Yelena Pechenezhskaya lived in Minsk with her Jewish husband, Levin, when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union. Yelena’s husband was able to escape, but her sister in law, Fanya Stolov and her thirteen-year-old son, Matus, was interned in the ghetto. From 1941-1942, Yelena sheltered Fanya and Matus, who managed to escape from the ghetto. Yelena was also active in the communist underground and was able to help Fanya and Matus reach the partisans in 1942. Later, Yelena took in Esfir Idel’chik in 1943, and helped her reach the partisans as well. Fanya, Matus, and Esfir all survived the war and remained in close contact with Yelena until the mid-1960s.

Edited from Yad Vashem, Righteous Among the Nations Database