collaborators
In the materials devoted to the defeat of the "Young Guard", the same expression is used: "subjected to (subjected to) cruel torture". Those who tortured, as a rule, are designated vaguely as fascist monsters, occupiers, occasionally (which is closer to the truth) policemen, accomplices of the occupiers. Until the author of these lines in the early 90s immersed himself in the documents of the regional department of state security, he, like millions of Soviet pioneers brought up by the Soviet school, believed that the feet of the patriots were chopped off, the skin on the back was cut out in stripes, the eyes were gouged out by German soldiers. After all, this is what they mean when they write: "the invaders seized, tortured, shot." No, no, no one is going to reconsider the guilt, crimes, responsibility of the German soldier, officer, military leaders who committed mass crimes in the occupied territories under their control. That's it - let it go. Mass executions were carried out just by German punitive groups special purpose- Einsatzgruppen. (Einsatzgruppe C arrived in the Luhansk region in September 1942, the headquarters was located in Starobelsk, the group commander was SS Brigadeführer Major General Max Thomas. From that moment on, the repression machine began to increase its momentum.) But if a German soldier, an officer, putting aside the Schmeiser ", did not pull out the nails of the underground worker, but did it an accomplice, a former Soviet citizen who deliberately took the side of the enemy, then this circumstance should be indicated in this way: the accomplice Ivanov-Petrov-Sidorov was arrested, tortured, shot. Why do I insist on this? Because I see clearly: in the cruelty shown against the arrested partisans, underground workers, but simply Soviet people, does not shine through, but distinctly blackens non-German ferocity. The German death machine worked like a well-oiled giant production. The death conveyor was switched on according to the schedule, lubricated, inspected, repaired. The same investigators, policemen, like medieval kats, did not disdain blood, they ruled teenagers with pleasure. Moreover, the commandant did not stand behind his back, he did not correct the process - they themselves, they tried. They got drunk, of course, but how about ... It is also a distinguishing feature: for greater ferocity, and not to drown out conscience.
"Mom, I'm fine..."
Lidia Androsova was arrested by accomplices on January 12. Lydia made friends with Nikolai Sumsky while still at school. Friendship grew into love. The girl spent five days in the police. When the body of Androsova was removed from the pit ... Without an eye, an ear, a hand, with a rope around his neck.
Nikolai Sumy was taken on January 4 at the mine, ten days later he was sent to Krasnodon, executed on January 16 (according to other sources - January 18), four days after Lidia Androsova.
Alexandra Bondaryova, Vasily Bondaryov's sister, was arrested by the police on January 11. The torture began on the very first day. Brother and sister were kept in different cells. On January 15, Vasily Bondaryov was taken to be executed. He was not allowed to say goodbye to his sister. He was thrown alive into a mine shaft No. 5. On the evening of January 16, Alexandra was also taken to execution (according to mother Praskovya Titovna - January 17). One of the policemen hit Alexandra on the head with a rifle. The girl fell down on the snow. The head hung.
Seventeen-year-old Nina Gerasimova (executed on January 11) was identified with difficulty: “ broken left hand; the whole body, and especially the chest, are black from beatings, the right side is mutilated”(RGASPI Fund M-1, inventory 53, item 329.) Boris Glavan was removed from the mine associated with Yevgeny Shepelev barbed wire. They were tied face to face, and the face young man was mutilated, the hands were cut off, the stomach was ripped open. From Evgeny Shepelev the head was smashed, the hands were cut off. Mikhail Grigoriev tried to escape. He was wounded and thrown alive into a mine shaft. The execution took place on 31 January.
Vasily Gukov, who was executed on January 15, was identified by his mother by a scar on his chest. Seventeen-year-old Leonid Dadyshev was tortured for ten days. His mercilessly flogged with whips, chopped off the brush on the right hand. Shot and thrown into a pit January 15. Maya Peglivanova was disfigured - breasts cut off, legs broken. A friend of Maya Peglivanova, a young teacher Alexandra Dubrovina, refused to leave the city: "Where Maya is, there I will be." January 16, before being thrown into the pit, Alexandra Dubrovina they cut off his chest, stabbed him several times, dragged him still alive to the trunk, smashed his head with rifle butts near the trunk y.
Friends - Antonina Dyachenko and Evgenia Kiykov - were buried in the same coffin. Antonina was arrested on January 12, Yevgenia on January 13. In one of her mother's notes, Evgenia wrote: “Dear mother, don't worry about me - I'm fine. Kiss grandfather for me, have pity on yourself. Your daughter is Zhenya. According to the teacher Antonina Dyachenko, who participated in the funeral of the Young Guards, it was impossible to recognize her friends. Antonina Eliseenko was arrested on January 13 at two in the morning. The police broke into the room where Antonina was sleeping and ordered her to get dressed. The girl refused to dress in front of men. The police were forced to leave. Executed on January 18th. Antonina's body was disfigured.
Vladimir Zhdanov was one of the first to be arrested, on January 3. On January 14, he managed to send a note to his relatives: “Hello, dear ones ... I am still alive. My fate is unknown. For the rest, I don't know anything. I sit separately from everyone in solitary confinement. Goodbye ... I kiss you tightly. On January 16, Vladimir, along with other Young Guardsmen, was taken to the pit. The area was cordoned off by the police. Several people were brought to the place of execution and shot. At the last moment, Zhdanov resisted, trying to push police chief Solikovsky into the mine well, but was shot dead. "Volodya Zhdanov, 17 years old, taken from a lacerated wound in the left temporal region, the fingers were broken and twisted, there were bruises under the nails, two strips three centimeters wide, twenty-five centimeters long were cut on the back, the eyes were gouged out and the ears were cut off"(Museum "Young Guard", f. 1, d. 36). One of the first to be arrested was Nikolai Zhukov. From the police, he gave his mother a note in which he asked not to worry. On January 16, 1943, he was shot and thrown into the pit of mine No. 5: “Nikolai Zhukov, 20 years old, extracted without ears, tongue, teeth, hand and foot cut off"(Museum "Young Guard", f. 1, d. 73). Vladimir Zagoruiko was arrested on January 28. The chief of police Solikovsky participated in the arrest. The chief of police was sitting in a cart, Vladimir Zagoruiko walked through the snowdrifts bound, barefoot, in his underwear. The police pushed him with the butts of machine guns. Vladimir they twisted their arms, pulled out their hair. They threw him alive into the pit.
Antonina Ivanikhina was arrested on 11 January. Until the last hour, the girl looked after her comrades who had weakened after torture. Execution - January 16th. "Tonya Ivanikhina, 19 years old, extracted without eyes, the head is tied with a handkerchief and wire, the breasts are cut out "(Museum "Young Guard", f. 1, d. 75). Antonina's sister Lilia was arrested on January 10, and was also executed on the 16th. The sister of Antonina and Lilia Lyubov recalled: “Once our relative came to us and said: “My husband was appointed as a watchman near mine No. 5. I don’t know if yours are there or not there, but my husband found combs and combs. Look at things, maybe you will find yours. Most likely, do not look for (daughters. - Ed.), Probably yours are there (in the pit. - Ed.). When they were shooting, my grandfather was forced to leave, to climb the waste heap, and he saw that some girls were jumping themselves, some hugged, the guys resisted. (…) One of the sisters had a hand (cut off. - Ed.), Eyes were tied with wire. Then they brought coffins, our Ivanikhins were put in one coffin.
Claudia Kovaleva was executed on 16 January. “Klava Kovaleva, 17 years old, was taken out swollen, the right breast was cut off, the feet were burned, the left arm was cut off, the head was tied with a scarf, there were signs of beatings on the body. It was found ten meters from the trunk, between the trolleys, it was probably thrown alive ”(Museum“ Young Guard ”, f. 1, d. 10.)
Antonina Mashchenko was executed on 16 January. Antonina's mother Maria Alexandrovna: “As I later found out, my beloved child was also executed by terrible torture. When the corpse of Antonina was removed from the pit along with other young guards, it was difficult to identify my girl in it. In her braids was braided barbed wire was missing half of her lush hair. My daughter was hung up and tortured by animals.”
Nina Minaeva was executed on 16 January. The brother of the underground worker Vladimir Petrovich recalled: “... My sister was recognized by woolen leggings - the only clothes that remained on her. Nina's arms were broken, one eye was knocked out, there were shapeless wounds on her chest, her whole body was in black stripes ... "
Policemen Krasnov and Kalitventsev drove Yevgeny Moshkov around the city all night. Eugene's hands were tied. There were severe frosts. police officers Moshkov was lowered into the well of a water column. Then Kalitventsev brought everyone to his home. Moshkov was put in front of the stove. They let me smoke. Then they took it again.
Vladimir Osmukhin (arrested on January 5, executed on January 15) was identified by his clothes. Vladimir's sister Lyudmila: “When I saw Vovochka, mutilated, almost completely without a head, without a left arm up to the elbow I thought I was going crazy. I didn't believe it was him. He was in one sock, and the other leg was completely bare. Instead of a belt, a warm scarf is worn. No outerwear. Head is broken. The back of the head fell out completely, only the face remained, on which only Volodya's teeth remained. Everything else is ruined. The lips are distorted, the nose is almost completely missing ...»
Viktor Petrov was arrested on 6 January. On the night of January 15-16, he was thrown alive into a pit. Victor's sister Natalya Petrova: “When Vitya was taken out of the pit, he could have been given 80 years. There was no left ear, nose, both eyes, teeth were knocked out, hair remained only on the back of the head. There were black stripes around the neck (apparently, traces of hanging), all the fingers on the hands were finely broken, the skin on the soles of the feet rose in a bubble, on the chest there was a large deep wound inflicted by a cold weapon. Obviously, it was inflicted while still in prison, because the tunic and shirt were not torn.
Anatoly Popov was born on January 16th. On his birthday, January 16, he was thrown alive into a pit. The last meeting of the headquarters of the "Young Guard" was held at the apartment of Anatoly Popov. " On the left hand, the fingers and the foot on the right leg were cut off"(RGASPI F-1 Op.53 D.332.)
Angelina Samoshina (executed on January 16): “Traces of torture were found on Angelina’s body: hands are twisted, ears are cut off, a star is carved on the cheek”(RGASPI. F. M-1. Op. 53. D. 331.) Angelina’s mother Anastasia Emelyanovna: “She sent a note from prison, where she wrote that many products should not be passed on, that she is fine here, “like in a resort.” On January 18, they did not accept the parcel from us, they said that they were sent to a concentration camp. My mother, Nina Minaeva, and I went to the camp in Dolzhanka, where they were not there. Then the policeman warned us not to go and look. But rumors spread that they were thrown into the pit of mine No. 5, where they were found. That's how my daughter died...
Anna Sopova's parents - Dmitry Petrovich and Praskovya Ionovna: “They began to ask her who she knows, with whom she had a connection, what did she do? Silent. They ordered her to strip naked. She turned pale - and from a place. And she was beautiful, her braids were huge, lush, to the waist. They tore off her clothes, wrapped her dress over her head, laid her on the floor and started whipping with a wire whip. She screamed terribly. And then, as they began to beat on the hands, head, could not stand it, poor thing, asked for mercy. Then she fell silent again. Then Bad, one of the chief executioners of the police, hit her in the head with something…”
Nina Startseva was removed from the pit on the third day. Mom recognized her by her hair and the embroidery on her shirt sleeve. They drove needles under the girl's fingers, cut strips of skin on her chest, her left side was burned with red-hot iron and fire. Before being thrown into the pit, the girl was shot in the back of the head.
Demyan Fomin (Dema) was subjected to particularly cruel torture. They cut off all the skin from his back in narrow strips. Body decapitated. When asked what he was like, Demyan's mother Maria Frantsevna answered: “A kind, gentle, sympathetic son. Dreamed of driving trains.
Alexander Shishchenko was arrested on January 8, executed on the 16th: “ The nose, ears, lips were cut off, the arms were twisted, the whole body was cut, shot in the head ... "
Uliana Gromova made the last entry in her book on November 9, 1942: “It is much easier to see how heroes die than to listen to the cries of some coward for mercy. Jack London". Executed on 16 January. "Ulyana Gromova, 19 years old, she had a five-pointed star carved on her back, right hand broken, broken ribs(KGB archive under the Council of Ministers of the USSR, d.100-275, v. 8.)
History after history
On September 8, 1943, Nikita Khrushchev, secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Ukraine, sent a memorandum to Stalin, in which he asked that five young guards be awarded the title of Hero "as the most outstanding organizers and leaders of the Young Guard" Soviet Union and "to award 44 members of the Young Guard with orders of the USSR for their valor and courage." "Order of the USSR" is an order Patriotic War 1st degree and medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War 1st degree".
Honorary awards, like other awards of the USSR. By 1984, about 25 thousand orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree were awarded, in 1991 over 56 thousand people were awarded the medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree". But…
In February 1943, immediately after the liberation of Krasnodon, the second history of the Young Guard began. Posthumous history.
It has everything - from strange disappearance Anatoly Kovalev, who fled from the execution, the appeal of the mother of Sergei Tyulenin, Alexandra Vasilievna, to Leonid Brezhnev (with demands that I will not dare to quote here, they contradict the official history of the organization so much) and to the shameless slander erected on Viktor Tretyakevich. Much in the activities of the Young Guard can be interpreted in this way and that way. But one thing is beyond doubt: “breasts were cut off, legs were broken” - and one order, one medal? “extracted without ears, tongue, teeth, an arm and a foot were cut off” - and only “for valor shown”? “The nose, ears, lips were cut off, the arms were twisted, the whole body was cut, shot in the head” - and a partisan medal? After 1953, more than a million people were enrolled as partisans, tens of thousands who did not have stars cut out on their cheeks were awarded the same medal. I don't think this is fair.
L. Putkaradze.
How was the fate of the surviving young guards? What do we know about them? Only eight members of the Young Guard survived the Great Patriotic War.
Arutyunyants Georgy
During the arrests of members of the underground in January 1943, George managed to leave the city. In the ranks of the Red Army, he took part in battles with the Nazi invaders.
In 1957, Arutyunyants graduated from the Military-Political Academy named after V. I. Lenin, served in the ranks Soviet army. He was an unusually humble and sympathetic person. AT last years of his life, Colonel Arutyunyants worked as a teacher at the Lenin Academy. Graduated from graduate school. In 1969 he was awarded the Ph.D. historical sciences.
He was awarded the Order of the Red Star, the Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree and the medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" 1st degree
G. M. Arutyunyants died on April 26, 1973 after a serious and prolonged illness. He was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery.
Wrestler Valeria
After the release of Krasnodon, Valeria Borts continued her studies: she passed the exams externally for high school and in August 1943 she entered the Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages.
After graduating from the institute, she worked as a translator-referent of Spanish and English at the Bureau of Foreign Literature at the Military Technical Publishing House. In 1963, Valeria Davydovna was sent to Cuba as an editor of technical literature at Spanish, and in 1971 she was sent to Poland, where she continued to serve in the ranks of the Soviet Army. In 1953 she joined the CPSU. But at the end of her life - in 1994 - she left the Communist Party.
She was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree, the Order of the Red Star and the medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" 1st degree, as well as many medals for impeccable service in the ranks of the Soviet Army.
Valeria Borts - Master of Sports of the USSR in motor sports (1960). In 1957, she and her husband first became participants in official rally competitions. At the end of her life, Valeria Davydovna, a lieutenant colonel in the reserve, lived in Moscow. She died on January 14, 1996, the ashes, according to her will, were scattered over pit No. 5 in the city of Krasnodon.
In 1948, Nina Mikhailovna graduated from the Donetsk Party School, and in 1953 from the Voroshilovgrad Pedagogical Institute. She worked in the apparatus of the Voroshilovgrad Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine.
At the end of her life she was retired, she died on January 1, 1982, and was buried in Lugansk.
She was awarded the Order of the Red Star and the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, medals "Partisan of the Patriotic War" of the 1st degree, "For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" and others.
Ivantsova Olga
In early January 1943, after the first arrests of the underground, Olga and her sister left the city. In February, together with units of the Red Army, they returned to Krasnodon.
Upon returning to Krasnodon, she became a Komsomol worker. Working as the second secretary of the district committee of the Komsomol, Olga Ivantsova raised funds for the Young Guard tank column and the Heroes of Krasnodon air squadron, took an active part in the creation of the Young Guard museum, in collecting exhibits for it. Olga Ivantsova was the museum's first tour guide.
In 1947, Olga Ivantsova was elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR of the 2nd convocation. In 1948 she joined the ranks of the CPSU. In 1954 she graduated from the Lviv Higher Trade School. Was at party work in the city of Krivoy Rog, Dnepropetrovsk region, worked in the field of trade. She was awarded the Order of the Red Star and the medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" 1st degree.
Olga Ivanovna died on June 16, 2001, she was buried in Krivoy Rog.
Levashov Vasily
In August 1945, Vasily Ivanovich Levashov, lieutenant of the 1038th rifle regiment of the 295th rifle division, was sent to courses at the Engels Leningrad Political School, and in 1947, after graduation, to Navy. Until 1949, Vasily Ivanovich served on the Black Sea, on the cruiser Voroshilov, from 1949 to 1953 he studied at the Lenin Military-Political Academy. After graduating, he served on warships.
Red Banner Baltic Fleet: was the deputy commander of the destroyer Stoiky and the cruiser Sverdlov.
Since 1973, he worked as a senior lecturer in the department of party political work (associate professor) at the A. S. Popov Higher Naval School of Radio Electronics in Leningrad. He graduated from the service with the rank of captain of the 1st rank. From 1991 until the end of his life - a member of the RCWP.
On June 22, 2001, he compiled the "Appeal of the last Young Guard to the youth." He died on July 10, 2001, and was buried on July 13 at the military cemetery of Old Peterhof in St. Petersburg.
Family: wife - Ninel Dmitrievna, daughter Maria and granddaughter Nelly, named after her grandmother.
Orders:
Red Star - for participation in the liberation of Kherson.
Patriotic War 2nd degree - for the liberation of Warsaw.
Patriotic War 2nd degree - for participation in the capture of Kustrin.
Patriotic War 1-degree - for the capture of Berlin.
Medals:
"For the Liberation of Warsaw".
"For the capture of Berlin."
"For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945".
"Partisan of the Patriotic War" 2nd degree.
"For Military Merit".
Lopukhov Anatoly
In January 1943, Anatoly Lopukhov managed to avoid arrest. He left Krasnodon and hid in the mining settlements for a long time. In the Alexandrovka area, not far from Voroshilovgrad, he crossed the front line and voluntarily joined the Red Army. He took part in the battles for the liberation of Ukraine. October 10, 1943 was wounded.
After the hospital he came to his native Krasnodon. Here he took an active part in the creation of the museum "Young Guard", was its first director, carried out a lot of educational work among young people. In September 1944, Anatoly Lopukhov entered the Leningrad School of Anti-Aircraft Artillery. Upon graduation, he was a platoon commander and secretary of the bureau of the Komsomol unit, then assistant to the head of the political department of the school for work among Komsomol members. In 1948, Anatoly Vladimirovich became a member of the Communist Party. In 1955, Captain Lopukhov was admitted to the Military-Political Academy named after V.I. Lenin. After graduation, he served as a political worker in military units Air defense of the Soviet Army. In subsequent years, he worked in many regions of the Soviet Union, was repeatedly elected to the city and regional Soviets of Workers' Deputies.
He was awarded the Order of the Red Star, medals "Partisan of the Patriotic War" 1st degree, "For Courage" and others.
He died on October 5, 1990 in Dnepropetrovsk, where he lived after military service.
Shishchenko Mikhail
AT post-war years Mikhail Tarasovich worked as chairman of the Rovenkovsky district committee of the trade union of coal miners, assistant to the head of the Dzerzhinsky mine administration, secretary of the party organization of the Almaznyansky mine administration, deputy manager of the Frunzeugol trust. In 1961 he graduated from the Rovenkovsky Mining College. In 1970, he was appointed deputy head of the material and technical supply department of the Donbassanthracite plant. In recent years, he worked as an assistant to the director of the mine named after the XXIII Congress of the CPSU for personnel. Residents of the city of Rovenki repeatedly elected him as a deputy of the city council.
He was awarded the Order of the Red Star and the October Revolution, the medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" 1st degree.
Died May 5, 1979. He was buried at the city cemetery in Rovenki.
Yurkin Radiy
In October 1943, the Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League sent Radiy to the school for pilots of initial training, after which, in January 1945, he was assigned to the Pacific Fleet. He took part in battles with the Japanese militarists. Then he served in the Red Banner Baltic and Black Sea Fleets.
In 1950, Radiy Yurkin graduated from the Yeisk Military Aviation School. During his studies, he was elected a member of the Krasnodar Regional Committee of the Komsomol, was a delegate to the XI Congress of the Komsomol. In 1951 he became a member of the CPSU. In 1957 he was transferred to the reserve for health reasons. Lived in the city of Krasnodon. He worked as a mechanic in the Krasnodon motorcade. He devoted a lot of time and energy to the military-patriotic education of the youth, was a passionate propagandist of the unparalleled feat of his Young Guard friends. Together with other survivors of the Young Guard, Radiy Petrovich participated in the rehabilitation of Viktor Tretyakevich, who became the victim of a slander by one of the policemen, who claimed that Viktor could not stand the torture and betrayed his comrades. Only in 1959 was it possible to restore his honest name.
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 feat and tragedy of the Young Guards 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 Fadeev's work on the “given topic”, it is worth revealing some secret, as if it were simply forgotten. 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” that had just begun to be published. 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 the Soviet Komsomol and youth underground fought heroically 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 worked on art 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 workers, was shot in the Rattlesnake Forest. Or the introduction in the new edition of the novel "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" were offended by Alexander Fadeev for life, criticized him for multiple mistakes (although they themselves made them), which supposedly ultimately 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 a well-known Soviet writer with 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. Everyone in Odessa loved him for sharp word, for excellent essays and stories, for 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 was at the initial stage of the triumphal procession across the country of The Young Guard (both the novel and the film of the same name) that there was tension in the creative relationship between Lyaskovsky and Fadeev, but they were not made public.
Vladimir Lyaskovskiy and Alexander Fadeev
More recently, the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History made public two little-known documents that were previously stored in the Center for the Storage of Documents of Youth Organizations (formerly the Central Archive of the Komsomol). These documents are worth bringing to in full, because 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 Literaturnaya Gazeta, I went to Voroshilovgrad and brought back very interesting article 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 a large amount of material on the 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 Lyaskovsky 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 work of fiction 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)
"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 everyone. Soviet people. 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 steadfastness and heroism, withstood torture and bullying, and died very young. It is impossible to forget about their feat, says Doctor of 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, even a few surviving Young Guards expressed different opinions on this matter ...
– 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. AT 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 to confirm 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 invincibility 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 headquarters of the "Young Guard" were released from concentration camp over 80 Soviet prisoners of war, a herd of 500 cattle was recaptured. 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, the 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 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 December 24 or 25 he went into 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 are total number 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 Dnepropetrovsk region, where he disappeared, and further fate unknown so far. 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 the 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 be 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 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 she was lodged German officers! 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 and grandmothers strive to preserve the drawings and notes made by their children and grandchildren at different ages. And Elena Nikolaevna, being the head of the kindergarten, destroyed all 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, at the opening of the monument to Tretyakevich in the village of Yasenki Kursk region where he was born, only Yurkin, Lopukhov and Levashov came from the Young Guard. 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 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 correctly reflects the thoughts and feelings of young people of that time, their characters are truthfully given. This work is rightfully included in the golden fund 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.
Interviewed by Oleg NazarovFor 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, Komsomolskaya Pravda special correspondent Kim Kostenko managed to get acquainted with classified 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 named separately: 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. AT hometown no one ever blamed 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 ...
