Dudnyk Vira, Korobko Petro, Holdobin Kateryna and Hanna

Vira Dudnyk lived in the village of Tyshkivka (current – Novoukrainka  district) of Kirovohrad region. She was the wife of the director of the local school. The couple raised four children. The inhabitants of the village were of various nationalities, among them there were about 140 Jews. All fellow villagers lived in harmony, supported each other. Vira was friends with the Liubarskyi family, who lived nearby.

In August 1941, after the entry of German troops into the village, persecution of Jews began. They were forced to register, mark their presence in their community every day, and wear a Star of David armband. At the beginning of January 1942, an order was issued to all the Jews of the village of Tyshkivka to gather at the police station. 19-year-old Yevheniia Liubarska managed to hide in her cellar. Her younger brother Leonid found refuge with a school friend – Stepan Stromyla. After the resettlement of the Jews ended and everything quieted down, Yevheniia ran to her neighbor Vira Dudnyk and asked for help. Despite the danger to her and her children's lives, Vira sheltered Liubarska, hiding her in a closet. Yevheniia spent the whole day in that simple hiding place. Continuous sounds of shooting, noise and screams pierced the walls of the house. On that day, 65 Jews of the village of Tyshkivka were killed. Immediately after that, the local police began a thorough search of the area, looking for the fugitives. According to the list of names, Yevheniia and Leonid Liubarskyi were missing, so the occupiers set up an ambush near their house. Realizing that the hiding place was not very reliable, Vira Dudnyk turned to her relative Petro Korobko, who was a collective farm rider. He, the father of three minor children, helped Yevheniia escape from the village of Tyshkivka. During the next three months, she wandered through the villages of Ukraine in the hope of crossing the front line.

In April 1942, Yevheniia Liubarska ended up in the village of Shyroke, Kharkiv district. There, an exhausted girl asked Kateryna Holdobina to spend the night. After consulting with her daughter Hanna, the woman sheltered the fugitive. All the time, Kateryna and Hanna hid her presence, and when any of the neighbors had suspicions, the hostess told them that her guest was a distant relative. Yevheniia hid with the Holdobina for almost a year – until March 1943, when she decided to join the partisan unit.

At the end of the Second World War, Yevheniia Liubarska sought out her saviors and maintained friendly relations with them. In 1998, all those who participated in her rescue – Vira Dudnyk, Petro Korobko, Kateryna Holdobina and her daughter Hanna Holdobina – were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations.

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