“... fearlessly clutching the rifle with my hand, I will strike the enemy with you”. On the activities of the Yevpatoria underground organization in 1942–1944

Introduction. The article examines the activities of the Yevpatoria underground organization during the Great Patriotic War. In Russian historiography, the underground of the Crimea, especially the city of Yevpatoria, remains a little-studied topic so far.

Materials and Methods. The article, based on previously unpublished sources from the funds of the State Archive of the Republic of Crimea (GARK), the archive of Sevastopol (AGS), the archive of Yevpatoria (MBU AGE), the Yevpatoria Museum of Local Lore (MBU ECM), debunks the myth of the insignificant contribution of the Yevpatorian patriots to the defeat of the German-Romanian occupiers of Crimea. The research was carried out on the basis of general scientific and special scientific methods. Using the comparative historical method, the author examines the establishment and activities of the Yevpatoria underground organization in 1942–1944 in the context of the key events of the Great Patriotic War. The methods of systemic and diachronic analysis make it possible to identify patterns and features of the activities of underground workers in Yevpatoria. The static method helps to investigate the size and composition of the Yevpatoria underground organization, to assess the damage it caused to the occupiers. The biographies of the leaders of the Yevpatoria underground are reconstructed using the biographical method: F. A. Pavlov, Ya. Tsypkin, M. D. Glushko, etc. The comparative method makes it possible to identify common and distinctive features in the strategy and tactics of the Yevpatorian underground fighters and the Crimean partisans.

Analysis. The article examines the reasons for the creation of the Yevpatoria underground organization, analyzes its composition, forms and methods of anti-fascist struggle. Based on a wide range of documents introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, the author not only shows the selfless feat and assistance of the Yevpatoria underground workers of the Red Army in liberating the city from invaders, but also notes mistakes and miscalculations in the actions of the underground patriotic organization. Results. Based on the results of the study, a conclusion is drawn about militant activity of the Yevpatoria underground organization in 1942-1944. The role of F. A. Pavlov and the Crimean Regional Committee of the CPSU (b) in the creation and activities of this organization was analyzed, its structure was studied, which included eight groups, among which the divisions of F. A. Pavlov, E. P. Rusina and A. S. Chepurny stood out. The errors and miscalculations made by F. A. Pavlov, the coordinator of the Yevpatoria underground, are outlined, the contribution of the underground sabotage group “Explosion”, which together with the A. S. Chepurny division set a course for an anti-fascist uprising in Yevpatoria, is considered. The contacts of underground activists with the command of the 4th Ukrainian Front, the preparation and organization of the uprising on April 11-13, 1944 are analyzed.

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