Melnichuk Yekaterina

Melnichuk, Yekaterina Khutornaya, Nadezhda Nikolayuk, Darya Zdetovetskaya, Yevgeniya Yekaterina Melnichuk was a farmer living with her two children in the village of Obozovka, district of Vinnitsa (today Obozivka, Vinnytsya District). In late August 1941, the Germans conquered the area and one month later Melnichuk rented a room in her home to Binyamin Pikman, a blacksmith from Pogrebishche (Pohrebyshche), and his family. In return for food, Pikman did odd jobs for the local farmers and after a few weeks the police were informed that a Jewish family was living in the village. On the night that the Pikman family was arrested, nine-year-old Fanya, one of the Pikman daughters, was at her friend Nadezhda Khutornaya’s house. When Fanya returned home, she discovered that her parents and brother had been taken to the death pits. Melnichuk continued to look after her while she looked for a safer place for the Jewish child to hide. Melnichuk turned to her niece Darya Nikolayuk for help. Nikolayuk hid Fanya temporarily in her home in the village of Skomoroshki, about 25 km from Obozovka. Fanya stayed there for two months before returning to Melnichuk’s home, where she remained until the end of the occupation and was treated with affection. Throughout the duration of her stay, whenever strangers or police appeared, Fanya hid in the fields or forest. Fanya’s friend Khutornaya often accompanied her, and she looked after Fanya and gave her encouragement. Whenever intensive searches were being carried out over a prolonged period in Obozovka, Fanya was hidden with Yevgeniya Zdetovetskaya, also a resident of the village, and the mother of three young children. Zdetovetskaya’s impoverished home was located on the edge of the village, by the forest, and because it was overlooked it was safe to hide there. Fanya stayed with Melnichuk for a year after the liberation of the area, in January 1944, until her aunt took her in. Fanya later settled in Kiev and established a family ofher own. She maintained contact with her wartime rescuers. On November 17, 1999, Yad Vashem recognized Yekaterina Melnichuk, Nadezhda Khutornaya, Darya Nikolayuk, and Yevgeniya Zdetovetskaya, as Righteous Among the Nations.