Slobodiuk Sidor & Justina ; Daughter: Moseichuk Maria (Slobodiuk)

Slobodyuk, Sidor Slobodyuk, Yustina Slobodyuk, Mariya Sidor and Yustina Slobodyuk were farmers living with their daughter Mariya in Mizocz, Wołyń (today Mizoch, Rivne District). Before the war, several Jewish families lived in the village, among them the Garshteins, merchants who purchased agricultural produce from the Slobodyuks. Sofya, their daughter, was Mariya’s school friend. When the Germans conquered the area on June 28, 1941, the Jews of Mizocz were sent to the Równe ghetto. Out of concern for the fate of her friend, Mariya visited the ghetto several times and brought Sofya food. One day in spring 1942, Sofya turned up in Mizocz after escaping from the ghetto, where her parents, sister and brother were later killed in an Aktion on July 13, 1942. Sofya hid for a short time in Równe with an acquaintance that harbored her in return for her money and she later arrived at the Slobodyuks’ home and asked for temporary shelter. Mariya persuaded her parents to help her Jewish friend and Sofya stayed with the Slobodyuk family for 11 months. When a rumor spread in the village that the Slobodyuks were helping a Jew, Slobodyuk moved his ward to the home of a friend that lived in the village of Werchow (Verkhiv) not far from Ostróg (Ostroh). Sofya stayed there for about six months and then was relocated. One day when Slobodyuk returned from visiting Sofya, a group of Ukrainian nationalists attacked and killed him because he was known for aiding Jews. For many years after the war, Sofya maintained contact with the Slobodyuks, even after her immigration to Israel, in 1978. On October 4, 1992, Yad Vashem recognized Sidor and Yustina Slobodyuk and their daughter, Mariya Slobodyuk, as Righteous Among the Nations.