
Thematic table of contents (For life)

The Young Guard is a Komsomol underground organization with a short but heroic and tragic history. It intertwined feat and betrayal, reality and fiction, truth and falsehood. It was formed during the Great Patriotic War.

Creation of the "Young Guard"

In July 1942, Krasnodon was occupied by the Nazis. Despite this, leaflets appear in the city, a bathhouse, which was prepared for the German barracks, lights up. All this could be done by one person. Sergei Tyulenin is a 17-year-old boy. In addition, he gathers young guys to fight enemies. The underground organization was founded on September 30, 1942, the day of the creation of the headquarters and action plan of the underground.

The composition of the underground organization

Initially, the core of the organization was made up of Ivan Zemnukhov, Sergei Tyulenin, Vasily Levashov, Georgy Arutyunyants, Viktor Tretyakevich, who was elected commissar. A little later, Ivan Turkenich, Oleg Koshevoy, Lyubov Shevtsova, Ulyana Gromova joined the headquarters. It was an international, uneven-aged (from 14 to 29 years old) organization united by one goal - to cleanse the hometown of the fascist evil spirits. It had about 110 people.

Confronting the "brown plague"

The guys printed leaflets, collected weapons and medicines, destroyed enemy vehicles. On their account dozens of released prisoners of war. Thanks to them, thousands of people managed to escape hard labor. The Young Guards burned down the labor exchange, where all the lists of names of people who were to leave for work in Germany were burned. Their most famous act is the appearance by November 7 of red flags hung on the streets of the city.

Split

In December 1942, disagreements arose in the team. Koshevoy insisted on allocating 15-20 people from the organization for active armed struggle. Under the command of Turkenich, a small partisan detachment named "Hammer" was created. Oleg Koshevoy was appointed commissar of this detachment. This led to the fact that later Oleg Koshevoy began to be considered the main person of the "Young Guard".

The tragedy of Krasnodon

At the beginning of 1943, the Nazis struck at the very heart of the organization, arresting Tretyakevich, Moshkov, Zemnukhov. One of the Young Guard Pocheptsov, having found out about the fate of the leaders, got scared and reported to the police about his comrades. All the arrested guys experienced terrible torture, bullying, and beatings. The punishers learned from Pocheptsov that Viktor Tretyakevich was one of the leaders of the organization. Having spread a rumor in the city that he was the traitor, the enemy hoped to "unleash" the tongues of the Young Guard members.

As long as memory is alive, man is alive

Punishers shot 71 residents of Krasnodon, their bodies were thrown into the pit of the abandoned mine No. 5. The rest of those arrested were executed in the Thundering Forest. Members of the staff were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The name of Viktor Tretyakevich was consigned to oblivion because of slander and only in 1960 was he rehabilitated. However, he was not reinstated in the rank of commissar and for many people remained a private in the Young Guard. Krasnodon residents became a symbol of courage, fearlessness and fortitude during the war years.