Sieroczuk Ochrym

Sieroczuk, Okhrym Okhrym Sieroczuk, a farmer, lived in the town of Hoszcza, in the district of Równe, Wołyń (today Hoshcha, Rivne District). During the German occupation, he hid a number of Jews in his home, among them: Basia Wajsman (later Ben-Baruch) and her mother; Ita Cohen and her mother; Sara Rabinovich, and others. The Jews were hidden in an underground bunker that Sieroczuk dug. Most of the Jews arrived at Sieroczuk’s home in 1943. Sieroczuk personally picked up Wajsman from Brygida Kafar* (see volume Poland), and brought her to his home hidden in his cart. Sieroczuk went to great lengths to buy supplies for his hidden guests, so that the neighbors would not notice the amounts he purchased. Despite the fact that he was poor and lived mainly on the produce of his fields, he shared his meager supplies with his Jewish charges and, as a result, there were days when his wife and child went hungry. Those among the Jews that still had a little money paid him whatever they could to ease his burden. Wajsman, whose family owned a linen shop in Hoszcza before the war, sometimes sold some of the stock that a friend was looking after in order to contribute toward their upkeep. On January 18, 1944, the Red Army liberated the area. A short while later, the survivors left Ukraine, some of them moved to Israel and others dispersed around the world. Sieroczuk was later deported to Siberia and his wife and child moved to Poland. Upon his release, Sieroczuk failed to get permission to settle in Poland and he spent the rest of his days living in Korets (formely Korzec), in the district of Rivne, penniless and alone. On December 16, 1969, Yad Vashem recognized Okhrym Sieroczuk as Righteous Among the Nations.