Dyachuk Aleksandr & Solomea ; Son: Pavlo ; Daughter: Otzalyuk Maria (Dyachuk)

Diachuk, Aleksander Diachuk, Solomeya Diachuk, Pavlo Otsaliuk-Diachuk, Mariya The couple, Aleksander and Solomeya Diachuk, lived with their eight children in the village of Swojczany (today Sviychiv, Volyn’ District). The family was of the Evangelical Protestant faith. At the start of the German occupation, their eldest son was deported to Germany as a forced laborer and never returned. In March 1943, Gitel Tabak, from the nearby village of Oździutycze (now Ozyutychi), came to them and asked for food. Her husband had been murdered in the first days of the German-Soviet war, in June 1941. Her eldest son had also been murdered, in October 1942, after he fled from the ghetto in the town of Torczyn (now Torchyn), which was where the Jews of Oździutycze had been deported to in February 1942. Following the liquidation of the last of the Jews, Gitel and her children, Reizl and Haim Zelig, escaped to the forests. They stayed there throughout the winter of 1942-1943 and occasionally ventured out to beg for food from the peasants in the vicinity. Solomeya took pity on her and suggested that she come back for more food along with the other Jews who were hiding in the forest. A few days later, Gitel returned with her two children and two other Jews from Oździutycze, Nathan Frankfurt and Shimshon Gruber. The Jews hid in a haystack and for more than a year were cared for by the members of the Diachuk family. Aleksander, the head of the family, was a devout Christian. He prayed each evening together with the members of his family and encouraged the Jews to do the same. Over time, the rumor spread in the village that the Diachuks were giving refuge to Jews. On a summer day in 1943, the Ukrainian police conducted a search in the Diachuk home and farm, but failed to find anything, because Aleksander and his grown children, Pavlo and Mariya, had prepared a hiding place under the barn in advance. The rescuers saw this as a sign that God was supporting their actions and continuedto hide the Jews until the liberation in July 1944. After the war, the survivors left the Soviet Union. Some immigrated to the United States and some to Israel. On November 28, 2000, Yad Vashem recognized Aleksander and Solomeya Diachuk and their son, Pavlo Diachuk, as Righteous Among the Nations. On January 27, 2003, Yad Vashem recognized Mariya Diachuk-Otsaliuk as Righteous Among the Nations.