Churbanov Ivan & Churbanova Anna

Churbanov, Ivan Churbanova, Anna Ivan and Anna Churbanov, an elderly religious Russian couple, lived in the village of Gubino, located 7 km from the town of Zilupe in Latvia. For many years they were on friendly terms with the Jewish Lyakhovsky family from the neighboring village of Maslovo. Both the Churbanovs and the Lyakhovskys farmed their land and kept sheep, whose fleece they later sold. When the German troops occupied the area the Lyakhovskys still remained on their farm, until one day in late August 1941, the police came after them. They arrested the elderly Rasya Lyakhovskaya, her daughter Fenia and the grandchildren Fruma and Leiba. Rasya’s grown-up sons Beinis and Icchak were away in the fields, mowing the grass, when their neighbours warned them about the danger. The brothers hid in a hiding place in the forest and watched with tears in their eyes as the policemen led away their mother, sister and nephews; later they were all shot. Beinis and Icchak did not return home but decided to remain hidden in the forest. They gathered berries and mushrooms and once every couple of days would come to the Churbanovs for bread and other products. But when the weather turned cold they came to stay with Ivan and Anna. Ivan prepared a hideout inside the haystack in the barn, and Nina, Ivan’s nine-year-old daughter, would bring them food there. After some time rumors spread in the village that the Churbanovs were hiding Jews, and the house was searched. Luckily the policemen were not thorough, as Anna had fed them a good meal and served alcohol, and they did not find anyone. But this prompted Beinis and Icchak to leave their hiding place at the Churbanovs’ farm and try crossing the front line, which was some 80 km from Zilupe. With the help of a relative of Ivan’s they found a guide and soon were at the Soviet territory. After the war the Lyakhovsky brothers came back to Latvia, stayed with their rescuers for some time, and then moved to the bigger towns.They maintained warm and friendly relations with the Churbanovs until their immigration to Israel in 1971. 35 years later the connections between the two families were renewed. On July 13, 2010 Yad Vashem recognized Ivan and Anna Churbanov as Righteous Among the Nations.