Demeshko Vladimir & Stefania ; Daughter: Valentina

Demeshko, Vladimir Demeshko, Stefania Demeshko, Valentina Vladimir and Stefania Demeshko were poor farmers in the village Zabłocie, Wilno District, (today Zabalatstse in the Vitsebsk District). They had two children: Ivan, the eldest son and a daughter, Valentina. The family was acquainted with Leyba and Malka Katz who lived in the nearby town of Dzisna with their three sons and two daughters. The younger sons were 18-year-old Moishe and 16-year-old Zalman (later, Eugene). During the first days of the German invasion and their heavy bombings, the Katz family fled to their friends, the Zhuravski family, who lived in the village of Prudy (Wilno District). They were given shelter and left some of their things in the keeping of their friends. They then returned to their town only to find themselves forced into the ghetto that was established for the Jews of the town and its surroundings in August 1941. On the morning of June 14, 1942, the Germans and their collaborators surrounded the ghetto, forcing out all its 2,200 residents to a field where they shot them over two huge pits that had been dug beforehand. That same morning, the brothers Zalman and Moishe escaped to the forests and thus managed to save themselves. They hid in the swamps until the fall, when the cold forced them to seek refuge. They went to find help from their former acquaintances, the Demeshko family, who agreed to shelter them in a barn, some 500 meters from the house. Valentina, then 11 years old, brought them food despite the fact that the Demeshkos also suffered from hunger and deprivation. The two brothers promised their hosts to bring the family's possessions that they had left with the Zhuravski family in Prudy. On January 5, 1943, with temperatures freezing, the two brothers set out for Prudy that lay 12 km away. When they arrived at the Zhuravski home, they were given a hot meal. But, while they were eating, one of the family members went out and informed the authorities that two Jewshad arrived in their house. At five o'clock in the evening two German soldiers and the head of the local police arrived and arrested the two bothers. Just as they were preparing to murder them outside, they used the circumstances to attempt to escape. Moishe was shot, but Zalman managed to escape. He later returned to the Demeshkos who continued hiding him. Zalman remained in hiding there for a further three months, after which he joined the partisans with the help of Ivan, the Demeshkos’ son. The latter was killed in combat at the age of 19. After the end of the war, Zalman kept up contact with his rescuers. On Fabruary 13, 2005, Yad Vashem recognized Vladimir and Stefania Demeshko and their daughter Valentina as Righteous Among the Nations.