17/02/1944 Izyaslav, Ukraine)
He was 11. Valya and his friends
armed with grenades caught a car of the chief of police. The fascist was killed. Then Valya acted only on instructions of partisans. He was gathering weapons and passing out leaflets. In summer 1943 Valya was carried to a partisan troop. There he took part in undermining enemy railway echelons and a warehouse.
29/10/1943 Valya was on patrol. He noticed chasteners. Valya killed an officer and raised the alarm. Owing to his action, the partisans managed to repulse the enemy.
In 1943 Valya discovered an underground telephone cable, a short time later it was blown up. The communication between the invaders and Hitler’s headquarter in Warsaw ended.
16/02/1944 during the fight in Izyaslav Kotik was fatally wounded. Next day he died at the hands of his friends.
The young partisan was awarded with the 1st Class Orden of the Patriotic War and the 2nd Class Partisan Medal. In 1958 Valya Kotik was posthumously given the title “Hero of the Soviet Union”.