1943 Execution of Young Guards

75 years ago, on January 16, 1943, the execution of members of the underground Komsomol organization "Young Guard" was completed in Krasnodon. In just two days, more than 40 Young Guardsmen were shot or thrown alive into the mine shaft, including the leaders of the Young Guard Viktor Tretyakevich, Evgeny Moshkov, Ivan Zemnukhov, Ulyana Gromova, Sergei Tyulenin.

The reason for the failure of the "Young Guard" has not been precisely established so far. According to the most common version, the Young Guards were betrayed by a member of the organization, Gennady Pocheptsov, who was shot in February 1943, shortly after the liberation of Krasnodon by Soviet troops. Vasily Solikovsky, the head of the police of Krasnodon, who led the execution of the Young Guards, managed to escape punishment and emigrated to America after the war.