Lykholietov Olga and Ivan, Liberman (Lykholietova) Klavdia

During World War II, Feodosia was occupied by the Nazis twice. On November 3, 1941, the Soviet troops retreated from the city. After the arrival of the Nazis, the streets got empty, the walls of buildings and fences got covered by the orders that threatened with death by shooting for breach of the curfew, absence at the workplace or refusal of work, assistance to the partisans, sabotage of the measures of the occupation authorities. People were deported to work in Germany. The system of penal works and taxes was developed. The population suffered from confiscation of food, dwelling. Some people had to sleep in the basements. In the Sinna Square, Karla Libknehta Street, crossroads of Galereyna and Sverdlova Streets, the gallows were erected with the corps hanging there for a long time.

In such an atmosphere, the multi-child Lykholietov family had to live. Ivan, Olga and their elder children worked at the port of Feodosia. After the outbreak of war, son Ivan went to the front. In late October 1941, the Soviet troops, retreating from the city, blew up all the enterprises. The explosions inflicted damage on the residential houses, many people got homeless. Among those people were a friend of 17-year-old Klavdia Lykholietova,Katia Duz, and her mother. The Lykholietov family harbored them in their house. The Duz family suffered a lot even before the Nazi occupation. In 1937, Katia’s father Mykola Duz was arrested and died in the NKVD prison because of the falsified accusations.

The occupiers persecuted and killed the Jews. On November 11, 1941, the order on the obligatory registration of the Jews was introduced. By the advice of the Lykholietov family, Katia’s mother, a Jew Maria Zaslavska, did not come to the registration. Already on December 4, 1941, all the registered Jews were taken outside the city and shot dead in the anti-tank trench. The Duz family continued to hide at the Lykholietov’s house, destroying all their documents where Maria’s ethnicity was mentioned. After the execution of the Jews, the Krymchaks suffered the same fate on December 12, 1941. The next stage was raids and searches of all hiding. Despite the danger of the death penalty, the Lykholietovs continued to provide a shelter for the Duz family. On December 29, 1941, the Soviet troops temporarily regained control over the city. The second period of occupation of Feodosia began on January 17, 1942. Then Katia with her mother moved to the neighbors of the Lykholietov family – the elderly Usyk couple. The Germans continued to persecute the Jews and Krymchaks, so Maria Zaslavska had to live illegally. There was no opportunity to move deep inside the country. The 17-year-old Katia took responsibility for own family. She worked at the port, doing any job. In the summer of 1942, rescuing from the German terror, Katia and her mother fled to the town of Staryi Krym 30 km far from Feodosia, where they lived with their acquaintances until the Soviet troops returned.

After the war, the rescued family came back to Feodosia. Katia and Klavdia remained friends for many years.

In 1990, Klavdia (married Liberman) and her husband migrated to Israel.

On September 19, 2010, Yad Vashem recognized Klavdia Liberman (Lykholietova) and her parents Ivan and Olga Lykholietova as the Righteous Among the Nations.