Bilichenko Hryhorii, Mysevych Volodymyr and Alforova Neonila, Stanislavov Mykhailo and Yelyzaveta, Brynd (Stanislavova) Nina, Halkina (Stanislavova) Valentyna

During the German occupation of Vinnytsia, the family of Valentyna Halkina (Stanislavova) hid the Jewish boy Aaron Bronshtein. In total, seven Ukrainians participated in the rescue of the boy.

In May 1942 in the village of Zhabelivka in Vinnytsia region, an injured boy was brought to the house of local paramedic Hryhorii Bilichenko. It was 10-year-old Aaron Bronshtein. The villagers said that the German wanted to shoot the child, but he only wounded him in the jaw. Hrygorii stopped the bleeding, treated the wound and transported the child to the neighboring village Voronovitsa to surgeon Volodymyr Mysevych. He operated on Aaron and allowed him to stay in the hospital. Together with his wife, Neonila, he took care of the boy for the next 10 months. Gradually recovering, he began to help the orderlies, and this continued until one of the patients suspected him of being a Jew. Aaron had to run away. Wandering, he reached Vinnytsia and knocked on the house of Mykhailo and Yelyzaveta Stanislavovs.

“Mom has already put us to bed. I have not slept yet. Moreover, mother, as usual, stayed with father and planned tomorrow's day. In addition, suddenly the door opened. It was dark. We also had dogs in the yard. But they knew Aronchyk, because he often ran to us…” From the memories of Valentyna Halkina (Stanislavova)

Having seen the unfortunate boy with scars on his face, Yelyzaveta fed him, washed and put him to bed. Aaron knew nothing about the fate of his relatives. He only said that he miraculously survived thanks to the local villagers who brought him to the doctor. The Stanislavov couple decided to take care of the little Jew, fully aware that they were risking the lives of their three children.

“We all understood that it was very dangerous, but we didn't even think about sending him, not for a minute. We only had two rooms, a kitchen and two corridors, but we still decided to leave him. The father threw down the mattress and soft things from the attic, laid him in the barn, where there was firewood. A wash basin – a bucket of water was installed there for Aron. He was not allowed to go out during the day. I was surprised that he never cried. I thought, probably, when we sleep, he cries...” From the memories of Valentyna Halkina (Stanislavova)

In the summer, at dawn Aaron would brought the horse to the pasture, and return after sunset so that no one would see him. Once on the way home some strangers tried to stop him. This scared the boy so much that he decided to run away from Vinnytsia. Begging, he wandered around the outskirts of the regional center. Aaron returned to the Stanislavov family in March 1944, when the Nazis were ousted of the region. He found out from his sisters Nina and Valentyna that Nazis shot their mother Ielyzaveta, suspecting her of collaborating with the partisans.

Aaron Bronshtein emigrated to Israel, but he always remembered his saviors from Ukraine. On the basis of the memories of the saved boy, Yad Vashem recognized seven Ukrainians who helped him during the Holocaust as Righteous Among the Nations: Hryhorii Bilichenko, Volodymyr Mysevych and Neonila Alforova, Mykhailo and Yelyzaveta Stanislavova and their daughters Nina Brynd and Valentyna Halkina.