Rusina Emilia

Popeskul, Fyokla Rusina, Emiliya Fyokla Popeskul was a resident of Odessa (today Odesa). On the eve of the German-Soviet war she was in her 50s. Her two adult daughters, Nadezhda and Mariya, were evacuated eastward after the war started. The Germans and Romanians conquered Odessa on October 16, 1941, and at the beginning of 1942, Popeskul met 23-year-old Tatyana Rashkovskaya, her daughters’ friend and former schoolmate. Rashkovskaya was raised in an orphanage and had no relatives, but her identity card stated she was Jewish, and she was therefore persecuted by the new regime. At first Rashkovskaya was encarcerated in Odessa prison, from there she was transferred to the ghetto, and when the ghetto inmates were marched to one of the camps outside the city, she escaped. From that day on she hid in a cemetery and at night she looked for bits of food in the market. Popeskul took pity on Rashkovskaya and welcomed her into her home. The following day, she moved the young Jewish woman to the lumber factory where she worked as a warehouse guard. For the following months Popeskul hid Rashkovskaya in the factory and took care of all her needs. When it became too risky there because of the number of people who had seen Rashkovskaya, Popeskul decided to find a safer shelter for her. In May 1942, Popeskul met an acquaintance, Emiliya Rusina, who was Rashkovskaya’s friend. Rusina, whose husband was in the Red Army and who was living with her baby son, agreed to harbor the Jewish woman in her home. Rusina treated Rashkovskaya well and most of the time she could wander around Rusina’s home freely. Rashkovskaya stayed with Rusina for nearly two years, until the liberation of Odessa, on April 10, 1944. Afterward, she remained in Odessa and she maintained her friendship with Popeskul and Rusina for many years. On June 30, 1999, Yad Vashem recognized Fyokla Popeskul and Emiliya Rusina as Righteous Among the Nations.