Tihon Sarancha Member of the underground organization 'Young Guard'. Country: Ukraine

1. Biography of Tikhon Sarancha
2. Recognition and Contributions
3. Underground Resistance during WWII
4. Sacrifice and Legacy

Biography of Tikhon Sarancha

Tikhon Sarancha was born in 1892 in the village of Markin in the Tarasovskiy district of the Rostov region. He came from a large peasant family and began working at the age of 14. Tikhon played a significant role in establishing Soviet power in the Almaznyanskiy mines in the Donbass region. In 1918, he moved to the settlement of Izvarino in the Krasnodon district and actively participated in the fight against banditry after the territory was liberated from White Guard forces. Tikhon worked as a miner in the Izvarino mines for many years and gained the respect of his fellow villagers through his hard work and dedication to his duties.

Recognition and Contributions

Tikhon Sarancha was recognized for his outstanding achievements as a miner. In 1931, the district newspaper praised his monthly task completion rate, which was consistently between 200-285 percent. He received numerous commendations and memorable gifts for being the "best fighter of the great heroic army of Donbass miners." In 1932, he was awarded the title of "Stakhanovite of the Fourth Year of the Five-Year Plan." In 1935, he participated in the first All-Union conference of Stakhanovites. In October 1937, he was presented with a watch by the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry in Moscow.

Underground Resistance during WWII

In March 1938, Tikhon Sarancha became a candidate for membership in the Communist Party. From 1939 to July 15, 1942, he worked as a reinforcement worker at Mine No. 29 in the village of Gundorovka. In the summer of 1942, he agreed to stay behind enemy lines to fight. He was appointed as a commissar of a partisan detachment led by P.D. Salfetnikov and was tasked with maintaining communication with the underground party organization in the city of Krasnodon. The plan was to establish the settlement of Izvarino and its surrounding hamlets as the base of the detachment, with food and ammunition stores located in the ravines near the Bolshaya Kamenka River.

Sacrifice and Legacy

Unfortunately, the partisan detachment was betrayed and defeated in the early days of occupation. On the night of July 23-24, 1942, Tikhon Sarancha was executed in the quarries of the Izvarino settlement. He was buried in the central square of the village. Tikhon's entire family was dedicated to the party and their country. His son Gennady, a Komsomol member and a participant in the partisan detachment, died in July 1942 alongside his father. His daughter Evgeniya, a teacher and party member, served as the secretary of the Izvarino Settlement Council before the war and was a member of the Izvarino partisan detachment. She was captured by the Nazis and brutally executed, buried alive in the city park of Krasnodon. Tikhon's son-in-law Mikhail Yakovlevich Gorbatsko voluntarily went to the front in the early days of the war and died. His daughter Vera also volunteered to serve on the frontlines and made it to Berlin with a military field hospital.

Tikhon Nikolaevich Sarancha was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class, in recognition of his bravery and sacrifice.