- Pyotr Vershigora
Pyotr Pyotrovich Vershigora or Petro Vershigora (Ukrainian: Вершигора Петро Петрович Russian: Вершигора Пётр Петрович) (
May 5 ,1905 -March 23 ,1963 ) - Soviet writer and one of the leaders ofSoviet partisan movement inUkraine ,Belarus andPoland .Petro Vershigora was born in a village of Severinovka near the
Transnistria n town ofRybnitsa . His parents were ethnic Ukrainian teachers at the local rural school, who died during his childhood. As a young orphan he worked at various jobs, includingshepherd ,miller ,librarian , as well as amateuractor andmusician in his native village near Rybnitsa.In 1927, after completing his conscript military service, he enrolled in the
Odessa Fine Arts Academy ("Odessa conservatoire") and upon his graduation worked as an actor and stage-manager.In 1936 Vershigora completed his studies at cinema school and worked on several documentary movies in
Kiev cinematographic company.Following the
German invasion of the Soviet Union Vershigora joined theRed Army . OnJune 23 ,1942 he was air dropped on areconnaissance mission in the German-occupied Oryol region with orders to join the underground resistance movement there.Within a few months Vershigora joined the partisan units led by
Sydir Kovpak in north-east Ukraine. After the death ofSemyon Rudnev in the summer of 1943 he became the right-hand of Kovpak and chief of his scouting and reconnaissance elements.Under the leadership of Vershigora, the
1st Ukrainian partisan division raided western Belarus and eastern Poland, harassing the German rear. OnJuly 3 ,1944 they joined the regular Soviet army that was fighting to liberate Belarus.In August 1944 Vershigora was promoted to the rank of
major general and awarded theHero of the Soviet Union title withGold Star andOrder of Lenin medals.After the war Vershigora taught at the military academy in
Moscow and wrote a number of books including "People with clear conscience" (1947), his memoirs about the war.References
*ru icon [http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=2156 War Hero Pyotr Vershigora]
*ru icon [http://militera.lib.ru/memo/russian/vershigora/ "People with clear conscience"] — Memoires of Pyotr Petrovich Vershigora.
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