Dutchak Paraskovia

Petrash, Josef Dutchak, Praskovya Josef Petrash (b. 1885) was the village priest in Horocholina, district of Stanisławów (today Horokholyna, Ivano-Frankivs’k District). He and his family knew the three members of the Daks family, also residents of Horocholina, very well. The Germans conquered the area on July 2, 1941. In November of that year, the Jews of Horocholina and other villages in the area of Bohorodczany (Bohorodchany) were forced to leave their homes and move to the ghetto established in Stanisławów. After a few months, Judel Daks, his wife, and their daughter Klara, managed to escape from the ghetto with the help of a policeman. They returned to Horocholina and asked Petrash to afford them shelter in his home. Despite the danger, that threatened his life and the lives of his family members, Petrash hid the Daks family in his home for almost a whole year. In early 1943, after some Germans billeted themselves in Petrash’s home, the Dakses had to leave. Judel and his wife fled to the forests and their daughter went to the nearby village of Fitków (Fyt’kiv), on Petrash’s recommendation. There, young Klara found shelter with Praskovya Dutchak, a relative of Petrash. Seventeen-year-old Dutchak lived alone and she took good care of Klara, dressing her in farmer’s garb and teaching her Christian prayers and customs. Klara stayed with Dutchak until the liberation of the area, on July 27, 1944, when she returned to her father. Her mother had been caught and murdered by the Germans. Klara (later Akselrod) remained in Ukraine and maintained warm, almost familial relations with her wartime rescuers. On June 6, 1993, Yad Vashem recognized Josef Petrash and Praskovya Dutchak as Righteous Among the Nations.