Dorokhova Daryna

Daryna Dorokhova, along with her husband and three young children, Leonid, Anatolii, and Liubov, lived in Novoivanivka village, Zaporizhzhia region. On June 23, 1941, Mykola Dorokhov was conscripted to the front, and all household responsibilities and childcare fell on Daryna's shoulders.

German forces occupied Zaporizhzhia region in October 1941, and shortly thereafter, the Nazis began implementing a harsh policy towards the Jewish community. A series of mass shootings in Zaporizhia began in January 1942. The Jews of the regional center were, as already traditionally, ordered to gather at assembly points for “resettlement to special camps”. At these assembly points, their valuable belongings and clothing were confiscated, and they were then transported to the outskirts of the city, where on the territory of the state farm named after Stalin the shootings took place. By the beginning of April 1942, the majority of Zaporizhia's Jewish population had been annihilated.

One spring day, Daryna met a non-local girl in the village who was begging for something to eat. The child was dirty and exhausted. Daryna felt compassion for her, brought her home, fed her and began to ask her questions. The guest introduced herself as Lisa Levin, a 14-year-old Jewish girl. She revealed that she had lived in Zaporizhzhia with her family, but when they were being led through the streets in a column in March, her mother instructed her to escape. Since then, the girl had been wandering from village to village begging for food. She did not know what had happened to her parents.

Daryna had heard about the punishment for hiding Jews, but she was a mother herself, she fabricated a story as if it was her husband's niece – Lida Dorokhova. While the girl's parents, who were medics, were on the frontlines, she has to take care of the little girl. Lisa herself confirmed this legend to all her neighbors and the village elders.

The girl lived with the Dorokhov family for a year and a half, assisting with household chores and looking after the children. During the periodic searches conducted by the occupiers in the village, she hid in the fields.

In September 1943, as the front line ran through the village of Novoivanivka, Daryna, along with her own children and Lisa, had to escape the combat zone outside the village. When they returned, they found their house destroyed. Lisa stayed with her savior and helped them rebuild in the surviving farm buildings. In 1944, In 1944, she decided to leave for Zaporizhia. There, she learned that she was the only surviving member of her entire family.

Throughout her life, she maintained close ties with the Dorokhov family, considering them her second family. She emigrated to Israel.

In 2002, Yad Vashem recognized Daryna Dorokhova as Righteous Among the Nations.