Opanasenko Kyrylo and Dariia, Kupchyk (Opanasenko) Varvara

Kyrylo and Dariia Opanasenko lived in their own house on the outskirts of the village of Koriukivka (now the city of Koriukivka). Local residents called that corner Hvorosty. Kyrylo Ivanovich worked as a forester and also sewed shoes. He was a friendly man, had many acquaintances. The couple had one daughter, Varvara (born in 1916).

During the Nazi occupation, the Opanasenko family hid at least three people of Jewish nationality: 17-year-old Matvii (Motel) Krychevskyi, 14-year-old Aron Tumarkin, and his mother Yevdokiia Tumarkina.

In the fall of 1941, when the first persecutions of Jews began in the village of Koriukivka, Esfir Krychevska, whose husband had been at the front since the first days of the German-Soviet war, brought her eldest son Matvii to Opanasenko family. She and her two younger daughters, Bella and Shaiia, stayed at home. They were soon taken out of the village and executed.

The Opanasenko family hid Matvii Krychevskyi until mid-December. Sensing danger, Kyrylo led the young man into the forest and helped him find the partisans. In 1944, Matvii's partisan life changed to a front-line one. He ended the war as a sergeant, a miner in the 70th Army of the 2nd Belorussian Front.

During the Holocaust, the Opanasenko family also sheltered Yevdokiia and Aron Tumarkin. The mother and son asked for help because they knew Kyrylo and Dariia as good people. The Jews were hidden in the attic, in the hayloft, in the basement, and under the stove. The Ukrainian family was at great risk, because the road to the village of Kholmy (now the settlement of Kholmy, Koriukiv district) passed by their house, which was often traveled by the Germans. Later, Kyrylo Ivanovich managed to smuggle his charges to the partisans.

In the partisan detachment, Yevdokiia was a cook and seamstress, Aron was a fighter. In one of the battles, he was wounded in the leg and limped for the rest of his life. After the war, the Tumarkin and Opanasenko families maintained friendly relations. Later, the Jews emigrated to Israel.

In 2012, Yad Vashem recognized Kyrylo and Dariia Opanasenko and their daughter Varvara Kupchyk as Righteous Among the Nations.