Badge "My Motherland Is The USSR".

[Art]

Danny,

Lenin himself created the Young Communist League (or Komosomol) in 1918. In 1922, the Komsomol was instructed to create the "Young Pioneers" their main task was to educate children aged ten to fourteen. In 1926, the Komosomol formed the "Little Octobrists" for children aged six to nine. The main purpose of the Octobrists and Pioneers was to mold the child for inclusion into the Komosomol when they were of age.

As was mentioned earlier the Komosomol was essentially a humongous free labor pool through which the CPSU could task whenever/wherever it wanted. By the end of the 1980's they had over 40 million members aged fourteen to twenty-eight. The Komosomol helped with many industrial projects (such as hydropower dams and other massive earth-moving projects like the BAM railroad) and food harvests.

Yes, the Komosomol fought in WW2. During the first few weeks of the war, 260,000 Komosomolites went to the front, where they served as propagandists, as a buttress against defection and as front line soldiers. The first Soviet heroes during WW2 were Komsomolites, and in total over three and a half million Komsomolites were awarded orders and medals for fortitude and courage. Out of 11,000 Heroes of the Soviet Union, 7,000 were affiliated with the Komsomol. On April 30, 1945 a Komsomolite raised the red banner of victory over the Reichstag. The Komsomol received an Order of Lenin for its services in WW2.

Art

Originally Posted by dannybou

What was the age of the participants in the Komsomol? Did some units see combat during WW2 or were they used for other details due to their young age?

[Dolf]

Art,

Thank you very much for the History lesson! Very interesting! :thumbsup

Best,

Dolf

[dannybou]

Thanks to all for the quick and informative replies. :thumbsup