Kiefor Ivan & First name unknown ; Daughter: Olimpia

Kiefor, Ivan Kiefor, Mrs. Kiefor, Olimpiya Tęczyński, Janius Ivan Kiefor, his wife, and their daughter, Olimpiya, were well-to-do farmers living in the village of Szeredno, district of Tarnopol (today Serednye, Ternopil’ District). Benjamin Scheer from Podhajce (Pidhaytsi) had been their dentist since the 1930s. Upon hearing that the Germans were murdering the Jews of the area, Scheer contacted Kiefor and Janius Tęczyński, also a former patient, originally from Poland but then living in the nearby town of Monasterzyska (Monastyrys’ka), and asked for assistance. The Kiefors and Tęczyński agreed to hide Scheer and his family should it be necessary, in return for payment. When the Jews were deported from Podhajce, Scheer tried to escape and was shot and killed. His wife and two sons were moved to the labor camp in Tarnopol and on the eve of its liquidation, in July 1943, they managed to flee. Twenty-year-old Max headed for Tęczyński’s home in Monasterzyska, and his mother, Pepi, and younger brother, Zbyszek (later Bernard) went to the Kiefors. According to prior arrangement, the Jews were to pay their hosts 20 dollars in gold coin per week. With this money, the Kiefors purchased food for their wards as well as for eight other Jews hiding in the forest not far from their village. Thirteen-year-old Olimpiya and Zbyskek became close friends and she regularly brought him books, told him news from the front, and spent time with the Jews in order to help raise their spirits. Pepi and her son stayed with the Kiefors, in the loft of their stables, for nine months, until the Red Army liberated the area on March 26, 1944. They were later reunited with Max and together they immigrated to the United States. In 1948, Pepi managed to arrange for the Kiefors to join them in America and they all settled in New York and remained good friends for many years. On Septembre 4, 1991, Yad Vashem recognized Ivan Kiefor, his wife, their daughter, Olimpiya Kiefor, and JaniusTęczyński, as Righteous Among the Nations.