Chebanok Ivan

Sosnovskaya, Yekaterina Sosnovskiy, Vasiliy Sosnovskaya, Anna Domushchey, Ivan Domushchey, Yevdokiya Domushchey, Aleksey Chebanok, Ivan Ita Mediberg was born in 1915 to a big Jewish family in Odessa. In 1935 she married Sergey Terletskiy and a year later their son Anatoliy was born. After the outbreak of the German-Soviet war the Terletskiys tried to evacuate the region, when their train was bombed not far from the town of Gorlovka (today Horlivka, Donets’k District), splitting the locomotive and the forward cars from the rear sections of the train. The locomotive continued on its way eastward with Ita’s husband. Ita, however, found herself on the ground amid the burning wreckage of the train car she was riding in, together with her four-year-old son, Anatoliy. Ita, who was pregnant at the time, and Anatoliy picked themselves up and headed for Gorlovka where they were welcomed by Yekaterina Sosnovskaya and her teen-age children, Vasiliy and Anna. It was in their home, on October 12, that Ita’s daughter, Natalya, was born. On October 29, 1941, the Germans occupied the area. When the authorities ordered all the Jews of the area to register with the local government office, Ita and the children went into hiding instead, first in the Sosnovskiys’ cellar and then in the abandoned coalmines. They were not the only ones who took to hiding out in the mines: war refugees, communists, POWs and many others were also hiding there. The Terletskiys, strangers to this part of the country, were doomed to die from the cold and of hunger, but thanks to the constant help of the Sosnovskiys, they survived. In the middle of the summer of 1943, word around Gorlovka was that the coalmines would soon be blown up with everyone inside. The Sosnovskiys helped the Terletskiys leave the area and instructed them on how to get to the town of Voznesensk (Odessa District), where they had friends. Ita, who did not look particularly Jewish, walked westward for many days, carrying herdaughter in her arms and urging her son on, until they reached the banks of the Yuzhnyi Bug River. They found shelter in the nearby settlement of Bugskiye Khutora with Ivan and Yevdokiya Domushchey, who were living there with their three children and with Ivan’s elderly parents. In spite of their poverty, the Domushcheys shared their meager supplies with Ita and her children. It was in the home of the Domushcheys that Ita regained her strength and hope that they would survive, against all odds. But in December 1943, apparently because of an informant, the Terletskiys were arrested and brought to the Voznesensk camp for suspects. With the help of his friend, Ivan Chebanok, Ivan obtained a document on the Russian name and brought it to Ita, together with a numerous items he used for bribing the camp management. Ita and her children were released and were greeted by Ivan Chebanok, a resident of the nearby village of Natyagaylovka, who took them back to his house. While in the home of Ivan Chebanok, Ita was reunited with her husband. He had hurried to Gorlovka after it’s liberation in September 1943 and through the Sosnovskiys knew that he had to look for his family in the Voznesensk area still under occupation. Later, after the reunification of the family, they moved to Volegotsulovo (now Dolyns’ke), a village closer to Odessa, finally reaching the big city on April 14, 1944, four days after it was liberated. In the post-war years the survivors maintained close contacts with their rescuers and their offspring. On October 12, 2004, Yad Vashem recognized Yekaterina Sosnovskaya and her children, Vasiliy and Anna; Ivan and Yevdokiya Domushchey and their son, Aleksey; and Ivan Chebanok as Righteous Among the Nations.