Danyliants (Psaropulo) Olimpiada, Psaropulos Heorhii

Olympiada Psaropulo (married to Danyliants), along with her father Heorhii Psaropulos (Psaropulo), hid the family of Mykhailo and Amalia (Mura) Kvitko and took care of them. The girl stood in long lines for provisions for her charges. She found and paid for a nanny for little Victoria Kvitko, concealing the child's origin from everyone.

When Olympiada turned 10, her mother passed away. Later, her father was hit by a tram and lost a leg. However, according to family memories, even without her, he danced the waltz and won the city cup.

In the second half of the 1930s, national minorities in Odesa (Greeks, Germans, and others) experienced constant terror, and people were repressed based on their nationality. Greeks, close relatives of Heorhii, were sent to Siberia, where they perished.

When the war started, German planes bombed the Lenin Juice Factory on Lazareva Street. Olympiada's grandmother's house was also damaged. So, the grandmother came to live with her son-in-law and granddaughter in Moldavanka, the district of Odesa. In 1942, Heorhii Psaropulos brought a Jewish family with baby Victoria to their house.

"In 1942, my dad came home, brought some strangers with him, and said, 'These people will live with us.' That was the Kvitko family: father, mother, and little girl. Mykhailo, his wife Mura, and their daughter (one year and six months old) Vika (Victoria). They explained who they were by nationality, stayed with us, and had to be hidden from outsiders.

We lived as one family. When they needed something, Mykhailo changed clothes – put on a hat and looked like a Romanian. His wife Mura sang well. I borrowed a gramophone from neighbors, and we listened to records to distract attention from Vika, who was crying. Germans and Romanians roamed the city, looking for Jews.

They came into the yard, the neighbors were friendly, said that there were no Jews in the house. When they approached our apartment and heard music, dad came out and asked, 'What do you need?' I took little Vika in my arms and said that she was my daughter. They saw that dad was disabled and left.

So, the Kvitko family stayed with us until the middle of the summer of 1943. It was time to change their place of residence – some man came, and they left with him. They took their things – a small suitcase. Mura gave me red boat shoes as a souvenir, which I was very proud of. We said goodbye, and they left. We knew nothing about their fate until 1990. I didn't tell anyone about the rescued, not even my husband". From Olympiada Danyliants's memories.

As Olympiada recalled, the biggest problem in Odesa during the war was drinking water. They had to go to the locomotive depot and stand in line with buckets because they had to wash little Victoria, wash her clothes and diapers. The girl was very afraid that they would start questioning her about why she needed so much water.

"We saved as best we could, in winter we melted snow, in spring and autumn, we collected rainwater." From Olympiada Danyliants's memories.

After the war, the Kvitkos searched for the Psaropulo family for a long time, but Olympiada got married, changed her last name to Danyliants, and the street was renamed again. So, the search lasted for a long time. Only on July 18, 1990, Olympiada received a letter from Jaffa (Israel) from Amalia Kvitko: "And here, as an old saying goes, he who seeks will always find."

The rescuer lived in constant fear. Her father was afraid of being sent to Siberia because of his nationality. She, too, was wary of unnecessary attention to herself. She does not seek publicity even now.

Olympiada Danyliants gave only one interview in her life – to her great-grandson Yevhen. The memories of wartime, when one had to live in constant fear for life - her own, her father's, and the people she saved, are too difficult for her. This interview – an audio file, transcription, a stand with photographs – is kept in the Odesa Holocaust Museum at 111 Mala Arnautska Street. Yevhen Petrov, the great-grandson, is also the author of the scientific work "Memorandum of One Righteous".

On July 2, 1993, Yad Vashem honored Heorhii Psaropulos and his daughter Olympiada Danyliants (Psaropulo) with the honorary title "Righteous Among the Nations". The ceremony took place at the Embassy of the State of Israel in Kyiv.

In 2002, the President of Ukraine awarded Olympiada Danyliants with the Order "For Merits" of the 3rd Class.

In 2018, the Odesa City Hall received a request to name streets in the city after the names of living Righteous Among the Nations (Vasyl Voloshyn and Olympiada Danyliants). This project was ready to be financed by businessman Vadym Morokhovskyi and the Jewish community, but it was not implemented.