Bovt Ivan & Yekaterina ; Son: Ivan

Bovt, Ivan Bovt, Yekaterina Bovt, Ivan Ivan and Yekaterina Bovt lived with their three children in the city of Minsk. Toward the end of 1942, seven-year-old Maya Smelkinson, who occasionally left the local ghetto in order to beg for food and money, knocked on the Bovts’ door. The Bovts welcomed her inside and Yekaterina washed the child and treated the bruises on her body. At first, the Bovts thought of telling the neighbors that the girl was their niece, but, out of fear of being informed on, they decided just to invite the child to visit from time to time. Their eldest son, 11-year-old Ivan, helped them with their rescue efforts and, among other things, he dug a hole in the yard where they kept the food they gathered to give to Maya. In October 1943, during the liquidation of the Minsk ghetto, Maya managed to escape. She initially hesitated about going to the Bovts’ home because she did not want to endanger them, but when she could find no other alternative she decided to head for their home. Ivan became the central figure in Maya’s rescue because his parents were away from home when she arrived. Ivan hid the girl in a hole he dug in the garden and he brought her food and took care of her needs for the following two months. When the threat of betrayal increased, Maya left Minsk, accompanied by Ivan. They managed to skirt around all the posted sentries and they separated at the edge of the city, after Ivan told Maya how to reach the villages. After the liberation, Maya (later Radashkovskaya) returned to the Bovts’ home and they helped her get accepted into a children’s home. During the war, Yekaterina Bovt was also involved with another act of rescue by giving her identity papers to her neighbor, Yelizaveta Zoglina, which saved her and her daughter, Mila. The Bovts were motivated to help people by their love of their fellow human beings. On January 2, 1995, Yad Vashem recognized Ivan and Yekaterina Bovt and their son, Ivan Bovt, as Righteous Among theNations.