Kapusta Vasyl and Sofia

Vasyl and Sofia Kapusta, with their five children, lived in village Strusiv in the Ternopil region. Vasyl was a miller in the local mill.

With the beginning of Nazi occupation, the repression against Jews started. Vasyl knew that parents, wife, and son of Schmuel Zaltser were killed. Schmuel was an accountant in the same mill. He was sent to the ghetto in Terebovlia. Vasyl made few attempts to find Schmuel in the ghetto, but he failed.

After Schmuel settled in the ghetto, he found there his acquaintance Roza Tunis. Her parents and husband were also killed by the Nazi since the beginning of the war. In the summer of 1943, Vasyl and Roza managed to escape from the ghetto. They reached Strusiv and asked Vasyl for help. Together with his wife Sofia Vasyl hid them on the attic of the mill.

In March of 1944, Vasyl Kapusta was drafted by the Red Army. He participated in some battles on the territory of Poland. Schmuel and Roza stayed with Sofia to help her with a farm. In 1948 they emigrated to Israel.

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On March 12, 2000, Yad Vashem awarded Vasyl and Sofia Kapusta with Righteous Among the Nations award.