Dmitruk Maria ; Daughter-In-Law: Sofya (Gnatiuk); Daughter-In-Law's Sister: Gnatiuk Varvara

Dmitruk, Mariya Dmitruk, Sofia Gnatiuk, Varvara Mariya Dmitruk, a farmer, had been living all her live in the village of Yaroslavka (Zhitomir District). In June 1941, her son was conscripted to the Red Army and Mariya’s daughter-in-law, Sofia, her little grandson, Vasily, and Sofia’s unmarried sister, Varvara Gnatiuk stayed at home. Prior to the war, Mariya had been well acquainted with Leib Stolyar, a tailor from Vcheraishe. In early May 1942, Leib showed up in Yaroslavka and paid Mariya a secret visit. He told her about the murder operation (Aktion) of May 1, the mass killing of almost 1,000 Vcheraishe Jews, among them his wife, Ita, and daughter, Anna. Being a skilled worker, Leib’s own life was spared. Leib and his three teen-aged children, Mariya, Grigory, and Sofia, who were hidden away during the Aktion, now searched for ways to leave Vcheraishe. While the girls were easily able to pass as Ukrainians, the Jewish-looking and circumcised Grigory needed to stay in hiding. Feeling compassion for Leib, Mariya Dmitruk and family agreed to take in 16-year-old Grigory. The boy remained with the Dmitruks for several months, once in a while being secretly visited by his father and older sister, Mariya. She and Sofia were hiding by Yekaterina Lysyuk* in the nearby village of Malaya Chernyavka. Grigory, eager to avenge the deaths of his loved ones, pleaded with his sister to put him in touch with the partisans. After much pressuring from Grigoriy, in January 1943 Mariya Dmitruk brought him to Malaya Chernyavka to meet some Soviet prisoners-of-war working there. She had not realized that a typhus epidemic had broken out amongst the prisoners. Grigory fell ill, and together with the other infected persons, was brought to the Vcheraishe hospital. There he was identified and murdered. His father too perished later that year. Mariya and Sofia Stolyar survived, thanks to Yekaterina. After the war, Mariya Stolyar kept in touch with the Dmitruks who were so generous toher brother and risked their lives for his sake. On October 27, 2002, Yad Vashem recognized Mariya Dmitruk, Sofia Dmitruk, and Varvara Gnatiuk, as Righteous Among the Nations.