Bakai Jozef & Yekaterina

Bakay, Yekaterina Bakay, Yosef Yekaterina Bakay and her husband, Yosef, lived on the grounds of an abandoned estate surrounded by lakes, one kilometer from the village of Ratyszcze, Tarnopol District (today Ratyshi, Ternopil' District). During the occupation, the Germans ordered Jewish workers from nearby town Założce (Zalistsi), mainly women, to work in the lakes, which were known for their fish. Yosef was employed to oversee the work of the Jewish prisoners and, one evening, he and his wife Yekaterina suggested to some of the Jewish workers that they spend the night on the estate rather than walking back to Założce, a distance of about ten km. This unexpected offer brought Bronya Auerbach (later Bernice Meller) to ask the Bakays if she could hide in their home, should the need arise and the Bakays said yes. In October 1942, all the Jews of Założce were transferred to the ghetto that had been established in Zborów (Zboriv), the county capital. In December 1942, all nine members of Auerbach’s family escaped from the ghetto and arrived at the Bakays’ home. They were all welcomed inside. After they had been settled in a hideout in the attic, the Auerbach family discovered that six members of the Herman family were already hidden there. Yosef’s mother, Mariya Hrynchuk, who had worked for the Herman family before the war, had brought them to the Bakays’ home. The Bakays looked after their Jewish wards without receiving any monetary compensation. The most the wards could do was to help their hosts with the household and farming chores, which they did at night. In December 1943, rumors began to spread in Ratyszcze that the Bakays were hiding Jews in their home. The Herman and Auerbach families therefore had to leave their hideaway. Most of them were caught and murdered by Ukrainian nationalists. Bronya and her mother returned to the Bakays’ home early the following spring. By that time, Yosef had been sent to forced labor in Germany yet Yekaterina, who was alone,warmly welcomed the women into her home. The Red Army liberated the area at the end of March 1944. The survivors later moved to Poland and from there to the United States. On January 18, 1998, Yad Vashem recognized Yekaterina and Yosef Bakay as Righteous Among the Nations.