Sniadanko Josef

Gruber, Josef (Sniadanko, Nestor Zenon) At the end of the 1930s Nestor Zenon Sniadanko, of Ukrainian extraction, was studying German Philology in the University of Lwów (today L’viv). Among his classmates was Antonia Gruber, a Jewish girl of his age, and the two became friends. Shortly after the German occupation of Lwów on June 30, 1941, Antonia’s father, Shimon Gruber, was murdered during the first days’ pogroms, later known as the “Petlura days.” Nestor-Zenon began supporting and helping Antonia, her mother, and brothers in their grief. He would keep them informed about what was happening and buy food for them so that they would not have to venture out from their apartment. He continued to provide the Grubers assistance even after they were moved to the ghetto. After the killing operation of August 1942, Antonia escaped from her work place and came to Nestor Zenon’s residence. At that point he rented an apartment together with his cousin in a well-to-do Polish neighborhood. After some time the cousin moved out and neither neighbors nor visitors knew about Antonia’s existence. Risking the life for the sake of his girlfriend, Nestor Zenon also found the courage to help another Jewish woman, bringing her to the apartment to hide together with Antonia. In addition to this, Nestor Zenon also consistently provided a certain Polish family with food because they were sheltering a Jewish child. Antonia stayed in Nestor Zenon’s apartment until the liberation of Lwów by the Red Army on July 27, 1944 and after the liberation she married her rescuer. When it became apparent that none of Antonia’s immediate family had survived, she and her husband emigrated from the USSR. In the DP camp in Germany, Nestor Zenon changed his name to Josef Gruber. The couple's son, Freddy, was born in the Rosenheim DP camp in 1947 and in 1948 the couple settled in Israel. The family settled in Haifa. Nestor Zenon died in 1979 and was buried in the Latin cemetery of Haifa. For many yearsAntonia kept her story to herself and turned to Yad Vashem to have her rescuer/husband recognized as Righteous Among the Nations only when she was 88 years old. On November 6, 2005, Yad Vashem recognized Josef Gruber (Nestor-Zenon Sniadanko) as Righteous Among the Nations. In march 2012 Antonia passed away. Her last wish was to be buried next to her husband in the Catholic cemetry. "In our lifetime, he followed me, when he came with me to Israel; In death, I want to follow him", she said to her son.