Krivchenkova Praskovia

Krivchenkova, Praskovya Praskovya Krivchenkova, born 1914, lived in the village of Dubrovka, Orlov (later Bryansk) District, with her son Vladimir. Among her acquaintances was the Jewish Lipkin family, parents and three children. Semeon Lipkin, the head of the family, was a manager with a Soviet commercial enterprise that dealt in livestock. His wife, Basya, suffered from diabetes and did not work. With the beginning of the German invasion into the Soviet Union and their speedy advance, Basya’s medication could not be resupplied and she passed away on July 18, 1941. Soon, Semeon Lipkin received an order to evacuate the animals that were in his charge. Occupied with transferring the livestock to the train station and loading them into the cattle cars, he asked Praskovya to take his younger children, 11-year-old Mark and 4-year-old Yulia, under her care, while his oldest son Sasha continued to help his father. Praskovya found a cart, took the children and some belongings, and headed for the east. According to the plan, she would meet Semeon Lipkin in the city of Oryol, but when she heard that Oryol was already occupied, she changed direction, trying to stay ahead of the approaching German troops. The Germans stopped their ability to escape on October 11, 1941. Praskovya and the three children settled in the village of Lunino, Chern’ County, Tula District. Mark and Yulia played role of Praskovya’s own children, but since their existence was not mentioned in her documents, she did not let them leave the house she rented. Even inside the house, she kept them hidden. Their main food source was milk products since Praskovya had brought a cow with her. Occasionally, the neighbors shared some of their own meager supplies with them. As punitive measures, the Germans frequently set village houses afire; on the night of Decenber 25th, Praskovya pulled little Yulia out their burning house almost at the last minute. By spring 1942, when the area was finally liberatedby the Red Army, the surviving residents of Lunino, including Praskovya and the children, were all huddled in four remaining houses. After some time, Semeon Lipkin found his children and took them, together with Praskovya and her son, to Penza County where he reestablished his business. In August 1942, Semeon was conscripted into the Army. Again Praskovya was left to care for Mark and Yulia, working simultaneously in a local kolkhoz. A year later, she was accused of sabotage and imprisoned, while her 11-year-old son disappeared. The Lipkin siblings never saw them again. In the same year their father fell in battle. Relatives then raised Mark and Yulia. Yulia Lipkina (married name, Golomedova) is living in Israel since 1999. On June 29, 2008, Yad Vashem recognized Praskovya Krivchenkova as Righteous Among the Nations.