Teklia Khaletska

Before the war, Teklia Khaletska was a housekeeper in the Funt’s family, who lived in Stalino (currently – Donetsk). Euphstaphiy Funt was a Belorussian and his wife Faina Feinstein was a Jew. The married couple was raising two children – Auhust and Ryta. In 1940 the father of the family was suddenly arrested by the Soviet authorities. He was accused of being “the enemy of the people” and deported to Siberia. Hence, Faina with the support of Teklia, was taking care of two children. During this time Teklia Khaletska became a member of their family.

At the beginning of October of 1941 German forces already conquered almost the whole Ukraine and reached the positions near Stalino. So, Faina decided to evacuate her family to the inner territories of the USSR. But they didn’t manage to escape the city, as they missed the last train.

After the beginning of the occupation, the persecution of the Jewish population started. With the help of her friend, Faina managed to change the line of nationality in her passport from “Jewish” to “Russian”. Due to this fact it was possible for the family to live in the occupied city. But the family was in miserable material conditions, so Faina went for the local labor exchange. There she was recognized as a Jew by one of the workers, who told Germans about Faina’s real origin. After that Faina was arrested, so her destiny is still unknown.

When Teklia found out what happened to Faina she hurried to Funt’s house to save the children. As it appeared Germans came to Funt’s apartment almost immediately. But Auhust and Ryta weren’t there. Teklia already concealed them at the attic of the nearby house. Later, Teklia placed Ryta with the family of her acquaintance. 11-year-old Auhust was forced to live the life of a homeless child. He was roaming from one place to another. But Teklia didn’t forget about him and she was supporting the boy with food and clothes.

After the retreatment of Germans Teklia took both children to their native house and raised them. Auhust and Ryta were maintaining strong relations with their savior till her death in 1992.

On October 22, 2003, Yad Vashem honored Teklia Khaletska with the title of the Righteous Among the Nations.