Koshevoi, Oleg

Born June 8, 1926, in the city of Priluki, now in Chernigov Oblast; died Feb. 9, 1943, near the city of Roven’ki, Voroshilovgrad Oblast. One of the organizers of the underground Komsomol organization, the Young Guard, during the years of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45; Hero of the Soviet Union’(Sept. 13, 1943, posthumously). Member of the Komsomol from 1942. Son of an office worker.

Koshevoi took up residence in 1940 in the city of Krasnodon in Voroshilovgrad Oblast, where he studied in a secondary school. After the occupation of Krasnodon by fascist German troops (July 1942), Koshevoi took part in the creation of a Komsomol underground organization under the leadership of the party underground. He served as a commissar and member of the staff of the organization. In January 1943 the organization was discovered by the fascists. Koshevoi attempted to cross the front line but was captured at the Kortushino station. After being brutally tortured, he was shot. Mines, sovkhozes, schools, and Pioneer teams in the USSR and abroad have been named in Koshevoi’s honor.