Lazukin Ivan & Lazukina Anna ; Son: Ivan

Lazukin, Ivan Lazukina, Anna Lazukin, Ivan Dubchak, Yakov Dubchak, Yuzefa Poddubnaya-Dubchak, Leonida Ivan and Anna Lazukin lived with their children in the city of Berdichev (today Berdychiv, Zhytomyr District), which was captured by the Germans on July 9, 1941. From the first days of the occupation the Lazukin family played an important part in the rescue of their Jewish neighbors, Genya Tolkacheva and her two small children, Vladimir and Galina. Before the war, Genya was a teacher in a neighborhood school and in the evenings gave lessons to children who had learning difficulties, so she was well-known and respected in the neighborhood. She and her children were welcomed by the Lazukin family and hidden in the granary situated in their fruit garden. After dark they washed and ate in the Lazukins’ house. Genya gave lessons to the Lazukins’ young children, while Ivan, the rescuers’ eldest, watched over Vladimir and Galina and kept them busy. The Lazukins were not the only family that helped the Jewish fugitives. The Dubchak family, all four of whose children were Genya’s pupils before the war, lived nearby. Yakov and Yuzefa Dubchak and their eldest daughter, Leonida, shared with the Lazukins the burden of hiding and looking after Genya and her children. When danger loomed, particularly during searches of the local homes by the occupation authorities, the Tolkachev family hid in a specially prepared pit in the Dubchaks’ barn. Here, too, Genya was not idle, helping with the education of the Dubchak children at every opportunity. In quiet periods, she also assisted Yuzefa with the cooking and the household chores. Leonida Dubchak spent most of her free time playing with Vladimir and Galina and caring for them when they fell ill. The survivors returned home after the liberation on January 5, 1944, and the Lazukin and Dubchak families helped them rehabilitate themselves after two and a half years of life in hiding. Leonida and Genya remained especially closefriends after the war. On July 30, 2000, Yad Vashem recognized Ivan and Anna Lazukin and their son, Ivan, and Yakov and Yuzefa Dubchak and their daughter, Leonida Dubchak-Poddubnaya, as Righteous Among the Nations.