Manilko Maria ; Son: Vasily

Manilko, Mariya Manilko, Vasiliy Voytovich-Kushnir, Fedora Mariya Manilko lived in the village of Noskovtsy, Vinnitsa District (today Noskivtsi, Vinnytsya District). At the beginning of the German-Soviet war, the Nazis killed her husband and she was left alone with their three children. Despite this personal tragedy, as the occupation continued, Manilko’s pity for the suffering Jews incarcerated in a forced-labor camp in the village of Popovtsy (Popivtsi), between Noskovtsy and Kopaygorod (Kopayhorod), grew. One day, Gitla Burshtein, a camp inmate, who had come to Noskovtsy in the hope of exchanging some of her belongings for food, approached Manilko. As soon as Manilko heard Burshtein’s story, she suggested that Burshtein to come to her home wherenever she could and bring her four daughters with her. The following day, 13-year-old Anna Burshtein was sent by her mother to Manilko’s home, but lost her way and came across a group of local youngsters in the field, shepherding cows. Anna froze with fear, expecting the boys would hit her, but one of them calmed her down and even gave Anna his piece of bread. To her question of how to get to Noskovtsy the boy suggested that Anna wait until dark and then he would take her there. Anna stayed in the pasture with the 14-year-old, whose name was Vasiliy, and in the evening, when they reached Noskovtsy together, it turned out that Vasiliy was Manilko’s son. Anna stayed with their family for a night, ate, bathed, and received clean clothes. As time passed, she and her sisters, 21-year-old Riva, 16-year-old Yelizaveta and 11-year-old Raisa, became frequent guests at the Manilkos'. A while later, Yelizaveta found work with Fedora Voytovich-Kushnir as a nanny for her two-year-old daughter. Voytovich-Kushnir, who also lived in Noskovtsy, owned a second home on the edge of the village that stood empty. She allowed Leib Burshtein, Gitla’s husband, to use it, without any payment, so the Burshtein family could occasionally besecretly reunited. In 1942, there was an outbreak of typhus in the camp and two of the Burshtein daughters fell ill. Anna went to Manilko’s home and Riva went to Voytovich-Kushnir’s. The two women nursed their wards back to health, despite risking their own health and that of their families by so doing. During the war, a Romanian soldier noticed Anna and it was only due to Manilko’s resourcefulness that he did not apprehend her. It was also only thanks to Manilko’s and Voytovich-Kushnir’s compassion and care that the Burshtein family survived to witness the liberation of the area, in March 1944. On January 29, 1998, Yad Vashem recognized Mariya Manilko and Fedora Voytovich-Kushnir as Righteous Among the Nations. On February 22, 2004, Yad Vashem recognized Vasiliy Manilko as Righteous Among the Nations.