Vasiltsiv Teodor & Vasiltsiva Maria ; Daughter: Vasiltsiva Karolina

Vasiltsiv, Teodor Vasiltsiv, Mariya Denisyuk (Vasiltsiv), Karolina Teodor Vasiltsiv was a blacksmith who lived with his wife, Mariya, and their six children in the village of Skowiatyn (today Skov’yatyn), situated 12 km away from the county seat of Borszczów (Borshchiv) in the Tarnopol District (today Ternopil’ District). On July 7, 1941, the Hungarians occupied the Borszczów area, and in September, control was transferred to the Germans who established a ghetto on April 1, 1942 in Borszczów. The family of Wolf Fridman, formerly owner of a metal and building-supplies store, and an acquaintance of Teodor Vasiltsiv, was among the Jews interned in the ghetto. During an Aktion in September 1942, Fridman lost his wife and remained with his nine-year-old daughter Genya. In May 1943, Fridman managed to contact Vasiltsiv, who agreed to hide him and his daughter, his sister Chaya-Klara Szperling and her 12-year-old daughter Etel. At first, the Jews hid in the attic, while Vasiltsiv built them a special hiding place by extending his blacksmith shop to include the pigsty, thus giving the impression it was a single structure. The hiding place was narrow, without windows and doors, and through a narrow opening, the Jews hiding there received food and water, brought to them by Teodor, Mariya, or their 15-year-old daughter Karolina. The other Vasiltsiv children did not know that the Jews were hiding there. In March 1944, when rumor spread that Soviet troops were nearby, the survivors left the Vasiltsivs, expecting to welcome their liberators. However, upon realizing that the rumor was exaggerated, they remained in the surrounding forest until the liberation of the area in early July 1944. After the war, the four survivors moved to Poland, where, in 1945, Fridman was murdered by a gang of nationalists. His daughter, sister and niece found their way to Israel. In 1993, Genya (then Slotin) and her cousin Etel (then Kaminer) succeeded in renewing contact with KarolinaDenisyuk. On October 18, 1998, Yad Vashem recognized Teodor and Mariya Vasiltsiv and their daughter, Karolina Denisyuk, as Righteous Among the Nations.