Viter Olena

Witer, Olena (Abbess Iosefa) Olena Witer, known in the church as Abbess Iosefa, was mother superior of the convents of the Studite Order of nuns affiliated with the Greek Catholic church in Eastern Galicia. In the orphanage under her supervision, on the outskirts of Lwów (today L’viv), Abbess Iosefa hid Jewish children, among them Lili Pohlmann, Nathan Lewin, Adam Rotfeld, and others. These young children, who had witnessed atrocities in ghettos and lost their families, received warm and devoted treatment in the convent from the mother superior and all her staff. In addition to feeding and clothing the children, the nuns taught their wards Christian prayers and customs so they would not stand out. If any of the Jewish children attracted the attention of the local authorities or farmers visiting the compound, Abbess Iosefa moved the child to another Studite convent, most of which were also involved with harboring Jews, young and old. In July 1944, after the liberation of the area, all the surviving children were handed over to Jewish institutions or surviving relatives. A short time later, the Soviet authorities arrested Abbess Iosefa together with other leaders of her church and they were exiled to Siberia. She was released in 1955, and she settled in the town of Skalat, L’viv District, where the Jews that she saved helped her financially until the day she died. On February 19, 1976, Yad Vashem recognized Olena Witer (Abbess Iosefa) as Righteous Among the Nations.