Fourth myth is based on the fact that Alexander Fadeev was not the first historiographer of the Young Guard, but “stole” this patriotically beneficial topic from others ... Alexander Alexandrovich never hid the fact that he was far from the first to discover the truth about the Young Guard . It has already been noted that the first information about the exploit and tragedy of the Young Guard became known after an article in the front-line newspaper of the South-Western Front. Unfortunately, some of the “historians” boldly, and nothing more, specify that the first notes appeared in the newspaper of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, apparently forgetting that this front itself appeared only in October 1943 ...

And with regard to the work of Fadeev according to " given topic It is worth revealing some secret, as if it were just a forgotten secret. After the first publication in the army newspaper of the front "Son of the Fatherland", slightly more extended information about the Young Guards was published by the newspaper of the Voroshilovgrad Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of Ukraine, "Voroshilovgradskaya Pravda". But she did not give a complete and accurate answer to the question - what kind of organization "Young Guard" was?

And only two months later, the war correspondents of Komsomolskaya Pravda gave more or less complete material showing the advancing Soviet troops how heroically the Soviet Komsomol youth underground fought during the occupation. These correspondents were Vladimir Georgievich Lyaskovskii and Mikhail Ivanovich Kotov. But their touch on the history of the Young Guard was far from accidental. The fate of the front even before the occupation of Krasnodon led two military correspondents to a modest house at 10 Sadovaya Street, where the Koshevoys lived.

In a few days spent in the city, they managed to make friends with the son of the owner of the house Oleg and his friends - Uliana Gromova, Lyuba Shevtsova, Ivan Zemnukhov and, of course, the charming owner of the house - Oleg's mother Elena Nikolaevna Kosheva. It was then that they learned from the young guys that there would be no quiet life for the occupiers in Krasnodon. That is why Lyaskovsky and Kotov could not help but arrive in Krasnodon when, in February 1943, an army newspaper caught their eye. The front-line correspondents, who had seen a lot, personally took part in raising the bodies of the dead patriots from the mine pit. And soon their long essay appeared in Komsomolskaya Pravda, from which the whole country already learned about the Young Guard. It was after this that Alexander Fadeev received the “Stalinist task” to write a novel about the Young Guard, on which the venerable writer began with a trip to Krasnodon, where, on the advice of Lyaskovskiy and Kotov, he settled in a house on Sadovaya Street. In the meantime, Fadeev was working on a fiction book, front-line journalists prepared a documentary and journalistic story about the young underground heroes "Hearts of the Brave", published in 1944 as a separate book.

Fifth myth, the most common and constantly “sprayed” with all sorts of rumors, is based on the fact that in the “Hearts of the Brave” and in the novel “The Young Guard” (first and second editions) there are many historical inaccuracies, errors, distortions and insults against the underground, due to which the real heroes (like Viktor Tretyakevich) were called traitors. Unfortunately, this myth has a certain basis, but only in a small fraction.

Both Lyaskovsky and Kotov, and Fadeev wrote their works in a hurry, such was the real need, so they had no time to double-check or additionally study the facts carried out by the surviving underground workers. Correspondents and Fadeev made, unfortunately, tragic mistakes. In the documentary-historical story "Hearts of the Bold", Olga Lyadskaya, a Gestapo agent with the nickname "Titmouse", was named a traitor. The book contains these lines: “Lyadskaya was detained when she wanted to work as a waitress in the canteen of a military unit. She had a Komsomol card in her hands and a certificate stating that she, Ldyaskaya, had been languishing in the dungeons of the Gestapo for a month. "Titmouse" pretended to be a "victim of German terror" and, wringing her fingers, said how she was "tortured and beaten" in the dark cell of the Krasnodon prison. During interrogations by the investigator, Lyadskaya confessed to all her crimes. The miners cursed her name…” But the name of the traitor Stakhevich in the novel by Alexander Fadeev caused the most criticism. Under Stakhevich, Viktor Tretyakevich was brought out, unfairly called a traitor by some of the surviving underground, which led to such a terrible accusatory plot in the novel. Also, the stigma of traitors until 1959 hung on both Zinaida Vyrikova and Sima Polyanskaya. And only after a long sixteen years they were all rehabilitated, although the names of the real traitors Gennady Pocheptsov, Vasily Gromov and Mikhail Kuleshov were known back in September 1943 ...

Other untruthfulness caused no less complaints. For example, the description in "Hearts of the Brave" that the body of Oleg Koshevoy was discovered in the Krasnodon prison, although later it became known that he, along with some of the underground fighters, was shot in the Rattlesnake Forest. Or the introduction in the new edition of the novel "The Young Guard" of the image of the main underground worker of Krasnodon and the mentor of the youth underground - communist Lyutikov Philip Petrovich.

Philip Petrovich Lyutikov

With regard to the veracity of history, it is worth saying that the personality of Lyutikov is real, how real is his activity in the communist underground of Krasnodon and his death along with the Young Guards in the pit. And the fact that in the new edition of the novel Alexander Fadeev was “persuaded” to insert a story about the party leadership, this is more related to the history of that time than to the activities of the Young Guard and F.P. Lyutikov.

The book "Hearts of the Brave" is also criticized for the fact that it falsely indicates the arrest of Oleg Koshevoy - “Soon the city learned about the fate of Oleg Koshevoy. The relative, with whom he hid on a farm, turned out to be a traitor and betrayed Oleg to the Gestapo, ” although in reality, Oleg, with a pistol and a Komsomol ticket, was arrested while trying to cross the front line. There are other errors in the story and novels. But…

The sources of all the recorded, all the most diverse information taken as the basis for writing stories and books were fresh memories and stories of relatives, classmates, teachers and, of course, surviving members of the underground. And, perhaps, this tragic burden turned out to be the most difficult for them, since their relatives and comrades died, and they were all looking for the one who betrayed them, not believing that only the denunciations of Pocheptsov and Gromov (namesake of the family of Ulyana Gromova) and punitive the work of the head of the criminal police Kuleshov "stopped" the hearts of the brave ...

Sixth myth connected with the fact that, they say, everyone involved in the initial disclosure of the activities of the "Young Guard" became enemies for each other. It is based on the fact that the pioneers of the "Young Guard" took offense at Alexander Fadeev for life, criticized him for multiple mistakes (although they themselves made them), which supposedly eventually led to the tragic end of the venerable Soviet writer.

On the one hand, of course, there could be no personal offense, because there was a specific "pointer" by Stalin that the heroism of the "Young Guard" should be described by the famous Soviet writer, having a name and significant works. On the other hand, when the choice fell on Fadeev, Lyaskovsky and Kotov were “strongly recommended” not only to give all their achievements to Fadeev and all the addresses of the relatives of the underground, but also to provide all kinds of assistance in working on the novel. Vladimir Lyaskovsky, for example, unambiguously refused such an offer and went further along the front lines. After the war, he returned to his native Odessa, where he continued his writing and journalistic work. In Odessa, everyone loved him for his sharp words, for his excellent essays and stories, for his appropriate humor. By the way, he was one of the few journalist-writers who made three ocean voyages on a whaling flotilla. Vladimir Georgievich died in his native Odessa on May 28, 2002.

The fate of the second discoverer of the "Young Guard" - Mikhail Ivanovich Kotov, who accepted the offer to help the "master" in writing the novel, was completely different and became Alexander Fadeev's full-time assistant. After the publication of the novel and the film, Mikhail Kotov becomes the permanent executive secretary of the Soviet Peace Committee (until his death in 1995).

However, it is on initial stage triumphant march across the country "Young Guard" (both the novel and the film of the same name), there was tension in the creative relationship between Lyaskovskiy and Fadeev, but they were not made public.

Vladimir Lyaskovskiy and Alexander Fadeev

Most recently Russian state archive socio-political history published two little-known documents that were previously stored in the Center for Storage of Documents of Youth Organizations (the former Central Archive of the Komsomol). These documents are worth citing in full, since they shed light on some details, and also reveal the essence of the relationship between the "parents" of the historical and literary Young Guards.

LETTER Al. Fadeeva M.A. SUSLOV WITH A COMPLAINT AGAINST A JOURNALIST

V.G. LYASKOVSKY

Dear Mikhail Andreevich!

A certain journalist from Odessa, V. Lyaskovskiy, sends out letters to various organizations about the article by Comrade. Gaevoy, secretary of the Voroshilovgrad Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, who worked during the Nazi occupation in the mountains. Krasnodon of the Bolshevik underground organization and its leadership of the Young Guard organization. (The article was published in the Znamya magazine, No. 8, 1950). In view of the fact that in his last letter to the editors of the Znamya magazine V. Lyaskovskiy also refers to his letter to you, I consider it necessary to refute some of his "fictions".

Article comrade. Gaevoy was not published in Literaturnaya Gazeta, of course, not out of fear of undermining Fadeev's "authority". The article was simply great for a newspaper and, in terms of its historical content, was of a journal nature. Upon learning of the existence of this article, I wrote to Comrade. Gaev, the editors of the magazine "Znamya" sent to Comrade. Gaev of his employee to agree on some editorial amendments, and the article appeared in the Znamya magazine. Of course, I did not receive any "materials" either personally from V. Lyaskovskiy or through comrade M.I. Kotov (now secretary of the Soviet Peace Committee) and could not promise him, V. Lyaskovskii, any "payment" for materials, because he had never seen him in the eye. Apparently, this is a typical newspaper businessman, extortionist.

For clarity, I am sending you: a copy of V. Lyaskovskiy's letter to me dated 5/II-50, my correspondence with comrade. Gaev, a copy of V. Lyaskovskiy's letter to Znamya, in which he mentions his letter to you.

Best regards, A. Fadeev

LETTER FROM JOURNALIST V.G. LYASKOVSKY A.A. FADEYEV

ABOUT THE ARTICLE A.I. GAYEVOY ON THE ORGANIZATION AND ACTIVITIES OF THE KRASNODON UNDERGROUND

Dear Alexander Alexandrovich!

I read your speech at the plenum, it seemed to me that it did not sound sincere in your lips now. And that's why. On the instructions of the Literary Gazette, I went to Voroshilovgrad and brought back a very interesting article from Comrade. Gaevoy "On the organizers and leaders of the Krasnodon underground". The article by the secretary of the regional party committee speaks very correctly about many things that were not covered in your novel and through no fault of yours. To do this, you need to read the article Comrade. Gaevoy. I am very surprised that you banned this article. At least, that's what I was told in Literaturnaya Gazeta. Toadies from Lit. newspapers” reasoned that this article was a blow to Fadeev. What can I say to this?

I love Fadeev more than all those idiots who think this is how they protect his authority. I am a friend of Arkady Gaidar, Alexei Nedogonov. I say this from the bottom of my heart. And I think that Gaevoy's article is needed by our people now, and I, a Russian journalist, will be proud that my work will somehow help my favorite writer in his work. I am proud that you used some of my articles in 1943. If they were rubbish, you would, of course, not pay attention to them. By the way, last year (before you received your dissertation from Voroshilovgrad) I sent Comrade Kotov great material about party leadership. Did you receive?

With sincere regards

V. Lyaskovskiy

Odessa, Deribasovskaya (…)

Lyaskovskiy Vladimir Georgievich

It is difficult to understand Fadeev's words that « A certain journalist from Odessa, V. Lyaskovskiy, sends letters to various organizations…”, after all, he himself pointed out in his article “Immortality”, published in Pravda in June 1943 about the feat of the Young Guard, that the military commanders Lyaskovskiy and Kotov were the first to reveal the essence of the heroism of the young patriots of Donbass. On the other hand, it is not difficult to understand Lyaskovskiy himself, who not only wanted to recall his initial discovery, but also to provide some assistance in correcting some errors and making certain corrections. But they were not and could not be enemies, although Lyaskovsky's further creative connection with his old friend Kotov ceased in 1944 ...

And regarding the tragic end of Alexander Fadeev and the main role of the "Young Guard" in it, these are only fictions, not supported by facts. Yes, and Alexander Alexandrovich himself repeatedly pointed out that he wrote the first edition of the Young Guard as purely piece of art with a certain tolerance for artistic addition and reflection. As he argued that the Young Guard was created by the Komsomol members themselves, but the power of the party order was so strong that the second edition of the Young Guard, where changes were made regarding the role of the party leadership, he jokingly called the "Old Guard" . Alluding to the fact that the true youthful impulse of despair and courage was replaced by the skillful leadership of the older generation, because, according to Stalin, a youth organization without party leadership could not exist and effectively fight the enemy in the occupied territory.

(To be continued)

For the first time, the Soviet people learned the history of the "Young Guard" in 1943, immediately after the liberation of Krasnodon by the Red Army. The underground organization "Young Guard" included seventy-one people: forty-seven boys and twenty-four girls, the youngest was 14 years old.

Krasnodon was occupied by the enemy on July 20, 1942. Sergei Tyulenin was the first to start underground activities. He acted boldly, scattered leaflets, began to collect weapons, attracted a group of guys ready for an underground struggle. Thus began the history of the Young Guard.

On September 30, the detachment's action plan was approved and a headquarters was organized. Ivan Zemnukhov was appointed chief of staff, Viktor Tretyakevich was elected commissar. Tyulenin came up with a name for the underground organization - "Young Guard". By October, all disparate groups united and the legendary Oleg Koshevoy and Ivan Turkenich, Ulyana Gromova, Lyubov Shevtsova entered the headquarters of the Young Guard.

The Young Guard posted leaflets, collected weapons, burned grain and poisoned food intended for the invaders. In a day October revolution they hung out several flags, burned down the Labor Exchange and saved more than 2,000 people who were sent to work in Germany. By December 1942, the Young Guard had a fair amount of weapons and explosives in stock. They were preparing for an open battle. In total, the underground organization "Young Guard" distributed more than five thousand leaflets - from which the inhabitants of the occupied Krasnodon learned news from the fronts.

The underground organization "Young Guard" committed many desperately bold deeds and the most active and courageous members of the "Young Guard", such as Oleg Koshevoy, Ulyana Gromova, Lyubov Shevtsova, Sergey Tyulenin, Ivan Zemnukhov, could not be kept from recklessness. They wanted to completely "twist the hands of the enemy", already before the arrival of the Victorious Red Army.

Their careless actions (the capture of the New Year's convoy with gifts for the Germans in December 1942) led to punitive actions.

On January 1, 1943, the young guards Viktor Tretyakevich, Ivan Zemnukhov, Yevgeny Moshkov were arrested. The headquarters decided to immediately leave the city, and all the Young Guards were ordered not to spend the night at home. Messengers of the headquarters conveyed the message to all the underground workers. Among the contacts was a traitor - Gennady Pocheptsov, when he found out about the arrests, he got cold feet and informed the police about the existence of an underground organization.

Mass arrests began. Many members of the underground organization "Young Guard" thought that leaving meant betraying their captive comrades. They did not realize that it was more correct to retreat to their own, save their lives and fight to win. Most didn't leave. Everyone was afraid for their parents. Only twelve young guards escaped. 10 survived, two of them - Sergei Tyulenin and Oleg Koshevoy - were nevertheless caught.

Youth, fearlessness, courage helped most of the young guards with honor to endure the cruel tortures to which they were subjected by a ruthless enemy. Fadeev's novel "The Young Guard" describes terrible episodes of torture.

Pocheptsov betrayed Tretyakevich as one of the leaders of the underground organization Young Guard. He was tortured with extreme cruelty. The young hero was courageously silent, then among those arrested and in the city a rumor was spread that it was Tretyakevich who betrayed everyone.

Viktor Tretyakevich, a Young Guard accused of treason, was acquitted only in the 1950s, when a trial took place over one of the executioners, Vasily Podtynny, who admitted that not Tretyakevich, but Pocheptsov betrayed everyone.

And only on December 13, 1960, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Viktor Tretyakevich was rehabilitated and posthumously awarded the Order Patriotic War I degree.

When the mother of Viktor Tretyakevich was presented with the award, she asked not to show the film by Sergei Gerasimov "The Young Guard", where her son appears as a traitor.
More than 50 young people died at the very beginning of their lives, after terrible torments, without betraying their idea, Motherland, faith in Victory.

Executions of the Young Guards were carried out from mid-January to February 1943, with parties of exhausted Komsomol members dumped into abandoned coal mines. Many could not be identified, after their bodies were removed by relatives and friends, so they were mutilated beyond recognition.

Entered Krasnodon on February 14 Soviet troops. On February 17, the city was dressed in mourning. A wooden obelisk was erected 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 courage of the Young Guard brought up courage and selflessness in the coming generations of Soviet youth. The names of the Young Guards are sacred to us, and it’s scary to think today that someone is trying to depersonalize and belittle their heroic lives, sacrificed common purpose Great Victory.

Victoria Maltseva

September 13, 1943 honorary title Heroes 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.

Heroes of the Young Guard

Decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Council are published today 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 German occupation in the Voroshilovgrad region. The children of miners - members of the underground organization "Young Guard" - showed themselves to be selfless patriots of the fatherland, forever writing their names in history holy fight 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 of the miners' 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, red flags made from the Fascist banner stolen from the German club were raised on the Voroshilov school building, on the highest tree in the park, on the hospital building. A few dozens German soldiers and the officers were killed by members of an underground organization headed 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 German 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 lose heart, but with great fearlessness true patriots received 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 full of 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, having tied a white armband (a distinctive sign of the policemen) on his sleeve, 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 the 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 a strong wind was blowing and it was raining, forcing the police patrols to hide, the Young Guards were able to quite freely attach the flags with ropes to the pipes on all the buildings. 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. Inhuman torture had to be experienced by the Young Guard in last days life. 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.

Brave Undergrounders

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 had known each other from their school years, from joint work in the Komsomol, from 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. Now 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 bandage 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 the delivery of 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 Guards 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

Glory to the sons of the Komsomol!

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 in 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

This is how heroes die

The "Young Guard" was preparing to fulfill its cherished dream - a decisive armed attack on the Krasnodon garrison by the Germans.
Vile betrayal interrupted combat activity 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.
The Gestapo beat Sergey Tyulenin several times a day with whips made of electric wires, broke his fingers, and 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!"
So the glorious pupils of the Komsomol lived, fought and died for their fatherland, young hero whose feat will survive the ages.

"Long live our liberator - the Red Army!"

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.

Komsomol members of Krasnodon

No! 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.

No! Torture won't make us shudder!
Immortal scarlet banners
Where is the youth
Like the Komsomol members of Krasnodon!

"Young guard"

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

The famous novel Alexandra Fadeeva and the movie of the same name Sergei Gerasimov. In the 90s of the last century, they 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 the freedom of their homeland, the young men and women of Krasnodon fought against the German invaders, showing stamina and heroism, withstood torture and bullying, and died very young. It is impossible to forget about their feat, the doctor believes. historical sciences Nina PETROVA- 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 3,350 Komsomol and youth underground organizations were operating in the temporarily occupied territory. But we do not know the history of any of them. For example, almost nothing is known about the youth organization that arose 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.

Shortly after the liberation of Krasnodon on February 14, 1943, Soviet and party organs began collecting information about the Young Guard. Already on March 31, 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 (b) of Ukraine Nikita Khrushchev. Khrushchev brought the information received to the attention of Joseph Stalin, and the story of the "Young Guard" received wide publicity, they started talking about it. And in July 1943, following 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 come about?

Krasnodon is a small mining town. Mining settlements grew up around it - Pervomaika, Semeykino and others. At the end of July 1942, Krasnodon was occupied. It is officially recognized that the "Young Guard" arose at the end of September. But we must keep in mind that small underground youth organizations appeared not only in the city, but also in the villages. And at first they were not connected with each other.

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

In September appeared in Krasnodon Viktor 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 duties 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, in this regard different opinions even a few surviving young guards spoke out ...

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

We can confidently say that Tretyakevich, a member of the Komsomol since January 1939, led the organization. Much older than Koshevoy was Ivan Turkenich, who served in the Red Army. He managed to avoid arrest in January 1943, spoke at the funeral of the Young Guards and managed to talk 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 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 dues, and took part in some actions. But he was not the leader.

How many people were in the underground organization?

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

Promotional poster for the film "The Young Guard", directed by Sergei Gerasimov. 1947

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 sporadically, performing one-time assignments? There were people who sympathized with the Young Guards, but personally did nothing within the organization or did very little. Are those who wrote and distributed only a few leaflets during the occupation considered underground workers? Such a question arose after the war, when it became prestigious to be a Young Guard and people began to apply for confirmation of their membership in the Young Guard, whose participation in the organization was previously unknown.

- What ideas and motives underlay the activities of the Young Guard?

– Boys and girls grew up in the 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 countrymen the truth about the true state of affairs at the front, to dispel the myth of the invincibility of Nazi Germany. That's why they distributed leaflets. The guys were eager to do something to harm the enemies.

- What damage did the Young Guards cause to the invaders? What do they deserve credit for?

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

SMALL CELLS WERE CREATED IN DIFFERENT PLACES 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

Members of the "Young Guard" exposed the disinformation 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 Soviet Information Bureau. In leaflets, the Young Guards exposed the lies of fascist propaganda, sought to tell the truth about the Soviet Union, about the Red Army. In the first months of the occupation, the Germans, calling on young people to work in Germany, promised everyone there good life. And some succumbed to these promises. It was important to dispel the illusions.

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

Unbowed. Hood. F.T. Kostenko

- How long did the "Young Guard" operate?

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

Young Guards. Biographical essays on members of the Krasnodon party and Komsomol underground / Comp. R.M. Aptekar, A.G. Nikitenko. Donetsk, 1981

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

Who betrayed anyway?

- The failure of the "Young Guard" was blamed different people. 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, who was accepted into the organization by Tretyakevich. However, 15-year-old Pocheptsov had nothing to do with governing bodies and even great activity in the "Young Guard" did not differ. 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 places 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 claimed that on 24 or 25 December he entered the office of the commandant of the Krasnodonsky district and the head of the local police, Vasily Solikovsky, and saw Pocheptsov's statement on his desk. Then they said that the young man allegedly handed over to the police a list of Young Guards through his stepfather. But where is this list? Nobody saw him. Stepfather Pocheptsov, Vasily Gromov, after the release of Krasnodon, he 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 did not occur because of betrayal, but because of poor conspiracy. Vasily Levashov and some other surviving Young Guards argued that if not for the attack on the car with Christmas presents, the organization could have survived. Boxes with canned food, sweets, biscuits, cigarettes, things were stolen from the car. All this was taken home. Valeria Borts took the raccoon coat. When the arrests began, Valeria's mother cut the fur coat into small pieces, which she then destroyed.

Caught young underground workers on cigarettes. I sold them Mitrofan Puzyrev. The police were also on the trail of candy wrappers that the guys threw anywhere. And so the arrests began before the new year. So, I think, the organization was ruined by non-compliance with the rules of secrecy, the naivety and gullibility of some of its members.

Before everyone was arrested Evgenia Moshkova- the only communist among the Young Guards; he was brutally tortured. On January 1, they took Ivan Zemnukhov and Viktor Tretyakevich.

After the release 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. Yes, and many facts do not fit with the version of the betrayal of Tretyakevich. He was one of the first to be arrested, and until the very day of his execution, that is, for two weeks, he was severely tortured. Why, if he 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 testimonies of the Nazi accomplices who tortured the Young Guards, the tortures did not break Viktor.

The version about his betrayal also contradicts 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 the chief of police Solikovsky and the head of the German gendarmerie Zons into the pit with him. For this, Victor received a blow on the head with a pistol handle.

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 outside, then put on the stove, and then again taken for interrogation. Sergei Tyulenin was cauterized with a red-hot rod. When Sergei's fingers were thrust into the door and closed it, he screamed and, unable to bear the pain, lost consciousness. Ulyana Gromova was suspended from the ceiling by her braids. The guys broke their ribs, cut off their fingers, gouged out their eyes ...

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

“There was no party underground in Krasnodon”

Why were they so brutally tortured?

- I think that the Germans wanted to enter the party underground, that's why they tortured me like that. 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 Guards were executed at mine number 5-bis on the night of January 15, 1943. 50 members of the organization were thrown into a mine shaft 53 meters deep.

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

- 72 people - this is the total number of people executed there, so many corpses were raised from the mine. Among the dead were 20 communists and captured Red Army soldiers who had nothing to do with the Young Guard. Some of the Young Guards 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 Kartushino station, he was stopped by the police, searched, found a pistol, beaten and sent under escort to Rovenki. There he was again searched, and under the lining of his overcoat they found two forms of temporary membership cards and a self-made 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 out that he was the commissar of the Young Guard. Lyubov Shevtsova, Semyon Ostapenko, Viktor Subbotin and Dmitry Ogurtsov were also tortured in Rovenki.

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 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 was held in the park named after Lenin Komsomol 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 has always been said about him, although his story is interesting in its own way. He signed up for the police, but served there for only a few days. Then he joined the "Young Guard". Was arrested. Mikhail Grigoriev helped Anatoly escape, 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 from 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 marked with 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 memoirs, collected documents. But nothing has been published.

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

Ivan Turkenich, Valeria Borts, Olga and Nina Ivantsov, Radik Yurkin, Georgy Arutyunyants, Mikhail Shishchenko, Anatoly Lopukhov and Vasily Levashov were saved. I will say a special word about the last one. On April 27, 1989, employees of the Central Archive of the Komsomol met with him and Tretyakevich's brother Vladimir. A tape recording was made. Levashov said that he fled near Amvrosievka, to the village of Puteinikov. When the Red Army arrived, he declared 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 was abandoned after graduating from intelligence school. Not knowing that the story of the "Young Guard" had already gained fame, 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 started talking. At that meeting in 1989, Levashov said: "After only 40 years, I realized that it was an agent of that Chekist when I compared what he asked and what I answered."

As a result, Levashov was believed, he was sent to the front. He liberated Kherson, Nikolaev, Odessa, Chisinau and Warsaw, 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 leading role of the Communist Party. The writer took into account the criticism and revised the novel. Has historical truth suffered from this?

- I think that just the first version of the novel was successful and 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 Krasnodon party organization 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 made any attempts to recapture the captured communists and young guards from the Germans. The guys were taken home like kittens. Those who were arrested in the settlements were then taken in sledges for a distance of ten or more kilometers. They were accompanied by only two or three policemen. Has anyone tried to beat them back? No.

Only a few people left Krasnodon. Some, such as Anna Sopova, had the opportunity to escape, but did not use it.

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

- Why?

“They were afraid that relatives would suffer because of them.

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

- Fadeev himself said about this: “Although the heroes of my novel have real names and surnames, I did not write the real history of the Young Guard, but a work of art in which there is a lot of fictional and even fictional faces. Roman has the right to do so." And when Fadeev was asked whether it was worth making the Young Guard 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. Thus, the traitor Stakhovich is written out in the novel. This is a fictional collective image. And it was written from Tretyakevich - one to one.

Dissatisfaction with the way certain episodes of the history of the "Young Guard" were shown in the novel began to express in full voice the relatives and friends of the victims immediately after the publication of the book. For example, the mother of Lydia Androsova turned to Fadeev with a letter. She claimed that, contrary to what was written in the novel, her daughter's diary and her other notes never made it to 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 that I wrote about your daughter shows her as a very devoted and persistent girl. I deliberately made it so that her diary allegedly fell into the hands of the Germans after her arrest. You know better than I do that there is not a single entry in the diary that speaks of the activities of the Young Guard and could serve the Germans for the benefit in terms of revealing the Young Guard. In this regard, your daughter was very careful. Therefore, by allowing such a fiction in the novel, I do not put any stain on your daughter.

- Parents thought otherwise ...

- Certainly. And most of all, the inhabitants of Krasnodon were indignant at the role assigned by the writer Oleg Koshevoy. Koshevoy's mother claimed (and this was included in the novel) that the underground gathered at their house on Sadovaya Street, 6. But the Krasnodon people 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" meet there ?! In fact, the headquarters of the organization was going to 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 are anecdotal. She didn't do anything. Later, Elena Nikolaevna wrote the book "The Tale of the Son." Or rather, other people wrote it. When she was asked at the Komsomol regional committee whether everything in the book was true and objective, she replied: “You know, writers wrote the book. But from my story.

- An interesting position.

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

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

Another thing is noteworthy. Parents, grandmothers strive to keep drawings and notes, in different ages made by their children and grandchildren. And Elena Nikolaevna, being the head of the kindergarten, destroyed all of Oleg's diaries and notebooks, so there is no way to even see his handwriting. But verses written by Elena Nikolaevna's hand, which she declared belonged to Oleg, were preserved. There were rumors that it was she who composed them herself.

We must not forget the main

- Surviving Young Guards could bring clarity to 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 commissar of the Young Guard. Borts, Ivantsovs and Shishchenko considered them Koshevoy, and Yurkin, Arutyunyants and Levashov - Tretyakevich. At the same time, in the period from 1943 until the end of the 1950s, Tretyakevich was considered a traitor. His older brother Mikhail was relieved of his post as secretary of the Luhansk Regional Party Committee. Another brother, Vladimir, an army political worker, was declared a party penalty, he was demobilized from the army. Tretyakevich's parents also experienced this injustice hard: his mother was ill, his father was paralyzed.

In 1959, Viktor 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, in the 1980s the Komsomol Central Committee gathered the surviving members of the Krasnodon underground organization. But there are no documents about this meeting in the archive. And the disagreements between the Young Guards were never eliminated.

Monument "Oath" on the central square of Krasnodon

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

- I like Sergei Gerasimov's film. The black-and-white film accurately and dynamically conveyed that time, the state of mind and the experiences of the Soviet people. But for the 70th anniversary Great Victory veterans and the whole country received a very strange "gift" from Channel One. The series "Young Guard" was announced as " true story» 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 graves. The creators of historical films need to carefully read documents and works that correctly reflect a bygone era.

- Roman Fadeeva, who for many decades was a member of school curriculum, has been excluded from it for a long time. 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 correctly reflects the thoughts and feelings of young people of that time, their characters are truthfully given. This work rightfully entered the golden fund of Soviet literature, combining both documentary truth and artistic comprehension. 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 briefly outline what we were talking about. It must be emphasized that the novel is a novel, and not the history of the Young Guard. The history of the Krasnodon underground must be studied according to documents. And this topic is not closed yet.

At the same time, one should 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 workers of Krasnodon. Oleg Koshevoy, Viktor Tretyakevich and other young guardsmen 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 the Krasnodon youth. We need to talk more about the contribution to the struggle of each young guard, and not argue about who held what position in the organization.

For decades, the heroes of the Young Guard have aroused and continue to arouse the admiration of new generations. However, in the mid-1950s, new details about the activities of the Young Guard suddenly emerged. Newspaper publications signed by Kim Kostenko caused a real shock in society.

Mysteries of the history of Russia / Nikolay Nepomniachtchi. — M.: Veche, 2012.

The fact is that at the end of the Khrushchev thaw, the special correspondent of Komsomolskaya Pravda, Kim Kostenko, managed to get acquainted with secret materials relating to the Young Guard. The journalist found out absolutely incredible, at first glance, facts. It turned out that the members of the organization Stakhovich, Vyrikova, Lyadskaya, Polyanskaya, who were called traitors in A. Fadeev's novel "The Young Guard", were actually honest patriots. Moreover, it was Viktor Tretyakevich (in the book - Stakhovich), and not Oleg Koshevoy, who was the commissioner of the Young Guard!

Viktor Tretyakevich

Tretyakevich was seized on the same day as Moshkov and Zemnukhov. He betrayed no one and died like a hero. The underground organization was betrayed by a completely different person - Gennady Pocheptsov. Upon learning of the first arrests, he got scared and scribbled a denunciation to the police, in which he listed all the Young Guards.

Gennady Pocheptsov

Last row: second from right - Gennady Pocheptsov

It is unlikely that Alexander Fadeev could not have known these facts. However, he carried out the social order of the party, and Fadeev was advised by a major from the KGB. It should also be taken into account that when the writer arrived in Krasnodon, he got a paper in which the role of each underground worker was briefly outlined, and the names of the traitors were separately named: Tretyakevich, Vyrikova, Lyadskaya and Polyanskaya. So far, researchers have not been able to establish the authorship of the forged document.

Of course, Fadeev did not want to destroy these people. However, the customer of the book - the Central Committee of the Komsomol - demanded that the book be created in an extremely short time. In this rush, there was no way to check all existing documents. A significant role in the distortion of the truth was played by the mother of Oleg Koshevoy, with whom Fadeev lived. It was her personal memories that formed the basis of the novel. Many families of Krasnodon heroes bitterly complained that the writer never went to them and talked to them.

Until 1990, the Tretyakevich family was stigmatized as "relatives of a traitor." For many years they collected eyewitness accounts and documents about Victor's innocence. And only seven years ago he was finally rehabilitated.

Viktor Tretyakevich, Anna Iosifovna - the mother of Viktor Tretyakevich waited for the day when the honest name of her son was restored

In 1990, the real commander of the "Young Guard" Ivan Turkenich was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Previously, this was unthinkable, because Turkenich ended up in Krasnodon, having escaped from German captivity.

Commander of the "Young Guard" Ivan Turkenich, 1943

Olga Lyadskaya was only 17 years old when the Germans captured her for the first time. The young beauty liked the deputy chief of police Zakharov, who had a separate office for intimate meetings. A few days later, her mother managed to ransom her daughter for a bottle of moonshine. After the release of Krasnodon, Olga told the SMERSH investigator her epic. He decided to “help” her and handed the girl a piece of paper, which she signed without looking. It was a confession of complicity with the invaders. For him, Olga Alexandrovna received ten years in prison. And after the publication of the novel "The Young Guard" she became an important state criminal and found herself in the Lubyanka. The authorities wanted to arrange a show trial over her, but it did not take place - Lyadskaya was diagnosed with a severe form of tuberculosis. The "traitor of the Young Guard" was released only in 1956. In her hometown, no one ever reproached her. Olga managed to finish the institute, give birth to a child. However, in the 60s, publications about the Young Guard reappeared, in which she again appeared as a traitor. Where only Lyadskaya did not write, demanding justice! Finally, the letter got on the table to a decent person - an employee of the prosecutor's office, and he, having carefully studied her case, dropped the heavy charges.

Olga Lyadskaya (center) was also called a traitor, although she could not betray anyone

Both Zinaida Vyrikova and Sima Polyanskaya suffered. Almost nothing is known about the fate of the second. Vyrikova saw Sima among those exiled in Bugulma. Zinaida Alekseevna herself had to go through exile and camps. She was arrested before the novel was published. Released already in 1944, but soon expelled from the Komsomol. Zinaida Alekseevna got married, changed her last name, moved to live in another city. But they still recognized her: “Ah, the one who betrayed the Young Guard!”. For many years, an innocent woman lived in fear of a possible arrest. Of course, she also wrote, tried to reach out to higher authorities, but to no avail.

Zinaida Vyrikova

By the way, the surviving young guards were well aware of the innocence of Tretyakevich, Lyadskaya, Vyrikova, but for some reason they were silent ...