Where Humanity Lives: The Story of Two Sisters and a Big Family
As part of the project “Incredible Port”
In a time before the Internet, when family TV series had yet to become a daily routine, Indian films shown in cinemas turned into true cultural events, drawing packed audiences.
In the 1970s, Soviet viewers flocked to see “Seeta and Geeta” directed by Ramesh Sippy. More than 55 million people followed the emotional story of twin sisters separated in childhood and reunited by fate years later.
In the history of the Odesa port, there is a story of its own – just as moving, and entirely real.
In the 1950s, a docker named Hryhorii Shpitak worked in the port’s Second District. A tragic accident – carbon monoxide poisoning while visiting relatives – took the lives of both parents.
Three children were left behind: a son and twin baby girls. After the tragedy, the grandparents took in the older boy. The girls, just one year and four months old, were destined to find new families.
The news deeply shook the port community. During a meeting of the port community, a decision was voiced that today seems almost unbelievable: the children of a port worker should be raised by port workers. Without hesitation, two childless families stepped forward to begin the adoption process.
Soon, a little girl named Tetiana became part of the family of Viktor Versanov, son of Mykhailo Versanov, head of the berthing group. The other sister, Olena, was adopted by Borys Dvoiehlazov, head of mechanization, and his wife Dina Taran, a warehouse manager.
Thus, one tragedy became the beginning of two stories filled with love, care, and extraordinary humanity.
From early childhood, Tetiana Versanova remembers the port – the Second District, the scent of the sea and metal, the hum of machinery…
Years later, she would connect her life with the port professionally. After working in medical institutions, Tetiana joined the port’s medical unit, later earning the honorary title “Veteran of the Odesa Port,” and continues to work there to this day.
Her story is one of gratitude and loyalty to the place that became her true home - as if fate gently led her back to where her new life once began.
Olena also worked at the port for some time, maintaining that invisible bond with the port family that had once reached out to help her.
The truth was revealed to the sisters only many years later – at Olena’s wedding. That was when they learned they were related, and that they had a brother. They were given his address. A letter. Expectation. And finally – Reunion. A story worthy of the big screen. But without cameras or scripts. Just life, humanity, and memory. Today, this story continues. Olena’s son and Tetiana’s daughter carry on the family tradition, working at the Odesa port. It is yet another reminder that true acts of humanity endure and live on through generations.
This story is not only about tragedy. It is about the strength of community – about how a working collective becomes a true family. Times change. Technology evolves. Managers and department names come and go. But one thing remains constant: the ability of Odesa port workers to treat someone else’s grief as their own – and to help not out of duty, but from the heart.
A reminder that a truly “incredible port” is the one where humanity lives.
