Hrytsenko Feodosia, Izmalkova Nadia and Vira 

The Izmalkov-Hrytsenko family lived in Kyiv, in the Tolstoy street (during the occupation – Shevchenko street). The father of the sisters, Ivan Izmalkov, was an officer of Imperial Russian Army. In the 1920s he was repressed and imprisoned on the Solovki Islands. He left his family in 1935 to save the relatives from repression. Soon the parents divorced. The mother, Feodosia Hrytsenko, worked as a driver in a tram depot. Her daughter Nadia Izmalkova had been friends with Dora Sagalovych since the age of six. Dora lived on the corner of Saksaganskyi street and Pankivska street.

The Sagalovych family was evacuated before the German occupation. Dora, involved in underground activity, remained in Kyiv, where she studied at the Institute of Medicine. She worked in a hospital, later joined a partisan unit, where she became a translator. Later, returning to the capital of Ukraine, she met the Izmalkov sisters. Miraculously, the occupiers did not recognize Dora as the Jew.

 But returning home was still dangerous. Mother of Nadia and Vira Feodosia Hrytsenko gave Dora shelter in her house. Dora managed to change the documents: she changed the second name “Sagalovych” to “Lovych”. She hid the real documents and took some personal belongings from her own house, with the help of Nadia.

 Looted during the “anarchy” stores, unemployment, reduction of food supplies, exchange of valuables for food – such was the city of Kyiv at the beginning of the German occupation. Dora and the Izmalkov sisters traveled to the surrounding villages in search of food and part-time work. One day, in May 1942, the girls were detained during the raid. At the interrogation, Nadia, who spoke German, assured that Dora was their cousin. Then all three of them were forced to work in Germany.

 In April 1945, they were liberated by American troops, then the sisters and Dora were transported to the Soviet zone of occupation. In the fall of 1945, they returned to Kyiv with the help of Dora's cousin, who served in the 4th Air Army. For the sisters the post-war period became difficult… Nadia worked as a janitor, cashier-accountant, secretary of the state bank, physical education teacher. She later graduated from the Institute of Foreign Languages. From 1965 she taught German in foreign language courses. Vira graduated from the Institute of National Economy. Dora had no problems with the documents, because she saved her real passport. Later she graduated from the Faculty of Philology of the University of Kyiv, taught Russian and German. In 1990 she emigrated to Israel. At the initiative of Dora Sagalovych, Feodosia Hrytsenko and her daughters were awarded the honorary titles Righteous of Babyn Yar (1992) and Righteous Among the Nations (January 11, 1993). For saving Dora, Nadia and Vira were awarded the Order of Merit of the 3rd Class (2005).

At the initiative of Dora Sagalovych, Feodosia Hrytsenko and her daughters were awarded the honorary titles Righteous of Babyn Yar (1992) and Righteous Among the Nations (January 11, 1993). For saving Dora, Nadia and Vira were awarded the Order of Merit of the 3rd Class (2005).