Tsitsura Grigori & Hanna

Tsitsura, Grigory Tsitsura, Anna The Evangelical preacher, Grigory Tsitsura, lived with his wife, Anna, and his six small children in the village of Podhorce (today Pya’tygory, Rivne District). In late 1942, after a year and a half of German occupation in the village, Grigory Tsitsura brought Bronya Grynberg, a 15-year-old Jewish girl, to his home. He had met Bronya and her father Tovia Grynberg, Jewish refugees from Zwoleń (Poland) at the home of one of his congregants. From Tovia Grynberg, Preacher Grigory Tsitsura heard of the dreadful plight of his family of which only the father and daughter had survived. Grigory presented Bronya to the neighbors as the children's nanny, of Czech origin and an orphan. He could not hide her father as well since his home was open for visits from members of the Evangelical community and there might be informers among them. Initially, there were problems since Bronya wished to go out of her rescuers' home frequently to meet with her father. However, when Grigory took her to the rendezvous spot, her father was not there and nobody knew what had happened to him. After that, she could not function as a nanny and had difficulty concentrating of the simple tasks given to her by Anna Tsitsura. Without any visible reason, Bronya would burst out crying and the neighbors noticed her strange behavior. After a few weeks, Grigory obtained an identity card for her under a false name, which made things easier for everyone. In time, her emotional state stabilized and she was able to function normally again. She helped Anna with the housework and learned to trust the people around her. When Germans came to the village, the rescuers hid Bronya in a pile of hay, and in quieter times, she walked freely about the house and yard and even went with the other children to the weekly Evangelical meetings. On the eve of the liberation, Grigory Tsitsura heard that people in the village were again whispering that Bronya was Jewish. He, therefore, tookher to the home of a member of his community in the village of Ożenin (now Ozhenyn). Bronya stayed there until the liberation on February 3, 1944. Two years later the Bronya returned to Poland and from there she emigrated to the U.S.A. In 1997, she succeeded in finding one of the Tsitsura children who was still living in the village of Podhorce. On February 13, 2000, Yad Vashem recognized Grigory and Anna Tsitsura as Righteous Among the Nations.