Barańcewicz Larisa

Barańcewicz, Larisa Upon the German invasion of the township of Kamień Koszyrski in the Polesie district at the end of June 1941, there were widespread antisemitic pogroms. Many Jews perished; others were degraded, beaten and injured. When it seemed that all hope was lost, a local Polish woman, Larisa Barańcewicz, appeared in the crowded Jewish quarter. She offered her assistance to Jakub Goldsztajn, a longstanding acquaintance who had been laid low by the blows he had received, and to his family and two other Jewish families. Despite the extreme danger of the undertaking, Larisa hid in her home five members of the Goldsztajn family; Józef Wajsman and three members of his family; and Awraham Lerman and his wife – 11 persons in all. She maintained and assisted them to the best of her ability until November 1942, when a wave of manhunts forced the fugitives to leave her home. They found refuge in a nearby village, in the home of a poor farmer who was a member of the Subbotnik sect, but with the best will in the world, he was unable to support so large a group. Spurred on by love for her fellow-men, and without receiving any recompense, Larisa again came to the fugitives’ aid and, until their liberation in the summer of 1944, brought food and medicines for them to the farmer’s house every two weeks. Most of the survivors immigrated to Israel after the war, and in 1965, they hosted Larisa in their homes. On March 22, 1965, Yad Vashem recognized Larisa Barańcewicz as Righteous Among the Nations.