Anna Trafimova, Belarus

When Germany invaded Minsk, Belarus, they forced many families, including the Davidson’s to relocate to a walled ghetto. Many Jews were murdered in random acts of violence called aktions. When each aktion occurred the Davidson’s sought help from their friends, Anna and her mother, Fatima.

Anna and her mother had already been smuggling food to Jews in the ghetto as well as hiding some of them. When the Davidson’s received secret information that their ghetto was going to be liquidated, the family managed to sneak out and make it to Anna and Fatima’s house.

The home was too small for the entire family, but knowing that the Germans were deporting all Jewish males in June 1942, Anna and Fatima decided allow Israel, the father, to dig a whole in their barn and hide there for a year. The whole family survived, as did Anna and Fatima.