Gerasimchik Pavel & Lubov ; Son: Nikolay ; Daughter: Kucheruk Klavdia (Gerasimchik); Daughter: Gavrishchuk Galina (Gerasimchik)

Gerasimchik, Pavel Gerasimchik, Lyubov Kucheruk (Gerasimchik), Klavdiya Gavrishchuk (Gerasimchik), Galina Gerasimchik, Nikolay Pavel (Pavlo) and Lyubov (Lubka) Gerasimchik and their teenage three children, Klavdiya, Galina, and Nikolay, lived in the village of Szubkow, in the district of Wołyń (today Shubkov, Rivne District). In 1935, Pavel Gerasimchik became acquainted with Isaak Khomut (later Emmet), a wealthy Jew from nearby Tuczyn (Tuchyn) who was married and had two daughters. When the Germans conquered the area on July 2, 1941, Gerasimchik felt compelled to do something to assist the Khomut family. Thus, in the first weeks of the occupation, he told the Khomuts that he would be willing to host them in his home should it become necessary. In September 1942, as the danger to the Jews of Tuczyn increased, the Khomut family decided to flee and head for Szubkow. However, their attempt failed and they returned to the house in the ghetto. The following day, Gerasimchik appeared at the Khomuts’ home and offered to hide the family in his home for a short while. The Khomuts took Gerasimchik up on his offer and when it became dark, Khomut’s wife, Polina, and their eight-year-old daughter, Lara, secretly left the ghetto and were driven by Pavlo to his village, hidden under the straw in his cart. A few days later, after the ghetto was liquidated, Khomut joined his wife and child. (His eldest daughter, Hanele, had been handed over to another family that promised to save her but they betrayed her to the authorities and she did not survive the war.) Intense searches for Jews were repeatedly carried out in the area and locals caught harboring Jews paid with their lives. Gerasimchik reminded Khomut that he had only invited them into his home for a short time, and asked them to leave. However, once the Jewish family prepared to depart, Gerasimchik changed his mind and instead of letting his wards move on, started to build a hideout for them under his threshing floor.The Khomut family then spent 18 months hiding alternately between this hideaway and another one prepared under a haystack. Gerasimchik’s wife and children played an active role in saving the Jewish family. Every day they brought them food, cleaned out their hiding place, and each night they stood on guard while their charges briefly left the hideout to breathe some fresh air. The entire Gerasimchik family worked hard to provide for these extra souls. When the Germans were retreating, 15 German soldiers billeted themselves on the Gerasimchiks’ property, on the threshing floor exactly above the heads of the hidden Jews. For almost two weeks, until the Red Army liberated the area on February 15, 1944, the Gerasimchiks could not bring the Khomuts food. After the liberation, the Khomuts left the village and the Gerasimchiks returned the gold watch that the Khomuts had given them when they first moved in to their home. The Khomuts later moved to the United States. On March 15, 1990, Yad Vashem recognized Pavel and Lyubov Gerasimchik as Righteous Among the Nations. On December 6, 1999, Yad Vashem recognized Klavdiya Kucheruk, Galina Gavrishchuk, and Nikolay Gerasimchik, as Righteous Among the Nations.