Tarasov Semyon ; Daughter: Tarasova Sofia (Nikolaichuk)

Furmanyuk, Yevdokim Furmanyuk, Mariya Pavlyuk, Ivan Pavlyuk, Motryona Tarasov, Semyon Nikolaychuk (Tarasova), Sofiya Yevdokim and Mariya Furmanyuk were farmers living in the village of Stadniki, Wołyń (today Stadnyky, Rivne District). Before the war, the extended Jewish Valdman family had lived in the village. In early August 1941, the Jews living in this area were expelled to nearby Ostróg (Ostrih) and one month later many of the Jews were killed in an Aktion. Eleven-year-old Vasiliy Valdman, his mother Tsivlya, and younger brother managed to escape from the massacre in the ghetto and they returned to their home in Stadniki. About a year later, on October 21, 1942, Ukrainian police appeared in Stadniki. In their attempt to escape the police, Tsivlya’s younger son was shot. Vasiliy jumped into the Horyn River and for several hours he hid in the shrubs, up to his neck in the water. That night, he knocked on the Furmanyuks’ door and they beckoned him inside, changed his wet clothes, and hid him in a haystack in their granary. The following day, Vasiliy’s mother came to take him to the Pavlyuks’ home, also in Stadniki, where she had found shelter. Ivan Pavlyuk lived with his elderly mother, Motryona Pavlyuk, and despite their poor financial situation, they hid the two Jews and shared their food with them. After two months, in December 1942, when Aharon Valdman (an uncle who had escaped from the Ostróg ghetto) arrived at the village, the Pavlyuks agreed to hide him too. Vasiliy and his mother soon decided to leave the Pavlyuks’ home so as not to be a burden on them any longer, and they hid with Semyon Tarasov and his 19-year-old daughter Sofiya, also residents of Stadniki, until the liberation in February 1944. The Valdmans helped the Tarasovs on the farm and whenever the Germans or Ukrainian police passed through the area, other villagers warned the Tarasovs and Valdmans in advance and the two Jews were hidden in the Tasarovs’ cellar or granary. After thewar, Tsivlya and her son remained in Stadniki and Aharon immigrated to Israel. On June 29, 1997, Yad Vashem recognized Yevdokim and Mariya Furmanyuk, Ivan Pavlyuk, his mother, Motryona Pavlyuk, Semyon Tarasov, and his daughter, Sofiya Nikolaychuk, as Righteous Among the Nations.