Mitkov Todor & Pandora

Hadži-Mitkov, Todor Hadži-Miktov, Pandora Ribarev, Trajko Ribarev, Dragica Dr. Todor Hadži-Mitkov, a Macedonian veterinarian, was a friend of Mois (Moshe) Frances and they both lived in Skopje (Skoplje). Their families were friendly with each other and regularly visited each other’s homes. In April 1941, Yugoslavia was invaded by Germany, and Macedonia was annexed to Bulgaria. The anti-Jewish legislation that had been introduced in that country in January 1941 was now also applied to Macedonia. A few days before the blockade of the city on March 11, 1943, Hadži-Mitkov visited the Frances family and expressed his deep concern for the fate that awaited the Jews according to the rumors that he had heard about deportation. In light of this situation, Hadži-Mitkov decided that the entire Frances family – Mois, his wife, Vinka, his mother, Esther, and two children (eight-year-old son, Marcel, and a daughter, Eni (Esther) – should move immediately into his home. Hadži-Mitkov fired his domestic help temporarily and placed public notices stating that his clinic was closed. This way, the Frances family was able to live more peacefully in his home. Hadži-Mitkov’s wife Pandora fed their Jewish wards and looked after the ill grandmother and the young daughter; Todor and Pandora together helped raise the spirits of the hidden family. One day before the deportation of the Jews, it was announced that anyone found hiding Jews would be punished. Mois Frances decided that he did not want to risk his friends’ lives and he began to look for a way to flee the city and escape to Albania. However, the Bulgarian fascists were ruthlessly searching every street and every alleyway for Jews and it was perilous for the Frances family to even leave the Hadži-Mitkovs’ home. Trajko Ribarev, Hadži-Mitkov’s brother-in-law, and his wife, Dragica, the only people who knew that Todor and Pandora were hiding Jews, then offered to move the Frances family over to their home. Thus, in peasantclothes and posing as Muslims, Trajko Ribarev moved the Frances family one by one on a horse and cart to their home on the outskirts of Skopje. The Frances family stayed there for a few days, and Dragica looked after them. In the meantime, Hadži-Mitkov acquired false papers in Muslim names for the Frances family and Ribarev organized a way to take the family to a safer area. All the members of the Frances family later moved on to Albania where they were assisted by the Kasapi* family. In 1944, when the Frances family returned from Albania, they were again welcomed into the Hadži-Mitkovs’ home until they were able to make other arrangements, and in 1948, they immigrated to Israel. On February 19, 1976, Yad Vashem recognized Todor and Pandora Hadži-Mitkov as Righteous Among the Nations, On April 29, 1976, Yad Vashem recognized Trajko and Dragica Ribarev as Righteous Among the Nations.