Yukhnel Vikentii and Yevhenia, Zhylenko (Yukhnel) Zinaida

Before the war Kirovohrad (current Kropyvnytskyi) was not a big city where 14% of the population were Jews (around 14,000 persons). When the frontline was far, most of them were evacuated. By the moment of occupation (August 4, 1941) less than half of Jews had remained.

Despite the mass extermination actions started at the end of August (after Sonderkommando 4B of the operation group C entered the city), some raids were conducted before. During one of them, the parents of Alla Hranovska were arrested in their own house. Fortunately, she noticed the intruders and hid behind the door.

After everything ended, Alla went outside. In the city she was fortunate again: she met her friend and classmate Zinaida Yukhnel who agreed to shelter her for some time. At home Zinaida’s parents Vikentii and Yevhenia supported their daughter’s decision.

Alla Hranovska hid at the Yukhnel’s house in the attic until the spring of 1942. The versions of the following events are different. According to the first version, she went to search for the relatives who survived. However, it seems doubtful. The second version is more likely. As they had to share the limited food, the family hardly survived winter. That is why in the spring of 1942, the Yukhnel couple started to search for a new shelter for the girl. Soon, Alla and Zinaida planned to meet a man who could harbour the escapee in Odesa. On the road, the patrol of the auxiliary police stopped them. Alla was arrested, and Zinaida managed to escape and inform her family. As they thought they were uncovered, the Yukhnels hid outside their house for a few days.

It’s interesting that Hranovska was lucky again: in the police she met her former school director who worked there as the official. He recognized the girl, but did not betray her – he issued her the documents on the name Halyna Isayeva. However, Alla had to leave the city the same day.

Later, she was deported as a forced laborer to Germany. After the war she tried to find her parents, but to no avail. Then she returned to Kirovohrad and lived at the Yukhnel’s house until she married. Up to the moment of her death in 1956, Alla Hranovska stayed friends with her rescuers.

On September 10, 1999, Zinaida Zhylenko (Yukhnel) and her parents Vikentii and Yevhenia Yukhnel were recognized as the Righteous Among the Nations.