ATZUM is saddened to announce the passing of Galina Imshenik. Galina Imshenik saved the life of a Jewish toddler, Elena Dolgov. Elena’s biological mother survived the Holocaust, but she always remained very close to her “second mother”, Galina. In Galina’s last years, Elena nursed her day and night. Here is their story.
The story of Galina Imshenik and Elena Dolgov is a story of love, care and survival, beginning in a small village in White Russia over 60 years ago, continuing to this day in Jerusalem.
Galina Imshenik was born in Kiev in 1912. At the beginning of World War II, Galina lived in a small village in White Russia (Belarus) with her husband Vladimir, a priest, and their 7 year old son.
Elena Dolgov (then Zodishsky) was born in a neighboring village in 1939 to a prominent Jewish family. Both her parents were physicians, and the residents of the area knew her family well.
When a ghetto was constructed in 1941, Vladimir and Galina Imshenik decided to endanger their lives and the lives of their family members living with them – their son, Vladimir’s parents and Galina’s mother – and take Elena into their home. From then on, the Imsheniks cared for Elena as if she was their own daughter.
The danger was enormous. The fact that Elena had started speaking Yiddish enhanced the danger. Galina’s mother would spend many full days just speaking to Elena, so Elena would speak Russian. In 1943, a suspicious neighbor reported the Imsheniks to the police. Galina, Vladimir, Galina’s mother and Elena were questioned by the Gestapo. At this time, Vladimir and Galina were the people that Elena recognized as her parents, and the Imsheniks were released.
Elena’s biological mother and brother were among the few family members who managed to survive. After the war, they approached the Imsheniks to take Elena to live with them in St. Petersburg (Leningrad). Since Elena did not remember her biological family, the process of leaving the Imsheniks to live with her mother and brother was extremely difficult. Elena acclimated to the new situation, but stayed in close touch with the Imshenik family ever since, including the newer additions to the family– 3 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.
When Elena decided to make aliyah after the fall of the Soviet Union, she knew that she wanted to take Galina with her. In 1992, Galina, together with Elena and her family, moved to Jerusalem. The ties forged during the war and the years after were such that Galina left her home in Russia, close to her son and his family, to live with Elena in Israel.
Yael Rosen
Project Coordinator, ATZUM
