Tokarski Aleksandr & Tokarskaya Sofia

Tokarskiy, Aleksander Tokarskaya, Sofya Aleksander Tokarskiy, a barber, lived with his wife, Sofya, and their little daughter, Yaroslava, in the town of Łopatyn (Lwów, today L’viv District). From June 24, 1941, Łopatyn was under German occupation. The local Jews were the subjects of German persecution, but no ghetto was established. In May 1942, Aleksander rented out the apartment he owned to a young Jewish dentist, Josek Schrage, and his wife, Tosia Weissman. The couple lived there until the end of October 1942, when the order was issued that all the Łopatyn Jews must leave the town and move to Radziechów (now Radekhiv), about 20 km away. With the help of a local priest, Tosia obtained false identity papers and spent the war years in Berlin working as a maid. Josek left for Radziechów and was not heard from again until January 30, 1944, when he knocked at their door with a high fever and pleading for help. The Tokarskiys took him in and nursed him back to health. Josek told his hosts about the ordeals he had been through, first in various ghettos, then, after his escape, in the nearby forests. The Tokarskiys prepared a hiding place for Josek – a hole in the floor of a room, where he would remain by day while clients would come for their haircut. Once, during the turmoil caused by bombardment, some clients discovered the hiding Jew, but luckily none of them informed on the barber. On another occasion, when a German official came to set up headquarters in the house, Josek ran to the attic, where he remained, until Aleksander forced him to come down. Aleksander introduced Josek as a relative. The next day, on July 16, 1944, the Soviet troops entered Łopatyn. After the war, Josek left for Poland and later was reunited with his wife. In 1947 they immigrated to New York, where Josek changed his name to Joseph DeShrage. He continued to correspond with Aleksander Tokarskiy until Aleksander’s death in 1964. On February 17, 2003, Yad Vashem recognized Aleksander andSofya Tokarskiy as Righteous Among the Nations.