Benya George & Liuba

Benya, George Benya, Lyuba The Russian Orthodox priest, George Benya, lived with his wife Lyuba in the village of Varatic (Rişcani County, Bessarabia). After Germany invaded the Soviet Union, many Jews tried to flee from the front in the hope of saving themselves. A family of five was among those who fled eastward – the father Avraham, the mother Riva and the brothers Zelman David and Shabs. They fled from their village of Duruitoarya Veche, Rişcani County, but were forced to turn back after the area was occupied by the Germans and the Romanians. On the outskirts of the village of Varatic, they were arrested by Romanian policemen and imprisoned in a warehouse. Together with them were the Lindenboim, Kremer, Gelman families and others, 26 people in all. While they were jailed, they heard the commander of the local police instructing his people to take them out to the nearby ravine and shoot them. Waiting the hour of their death, they all embraced their children and wept. But before that could happen, George Benya, the priest of the local church appeared along with his wife Lyuba. They both came to the defense of the incarcerated Jews and demanded they be released. George threatened the commander of the Romanian police that he would organize a public prayer session denouncing his family. The police commander, who was opposed to releasing the Jews, gave in to the priest’s pressure and let them go. Afterwards, the priest and his wife brought some baked goods to the Jews and accompanied them up to the edge of the village to ensure that no harm would come to them. George and Lyuba stood there until the last of the Jews disappeared from sight. The survivors dispersed in an attempt to escape and survive. After some time, the members of the Roif family were nonetheless caught and deported to the Obodovka ghetto in Transnistria. There they survived the occupation until the liberation of the area by the Red Army in 1944. After the war, the Roifs tried to find thewhereabouts of the priest and his family, but without success. At the beginning of the 21st century, they heard that the priest and his family had moved to the city of Balţi, Moldova and that his wife Lyuba was still alive. On November 20, 2003, Yad Vashem recognized George and Lyuba Benya as Righteous Among the Nations.