Zamieshailov Ivan, Mariia, Heorhii and Anton

Ivan and Mariia Zamieshailov with their son Heorhii lived in Kyiv in a private house. Mariia's brother Ivan Didychenko, married to a Jewish woman Rakhil Medvedovska, lived next to them. Rakhil Donivna worked at the furniture factory named after Bozhenka, Ivan Petrovych – at the Institute of Paper Industry. The couple raised children Olenka and Vitia. In the first weeks of the German-Soviet war, the family tried to evacuate to the east. However, due to the illness of her two-year-old son, Rakhil stayed in the city, while her husband left with the institute's employees.

On September 29, 1941, when the occupation authorities ordered the Jews to gather at a designated place, Rakhil did not go, sensing danger. In just a few days, orders were posted around the city with a ban on helping Jews and a promise of execution for disobedience. With a certificate of marriage with a Ukrainian, Rakhil went to the city commandant's office, hoping that half-blood children would have a better chance of survival. However, she was detained and sent to Babiny Yar for execution.

Olena and Vitia were taken in by their aunt Mariia. Together with her husband and teenage son, she took care of her nephews. They were hidden in the basement of the house and only in the evening, they were brought out for a short time to breathe the air. Ivan Zamieshailov worked as a shoemaker, so he supported the whole family. However, one day, in order to buy off the local policeman, who knew about the origin of the boy and the girl, Mariia had to give him her gold ring. In the winter of 1942, the Zamieshailov family baptized Olenka and Vitia in the Demiivska church and received their birth certificates. However, for the sake of safety, in the autumn of 1943, the couple decided to move them to the village of Kopachiv, where Ivan's brother Anton Zamieshailov lived. Those rescued together with Heorhii stayed there until the Nazis were expelled from the capital.

After the war, the children remained in the Zamieshailov family. Olena Didychenko graduated from the university, worked at the Institute of Microbiology of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. In honor of her savior, she named her daughter Mariia. Viktor Didychenko graduated from the Polytechnic Institute and became a design engineer.

In 1998, members of the Zamieshailov family were awarded the title of Righteous of Babyn Yar, and in the 2000s, Yad Vashem recognized Ivan, Mariia and Heorhii Zamieshailov as Righteous Among the Nations.

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