Ivanov Vasili

Ivanov, Vasiliy

In 1930 Sarra Teplich, a Jewish widow, got married to a resident of Odessa Vasiliy Ivanov, who was of Bulgarian descent. Sarra’s teen-aged daughters from the first marriage – Genia, Sheiva and Fira Nemirovskiy – were very attached to their stepfather and called him “papa”. In 1932 Sarra and Vasiliy gave birth to their mutual daughter, Alla. Three years later a misfortune befell the family: 11-year-old Fira was killed in accident. It took Sarra a long time to recover from that loss; she became ill and then lost her job, suffering from depression. The care about the family fully fell on Vasiliy’s shoulders.
On the eve of the German – Soviet war, in June 1941, Sarra’s elder daughters were already married: Genia had two young sons, Sheiva was pregnant with the first child. Vasiliy and his family still lived in Odessa, in the premises of the waxwork factory, where Vasiliy worked as a manufacture manager. He was responsible for the factory assets, and for that reason he could not evacuate his family to the east in time.
The German and the Romanian troops entered Odessa on October 16, 1941; on October 23 Genia, her husband and the baby son Marik were seized during the round up. Together with other Jews they were convoyed in the direction of the seaport and killed in the warehouses. Genia’s elder son, the two-year-old Fima, happened to be at his grandmother’s at that moment and thus survived the massacre. In attempt to save his family members Vasiliy moved to his sister Nadia’s home. In the following six months he did enormous efforts to conceal and to sustain Sarra, Sheiva, Alla, Fima and newborn Dina, Sheiva’s daughter.
When it was no longer possible to stay with Nadia, Vasiliy transferred Sheiva and her baby to the village of Kubanka, where Vasiliy’s cousin Feodor Seryak welcomed them. For the rest he found an empty house in the village of Protopopovka, which he renovated and repaired. They led a quiet life for a couple of months, until oneday Romanian gendarmes appeared. They caught Sarra and started beating her and then Vasiliy, who rushed to protect his wife. Then, happy with what they did and satisfied with a golden ring that was Vasiliy’s payoff, the gendarmes left but demanded to prepare money before their next visit. Shortly afterwards the family fled back to Odessa. Until the liberation of the city, in April 1944, Vasiliy and his relatives hid and saved Sarra, Sheiva, Fima, Dina and Alla, at the risk of their lives.
After the end of the war the rescuer adopted Fima Stoliar who was left an orphan, as well as Dina, Sheiva’s daughter, who was raised by him and Sarra. The sorrows she went through influenced Sarra’s health and she died early, in her 50-es. Vasiliy Ivanov passed away in 1973 in Odessa. His daughter Alla and the adoptive daughter Dina immigrated to Israel.

On June 17, 2007 Yad Vashem recognized Vasiliy Ivanov as a Righteous Among the Nations.