Denysenko Tetiana

During the German-Soviet war, Tetiana Denysenko and her son Volodia lived in the village of Orlove in the Kherson region. Her husband Ivan was mobilized to the front with the start of hostilities. At the beginning of the occupation period, the wife of Ivan's brother Vasyl, who also went to war, Lisa Denysenko, arrived in the village with her two daughters. It seemed to her that it would be safer to survive the occupation in her husband's homeland, because in the city of Kherson, all her acquaintances and neighbors knew that she was Jewish.

Tetiana invited her relative to live with her. The women buried Lisa's documents in the garden. They hoped that no one in the village would guess the nationality of Vasyl's wife. However, a few months later, in early January 1942, a truck drove up to the Denysenkos' house, carrying a local teacher, also Jewish, Dina Isakivna, and the family of tailor Samoil. The police, without explanation, shoved Lisa and her daughters into the car and took them to Kherson prison.

In desperation, Tetiana turned to a local priest, who agreed to provide a certificate stating that Liza Denysenko, née Purits, had been baptized by him. She also managed to persuade several acquaintances to sign affidavits stating that Liza’s mother was Ukrainian and her stepfather, Yosyp Purits, was Jewish. Thanks to these papers, Tetiana was able to take Liza and her children from prison. Later, the rescuer became more cautious and took her charges to friends in the neighboring village of Drimailivka. Only a few months later, when it became safe, she brought them home. Liza’s youngest daughter could not stand the ordeal and died of an illness.

After the war, Ivan and Vasyl returned from the front. Unfortunately, Vasyl soon died of his wounds. Lisa and her eldest daughter Zhanna returned to Kherson, where she later remarried and gave birth to a girl. Ivan and Tetiana also had four children after the war.

In 2008, Yad Vashem recognized Tetiana Denysenko as Righteous Among the Nations.

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