When the war started, they were not expecting it in their city, Nicopol, Ukraine. The city was quickly surrounded by Germans and it was full of soldiers. Their own soldiers got out of the city by swimming through the lake to the woods nearby. She stayed in the city.

Anya hid her two daughters in the town of Nicapol, Ukraine. Her husband was fighting at the front. They hid all over the town during the entire war; in barns, dungeons (basements), friends’ houses, constantly moving. People were sneaking around the town searching out the Jews. The Germans and Ukrainians would pay them for finding Jews.

Some young men in the town learned to kill pigeons with slingshots, and would bring them for food. One pigeon was still alive and she kept it in a cage. The authorities raided their house and saw the live pigeon. Since there was an underground in operation somewhere nearby and the Germans had not been able to find it, they assumed it was a homing pigeon. They interrogated her and beat her severely (while she was pregnant) for having the pigeon, suspecting her to be part of the underground and sending messages. But she never gave them any information.

Anya became the contact between the soldiers and the people in the city. She helped to provide food for their soldiers who were part of the underground Patriot group. She had two children, expecting a third. She was hiding with them, changing places to stay, never staying two days in one house. She hid with different people all the time. The policemen of their town turned traitor and turned in Jews. They constantly were asking her if she was a Jew. They would come get her in the middle of the night and she had to take her children with her. Finally, one policeman who was a friend wrote a paper saying she was not a Jew and got 10 witnesses to sign it. It helped and then they stopped coming after her.

When it was time for the baby to be born she went underground where the food was hidden for the soldiers. She gave birth there, but her son died.

She and her girls (6 mos and 1 ½ at the beginning of the war) ate whatever other people gave them. Everyone shared with one another. No one could go out during the day, but only at night.

She remembers the constant bombing, the windows breaking, the glass flying everywhere, dead people lying around.

Anya started to cry – I told her she did not have to continue and we were sorry for upsetting her by remembering. She was crying for that but also because of friend of hers had just died. She was very sad. I again told her she did not have to say anymore. But then she started speaking – words spilling out so fast and sobbing in between.

She remembers everyone could only go to the lake at night or early morning to get water because the Germans guarded it the rest of the time. One morning the Patriots who were hiding in the woods came out early morning to get some water. She was there. The Germans showed up and began mowing them down with their