Bondarenko Maria, Ivan, Anastasia and Ivan, Chehova (Bondarenko) Liudmyla, Chehova Natalia

Ivan Bondarenko with his big family lived in Kyiv (Podil area). In 1914, as a deeply religious person, he traveled to Jerusalem to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. At that time Jerusalem was under the control of the Ottoman Empire.

Ivan Bondarenko was born in 1878 (according to other sources in 1879). His wife was born in 1884.

During the Second World War, two children of this couple were already adults, living with their own families. Liudmyla Bondarenko (after the marriage – Chehova) had a daughter Natalia, who was born in 1926. Ivan-junior with his wife Anastasia were rising two children: Volodymyr and Hanna. After the beginning of the German-Soviet war, Ivan-junior was mobilized to the ranks of the Red Army. 

Liudmyla worked in the library in the area of Kurenivka. She had a Jewish colleague Rahil Kogut (according to another source – Rebecca). She lived in the area of Demiiv with her 3-year-old son. Rahil’s three sisters lived nearby with their families. The husbands of two older sisters were also mobilized to the Red Army. The youngest sister was 12 years old.

One night at the beginning of October of 1941, Rahil Kogut, knocked on Bondarenko's doors and they let her in. Rahil said that almost all members of her family were killed in Babyn Yar. She survived but fell into the ravine together with the bodies of dead people. There she spent a few hours till the dusk. Then Rahil managed to escape from the mass grave. She got to the house of some old woman and spent 3 days in her cellar. The rescuer, whose name is still unknown, was treating Rahil well, so later she was strong enough to leave the shelter and get to Liudmyla's house.  

At first Bondarenkos family was hiding Rahil from everyone.

At this time Ivan-junior returned to Kyiv. During the battle for Kyiv, he was captured but managed to escape from the Nazi camp. He returned home and start working on the power station. Ivan-junior was also trying to save Rahil’s life. He even managed to get forged documents for her. Since that moment Rahil’s new name was Raisa Dashkevych, Ukrainian. With these documents, she got a chance to walk the city’s streets. Together with Liudmyla, they were exchanging different values for food in the nearby villages. However, Bondarenkos were visiting the police office regularly for confirming Raisa’s nationality.

Their family was providing Rahil with shelter for more than two years, till November of 1943, when the forces of the Red Army liberated Kyiv from Nazis.

Later Rahil emigrated to the USA and settled in New York. She was living under the name of Raisa Dashkevych till the end of her life.  

In 1992 Ivan and Maria Bondarenko, together with Liudmyla Chehova (posthumously), Ivan-junior, Anastasia Bondarenko, and Natalia Chekhova were named The Righteous of Babyn Yar.

On February 6, 1992, Yad Vashem named all six as the Righteous Among the Nations. Only half of the members of this big and deeply religious family survived to the moment of awarding.