Gromova Ulyana Matveevna is the second cousin of my mother Ovchinnikova (Kotova) Valentina Alekseevna and the cousin of my grandmother Kornienko Ulyana Fedorovna, born in 1905, a native of the Poltava region of Ukraine. Gromov Matvey Maksimovich, Uli’s father, is the cousin of my grandmother Ulyana Fedorovna Kornienko. Before my grandmother’s parents and their family left the Poltava region, they and the Gromovs were family friends.
In February 1943, my grandmother received a letter from the Gromovs, in which Uli’s parents reported her death at the hands of the German occupiers and traitorous fellow villagers who went into the service of the Nazis. My grandmother’s entire family grieved all their lives for their 19-year-old niece, who was brutally tortured and died in terrible agony. While Ulyana Gromova’s parents were alive, they maintained family ties with my grandmother’s family until the mid-70s. After the death of Matvey Maksimovich Gromov, the connection was severed.
We sacredly honor the memory of Ulyana Gromova and all our many relatives who participated in the Great Patriotic War on the battlefields and in work in the rear during these years for the benefit of the Victory of our people, including those who received state awards for their participation in the Great Patriotic War and for their work in the rear.
We would like to find all living descendants of the Gromovs.
Ulyana Matveevna Gromova was born on January 3, 1924 in the village of Pervomaika, Krasnodonsky district. There were five children in the family, Ulya was the youngest. Father, Matvey Maksimovich, who came from a family of Don Cossacks, often told his children about the glory of Russian weapons, about famous military leaders, about past battles and campaigns, instilling in children pride in their people and their Motherland. Mother, Matryona Savelyevna, knew many songs, epics, and was a real folk storyteller.
In 1932, Ulyana went to first grade at Pervomaisk School No. 6. She studied excellently, moved from class to class with Certificates of Merit. “Gromova is rightfully considered the best student of the class and the school,” said the former director of secondary school No. 6 I.A. Shkreba. “Of course, she has excellent abilities, high development, but the main role belongs to work - persistent and systematic. She studies with soul, interest. Thanks to this, Gromova’s knowledge is wider and her understanding of phenomena is deeper than that of many of her fellow students.”
Ulyana read a lot, was a passionate fan of M. Yu. Lermontov and T. G. Shevchenko, A. M. Gorky and Jack London. She kept a diary where she wrote down expressions she liked from the books she had just read.
In 1939, Gromova was elected a member of the academic committee. In March 1940, she joined the Komsomol. She successfully completed her first Komsomol assignment - a counselor in a pioneer detachment. She carefully prepared for each gathering, made clippings from newspapers and magazines, and selected children's poems and stories.
Ulyana was a tenth-grader when the Great Patriotic War began. By this time, as I. A. Shkreba recalled, “she had already developed firm concepts about duty, honor, and morality. She is a strong-willed nature.” She was distinguished by a wonderful sense of friendship and collectivism. Together with her peers, Ulya worked in the collective farm fields and cared for the wounded in the hospital. In 1942 she graduated from school.
During the occupation, Anatoly Popov and Ulyana Gromova organized a patriotic youth group in the village of Pervomaika, which became part of the Young Guard. Gromova is elected a member of the headquarters of the underground Komsomol organization. She takes an active part in preparing the military operations of the Young Guards, distributes leaflets, collects medicines, works among the population, agitating Krasnodon residents to disrupt the plans of the invaders to supply food and recruit young people to Germany.
On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Great October Revolution, together with Anatoly Popov, Ulyana hung a red flag on the chimney of mine No. 1-bis.
Ulyana Gromova was a determined, brave underground worker, distinguished by her firmness of convictions and her ability to instill confidence in others. These qualities manifested themselves with particular force during the most tragic period of her life, when in January 1943 she ended up in fascist dungeons. As Valeria Borts’ mother, Maria Andreevna, recalls, Ulyana spoke with conviction about the fight in the cell: “We must not bend in any conditions, in any situation, but find a way out and fight. We can also fight in these conditions, we just need to be more decisive and organized ".
Ulyana Gromova behaved with dignity during interrogations, refusing to give any testimony about the activities of the underground.
"...Ulyana Gromova was hung by her hair, a five-pointed star was cut out on her back, her breasts were cut off, her body was burned with a hot iron and the wounds were sprinkled with salt, she was put on a hot stove. The torture continued for a long time and mercilessly, but she was silent. When, after the next beatings, the investigator Cherenkov asked Ulyana why she behaved so defiantly, the girl replied: “I didn’t join the organization to ask for your forgiveness later; I only regret one thing, that we didn’t have enough time to do! But never mind, perhaps the Red Army will still have time to rescue us!..." From the book by A.F. Gordeev "Feat in the Name of Life"
Ulyana Gromova died on January 15, 1943 at 9 pm in a prison cell, unable to withstand the most cruel and sadistic torture. Only her body was more mutilated than anyone else, which suggests that she resisted until the last minute of her life, without betraying any of her fellow Young Guards. The fascist henchmen did not extract a single confession from her. The surviving Young Guard members testify to this. On January 16, 1943, Ulyana Gromova, along with other Young Guard members, was thrown into the pit of mine No. 5. After 3 weeks, Soviet troops entered Krasnodon....
“Ulyana Gromova, 19 years old, a five-pointed star was carved on her back, her right arm was broken, her ribs were broken” (KGB Archives of the USSR Council of Ministers, d. 100-275, vol. 8).
She was buried in the mass grave of heroes in the central square of the city of Krasnodon.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated September 13, 1943, Ulyana Matveevna Gromova, a member of the headquarters of the underground Komsomol organization "Young Guard", was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
And director Gerasimov also felt sorry for the audience - the film does not show all the torture that the guys endured. They were almost children, the youngest was barely 16. It’s scary to read these lines.
It’s scary to think about the inhuman suffering they endured. But we must know and remember what fascism is. The worst thing is that among those who mockingly killed the Young Guard, there were mainly policemen from the local population (the city of Krasnodon, where the tragedy occurred, is located in the Lugansk region). It is all the more terrible to watch now the revival of Nazism in Ukraine, the torchlight processions, and the slogans “Bandera is a hero!”
There is no doubt that today's twenty-year-old neo-fascists, the same age as their brutally tortured fellow countrymen, have not read this book or seen these photographs.
“They beat her and hung her by her braids. They lifted Anya out of the pit with one scythe - the other was broken.
Crimea, Feodosia, August 1940. Happy young girls. The most beautiful, with dark braids, is Anya Sopova.
On January 31, 1943, after severe torture, Anya was thrown into the pit of mine No. 5.
She was buried in the mass grave of heroes in the central square of the city of Krasnodon.
Soviet people dreamed of being like the brave Krasnodon residents... They swore to avenge their death.
What can I say, the tragic and beautiful story of the Young Guards shocked the whole world, and not just the fragile minds of children.
The film became the box office leader in 1948, and the leading actors, unknown VGIK students, immediately received the title of Stalin Prize Laureate - an exceptional case. “Woke up famous” is about them.
Ivanov, Mordyukova, Makarova, Gurzo, Shagalova - letters from all over the world came to them in bags.
Gerasimov, of course, felt sorry for the audience. Fadeev - readers.
Neither paper nor film could convey what really happened that winter in Krasnodon.
But what is happening now in Ukraine.
Most of the Young Guards came from families who, in the 20s and 30s, came to the newly opened mines of the Sorokinsky mine from different places in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. They were distinguished by many things: nationality and profession, way of life and family traditions. Independently of each other, they raised kind, sympathetic and decent citizens like themselves. Years will pass, and when their children grow up and die like heroes, they will be united by grief, which will not leave their lives until their last days.
A native resident of the city of Krasnodon was Ulya Gromova. She was born here, grew up, accomplished a feat and died.
Youngest daughter
Ulyana Matveevna Gromova was born on January 3, 1924 in the village of Pervomaika, Krasnodonsky district. There were five children in the family, Ulya was the youngest. Father, Matvey Maksimovich, often told the children about the glory of Russian weapons, about famous military leaders, about past battles and campaigns, instilling in children pride in their people and their Motherland. Mother, Matryona Savelyevna, knew many songs, epics, and was a real folk storyteller.
Matvey Maksimovich worked at a mill as a coachman, and during Soviet times - at a mine and on a state farm. The eldest Antonina worked in a communal farm and had five children. She died in the 50s. Claudia, like Antonina, also married a local Cossack and gave birth to a son and daughter. Son Kolotovichev Viktor Stefanovich is a miner, lived on the former Gromov estate. Nina lived in the Krasnodar region and died before the war.
And Elisha is a pilot, a participant in the Great Patriotic War. He lived in Lugansk, worked as a mechanic at a military airfield, and died in 1979. And the youngest Ulyana, the future heroine of the Young Guard.
Matryona Savelyevna was ill from a young age and died in 1968. Matvey Maksimovich outlived his wife by seven years.
From the memoirs of mother Matryona Savelyevna and father Matvey Maksimovich:
“On the night of January 3, 1924, Ulya was born. She was the fifth child in the family.
...Since childhood, she was afraid of frogs and therefore did not go fishing with her brother Elijah (Elisha) and his friend Kolya. She did not like to wrap herself warmly, went without a headdress until late autumn, did not like fashionable hats, and wore a black scarf and a leather helmet.
...She loved to sing as soon as she got out of bed and did anything around the house; her favorite songs were “We are blacksmiths”, “Lyubushka”. Often her older sister Antonina asked her: “What are you all singing?” Ulya answered: “It’s fun - so I’m singing!”
Exemplary excellent student
Nature was not stingy, giving this girl everything: beauty, intelligence, kindness and generosity. We can judge her appearance from the photograph: beautiful facial features, lush dark brown hair loosely braided, brown radiant eyes, soft eyes, femininity and dignity throughout her appearance. External charm was wonderfully combined with a rich inner world and a wide range of interests. “She loves everything beautiful, elegant: flowers, songs, music, paintings. She has already formed firm concepts about duty, honor, morality. She is a strong-willed nature. She will not allow anyone to push her around.”
In 1932, Ulyana went to first grade at Pervomaisk School No. 6. She studied excellently, moved from class to class with Certificates of Merit. “Gromova is rightfully considered the best student of the class and the school,” said the former director of secondary school No. 6 I.A. Shkreba. “Of course, she has excellent abilities, high development, but the main role belongs to work - hard and systematic. She studies with soul, interest. Thanks to this, Gromova’s knowledge is wider and her understanding of phenomena is deeper than that of many of her fellow students.”
Ulyana Gromova's notebook
Ulya started a notebook in the summer of 1939, deciding to enter in it the names of all works of fiction she read. And she read a lot, enthusiastically, voraciously, literally devouring one after another. M.Yu. Lermontov, T.G. Shevchenko, A. Blok, M. Gorky, Jack London, Goethe - you can’t count everything that you have absorbed in your entire short life. The books enriched her with knowledge, gave her food for thought, and shaped the spiritual image of the future heroine.
Registrations begin in June. Ulyana has just finished seventh grade, but has already read the novels by Ukrainian writers Andrei Golovko “Mati” and Panas Mirny “Poviya”, “Selected Works” by Marko Vovchok, “Othello” by Shakespeare, etc.
Then the nature of the recordings changes dramatically. Transfers are becoming less and less common and are becoming shorter in volume. Now Ulyana is carried away by extracts from the works she has read. She chose what worried her most, what was in tune with her thoughts, principles, what she considered the wisdom of life.
There is no specific system in the records. She returns to some thoughts more than once, but this is not a repetition of what has already been said, but rather a deepening, development, and honing of the topic. It was impossible to identify some authors. From what she read or heard, Ulya created her own image, putting in her understanding of the phenomenon or event.
The records end in June 1942, but occasionally appear later, during the occupation. And, more than ever before, they very clearly define the moral position of the girl, now an underground worker, one of the youth leaders.
Here are some excerpts from the notebook:
"I read the books:
(July 1939)
"The Seal of Cain", Lapkina
"The Three Musketeers", book II, A. Dumas
"Woe from Wit", Griboyedov
"Dombey and Son", Dickens
"Cement", Gladkov
"The Leper King", P. Benoit
"Home", M. Bevan
"At the Lantern", Nikiforov
"Tenth-graders", Kopilenko
"Essays on the Bursa", Pomyalovsky.
“Love a book: it will help you sort out the motley confusion of thoughts, it will teach you to respect a person.”
Maksim Gorky.
“For a lackey there cannot be a great person, because the lackey has his own concept of greatness.”
Tolstoy L.N., vol. VIII, "War and Peace".
“Take your time when reading a book. Read the text carefully, write down words and expressions that you do not understand, checking their meaning in a dictionary or with a teacher. Learn to highlight the most important thing in the content of the text.
Write down what you especially liked in special notebooks."
“It is much easier to see heroes die than to listen to some pathetic coward scream for mercy.”
Jack London. 9.XI.1942
“Everything in a person should be beautiful: his face, his clothes, his soul, his thoughts!”
Chekhov.
"What can resist the firm will of a person? Will contains the whole soul; to want means to hate, love, regret, rejoice, live; in a word, will is the moral force of every being, the free desire to create or destroy something, creative power who creates miracles out of nothing!
M. Lermontov.
"I must be cruel
To be kind."
Hamlet.
"What does a person think when he eats and sleeps?
Is he the most valuable blessing in life?
An animal, no more.
Great is not the one who cares about the important
Reason, but who fights over a straw,
When honor is worth it as a stake."
Goethe.
“The city takes courage! Be bold and do not shy away from obstacles. A brave man can create miracles and no abysses are afraid of him!”
V. Rozov. "Towards the invisible sun." 28.X. 1942.
Mentor of the younger ones
In 1939, Gromova was elected a member of the academic committee. In March 1940, she joined the Komsomol. She successfully completed her first Komsomol assignment - a counselor in a pioneer detachment. She carefully prepared for each gathering, made clippings from newspapers and magazines, and selected children's poems and stories.
Several pages of Ulyana's diary entries have been preserved. The reader can judge their style. The first ones date back to 1940. Ulyana was accepted into the Komsomol, given a Komsomol card number 8928004 and given her first assignment. Ulya began to carry it out. And she wrote about her first impressions:
"March 24. Having picked up several magazines with stories and poems, at 9 o'clock. 30 min. I went to school in October. To my surprise, 6 people came. I waited until half past 12, but no one else came. This made me angry, and I sent them home... They're mischievous boys, they probably don't care that I waste so much time..."
"5th of April. Today is my day with the October students, and on other days Vera Kharitonovna-Zimina works with them additionally. But again failure. Today there is a line throughout the school. But still, the guys are great: today they receive the red banner. Well done for this. Now they are Red Banners. You have to envy them."
"April 9th. I read “The Frog the Traveler,” and not everyone listens the same way or attentively. During my entire visit I observed the following picture: guys in hats and dressed. I don’t know how to explain the inattention of the listeners. I probably don’t know how, and this is true, to interest all the guys. I’m still not very familiar with them, and I don’t have the experience to entice them.”
Ulyana was a tenth-grader when the Great Patriotic War began. By this time, as I. A. Shkreba recalled, “she had already developed firm concepts about duty, honor, and morality. She is a strong-willed nature.” She was distinguished by a wonderful sense of friendship and collectivism. Together with her peers, Ulya worked in the collective farm fields and cared for the wounded in the hospital. In 1942 she graduated from school.
Fearless underground woman
During the occupation, Anatoly Popov and Ulyana Gromova organized a patriotic youth group in the village of Pervomaika, which became part of the Young Guard. Gromova is elected a member of the headquarters of the underground Komsomol organization. She takes an active part in preparing the military operations of the Young Guards, distributes leaflets, collects medicines, works among the population, agitating Krasnodon residents to disrupt the plans of the invaders to supply food and recruit young people to Germany.
On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Great October Revolution, together with Anatoly Popov, Ulyana hung a red flag on the chimney of mine No. 1-bis.
Ulyana Gromova was a determined, brave underground worker, distinguished by her firmness of convictions and her ability to instill confidence in others. These qualities manifested themselves with particular force during the most tragic period of her life, when in January 1943 she ended up in fascist dungeons.
As Valeria Borts’ mother, Maria Andreevna, recalls, Ulyana spoke with conviction about the fight in the cell: “We must not bend in any conditions, in any situation, but find a way out and fight. We can also fight in these conditions, we just need to be more decisive and organized ".
Ulyana Gromova behaved with dignity during interrogations, refusing to give any testimony about the activities of the underground.
"...Ulyana Gromova was hung by her hair, a five-pointed star was cut out on her back, her breasts were cut off, her body was burned with a hot iron and the wounds were sprinkled with salt, she was put on a hot stove. The torture continued for a long time and mercilessly, but she was silent. When, after the next beatings, the investigator Cherenkov asked Ulyana why she behaved so defiantly, the girl replied: “I didn’t join the organization to ask for your forgiveness later; I only regret one thing, that we didn’t have enough time to do! But never mind, perhaps the Red Army will still have time to rescue us!..." From the book by A.F. Gordeev "Feat in the Name of Life"
“Ulyana Gromova, 19 years old, a five-pointed star was carved on her back, her right arm was broken, her ribs were broken” (KGB Archives of the USSR Council of Ministers, d. 100-275, vol. 8).
From the memoirs of teacher Praskovya Vlasevna Sultan-Bey: “...I saw the corpse of Uli Gromova... one breast was cut off, a star was carved on the back... One had his foot cut off, another had a leg with a boot. Some guys have a star carved on their forehead, others have a star carved on their chest...”
She was buried in the mass grave of heroes in the central square of the city of Krasnodon.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated September 13, 1943, Ulyana Matveevna Gromova, a member of the headquarters of the underground Komsomol organization "Young Guard", was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Ulyana Gromova's suicide letter written on the wall of a prison cell
Goodbye mom, goodbye dad,
Farewell, all my relatives,
Farewell, my beloved brother Yelya,
You won't see me again.
I dream about your engines in my dreams,
Your figure always stands out in the eyes.
My beloved brother, I am dying,
Stand stronger for your Motherland.
Goodbye.
Greetings
Gromova Ulya.
The inscription was discovered after the liberation of Krasnodon and rewritten by Vera Krotova, a friend and distant relative of Ulyana. Subsequently, Vera told how she went around all the cells, looking for any evidence, looked through everything that was lying on the dirty floor, and examined the walls. Only in the third cell on the wall to the left of the door, closer to the corner, did I see something scrawled and the signature “Ulya Gromova”.
Seeing these words, I forgot about everything, rushed to run to tell my family, then took a pencil and paper, quickly returned to the cell and rewrote the text.
She immediately gave this piece of paper to Gromova’s parents, and in 1944 they gave it to the museum for eternal storage.
The signature on the wall itself was erased during the renovation of the premises in the spring of 1943.
Letter from Ulyana Gromova's brother Elisha to his parents from the front
“...I have no words... Mom, dad, you hear me: I swear to you, I swear on the memory of my dear sister, I swear on my life that I will avenge her.
Wherever I am, no matter what I do, it will be revenge on the damned cannibal Krauts. My life will be directed only towards this.
Mom, dad, how did it happen that they were able to take her away... wasn’t it possible to hide her... After all, you knew that these were animals.
I felt something terrible was going to happen. I was only worried about her and my dad more than about the others...
Oh, how I scold myself for not being able to call her to me. Maybe with me she would have remained alive.
Oh, Ulya, Ulya, no, no, I won’t see you again. Eh, Kraut beasts, you will pay dearly for her blood, for the blood of her friends. There will be no mercy for all their filthy brood...
Hello to all of us.
Elya.
7.VI. 43".
Ulyana Gromova was a determined, brave underground worker, distinguished by her firmness of convictions and her ability to instill confidence in others. These qualities manifested themselves with particular force during the most tragic period of her life, when in January 1943 she ended up in fascist dungeons.
Ulyana Matveevna Gromova was born on January 3, 1924 in the village of Pervomaika, Krasnodonsky district. There were five children in the family, Ulya was the youngest. Father, Matvey Maksimovich, often told the children about the glory of Russian weapons, about famous military leaders, about past battles and campaigns, instilling in children pride in their people and their Motherland. Mother, Matryona Savelyevna, knew many songs, epics, and was a real folk storyteller.
In 1932, Ulyana went to first grade at Pervomaisk School No. 6. She studied excellently, moved from class to class with Certificates of Merit. “Gromova is rightfully considered the best student of the class and the school,” said the former director of secondary school No. 6 I.A. Shkreba. “Of course, she has excellent abilities, high development, but the main role belongs to work - persistent and systematic. She studies with soul, interest. Thanks to this, Gromova’s knowledge is wider and her understanding of phenomena is deeper than that of many of her fellow students.”
Ulyana read a lot, was a passionate fan of M. Yu. Lermontov and T. G. Shevchenko, A. M. Gorky and Jack London. She kept a diary where she wrote down expressions she liked from the books she had just read.
In 1939, Gromova was elected a member of the academic committee. In March 1940, she joined the Komsomol. She successfully completed her first Komsomol assignment - a counselor in a pioneer detachment. She carefully prepared for each gathering, made clippings from newspapers and magazines, and selected children's poems and stories.
Ulyana was a tenth-grader when the Great Patriotic War began. By this time, as I. A. Shkreba recalled, “she had already developed firm concepts about duty, honor, and morality. She is a strong-willed nature.” She was distinguished by a wonderful sense of friendship and collectivism. Together with her peers, Ulya worked in the collective farm fields and cared for the wounded in the hospital. In 1942 she graduated from school.
During the occupation, Anatoly Popov and Ulyana Gromova organized a patriotic youth group in the village of Pervomaika, which became part of the Young Guard. Gromova is elected a member of the headquarters of the underground Komsomol organization. She takes an active part in preparing the military operations of the Young Guards, distributes leaflets, collects medicines, works among the population, agitating Krasnodon residents to disrupt the plans of the invaders to supply food and recruit young people to Germany.
On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Great October Revolution, together with Anatoly Popov, Ulyana hung a red flag on the chimney of mine No. 1-bis.
Ulyana Gromova was a determined, brave underground worker, distinguished by her firmness of convictions and her ability to instill confidence in others. These qualities manifested themselves with particular force during the most tragic period of her life, when in January 1943 she ended up in fascist dungeons. As Valeria Borts’ mother, Maria Andreevna, recalls, Ulyana spoke with conviction about the fight in the cell: “We must not bend in any conditions, in any situation, but find a way out and fight. We can also fight in these conditions, we just need to be more decisive and organized ".
Ulyana Gromova behaved with dignity during interrogations, refusing to give any testimony about the activities of the underground.
"...Ulyana Gromova was hung by her hair, a five-pointed star was cut out on her back, her breasts were cut off, her body was burned with a hot iron and the wounds were sprinkled with salt, she was put on a hot stove. The torture continued for a long time and mercilessly, but she was silent. When, after the next beatings, the investigator Cherenkov asked Ulyana why she behaved so defiantly, the girl replied: “I didn’t join the organization to ask for your forgiveness later; I only regret one thing, that we didn’t have enough time to do! But never mind, perhaps the Red Army will still have time to rescue us!..." From the book by A.F. Gordeev "Feat in the Name of Life"
“Ulyana Gromova, 19 years old, a five-pointed star was carved on her back, her right arm was broken, her ribs were broken” (KGB Archives of the USSR Council of Ministers, d. 100-275, vol. 8).
She was buried in the mass grave of heroes in the central square of the city of Krasnodon.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated September 13, 1943, Ulyana Matveevna Gromova, a member of the headquarters of the underground Komsomol organization "Young Guard", was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Hero of the Soviet Union Ulyana Gromova is a member of the headquarters of the underground Komsomol organization "Young Guard".
Ulyana Matveevna Gromova was born on January 3, 1924 in Krasnodon (modern Lugansk People's Republic). Russian by nationality. At school, Ulyana was the best student and read a lot. She kept a notebook where she wrote down expressions she liked from the books she had just read. For example, in her notebook there were these quotes:
“It is much easier to see heroes die than to listen to some coward scream for mercy.” (Jack London)
“The most precious thing a person has is life. It is given to him once, and he must live it in such a way that there is no excruciating pain for the years spent aimlessly, so that the shame for the mean and petty past does not burn, and so that when dying, he can say: all life and all efforts were devoted to the most beautiful thing in the world - the struggle for the liberation of humanity." (Nikolai Ostrovsky)
In March 1940, she joined the Komsomol.
When the war began, Ulyana wrote in her notebook: “Our life, creative work, our future, our entire Soviet culture is in danger. We must hate the enemies of our Fatherland; hate the enemies of human happiness, ignite with an invincible thirst to avenge the torment and death of our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends, for the death and torment of every Soviet citizen."
Ulyana Gromova was one of the leaders and organizers of the youth struggle against the Nazi occupiers in the mining town of Krasnodon. Since September 1942, Gromova was a member of the headquarters of the underground Komsomol organization "Young Guard".
Each member of the “Young Guard” took an oath: “I, joining the ranks of the “Young Guard”, in the face of my friends in arms, in the face of my native, long-suffering land, in the face of all the people, I solemnly swear: to unquestioningly carry out any task given to me by my elders comrade, to keep in the deepest confidence everything that concerns my work in the Young Guard.
I swear to take revenge mercilessly for the burned, devastated cities and villages, for the blood of our people, for the martyrdom of thirty heroic 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 and my family be cursed forever.
Blood for blood! Death for death!"
The "Young Guard" distributes leaflets in hundreds and thousands - at bazaars, in cinemas, in clubs. Leaflets are found on the police building, even in the pockets of police officers. In underground conditions, new members are accepted into the ranks of the Komsomol, temporary certificates are issued, and membership fees are accepted. As Soviet troops approach, an armed uprising is being prepared and weapons are being obtained in a variety of ways. At the same time, strike groups carried out acts of sabotage and terrorism: they killed policemen and Nazis, freed captured Soviet soldiers, burned the labor exchange along with all the documents located there, thereby saving several thousand Soviet people from being deported to Nazi Germany..
The organization was discovered by the police, members of the Young Guard were captured. On January 10, 1943, Ulyana was also captured. Ulyana’s mother recalled her daughter’s arrest:
“The door swings open and the Germans and police burst into the room.
- Are you Gromova? - said one of them, pointing to Ulyasha.
She straightened up, looked around at everyone and said loudly:
- I!
- Get ready! - the policeman barked.
“Don’t yell,” Ulya answered calmly.
Not a single muscle moved on her face. She easily and confidently put on her coat, tied a scarf around her head, put a piece of oatcake in her pocket and, coming up to me, kissed me deeply. Raising her head, she looked so tenderly and warmly at me, at the table where the books lay, at her bed, at her sister’s children, timidly looking out from the other room, as if she was silently saying goodbye to everything. Then she straightened up and said firmly:
-I'm ready!
This is how I will remember her for the rest of my life."
Even in the cell, Ulyana spoke with conviction about the struggle: “The struggle is not such a simple thing, in any conditions, in any situation, you must not bend, but find a way out and fight. We can also fight in these conditions, we just need to be more decisive and organized. We can arrange an escape and continue your business in freedom. Think about it.” In her cell, Ulyana read poetry to her comrades.
Ulyana Gromova behaved with dignity during interrogations, refusing to give any testimony about the activities of the underground.
"...Ulyana Gromova was hung by her hair, a five-pointed star was cut out on her back, her breasts were cut off, her body was burned with a hot iron and the wounds were sprinkled with salt, she was put on a hot stove. The torture continued for a long time and mercilessly, but she was silent. When, after the next beatings, the investigator Cherenkov asked Ulyana why she behaved so defiantly, the girl replied: “I didn’t join the organization to ask for your forgiveness later; I only regret one thing, that we didn’t have enough time to do! But never mind, perhaps the Red Army will still have time to rescue us!..." (from the book by A.F. Gordeev "Feat in the Name of Life").
Ulyana Gromova reads Lermontov's "Demon" in her prison cell
Before her death, Ulyana wrote a letter to her family on the wall of her cell:
January 15, 1943
Goodbye mom, goodbye dad,
Farewell, all my relatives,
Farewell, my beloved brother Yelya,
You won't see me again.
I dream about your engines in my dreams,
Your figure always stands out in the eyes.
My beloved brother, I am dying,
Stand stronger for your Motherland.
Goodbye.
Greetings from Ulya Gromova.
After severe torture, on January 16, 1943, 19-year-old Ulyana was shot and thrown into a mine. She did not live to see the liberation of Krasnodon by Soviet troops for only 4 weeks. She was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on September 13, 1943 (posthumously).
