Young Guard ( Soviet resistance ) The Young Guard ( , translit . Molodaya gvardiya , , translit . Moloda hvardiya ) was an underground anti - fascist Komsomol organization , in the German - occupied Soviet city of Krasnodon ( Ukrainian SSR , now Luhansk Oblast of Ukraine ) . They were active during the Eastern Front of World War II , until January 1943 . They carried out several acts of sabotage and protest before being destroyed by German forces . Most members of the " Young Guard " , about 80 people , were tortured and then executed by the Germans . History . The " Young Guard " was established soon after Krasnodon was occupied by Nazi Germany on 20 July 1942 . Several youth groups amalgamated , calling themselves the " Young Guard " . One of the first meetings of the organization was held on October 2 of the same year . The organization was led by the local Communist Party underground of Krasnodon , headed by Philipp Lyutikov . Lyutikov was the former head of the parents ' committee of the 4th secondary school of Krasnodon , where many members of the organization had studied . There is some controversy concerning the leadership of the " Young Guard " . It is widely accepted that the commander was Ivan Turkenich and the commissar was Oleg Koshevoy , but recent sources claim that the leaders were other members of the " Staff of the Young Guard " , namely Viktor Tretyakevich , Sergei Tyulenin and Ivan Zemnukhov . There were about 100 members of the " Young Guard " , all young boys and girls - workers , 8th - 10th form schoolboys and schoolgirls from Krasnodon and surrounding villages and settlements . Due to the secret nature of the " Young Guard " , only people well - known to other organization members , and who took the special oath of faithfulness , could become members . Most of them either belonged to the Komsomol or were accepted into Komsomol upon joining the " Young Guard " . 15 were members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union . The most active members and founders of the organization made up the " Staff of the Young Guard " : Ulyana Gromova , Oleg Koshevoy , Vasily Levashov , Lyubov Shevtsova , Viktor Tretyakevich , Ivan Turkenich , Sergei Tyulenin , and Ivan Zemnukhov . Activities . Among the main activities of the organization were Members of the organization also destroyed motor vehicles , ammunition and enemy fuel supplies . Jointly with the " Communist Party underground of Krasnodon " the " Young Guard " prepared for an anti - fascist armed rebellion , but treachery within the organization and the betrayal to the Germans stopped these preparations . Treachery and execution . The Germans knew about the existence of the underground and tried to discover its membership . Finally they succeeded in this , helped by treachery within the organization . Massive arrests began on 5 January 1943 and lasted until 11 January . Just 11 members managed to evade their pursuers . All the arrested people were tortured . 71 of them , along with members of the Communist Party underground , including its head Philipp Lyutikov , many of them still alive , were thrown into the 53 - meter deep pit of Coal Mine Number 5 on 15 , 16 , and 31 January 1943 . Oleg Koshevoy , Lyubov Shevtsova , Viktor Subbotin , Dmitry Ogurtsov , Sergei Ostapenkov were shot on 9 February 1943 in the town park of the town Rovenki . Just five days later , on 14 February 1943 Krasnodon was liberated by the Red Army . Oath . The oath of the Young Guard was written in October 1942 , when the organization had just 17 members . It was written on a piece of paper by Ivan Zemnukhov . All members took this oath and each candidate should have taken this oath before he or she was accepted into the organization . Russian text . " Я , вступая в ряды " Молодой Гвардии " перед лицом своих друзей по оружию , перед лицом своей родной многострадальной земли , перед лицом всего народа торжественно клянусь : Беспрекословно выполнять любое задание данное мне старшим товарищем . Хранить в глубочайшей тайне все что касается моей работы в " Молодой Гвардии " . Я клянусь мстить беспощадно за сожженные , разоренные города и села , за кровь наших людей , за мученическую смерть 30 шахтеров героев . И если для этой мести потребуется моя жизнь я отдам ее без минуты колебания . Если же я нарушу эту священную клятву под пытками ли или из - за трусости то пусть мое имя , мои родные будут навеки прокляты , а меня самого покарает суровая рука моих товарищей . Кровь за кровь ! Смерть за смерть ! " English translation . " I , on joining the Young Guard , take this solemn oath before my comrades - in - arms , before my long - suffering land , before the whole of my people : I swear that I shall unquestioningly carry out all the tasks entrusted to me by the elder comrade . Shall hold in deepest secrecy all that concerns my work in the Young Guard . I swear to avenge without mercy the burning and ravaging of our towns and villages , the shedding of the blood of our people , the martyr of 30 our heroes martyred in the mines . And should my life be needed for this vengeance , I shall lay down my life without a moment ' s hesitation . If under torture or in cowardice I violate this sacred pledge , then may my name and kinsfolk be cursed for all time and may stern punishment be inflicted upon me by my comrades . Blood for blood ! Death for death ! " Tributes . On 13 September 1943 five members of the " Young Guard " : Ulyana Gromova , Oleg Koshevoy , Lyubov Shevtsova , Sergei Tyulenin and Ivan Zemnukhov were awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously , many other members were awarded various orders and medals . Soviet writer Alexander Fadeyev wrote the book " Molodaya Gvardiya " ( " The Young Guard " ) , in which he depicted the activities of the " Young Guard " . In Krasnodon the " Monument to the Members of the Young Guard " was erected in 1951 - 1954 , the memorial complex " Young Guard " with the museum was built in 1970 and the monument " Nepokoryonnye " ( " Unsubdued " in English ) was erected near the " Coal Mine Number 5 " in 1982 . The new town Molodogvardeysk in Luhansk Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR was named after the " Young Guard " in 1961 . Many towns , settlements , streets of Soviet cities were also named after the organization and its members . Russia n inter - regional public organization the " Young Guard " was established in Voronezh in 1999 . Skepticism . The official story of the group , including Fadeyev ' s book , has been questioned almost from the day that Krasnodon was liberated . Several researchers ( both officially - sanctioned and independent ) revealed ambiguities and anomalies in the versions of the story promoted by Fadeyev , the groups survivors , and the Communist Party . Some survivors and witnesses declared they were pressed to follow the official version of events until the end of Soviet era . Several alternative versions emerged in late 1990s , the most exotic among them being the story of a Young Guard as Ukrainian nationalist ( not Komsomol ) organization . The full true story of the Young Guard remains a mystery . For example , as of 2004 it is not known for certain who betrayed the " Young Guard " . The leadership of the organization , as mentioned above , has also been called into question . A stamp was issued in 1944 honoring the leadership of the Young Guard , and featuring Ulyana Gromova , Ivan Zemnukhov , Oleg Koshevoy , Sergei Tyulenin , and Lyubov Shevtsova , all of whom were awarded Hero of the Soviet Union . The Pravda article referenced below , written in 2003 , names the leadership as Koshevoy , Shevtsov , Ostapenko , Ogurtsov , and Subbotin . Only two of these names ( Koshevoy and Shevstov , presumably Shevstova ) correspond with the people named on the stamp .