Melnichuk Aleksey

Melnichuk, Aleksey Aleksey Melnichuk lived with his mother in the village of Tumin, district of Wołyń (today Tumyn, Volyn’ District). Melnichuk was in love with Haika, a young Jewish woman, from the nearby town of Oździutycze (Ozyutychi). Haika and her family were interned in the Włodzimierz ghetto, until they fled from there when it was liquidated in December 1942. The group of 11 escapees reached the forest close to Tumin, where they met some other Jews who had constructed hideouts there. Among the Jews there was Israel Tabak, who made contact with Melnichuk whom he knew from his prewar schooldays. From mid-1943 until the liberation, Melnichuk regularly assisted this group of Jews, in particular by bringing them food and drink from his own home or his neighbors’, despite his mother’s objections. During the winter, the hidden Jews, among them Tabak, David Sasover, Dov Binder, Basya Shilman, Dr. Grinberg and others went to Melnichuks’ home to warm up. Some even stayed there for a few days. Tabak even managed to convince Melnichuk to join the violently anti-Jewish Ukrainian nationalists to act as a spy. As a result of this daring involvement, Melnichuk always found out in advance of pogroms against the Jews or searches in the forest and he could thus forewarn his Jewish friends. Melnichuk asked for no compensation for his actions and was motivated solely by love and friendship for his Jewish friends. When the Red Army liberated the area, in June 1944, the NKVD arrested Melnichuk because he was known to be a member of the Ukrainian nationalist group. His Jewish friends fought hard to secure his release and to clear his name. The survivors all left the area and many later immigrated to Israel. On December 22, 1993, Yad Vashem recognized Aleksey Melnichuk as Righteous Among the Nations.