Pocorni Egon & Nicolina

Pocorni, Egon Pocorni, Nicolina Egon Pocorni lived with his wife, Nicolina, in Bucharest (Bucureşti), and in 1942, he was appointed manager of a sugar factory in the town of Derebchin, Vinnitsa district, in Transnistria. After seeing how much the Jews were suffering, he tried to help them in any way he could. He employed Jews in the factory he managed, even if they were not suitable for the work. He paid the Jews a higher wage than was permitted, provided them with food and allowed them to take some of the brown sugar produced in the plant so they could sell it in exchange for essential items. Pocorni also found suitable jobs for Jews in the vicinity by bribing their prospective employers. Thanks to Pocorni , Zvi Heitner got a job as a bookkeeper at the railway station. On his trips on leave to Bucharest, Pocorni carried letters from the deportees to their families, and brought back packages sent to them from their families. He also set up a soup kitchen for workers and intervened on behalf of the Jews with the gendarmes, exploiting his relations with the governor of Transnistria. Pocorni helped scores of Jews, and those he rescued called him “the angel.” Pocorni’s wife knew of his actions and actively supported them. At the end of 1943, when the Germans learned of his actions, Pocorni was forced to leave Derebchin and was persecuted by the authorities. On March 25, 1985, Yad Vashem recognized Egon Pocorni as Righteous Among the Nations. On May 19, 1986, Yad Vashem recognized Nicolina Pocorni as Righteous Among the Nations.