Vasili Zubkov was married and worked as a coachman in Dnepropetrovsk (now Dnipro). After the German occupation in August 1941 most of the town’s Jews were murdered in mass shootings. Shortly afterward, a neighbor asked the Zubkovs whether they would take in a child. Nine-year-old Nelli Gordon had survived the massacre, but the neighbor claimed she was a non-Jewish orphan. The Zubkovs suspected this was not true but took Nelli Gordon in nonetheless. Were the child’s Jewish origins to be discovered, the couple risked execution.
The Zubkovs were betrayed after two months, and police came to their home. Vasili Zubkov tried to pass Nelli Gordon of as a relative. However, the girl was arrested and Zubkov was ordered to provide papers proving they were related. Vasili Zubkov had documents forged, which achieved Nelli Gordon’s release. The Zubkovs went on to adopt her. Nelli Gordon’s parents survived and took Nelli back in 1945. The two families remained in contact. In 1998 the Israeli Holocaust memorial center Yad Vashem honored Vasili and Maria Zubkov as Righteous Among the Nations.