Valya Kotik

In the fall, the desperate boy ambushed a car with Hitlerites and blew up a grenade, killing several soldiers and the commander of the field gendarmerie unit. When the threat of arrest loomed over Valya’s family, he fled to the forest with his mother and brother, becoming a fighter of the Karmolyuk partisan unit.

One day, while on patrol, Valya encountered punishers preparing to attack a partisan base. The boy was rounded up, but, deciding that he was not a threat, was left under guard here at the edge of the forest.

The punishers moved on, but Vale managed to break free, snatch a grenade from the convoyer’s belt and throw it in the direction of the enemies. The explosion killed two of the punishers on the spot, and the raised noise did not take the guerrillas by surprise.

Valya himself was wounded, but survived and continued to fight until his death on February 17, 1944. Valya Kotik died at the age of 14 from a German bullet.