Museum of Peter Vershigora, Hero of the Soviet Union

Pyotr Petrovich Vershigora, born in the village of Severinovka in the Kamenka district, achieved a level of recognition that extended far beyond Pridnestrovie and indeed beyond the borders of the former Soviet Union. His was a life of extraordinary breadth: before the war he worked as a writer, teacher, and theater and film director, before the outbreak of conflict transformed him into a military commander of considerable skill and distinction.

During the Great Patriotic War, Vershigora served successively as a squadron and battalion commander, then as head of the front-line correspondent brigade, before taking on what would become his most celebrated role — leading the 1st Ukrainian Partisan Division named after the legendary S.A. Kovpak from 1943. The successful raids conducted under his command and his exceptional contributions to the development of the partisan movement throughout Ukraine earned him the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, placing him among the most decorated figures connected to the Kamenka district.

Following the war, Vershigora returned to the intellectual pursuits that had defined his pre-war life, teaching at the Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR while simultaneously continuing his literary work. His book “People with a Clear Conscience” — a memoir of the partisan war — earned him the prestigious USSR State Prize, cementing his reputation as both a military hero and an accomplished author.

In 1965, history teacher P.P. Korzhov established a museum corner dedicated to Vershigora within the Severinovka school, a modest beginning that expanded into a full museum when it received its own dedicated building in 1977. The museum’s exhibition comprehensively covers Vershigora’s pre-war life and military career, alongside the heroic deeds of Kovpak’s division partisans throughout the Great Patriotic War.

Address: 26, Vershigory Lane, Severinovka village