Aleksandr Shishenko Member of the underground organization 'Young Guard'. Date of Birth: 20.08.1925 Country: Ukraine

1. Biography of Alexander Shishchenko
2. Participation in the Underground Organization
3. Contributions and Capture

Biography of Alexander Shishchenko

Alexander Shishchenko was born on August 20, 1925, in the village of Krasnodon, in a working-class family. His father, Taras Porfirievich, had a difficult life journey, working as a laborer on a landlord's estate in his childhood, then fighting on the fronts of the Civil War after the revolution, and later working as a slaughterer in mines. He was a member of the party since 1920. In 1930, the family moved to the village of Buguraevo in the Rostov region. Here, Alexander finished five grades of school. Like all boys his age, he dreamed of a heroic feat, and his favorite heroes were Chapaev, Parkhomenko, and Lazo. Sasha was good at drawing, enjoyed sports, and wrote poems. In 1939, the family returned to Krasnodon. Alexander studied at School No. 22 named after T. G. Shevchenko, where he met Georgiy Shcherbakov, who became his close friend. After his father's death, Alexander Shishchenko worked as an electrician servicing underground mechanisms at the mine No. 1-5 and studied in the evening school. In 1940, he joined the ranks of the Lenin Komsomol.

Participation in the Underground Organization

During the days of the fascist occupation, Alexander became an active member of the underground group led by Nikolay Sumskoy, Vladimir Zhdanov, and Antonina Eliseenko. This group later became part of the "Young Guard." To avoid being drafted to Germany, Alexander went to work at mine No. 17. The young underground fighter conducted agitation among the workers, often brought leaflets in which the Young Guard called on Soviet people not to trust enemy lies, fight the occupiers, harm them, and do everything possible to prevent the Germans from obtaining coal.

Contributions and Capture

Together with his brother Mikhail, Alexander helped assemble a radio receiver, which they later installed in the attic of Nikolay Sumskoy's house. The underground members gained the opportunity to listen to messages from Moscow about the situation on the front. Alexander Shishchenko distributed updates from the Soviet Information Bureau and infected grain with mites at dumping points to prevent it from falling into the hands of the enemy. In the night from November 6 to 7, 1942, the group consisting of Nikolay Sumskoy, Alexander Shishchenko, and Antonina Eliseenko raised the flag on the building of mine No. 5. In one of the days in December, Alexander Shishchenko and his comrades helped several captured Red Army soldiers escape, who were being driven through the village of Krasnodon.

On January 8, 1943, Alexander Shishchenko was arrested. After brutal torture, he was thrown into the shaft of mine No. 5. He was buried in the central square of Krasnodon in a mass grave of the Young Guard members. Alexander Tarasovich Shishchenko was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, and the Medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War," 1st degree.