Danyil Tymchyna 

Hieromonk Danyil (secular name – Dmytro Tymchyna) was born on November 5, 1900 in the village of Verbytsia, on the Polish-Ukrainian border. He became a novice of the Univ Holy Dormition Lavra of the Studite Rite at the age of 22, in 1922. On March 2, 1926, he reached the Small Schema under the name Danyil. At the same time, the Schemamonk began his studies in Kulykiv town at a guild based on the craft profile "Making of fur clothing". According to the certificate received on June 1, 1928, the training lasted from May 1, 1925 to May 28, 1928. The Schemamonk continued to improve his chosen profession. On August 26, 1936, the Chamber of Industry in Lviv issued him a certificate of successful completion of the exam and his recognition as the apprentice. However, in the 1930s, the Schemamonk Danyil (Tymchyna) already faced other tasks entrusted to him by the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky and his brother. In the late 1920s, the Schemamonk became the prefect of the Univ orphanage, as evidenced by the entry in the poetic collection "Gift of Love", which he created on the occasion of his release at the Univ Holy Dormition Lavra on November 25, 1929. He soon began to improve his pedagogical skills. On December 12, 1931, the Schemamonk Danyil (Tymchyna) received a certificate of completion of the training courses for educators of guardianship institutions for children and youth in Warsaw, organized by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Poland from September 14 to December 12.

On May 22, 1931, he passed an extraordinary exam by the state commission in Peremyshliany town. As a result, he received the certificate which was equated to a document of completion of seventh-grade school. Since then, a new life began for the Schemamonk Danyil (Tymchyna) at the Lviv Theological Seminary of the Holy Spirit.

After graduating from the Lviv Theological Seminary of the Holy Spirit, the Schemamonk Danyil (Tymchyna) was for a short time the prefect of the orphanage, and on the eve of World War II, he was entrusted with an extremely responsible and important position for the monastery – mentor of novices in the Univ Holy Dormition Lavra. In the summer of 1939, about 30 novices were under his supervision.

After the region was occupied by the Nazis in July 1941, the Hierodeacon Danyil (Tymchyna) was repeatedly appointed the prefect of the restored orphanage.

In the August of 1942, the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky started the action of saving the Jews. The coordination group in Lviv required the network of locations where the children and adults could be secretly transferred. One of such locations was the Univ Holy Dormition Lavra.

Gradually, the monastery became a permanent hiding place for three Jewish boys, who, in fact, were cared by Hierodeacon Danyil (Tymchyna) in 1942–1944: Dorko Borovetskyi (Oded Amaranth, born in 1935), Danylo Chervinskyi (Adam Daniel Rotfeld, born in 1938) and Levko Khaminskyi (Leon Khamaides, born in 1935).

Hierodeacon Danyil (Tymchyna) was extremely careful, strict, and prudent in this matter, which was mortally dangerous for him, other clergymen and children. First of all, he informed the Jewish boys how to behave in the company of others. Apparently, he drew up a whole system of conspiracy measures and considered it in detail. For example, the Schemamonk forbade children to talk about their past. They were forbidden to go to the toilet when other people were there. They also had to go in pairs to wash. As their number was odd, one of the boys had to wash with the monk. To maintain discipline, the Schemamonk developed a strict system of punishment that applied to all orphans without exception.

As a result, for the next two years, the German authorities did not find the three boys, despite searches and denunciations. After the occupation, Leon Khamaides and Oded Amaranth were transported to Lviv, where a Jewish woman adopted  Leon and Oded returned to his parents. Adam Daniel Rotfeld was not adopted by anyone, so he was in the Univ orphanage until its liquidation.

With the second arrival of Soviet power in Halychyna, the last stage in the life of Hierodeacon Danyil (Tymchyna) began. He was arrested. On December 27, 1947, he was sentenced under Articles 54-1a and 54-11 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR to 10 years in prison. He was imprisoned first in Vorkuta and for some time in Irkutsk. At one stage of his punishment, he was in prison with Patriarch Josyp Slipyi (1892 – 1984).

He worked as a lumberjack during his imprisonment. He was bullied by camp guards. On the eve of his release, the Schemamonk Danyil (Tymchyna) was in the Komi Autonomous SSR. He was released on May 8, 1956. On May 15, 1956, he received a passport, and since then his journey home has begun.

The following question remains debatable and unclear: was Hierodeacon Danyil (Tymchyna) ordained a presbyter during his imprisonment or was he ordained in Lviv after Bishop Mykolay Charnetskyi (1884–1959) returned from exile? In any case, as of 1958, he was already a hieromonk and was performing his pastoral ministry in Rava-Ruska.

The reason why he settled in this town on the border with Poland was that his closest relatives were there after the deportation from the Polish-controlled area of the San River. He lived in Rava-Ruska until his death, worked as a guard at the salting base. He retired on October 20, 1970.

Immediately after arriving in Rava-Ruska, he began an active pastoral ministry. Every day he conducted the Holy Liturgy. He baptized children, consecrated the marriages, and baked prosphoras himself. Before the big holidays, he traveled to the surrounding villages, heard the confessions of the people, and conducted the Divine Liturgy. In addition to the Rava-Ruska suburbs, he visited many villages of Yavoriv and Sokal districts.

Such activity of the underground priest, of course, attracted the attention of the authorities. Danyil Tymchyna was offered to join the Russian Orthodox Church, for which he was promised a parish, but he flatly refused.

Hieromonk Danyil (Tymchyna) firmly believed and told his relatives that the Univ Holy Dormition Lavra would be reborn and that he would return to it. His special wish was to be buried in the cemetery near his native monastery.

On July 8, 1972, Fr. Danyil left the bathhouse, where he worked as a caretaker after retirement. He had a stroke. He fell and died right there. He was buried in the local cemetery in Rava-Ruska. Currently, there is the preparation for the reburial of Hieromonk Danyil (Tymchyna) at the monastic cemetery on Chernecha Hora (hill) near the Univ Holy Dormition Lavra.

On December 31, 2008, in Jerusalem, at a meeting of the commission at the National Institute of Catastrophe and Heroism of Yad Vashem, on the basis of the collected evidence, it was decided to recognize the Hieromonk Danyil (Tymchyna), who risked his life during the Nazi occupation to save the persecuted Jews, as the Righteous among the Nations. The Hieromonk was posthumously awarded a commemorative medal, and his name is engraved on the wall of honor of the Alley of the Righteous in Yad Vashem.