Leonard Khatskevich lived with his parents Olga and Fyodor in Talachyn, Belarus. A non-Jewish woman, Olga Pleskach, took care of him. Shortly before the German Wehrmacht occupied Talachyn in July 1941, Leonard’s father was drafted. His mother was of Jewish origin and was now subjected to persecution. The local police commander broke into Khatskevich’s building, took away his mother’s identity papers, beat her, and locked her and Leonard in the apartment.
Olga Pleskach managed to free the two of them and they found shelter with Pleskach’s sister-in-law Maria Kostish. However, Police Commander Sell started a search for them. He raided Kostish’s home in the fall of 1941. After that, Olga Khatskevich decided to flee with Olga Pleskach and her son to Orsha, 70 kilometers away, where non-Jewish relatives of her husband took them in. After their liberation, Leonard and his mother returned to Talachyn. A year later, Leonard was reunited with his father, who had survived with a partisan group.
Olga and Leonard Khatskevich remained close friends with Olga Pleskach until her death.