Emilia Maksimova was walking home from church services with her parents in 1941, when they noticed a lonely little girl freezing on the street. The girl, around 10 years old, was called Nusia and did not know what had happened to her parents. All the girl knew was that she was Jewish and alone. The Maksimov family kindly took the little girl home with them, providing food, clothes and shelter from the cold Russian winter. Fearful of being turned into the police, the family moved to a different apartment after neighbors discovered that they had been hiding a Jewish girl. Nusia was able to live with the family until she was 13 years old, as Emilia’s father had obtained fake documentation for her. After the ending of the war, Nusia was reunited with her parents, who had fortunately both survived.
Nusia and Emilia kept in touch after the war.
Edited by: Matthew London
