Ischenko Iosif ; Son: Stanislav

Ishchenko, Iosif Ishchenko, Stanislav Iosif Ishchenko owned a little farm near the village of Veresy, 8 km north of Zhitomir. There he lived with his second wife, Antonina, and their seven children, some of which were from Iosif’s first, late wife. The eldest, Stanislav, born in 1927, was Iosif’s main assistant. When the Germans occupied the area on July 9, 1941, a series of anti-Jewish measures were introduced in Zhitomir. At that time, the Ishchenkos welcomed onto their farm their pre-war Jewish acquaintance, Faina Shunda, with her three little children and her parents. They had fled from the city fearing that their neighbors might inform the authorities about their presence. Iosif and Stanislav hid the refugees in the barn, but soon it became clear that Faina’s three-month-old daughter, Mariya, would need some better conditions. Thus the family was invited to live inside the hosts’ house, while the barn became occupied by new fugitives: Mark Fridman and his parents, Semeon and Aleksandra. The Ishchenkos and the Fridmans did not know each other from before the war, but the Fridmans came to Veresy after their near escape from being arrested. It was one of the villagers that advised them to appeal to Iosif Ishchenko for help. Iosif hid the Fridmans for several weeks and then escorted them to another village nestled in a forested area; a village, which was barely frequented by the authorities. There, with the help of local villagers, the three members of the Fridman family survived until the liberation at the end of December 1943. Among many other Jews that received shelter and care at the Ishchenkos were Sosia Kelman and her close friend, Zinaida Katz. Both girls lost their parents during the mass murders in Zhitomir. The Ishchenkos hid the girls for several days and then helped them to enlist, under borrowed names, for farm work in a local collective farm (kolkhoz). They later found a place in which to live and stayed in Veresy until the liberation. The floodof refugees that passed through the Ishchenko’s farm did not go unnoticed by the authorities. Iosif was interrogated and Stanislav severely bitten by the policemen. In order to avoid putting his family in danger, Iosif left for the forests where he joined Soviet partisans and, in 1942, fell in battle. All the rescued Jews that were saved by Iosif maintained contacts with his family after the war. On February 6, 2002, Yad Vashem recognized Iosif Ishchenko and his son, Stanislav, as Righteous Among the Nations.