Polinska Daryna, Tertychna (Polinska) Mariia

The widow Daryna Polinska and her daughter Mariia were residents of the village of Piatyhory (now Bila Tserkva district) in the Kyiv region. Not far from them lived the Kohan family – a large Jewish one. When the German-Soviet war began, their two eldest sons were mobilized to the front. The families were friends, so when the Nazis began persecuting Jews, Daryna sheltered her neighbors.

In 1942, the village Jewish youth began to be sent to labor camps. The Kohans' daughters, 18-year-old Oleksandra and 14-year-old Hana, ended up in a camp in the village of Antonivka, also in the Kyiv region (now the village of Buky, Uman district, Cherkasy region). As it turned out later, this saved their lives. In December 1942, about 300 Piatyhory Jews were executed. The girls' mother, Klara Kohan, was saved by Daryna Polinska, who hid them in her house.

When the situation in the village became safer, Oleksandra and Khana decided to look for an opportunity and escape from the camp. Having covered more than 40 km, the girls reached their native village. Daryna sheltered them as well. However, hiding three Jewish women from the eyes of their neighbors was not easy. Apparently, the police came to the Polinskas' house to search it after receiving a tip. When one of them decided to check the stove, behind which the fugitives were at that time, Daryna and Mariia realized that no one would escape. But luck helped: the policeman accidentally caught hold of a barrel with a mash for moonshine and broke it. Due to the commotion and attempts to save the remains of the wort, the search was stopped, but Daryna was still taken to the police station, where they began to question about strangers noticed in her yard by neighbors.

This story ended happily, and all the rescued people lived until the Nazis expelled them from the village. After the war, the families remained friends for many years, and after the Kohan family left for Israel, the rescuers and the rescued people continued to support each other in correspondence.

In 2000, Yad Vashem recognized Daryna Polinska and her daughter Mariia Tertychna as Righteous Among the Nations.

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