Kolesnyk Ivan and Lidiia

The childless couple of Ivan and Lidiia Kolesnyk lived in the village of Kyrylivka (current – Kyrylivka village of Melitopol district) Zaporizhzhia region.

In October 1942, a year after the beginning of the German occupation, her brother Arsentii Sobko, who lived in the nearby village of Makedonivka, came to Lidiia. Knowing that his sister really wanted to have children, he offered her and her husband to take in and raise three-year-old Olia as their own daughter.

Olha Voropaeva was born in the city of Mariupol in the family of Russian Mykola Voropaev and Jew Sulamif Levi. On October 8, 1941, the city was occupied by German troops. The next day, the occupation authorities ordered all Jews to wear a white Star of David on their clothes. In a few days, announcements appeared on the streets obliging them to go through registration and hand over all valuables to reception points. Later, the Nazis announced a general assembly of the Jewish community of Mariupol. All its members had to take jewelry, documents and prepare for “relocation to Palestine”. The Nazis set up a temporary ghetto in the building of the so-called regiment (the barracks of the former 238th Mariupol Rifle Regiment of the 80th Rifle Division; current – the building of the Pryazovskyi Technical University). From there, the condemned were transported in small groups to the village of Agrobaza, which is 6 km from the gathering place. On October 20, 1941, over 8 thousand Mariupol Jews were shot there. Sulamif Levi's relatives were among the killad: mother Yelyzaveta and 20-year-old sister Ida.

Since the Voropaev family was mixed, the woman and little Olia were lucky to escape from death. However, it was dangerous to stay in the city. Therefore, the next year they wandered from village to village. Mykola helped the people who sheltered his wife and daughter in the household. Nevertheless, they lived in constant fear, because they had to ask for help from strangers, each time risking being exposed to the Nazis.

One day, the fugitives came across a family of Sobok, who let them in for the night. When Sulamif asked the owners for help and how they would advise to escape from the massacre of the occupiers, Arsentii suggested that the girl be left in a reliable family, and her parents try to move to a safe place through the front line. The guest agreed. Then he actually turned to his sister Lidiia and her husband Ivan Kolesnyk with a request to accept the child. As expected, Lidiia immediately agreed to the offer. She herself went to the village of Makedonivka for Olia. Soon the girl got used to the new family, began to call Ivan and Lidiia dad and mom.

Meanwhile, Olha's parents managed to cross the front line in the Krasnodar area. Mykola was drafted into the Red Army there; he killed in one of the battles. In addition, Sulamif returned to her native places to take her daughter, at the beginning of 1944, after the retreat of the Nazis from there.

Olha Voropaeva (later – Horshkova) maintained close contact with her saviors, recognizing them as her second parents. In 2003, Ivan and Lidiia Kolesnyk were awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations.