Staneva Maria ; Daughter: Lidia ; Daughter: Nina

Staneva, Mariya Staneva, Nina Staneva, Lidiya Mariya Staneva and her daughters, Nina and Lidiya lived in a spacious apartment on the outskirts of Odessa (today Odesa). Nina, the eldest daughter, had two children of her own and her husband was fighting on the front. One day in May 1942, Nina found a young Jewish stranger, Vladimir Okun, curled up on a park bench and, taking pity on him, she invited him back to her home. Okun’s hair and clothes were full of lice and he looked very malnourished. When they reached the Stanevs’ home, Okun told them that he was a Jew and that his parents and sister had been killed in Simferopol, Crimea, in November 1941. He had managed to escape from the death pit and he headed for Odessa because he had heard that the Jews weren’t being persecuted there. Once in Odessa, Okun discovered that the city’s Jews had actually been deported and he was only spared a similar fate because Nina found him. Okun stayed with the Stanevs from the night he arrived in their home until the liberation of Odessa by the Red Army, on April 10, 1944, and he was treated like a family member throughout. Every day, Mariya and Nina left the house to earn a living and Okun stayed at home with Lidiya, who was his age, and with Nina’s children. Throughout this time he rarely ventured outside and he hid in the attic of the building whenever house searches were being carried out. After the liberation, Okun remained in Odessa and established a family. He maintained contact with the Stanevs until the day he died. On June 7, 1998, Yad Vashem recognized Mariya Staneva and her daughter, Nina Staneva, as Righteous Among the Nations. On December 6, 1999, Yad Vashem recognized Lidiya Staneva as Righteous Among the Nations.