Balyk Iosip & Franciszka ; Daughter: Helena

Balyk, Yosyp Balyk, Franciska Balyk, Helena Vertepny, Viktor Vertepna, Lucia Iosip Balyk, his wife Franciska, and their unmarried daughter Helena were farmers who lived on a khutor near the village of Chodaczkow Maly in the Tarnopol District (today Malyy Khodachkiv, Ternopil' District). Lucia Vertepna, the Balyks’ eldest daughter, lived in the same complex with her husband, Viktor Vertepny. One night in the summer of 1942, a Jewish acquaintance, Sofia Felderbaum, and her two-year-old daughter Bronya, arrived at the khutor after having escaped from the ghetto in nearby Skalat. Helena Balyk had previously visited them in the ghetto and promised that her family would help them in time of trouble. And indeed, the Balyk family hid Felderbaum and her young child on the grounds of their property. Jakub Felderbaum, Sofia’s husband, later joined his family in hiding in the stable. The Felderbaums’ hideout was relatively warm and the Jewish family lived through the winter safely, occasionally going into the main house to bathe. The Balyks took care of all the needs of this family until the arrival of the Red Army on April 15, 1944. After the war, the Felderbaum family, as Polish citizens, moved to Poland and later, in the 1960s, to the United States. During their two years in hiding with the Balyks and the Vertepnys, a warm relationship had developed between the families. This was maintained, despite the distance, for many years. On April 2, 1995, Yad Vashem recognized Iosip and Franciska Balyk and their daughters, Helena Balyk and Lucia Vertepna, as Righteous Among the Nations. On January 10, 1999, Yad Vashem recognized Viktor Vertepny as Righteous Among the Nations.