Palivoda Grigori & Maria

Palivoda, Grigoriy Palivoda, Mariya Grigoriy and Mariya Palivoda were farmers who owned a private farm near the town of Niżniów, district of Stanisławów (today Nyzhniv, Ivano-Frankivs’k District). The Buchwalds and their three children lived in Niżniów. Buchwald was engaged in the grain and eggs trade, and Palivoda was one of his suppliers. In the first week of July 1941, when the Germans occupied the area, about 800 Jews of Niżniów were deported to the ghetto in Stanisławów, where most of them were executed, including Buchwald and his eldest son. His wife, Bronya Buchwald, and their children Leon and Lucia fled Stanisławów and returned to Niżniów where they searched for shelter. They turned to the Palivodas, who received them warmly and gave them refuge. The three Jews hid in the attic and the Palivodas kept their hiding place clean and provided them with food. When no Germans were in the village, the Buchwalds would come down into the rooms of the house to rest, get warm, and help with the household chores. Searches were carried out twice in the Palivoda home. The first time, when one of the policemen, pointing his gun, threatened to shoot Grigoriy Palivoda unless he showed him where Jews were hiding, Palivoda took his small daughter in his arms and swore on her life that he was not hiding anyone. The second time, the searchers turned the house, including the attic, upside down but did not find the Buchwalds. Early in 1944, as the Red Army approached the area, the Buchwalds decided to leave the home of their rescuers and advance towards the front line. Until 1959, when they received a letter from Bronya Buchwald, who had migrated with her children to Canada, their rescuers did not know what their fate had been. On October 22, 1998, Yad Vashem recognized Grigoriy and Mariya Palivoda as Righteous Among the Nations.