Ignatiev Piotr & Ignatieva Varvara ; Daughter: Petrova Jefrosinija (Ignatieva); Son-In-Law: Petrov Fedot

Ignatiev, Piotr Ignatieva, Varvara Petrov, Fedot Petrova, Jefrosinija Piotr Ignatiev (b. 1895) and his wife, Varvara (b. 1903), of Russian origin, were farmers living in the village of Zelenovka (later Zaļumi) not far from Daugavpils, Latgale. Their married daughter Jefrosinija (b. 1922) and her husband Fedot Petrov (b. 1918) lived with them. On June 26, 1941, the area was occupied by the Germans and on October 30, 1943, two men and a woman, who were not locals, appeared near the Ignatievs’ village home. The three were very thin, dressed in tattered clothes and looked frightened. One of them, who introduced himself as Moishe Shtein, related that he and his companions were Jews who had fled from a massacre of Jews by the Germans at the Daugavpils fortress, which had been serving as a labor camp. For nearly ten days, the three had wandered through the forest in search of Soviet partisans until they were completely exhausted. The Ignatievs offered the Jews shelter in a bathhouse in their farmyard, but asked them not to stay there during the day. Shtein, David Stolyar, and Roza Fridland returned to the forest and at nightfall they stole into the bathhouse, where hot water and a meal of bread, cheese, milk and boiled potatoes awaited them. For two weeks, the three slept and ate in the bathhouse, and at dawn returned to the forest. One day, Jefrosinija, who was eight months pregnant, traveled to Daugavpils, where she bought Roza winter boots. The three Jews were eventually moved to a field owned by the Ignatievs, to a barn where the hay was stored, and twice a week, a member of the Ignatiev family would visit them to bring them food and news. Early in January 1944, Fedot Petrov made contact with a partisan unit, and at his request, they came and took the Jews into their ranks. During the fighting in March 1944, Moisej Shtejn was killed. Roza Fridland was apprehended by the police in April 1944, and was sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, where shesurvived the war. After the war, she returned to Latvia and together with David Stolyar visited their rescuers to express their gratitude. On April 25, 1995, Yad Vashem recognized Piotr Ignatiev and his wife, Varvara, and Fedot Petrov and his wife, Jefrosinija, as Righteous Among the Nations.