Karpik Alexey & Irina ; Son: Iosif ; Son: Stepan

Karpik, Aleksey Karpik, Irina Karpik, Stepan Karpik, Yosef Aleksey Karpik and his wife, Irina, were farmers, in their early 40s, living in the village of Rakowy Las, district of Polesie (today Rakiv Lis, Volyn’ District). They and their teenaged sons, Yosef and Stepan, were Seventh Day Adventists. On November 2, 1942, five Jews from nearby town of Kamień Koszyrski (Kamin’-Kashyrs’kyy) who knew the Karpiks knocked on their front door. They were Yakov Goldsztajn, his wife, Sara, their sons, 20-year-old Shamay and 19-year-old Meir, and another young man, Menashe Perchik, all survivors of the Jewish community of Kamień Koszyrski. The Karpiks warmly welcomed them all into their home and hid them in a haystack in their attic. After a short time, Perchik left, eager to find his family members who were hiding in the forest. The Karpiks continued to harbor the Goldsztajn family. Occasionally, when house searches were expected, the Jews moved temporarily to the nearby forest or to relatives of the Karpiks. When they did so, Stepan and Yosef acted as the intermediaries between their parents and their wards as well as providing the Goldsztajns with food and drink. After a rumor spread in the village that the Karpiks were hiding Jews, Aleksey asked the Goldsztajns to leave. His sons, who disagreed with their father, persuaded him not to evict them. In all the Goldsztajns remained with the Karpiks for 17 months, until the Red Army liberated the area on April 16, 1944. Throughout their time in hiding, the Goldsztajns were also helped by Larisa Barancewicz* (see volume Poland), a Pole living in Kamień Koszyrski, who aided three Jewish families. After the war, the Goldsztajns and Menashe Perchik immigrated to Israel from where they maintained contact with their wartime rescuers. On May 1, 1995, Yad Vashem recognized Aleksey and Irina Karpik and their sons, Stepan Karpik and Yosef Karpik, as Righteous Among the Nations.