Ishchenko (Lunieva) Klavdiia

Klavdiia Lunieva was born in the village of Dalnyk in the Odesa region in 1914. She was raised in an orphanage. There she was taken care of by a young teacher, Mariia Mezhbizher. The girl did not stop maintaining contact with her even after leaving the orphanage and settling in a small private house in Odesa.

After the occupation of the city by Romanian troops, Klavdiia learned that the Mezhbizher family – Mariia, her husband Mark and their sons: 12-year-old Yefrem and newborn Victor – had been sent to the city prison. However, she was lucky enough to get false documents for Mariia and the baby. In this way, Klavdiia was able to prove that they were not Jews and get them out of prison. She did not have time to help Mark and Yefrem – they were sent to the ghetto.

In the spring of 1942, Yefrem managed to escape from there. When he ran home, he told her that his father had been shot. Mariia could not leave the boy at home – it would mean death for all of them. So she turned to her former ward with a request to save her son. For two years, Klavdiia took care of the boy, hiding him in her attic.

In 2004, Yad Vashem recognized Klavdiia Ishchenko (Lunieva) as Righteous Among the Nations.

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