Betiuk Stanisław

Betiuk, Stanisław Stanisław Betiuk, a resident of the village of Strupin in the Lublin district, was a business acquaintance of the Handelsman family from the nearby town of Chelm, who purchased farm produce from him. At the beginning of November 1942, shortly before the final liquidation of the Chelm ghetto, Betiuk went to see the Handelsmans and offered to shelter the two daughters, Faiga, aged 19, and Brucha, aged 17. The parents agreed and Betiuk transferred the girls secretly to his farm. He prepared a bunker for them beneath the cowshed, concealing the entrance with planks of wood covered with straw. In due course, rumors spread that Jews were hiding on Betiuk's property and the village elder informed the German police. Betiuk was arrested and severely beaten during his interrogation, but he did not betray the sisters, who remained in hiding with him until the area was liberated in July 1944. During the entire period, Betiuk supported and protected the girls and provided them with clothing. He asked for nothing in return, acting purely out of friendship for the girls' parents. After the war he married Brucha, who converted to Christianity. Her sister Faiga immigrated to Israel, from where she kept in contact with her brother-in-law and former protector. She also hosted him in her home when he visited Israel. On February 16, 1984 Yad Vashem recognized Stanisław Betiuk as Righteous Among the Nations.