LESCHINGER, Nikolay (1912 – 2005)
Nikolay witnessed the deportation of Odessa Jewry in December 1941. He saved the life of a young Jewish boy, Aleksander Gilerman, who, in an attempt to escape from a deportation convoy, had been injured by gunshots and lay bleeding on the road.
Nikolay pulled him to safety, nursed him back to health in his own home, and kept Gilerman hidden until the end of the occupation in April 1944. Aleksander remained in Odessa until 1979 when he immigrated to the United States. Nikolay immigrated to Israel in the early 1990s with his two Jewish daughters, and lived in Beit Shemesh. Before his death in 2005, Nikolay was in need of constant medical attention, requiring his daughters to take costly time away from their work. ATZUM arranged for more home care to assist his daughters in caring for him.
