Borchakovsky Mikhail & Yevdokia ; Daughter: Borchakovskaya Klavdia

Borchakovskiy, Mikhail Borchakovskaya, Yevdokiya Rudyuk (Borchakovskaya), Klavdiya Mikhail and Yevdokiya Borchakovskiy lived in the town of Ostróg, Wołyń (today Ostroh, Rivne District) with their three children – Viktor, Klavdiya, and the youngest son Andrey. Their neighbors were Chana Shtroyman and her niece, Irina Sheneskrimer, who had been visiting Shtroyman from Warsaw in the summer of 1939 when the Soviet Union annexed the area, and could not return to her parents’ home. When the Germans conquered Ostróg on June 30, 1941, Sheneskrimer and her aunt, like all the Jews, were displaced from their home and confined to the ghetto. One day, in the autumn of 1942, Sheneskrimer arrived at the Borchakovskiys’ home and told them about the liquidation of the ghetto, the death of her aunt, and of her hiding in the ghetto for several days without food or water. The Borchakovskiys immediately welcomed Sheneskrimer into their home, where they hid her from the world for the following 16 months. Some time later, young Gita Steinberg, of Ostróg, joined Sheneskrimer in her hideaway and, despite the Borchakovskiys’ strained financial situation, they shared all their food with their Jewish wards. They spent most of their time in the basement, and 14-year-old Klavdiya devotedly took care of them, cleaning their hideout, and bringing them food and news of the outside world. When Ostróg was liberated on January 27, 1944, Sheneskrimer enlisted in the Red Army. After the war, she settled in Minsk. Steinberg (later Tovah Reuveni) returned to Poland after the war and later immigrated to Israel. Both survivors maintained contact with the Borchakovskiys and their daughter Klavdiya for many years and they continued calling Mikhail and Yevdokiya “mother” and “father,” as they had during their time in hiding. On May 21, 1996, Yad Vashem recognized Mikhail and Yevdokiya Borchakovskiy as Righteous Among the Nations. On January 21, 1999, Yad Vashem recognized Klavdiya Rudyuk (néeBorchakovskaya) as Righteous Among the Nations.