Torgonsky Volodymyr and Yefrosynia, Kaputerko (Torgonska) Polina

Volodymyr and Yefrosynia Torgonsky and their daughter Polina lived in Odesa. They were in good relations with their Jewish neighbors, David and Rivka Vulfin. Their daughter Viktoriia was a close friend of Polina.

On October 16, 1941, the city was occupied by Romanian and German troops. The persecution of the Jewish population began. Polina begged her parents to let Viktoriia stay with them. The parents agreed to the girl's request, and moreover, decided to rescue the entire family, so they offered all the Vulfins to move to their house. Thus, David and Rivka and their two daughters found themselves living in the basement of their Ukrainian neighbors' house.

In January 1942, the Jews decided to move to a ghetto organized by the occupants in the Slobidka area (now part of Odesa). The living conditions there were terrible, there was a lack of food and space for everyone, and many people spent the nights in the open air. Over the next two months, Polina and her mother visited the Vulfins. They arranged a time and place to meet in advance. The Torgonskys brought food and warm clothes to their friends.

In late February, Polina could not find her friend in the ghetto for several days. It turned out that some of the Jews were transported to a camp in the village of Domanivka (now Domanivka, Mykolaiv region). Eventually, for security reasons, the Torgonskys themselves moved to the village of Chubivka in the north of Odesa oblast, 150 km from the city center. In the spring of 1944, Polina accidentally met Viktoriia there. The girl was exhausted from months of wandering after escaping from the Domanivka camp and knew nothing about her parents. The Torgonsky family hid her in their new house and took care of her till the end of the occupation. After the war, David and Rivka were found, as they also managed to escape execution in Domanivka. The Vulfins were extremely grateful to the Ukrainian family for their help.

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In 1997, Yad Vashem recognized Volodymyr and Yefrosynia Torgonsky and their daughter Polina Kaputerko (Torgonska) as Righteous Among the Nations.