Kupriievychi Opanas and Olena

Opanas and Olena Kupriievych lived in the town of Shpola in the Kyiv region (now Cherkasy region). The husband worked at a dairy factory, the wife managed the house and raised their daughters.

On July 31, 1941, the city was occupied by German troops. Within a month, they had executed 100 local Jews. The Kupriievich family learned that their acquaintance Shimon Vinokur was among those shot and that his wife Inda and their children, 16 year-old Klara and 4-year-old Hrysha, had been moved to the Jewish quarter. Inda was a seamstress, and before the war, Olena Kupriievich had often turned to her for repairs and sewing clothes. Now, having learned about her friend's grief, she began to visit her and the children in the ghetto, and from time to time she gave them food and clean clothes.

Seeing the cruel treatment of the Jews, the woman consulted with her husband, and together they decided to try to free the prisoners. Having bribed the guard, Opanas transferred Inda and the children to his house at night, where he had previously arranged a hiding place. Under the care of a Ukrainian family, the Jews spent the winter in relative safety.

In the spring of 1942, Inda said she no longer wanted to endanger the Kupriievich family and returned to the camp. In May, Klara and a group of other children were transferred to a labor camp in the village of Brodetske, 30 km from Shpola.

In February 1944, immediately after the expulsion of the Nazis, the girl returned to her hometown and learned that her mother and brother had died in 1943, and their house had been destroyed. The Kupriievich family took her in. Later, Klara moved to Kyiv, got married, and for many years took an active part in the activities of Jewish organizations in Ukraine. In the 1990s, she emigrated with her family to the USA.

In 1998, Yad Vashem recognized Opanas and Olena Kupriievych as Righteous Among the Nations.