Tuyna Shamis, nee Alterkovskaya, was born in Romanov, Ukraine in 1921 to Bluma, nee Kleiner, and Moyshe Alterkovskaya. She was the oldest child and had three younger siblings: Golda (b. 1923), Lyuba (b. 1934), and Syoma (b. 1938). In 1939, while studying at the University of Charkov she was conscripted as a nurse for the First Soviet-Finnish War. She continued her studies and took additional nursing classes in the evening. Tunya and other female students were sent to Novosibirsk, Siberia, where they converted an old school into a hospital. She continued to serve as a nurse in Novosibirsk throughout World War II in hospital 3353. Her husband, Ilya Shamis, served in the Red Army in the topography division of his unit before serving in the official anti-aircraft division. Tuyna and her sister Golda were the only survivors from the Alterkovskaya family. Her parents and other siblings were killed in the Romanov Massacre. After the war, Tunya and Ilya had two daughters, Emily and Elena Shamis. In 1987, the family immigrated to the U.S., settling in the Chicago Area. Tuyna and Illya regularly visited Israel to meet with other survivors and the former residents of Romanov.