The actor Anna Popstefanova née Damianova lived in Bulgarian-occupied Skopje. Her husband Stefan was a high-ranking police officer. The couple were friends with the Jewish Kario family. In March of 1943, Stefan Popstefanov learned of the Macedonian Jews’ impending registration and deportation. Anna Popstefanova warned the Karios and other Jewish families, and the Karios went into hiding. Stefan Popstefanov tried to arrange their escape to Albania. When this failed, the Popstefanovs took them into their home. Since their apartment was too small in the long run, Popstefanova housed the family with Anna and Stefan Serchadjiev. Popstefanov’s adjutant Ognjan kept the Serchadjievs’ home under surveillance for safety, because German officers also lived in the building. After a few days, Ognjan secretly took Moni and Rachel Kario and their two children out of Skopje. The Popstefanovs followed them in a police car so that they reached the border safely. They managed to escape to Albania.
After her husband’s death, Anna Popstefanova remarried and is now called Marinova. The Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial center honored her as Righteous Among the Nations in 1983.