Gnatiuk Vera ; Daughter: Kolomiychenko Nadezhda (Gnatiuk); Daughter: Nina (Gnatiuk)

Gnatyuk, Vera Kolomiychenko (Gnatyuk), Nadezhda Gnatyuk, Nina Vera Gnatyuk and her daughters Nadezhda and Nina lived in Domanevka, Odessa District (today Domanivka, Mykolayiv District). During the war, Romanians controlled the area and established a large camp there to where Jews from Odessa (Odesa) and its environs were brought. Among those interned there were Betya Shtarkman, her mother, and her four children. In February 1942, Shtarkman, who was a medical attendant, was asked to take care of the wife of one of the Ukrainian policemen who was ill with typhus. Her family joined her and thus they remained outside the camp. Shtarkman nursed the patient for three weeks and when she regained her health, other Ukrainian policemen, not their host, took Shtarkman and her family back to the camp. Nadezhda and Nina Gnatyuk witnessed how the Shtarkmans were being handled roughly and feared the punishment that awaited them for their absence. When the Shtarkmans’ police escorts entered a house to buy some alcohol, the Gnatyuk sisters signaled to the Shtarkmans to follow them. They scurried through yards and gardens until Shtarkman and her children, Lionya, Semyon, Emil, and Klara reached the Gnatyuks’ home, where they were hidden in the cellar. Vera supported her daughters’ rescue efforts although in the center of Domanevka stood a large pillar and on it was a large sign: “Those found hiding Jews will be hanged here.” After about two months, the Shtarkmans clandestinely returned to the camp, where Shtarkman’s mother was still interned. Shtarkman and three of her children survived to witness the liberation in spring 1944. After the war, the Shtarkmans returned to Odessa, from where they maintained contact with the Gnatyuks. On May 31, 1999, Yad Vashem recognized Vera Gnatyuk and her daughters, Nadezhda Kolomiychenko and Nina Gnatyuk, as Righteous Among the Nations.