Poberetski Andrei & Poberetskaya Justina ; Son: Andrei

Poberetskiy, Andrey Poberetskaya, Yustina Poberetskiy, Andrey (Jr.) Andrey Poberetskiy and his wife, Yustina, farmers, lived in the village of Vasilevka, in the district of Vinnitsa (today Vasylivka, Vinnytsya District). Their home was right on the edge of the village and bordered on the surrounding fields. During the war, the Poberetskiy family took advantage of this location in order to help many wanted people – Soviet soldiers, opponents of the authorities, and Jews. In January 1942, the Poberetskiys hid 16-year-old Bronya Kertser in their home. Kertser, born in nearby Tyvrov (Tyvriv), knew Andrey, the Poberetskiys’ son, who was her age. She reached Vasilevka one winter’s night, starving and exhausted after having wandered around for a long time between the villages in the area. All the members of her family were shot by the Germans, on October 31, 1941, together with other Tyvrov Jews. She quietly knocked on the Poberetskiys’ window, so as not to awaken the neighbors’ dogs, and asked to come in and warm herself. After the Poberetskiy family members consulted with each other, they invited Kertser to come in, and to stay. Kertser hid in the Poberetskiys’ home for over eight months. She slept on a straw bed in the attic, to where she was brought food and drink. On warm days, she woke up early and went out to the fields, where she hid among the cherry trees or shrubs. Andrey, the son, would often visit her there, bringing with him news and food. Another Jew from Tyvrov, Eli Shleper the tailor, was being hidden in Vasilevka. He moved from house to house, sewing and mending clothes in return for food and lodging and he sometimes stayed with the Poberetskiys. When, in September 1942, a ghetto was established in Tyvrov for several hundred Jews from Bukovina and Bessarabia, Kertser moved there and stayed in the ghetto until the liberation, in March 1944. After the war, Kertser remained in Tyvrov and maintained contact with the Poberetskiys. Shleper moved to thetown of Gnivan (Hnivan’) where he passed away in the 1960s. On December 26, 1994, Yad Vashem recognized Andrey and Yustina Poberetskiy and their son, Andrey Poberetskiy, as Righteous Among the Nations.