Stripchuk Vasyl and Fedora

Vasyl and Fedora Stripchuk lived in the village of Ozeriany, near the town of Dubno in the Rivne region. During the German occupation, they provided assistance to persecuted Jews, in particular the Cherkevych family.

After the region was occupied by the Wehrmacht, the Jews from the village of Ozeriany were resettled to the ghetto in Dubno. In October 1942, when the ghetto was being liquidated, the Cherkevych family, fleeing execution, split up. The mother and her youngest son Meir ended up in the village of Mizoch, where they were rounded up and shot, while the older children – daughter Rakhel and sons Yosyp, Menakhem and Zalman – fled to the forest.

Hiding in the bushes, the girl met her school friend, 20-year-old Zundel Tsimmerman. From then on, the five of them wandered in search of food, repeatedly going out to the nearest villages to ask for help. One day, Zundel met Vasyl Stripchuk, whom he had known before the war, and told him about his wanderings. The man worked at the railway station in Dubno and had repeatedly witnessed the Nazis driving Jews to their deaths. So he suggested that the boy hide with his friends in his outbuildings if necessary.

For 10 months, five Jews were under the care of the Stripchuks. Fedora, Vasyl's wife, brought them hot food and water when it was safe. In order not to overburden their rescuers, the Cherkevych brothers tried to feed themselves. Once, Zalman went out in search of food and did not return. Later, they learned that he had died.

After the war, the rescued Jews scattered around the world: Rakhel emigrated to the USA, Yosyp to Israel, where he died in the Arab-Israeli war in 1948, and Zundel settled in the city of Homel (Belarus).

In 2012, Yad Vashem recognized Vasyl and Fedora Stripchuk as Righteous Among the Nations.