Yevdokiia Koverda

Yevdokiia Koverda lived in Pyriatyn, Poltava region. During the German occupation, her husband was at the front, and she stayed alone with her 4-year-old son Mykola.

According to the census of 1939, 1,747 Jews were living in Pyriatyn, which was 12.68% of the city's total population. After the Third Reich attacked the Soviet Union, only a small number of local Jews managed to evacuate to the east between August and September 1941. On September 18, the city was occupied by the German army. As soon as the city was captured, an order was immediately issued requiring all the Jews in the city to be registered and to wear a white bandage with a yellow hexagonal star. A large amount of Jewish property, including valuables, was confiscated. They were restricted from appearing in public, and Jewish men were forced to work in various forced labors.

Among Yevdokiia’s acquaintances was Mariia Bukina, who worked as a saleswoman in a baker's shop. Mariia also had a little son, Volodymyr, so the women often discussed their children with each other.

Soon the German occupation authorities established a ghetto in Pyriatyn on Hohol, Naberezhna and Radianska streets. All the Jews of the city were forcibly relocated there. In late March and early April 1942, the number of Jews in this ghetto was about 1,530. Mariia Bukina and her son also found themselves in this ghetto.  On April 6, 1942, the Nazis liquidated the ghetto. Almost all the Jews, mostly elderly people, women and children, were taken out of the city in groups to a place called Pyrohova Levada, 3 km to the South of the city. There they were shot at the edge of a huge ravine. The group, which included Mariia Bukina and her son, was taken to the place in the evening when it was dark, so the Germans and the police decided to keep the doomed alive until morning.

In the morning, Yevdokiia Koverda went to the woods to get some firewood and suddenly heard cries and screams coming from Pyrohova Levada. She came closer and was horrified having seen poor people who realized they had very little time left to live. Armed guards shouted at Yevdokiia, trying to drive her away from the still unfilled up pit with dead bodies. Suddenly she noticed Mariia Bukina in the crowd with her son in her arms. The eyes of two women met, and they understood each other without words.

Throwing firewood, the Ukrainian woman turned to one of the guards, begging to release her sister, who allegedly found herself among the Jews by mistake. But the guard did not want to listen to her, and pushed Yevdokiia away, threatening to shoot her along with the Jews if she did not leave. Mariia, who saw what was happening from the side, shouted her: "Goodbye, Dunia, we will not see each other again, go home, or you will be shot as well." But Yevdokiia Koverda did not leave. Crying, she approached the German, who was nearby, trying to explain to him with gestures what was going on. The German looked at her intently and believed her! By his order, Mariia Bukina and her son were taken out of the cordon. Still not believing in their luck, they reached Yevdokiia's house in Pyriatyn.

At first, the woman hid the survivors under the stove, and when it got warmer, they moved to the attic. In the summer she equipped a hiding place for them in the barn. After a while, the nearest neighbors learned that she was hiding a Jew and her son. No one denounced her to the authorities, although everyone condemned Yevdokia's deed, saying that only a madwoman could risk herself and her child.

Before the Soviet troops arrived in the city on September 18, 1943, the rescuer and the rescued experienced a lot of dangerous situations. One day two Germans, looking for eggs, broke into the barn where Mariia and her son were staying at that time; another time little Volodymyr fell ill with malaria and miraculously did not die or infect anyone. After the war, women stayed close friends for many years, and so did their sons. Yevdokiia was always a little embarrassed when someone mentioned the rescue of Jews in her presence. She did not think she had done anything special: she simply could not act otherwise.

On October 23, 2000, Yad Vashem awarded Yevdokiia Koverda the honorary title of "Righteous Among the Nations."