Zygadlo Feodor & Horpyna

Zygadlo, Feodor Zygadlo, Horpyna Before the war the Dawidowicz family from the town of Ostrog, Rowno district, Poland (later Ukraine) were shopkeepers and a family of means. Edmond (b. 1900) and Gosi Dawidowicz (b. 1902) had three daughters: Lisa (b. 1925), Edith (b. 1929), and Ann (b. 1934). On July 3, 1941, their town was overrun by the Germans, and the family was forced into a ghetto. They survived several Aktionen (mass killing operations), including the Aktion meant to liquidate the ghetto on October 15, 1942, by hiding in a shelter they had prepared in advance. Following this episode the family emerged from the ghetto and approached a Ukrainian acquaintance who lived in their town. They had earlier struck a deal with this woman, providing her with their valuables in exchange for an assurance that she would hide them if asked to do so. When they came to ask for help, the woman refused to honor the deal and even threatened to notify the police if they did not leave. The family wandered the countryside for several days, sleeping in barns without the owners’ permission, until they met a poor, devout farmer named Horpyna Zygadelo. She and her husband, Feodor, made space for them in a barn; later they kept their potatoes in the barn and the Dawidowicz family stayed in the well-ventilated potato cellar, which was a safe distance from the house. Horpyna provided them with food early each morning. During the day, however, they had to maintain complete silence because farmhands worked in the area. In this manner the family lived for 16 months, until the liberation. Shortly after they gained freedom, they returned to Ostrog; their limbs so atrophied from their confinement that they could scarcely walk. From Ostrog they headed west on a path that would lead eventually to the United States. The family remained in constant contact with their rescuers. Immediately after the Soviet reoccupation of Ostrog, Feodor Zygadelo was drafted into the Russian Army. During this period the Dawidowicz family supported Horpyna and her children economically. In addition the rescued family regularly sent packages to their rescuers, a practice that continued with the next generation. On August 21, 2013, Feodor and Horpyna Zygadlo were recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations.