Nadezda Petrachkova
UkraineBiography of Nadezhda Petrachkova
Nadezhda Petrachkova was born on June 20, 1924, in the city of Kadiivka (now Stakhanov) in the Voroshilovgrad region, in a family of a miner. Her father, Nikita Stepanovich, volunteered for the Red Guard in 1918 and fought against the White Cossacks during the civil war. In 1924, he became a communist and was honored with the prestigious Lenin Order for his many years of service. Nadezhda looked up to her father as a role model.
The Petrachkov family moved to the town of Krasnodon in 1927. Nadezhda attended Secondary School No. 22, where she was recognized as one of the top students. In 1939, she became a member of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (Komsomol) and enthusiastically fulfilled all her duties as a member. She was a pioneer leader and actively participated in artistic and self-organized activities, often performing at school events.
During the troubled times of the war, Nadezhda and her friends took care of the wounded in the hospital, wrote letters to their families, and patrolled the streets at night. They also traveled to collective farms to work in the fields. When the fascists occupied her town, Nadezhda, along with her friends, worked in the mines, agitating among women and girls not to go to work in Germany and to hide food and belongings from the enemy.
In October 1942, Nadezhda joined the underground organization "Young Guard." She distributed leaflets, infected wheat with ticks at the grain depots, and participated in the preparations for the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Great October Revolution.
On January 12, 1943, Nadezhda Petrachkova was arrested. Two days later, she was sent, along with a group of Young Guard members, to the city of Krasnodon under escort. After being tortured, she was thrown into the shaft of Mine No. 5. Nadezhda Nikitichna Petrachkova was buried in a mass grave of the Young Guard members in the center of Krasnodon.
