Rybachuk Timofei & Maria

Rybachuk, Timofey Rybachuk, Mariya Timofey and Mariya Rybachuk lived in the town of Dubno, Wołyń (today Rivne District). Rybachuk was a tailor who worked from home and his wife was busy rearing their children. Before the war, the Szerman couple and their four children had lived in their neighborhood. Zanvel Szerman, who was the cantor in the Great Synagogue of Dubno, died in 1940. The Germans conquered the area in late June 1941, and when the ghetto was established in April 1942, their apartment was confiscated. Rybachuk had no idea what fate had befallen them until late May 1942, when 16-year-old Zlata Szerman escaped an Aktion in the ghetto and arrived at the Rybachuks’ looking for shelter. Clients often visited the Rybachuks’ apartment and therefore it was not a safe place to hide. They sent Zlata to shelter with Maria Malska* (see volume Poland). Zlata stayed with her until January 1944, when she was captured by the Germans. She managed to escape and returned to the Rybachuks, immediately following the liberation, in mid-February 1944, ill, hungry, and barely able to stand on her own two feet. The Rybachuks devotedly cared for her and brought her back to life. After the war, Zlata Szerman (later Zinaida Lempert) moved to France. On October 14, 1985, Yad Vashem recognized Timofey and Mariya Rybachuk as Righteous Among the Nations.