Lidiia Karazhova (Popova)

In 1933, Yelyzaveta Vaidman came to Odesa to enter the university. During her study, the girl met Oleksandr Bondar, a communications officer who served in the Black Sea Fleet. In 1938 the young couple got married.

At the beginning of the German-Soviet war, Yelyzaveta’s husband went to war, and she and her mother-in-law, Kleopatra Fedorivna, tried to evacuate. On the way, the women stopped in Kherson to pick up Yelyzaveta’s parents. At this time, the Nazis came close to the city and occupied it in a few days. On September 7, 1941, Yelyzaveta and her parents were forced to move to the ghetto, which was located in the area around the Furshtadska and adjacent streets. During the mass shooting of the Jewish population in Kherson on September 24-25, she managed to escape. Women whose husbands were not Jews and children from mixed marriages were then left alive. To save her daughter-in-law, Kleopatra decided to return with her to Odesa. However, it was dangerous to hide Yelyzaveta in Kleopatra’s apartment, because the woman did not trust all the neighbors.

Yelyzaveta hid in the attic of a half-ruined house for a month, and then her mother-in-law brought her to the house of her friend Lidiia Popova, where Yelyzaveta lived for a year. But one of the neighbors denounced the stranger to the occupation authorities. The police searched Lidiia's house and, having not found a Jew, severely beat the hostess. Yelyzaveta managed to escape. Lidiia understood that the neighbors would keep watch on her house, and sent Yelyzaveta to her friend Lidiia Ignatova. The woman stayed there until the end of the occupation. She helped the hostess to earn a little money by making paper flowers with which people decorated graves and icons. When Lidiia left the house to sell flowers, Yelyzaveta took care of her little daughter.

After the war, Yelyzaveta received the notification of her husband's death. Later she married and in 1997, moved to Israel. She always stayed friends with her saviors.

"I am grateful to the women who saved me from death. I did not part with Kleopatra Fedorivna until her death. Lidiia Ignatova is gone… For the rescue of the persecuted Jew, I ask you to recognize Lidiia Illivna Karazhova (Popova) as the Righteous Among the Nations. She saved me, risking her life… ». From the memoirs of Yelyzaveta Pelekh (Vaidman)

On April 29, 2001, Yad Vashem awarded Lidiia Karazhova (Popova) the title of "Righteous Among the Nations."