Kaspruk Vera

Gnatyuk, Isaak Kaspruk, Vera Isaak Gnatyuk lived in the village of Liszniówka, district of Wołyń (today Lyshnivka, Volyn’ District). When Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Gnatyuk was serving in the Red Army. He soon became a prisoner of war but managed to escape and return home. When partisan groups began to organize in the nearby forest, Gnatyuk joined one of them that later became part of the Brinski Brigade, under the command of Nikolay Kornishchuk. In September 1942, Gnatyuk met two Jewish teenagers, Lea and Bella Rog, the daughters of a blacksmith from Mielnica (Mel’nytsya), in the forest close to Maniewicze (Manevychi). The sisters told Gnatyuk that their father had perished early in the occupation and their mother had been murdered two days earlier when the Jewish community of Mielnica was liquidated. The girls had managed to flee and had come to this area with the hope of finding their uncle’s family, but they were no longer alive. Thus, Gnatyuk took the girls to the village of Liszniówka, where he hid them in the attic of an empty house. Each night, Gnatyuk brought the girls food and warm clothes and he took great care to ensure they were not discovered. In November 1942, Gnatyuk revealed this secret to Vera Kaspruk, a close friend, and she was glad to help them too. In early March 1943, rumors spread in the village that Gnatyuk and Kaspruk were sheltering Jews. The two girls therefore fled, with the help of Kaspruk, to the forest. Before long, Gnatyuk brought them to his partisan unit, where they remained until the liberation of the area in spring 1944. After the war, Bella settled in Russia and Lea eventually immigrated to Israel. On June 18, 1998, Yad Vashem recognized Isaak Gnatyuk and Vera Kaspruk as Righteous Among the Nations.