Wegrzynowska Vasiuta ; Son: Wegrzynowski Michal ; Son: Wegrzynowski Yan ; Daughter: Docia

Wegrzynowska, Vasiuta Wegrzynowski, Jan Wegrzynowski, Mikhal Wegrzynowska, Docia The widow Vasiuta Wegrzynowska and her three children, Jan, Mikhal, and Docia were farmers and resided in the village of Zahajpol, district of Stanisławów (today Zahaypil’, Ivano-Frankivs’k). In the 1930s, Vasiuta worked as a hired hand on the farm of the Jewish Helper family. Maks and Henya Helper treated their workers very well and this motivated Vasiuta to help them during the German occupation when, in 1943, they asked her to hide them. The Helpers and their daughter Janina were hidden in a pit under the floor of the cowshed that had been especially built for this purpose. Every day for 18 months, Vasiuta and her children brought them food and sometimes even shared their last pieces of bread with them, without asking for any remuneration in return. The Ukrainian police searched the Wegrzynowskis’ home on several occasions but the well-camouflaged hidin place was never found. After the liberation, in late March 1944, the three hidden Jews left their hideaway for the first time. Vasiuta accompanied them through the streets of the village, on their way to nearby Kołomyja (Kolomyya), where they were reunited with the small number of surviving Jews of the community. Vasiuta was proud that her family managed to rescue three Jews despite the hostile environment and the danger to her life. However, one day in late 1944, Vasiuta and her children were murdered not far from their home by a nationalist gang seeking revenge against people that saved Jews during the war. The Helpers were called in for an investigation and to identify the bodies. After this tragic event, they quickly left Ukraine and they eventually immigrated to Israel. On March 25, 1981, Yad Vashem recognized Vasiuta Wegrzynowska and her children, Jan Wegrzynowski, Mikhal Wegrzynowski, and Docia Wegrzynowska as Righteous Among the Nations.