This guy did not dream of general's epaulettes and exploits on the battlefield. However, fate decreed otherwise. He did not have a chance to become a writer or a scientist, he had to defend his homeland.
The invasion of the Nazis on the Soviet Union forced many people with absolutely peaceful professions to take up arms. It shattered the dreams of boys and girls about mastering the sciences. Our hero was one of those who had to give his life with all plans for the future for the liberation of the Fatherland from the enemy.
Childhood
Tolya was born in January 1924 into an ordinary family living on the Izvarino farm in the Krasnodon region. A few years later, the boy had a sister, Lydia. Parents of kids Vladimir and Taisiya Popov could devote time to them only on weekends. While they were at work, grandparents took care of the children. The old woman was a great expert at telling fairy tales. Later, the grandson will delight her with his personal literary work.
In 1931 our friendly family moved to the village of Pervomayka. The next year Anatoly went to school. An inquisitive boy quickly decided what kind of subjects he liked, such were geography and literature. The teachers were amazed at how quickly their pupil reads books and how much usefulness he draws from them. Tolya organized a literary circle, designed a humorous wall newspaper, but doubted that he would become a famous writer. In high school, the teenager became interested in mineralogy and the history of great geographical discoveries. The young romantic dreamed of making a contribution to the development of little-explored corners of the Earth.
Peaceful life is over
The graduation party and joining the Komsomol in 1940 slightly overwhelmed the young man. He was not ready to make fateful decisions, leave home and go to get an education in a big city. Anatoly decided to postpone, serve in the army, and then decide on a profession and make a career. The older generation of the Popovs has already made a decision: their heir will become an artist of the word. Lida tormented her brother with requests to compose poetry for her. And the girl really liked it when Tolya was visited by his friends Demyan Fomin, Viktor Petrov and Slava Tararin. The guests, as a rule, brought bouquets of wildflowers and presented them to a small coquette.
The announcement of the invasion of the territory of the Soviet Union by the enemy in the provincial town was received with alarm. Vladimir Popov said goodbye to his wife and children and went to the recruiting station. Soon, the wife began to receive letters from him. Her husband tried to cheer her up, but from time to time he could not refrain from describing the terrible scenes that he witnessed. In Pervomaika, they learned that the invader not only robbed cities and villages, but also committed atrocities against civilians. The war came closer and closer to the village, people understood what kind of trouble awaited them.
Young guard
After the native lands were occupied by the Nazis, the young man's first desire was to flee to the East and join the ranks of the Red Army. The mother guessed about his intentions, but did not try to dissuade her son from a dangerous enterprise. She was very surprised to notice that in August 1942 he abandoned the idea. Guests began to come to him again, and he himself often stayed up late with his friends. She did not try to find out the secret, but her sister showered her brother with questions to which he refused to answer.
Anatoly Popov gathered his school friends and created an underground anti-fascist organization headed by a classmate of our hero Ulyana Gromova. The girl contacted the Komsomol members who had come to Pervomayka to harvest the harvest before the war, and found like-minded people. In September 1942, a group of young partisans joined the Young Guard organization operating in Krasnodon and its environs.
Fighting the enemy
Autumn was not easy for the participants of the resistance. They disseminated real information about the situation at the front, carried out agitation among compatriots, called for sabotage. On the eve of November 7, Anatoly Popov and Ulyana Gromova went to Krasnodon and hung a red banner on the pipe of one of the mines. The Nazis could not forgive such a holiday of the October Revolution. The search for those who disagree with the Fuehrer's policy became hysterical.
When Pervomaika learned that many of their comrades in Krasnodon had been arrested, Ulyana offered to release the prisoners. Anatoly supported her. By fantasizing, the young people missed the time to escape. In early January 1942, the underground workers were detained. Tolya and his associates ended up in the dungeons of the Gestapo. Occasionally, the unfortunate managed to convey a letter to their relatives. The guy wrote to his mother to take care of his sister and grandfather and grandmother.
Doom
For the birthday of her son, Taisiy Popova exchanged some of her things for food, from which she baked a pie. She managed to bribe the prison guards and give Anatoly this modest gift. This is all that the prisoners could rejoice on the eve of their death. On March 1, they were shot, and their bodies were thrown into the mine. When Pervomaika was liberated from the Nazis, another sad news awaited the unfortunate woman - in 1943 her husband died.
The biography of Anatoly Popov was retold by his surviving relatives to investigators who found the bodies of the executed and searching for their executioners, journalists and local historians. The brave young man was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the Medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" 1st degree posthumously.
