Vovkotrub Grigory & Maria

Vovkotrub, Grigoriy Vovkotrub, Mariya On July 2, 1941, the German army occupied the town of Złoczów in the Tarnopol District (today Zolochiv, L’viv District), and the Ukrainians immediately initiated a pogrom, during which about 3,500 Jews were killed. Among the survivors were Arnold (Anchel) Kremnitser, his wife, Anna (Nechama) and their three daughters, 19-year-old Berta, 14-year-old Dora and 11-year-old Ella. In August 1942, when a rumor about an upcoming Aktion spread, Kremnitser appealed to Grigoriy Vovkotrub, a resident of the village of Kopane, 3 km from Złoczów, to hide his family. Kremnitser was acquainted with the farmer from before the war. Vovkotrub and his wife, Mariya, who lived in great poverty with their children, agreed to give the Jewish family refuge. They dug a pit in the barn and covered it with straw, and the Jews hid there for several weeks. When Kremnitser heard that the remaining Jews of the area had been concentrated in the Złoczów ghetto, established on December 1, 1942, and that the situation was relatively calm, he and his family left their refuge. When they entered the ghetto, Kremnitser was apprehended and sent to work as a forced laborer. His wife and children, who remained in the ghetto, often received food from the Vovkotrubs who threw it over the fence. During the liquidation of the ghetto on April 2, 1943, Anna and her daughters fled and went to the place where Kremnitser was working. They then returned to the Vovkotrubs’ home, and despite the risk to their lives, the Vovkotrubs hid them in the barn and shared their meager food supply with them. All five Jews remained in the hiding place until the liberation, on July 18, 1944. Vovkotrub and his wife also helped other Jews of Złoczów and the vicinity, and provided them with food and shelter. Among these were Naftula and Pepa Baum and their daughter Relka, David Pick and his mother, Tsilya Shvertz, and others. After the war, the Kremnitser sisters, Ella (Kanner) and Dora(Zipper) moved to the United States, and Berta (Scharf) to Canada. For many years, they kept in touch with the Vovkotrubs and their children. On September 12, 1993, Yad Vashem recognized Grigoriy Vovkotrub and his wife, Mariya, as Righteous Among the Nations.