Repitski Arifey & Agrepina

Repitsky, Arifey Repitskaya, Agrepina Gitel Samiter (today Tova Roshtein, b. 1926) lived with her parents and brother, Yisrael, in Radziwillow, near Brody, in the Rovno district, Wolyn (Volhynia), Ukraine. Yitzchak and Sarah Samiter owned a general store. The town, with a Jewish population of 3,500, was overrun by the Germans on June 27, 1941, and the confiscation of property began immediately. Shortly thereafter, the killings began as well. In April 1942 the ghetto was divided into two parts: an area where the “useful” Jews lived and another area where the “not useful” Jews lived. Gitel recalls that bribery could convince the local Judenrat (Jewish council) to change one’s status from “not useful” to “useful.” Regardless of the ghetto in which one lived, everyone knew of the killings taking place in the villages and cities. The Samiters, fearing the worst, sent Gitel to hide in the villages on the outskirts of town. On the strength of her parents’ connections with several farmers who lived in the area, Gitel was able to hide in various barns and fields and receive food—but never for very long, because the farmers all feared reprisals if caught. While in hiding she heard rumors of an Aktion (mass killing) that had taken place in town and, despite the danger, returned to see if her family was alive. They were, but the ghetto was shrinking fast, and they realized that they were in the Germans’ crosshairs. In the fall the entire family took to the forest; splitting up, they remained in the same general vicinity. The most helpful of the farmers were Arifey and Agrepina Repitsky, who regularly left food for the Samiter family. One day Gitel heard a rumor that three Jews had been killed in the forests by a Bandera faction (anti-Soviet Ukrainians who collaborated with the Nazis). She ran to the Repitskys, who confirmed that the victims were indeed her parents and brother. She sat shiva (the seven-day Jewish mourning period) in their home. Gitel lived intermittently with the Repitskys from that point on. The Germans knew that Gitel was in hiding, and when searches became intense, she took to wandering the local barns, begging neighborhood farmers for food. Arifey then came up with an idea. He had noticed that non-Jewish Ukrainian girls were being deported to Germany to serve as forced laborers and suggested that it might be a way for her to escape. He brought her farmer’s clothes to wear, gave her instructions about how to behave, and brought her to a train station near Dubno. She was indeed conscripted to forced labor, and at a different station she switched groups, falling in with girls from eastern Ukraine who were less likely to recognize her. In this manner she survived, spending the rest of the war in Germany. After the war Gitel returned to Radziwillow, but not a single Jew was left. During this time she again briefly stayed with the Repitskys, who assisted her emotionally and financially. Two years later she immigrated to Israel. She did not stay in contact with her rescuers but did visit to her old village in 2004. From then on she established a regular correspondence with the Repitskys’ children. On December 17, 2013, Arifey and Agrepina Repitsky were recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations.