Samborsky Philip & Samborskaya Akulina ; Son: Pyotr ; Daughter: Samborskaya Anna

Samborskiy, Filip Samborskaya, Akulina Samborskaya, Anna Samborskiy, Pyotr Plyasetskiy, Filimon Plyasetskaya, Pelageya Samborskaya-Plyasetskaya, Nadezhda The Samborskiys and the Plyasetskiys were neighbors in the town of Shargorod (today Sharhorod, Vinnytsya District). From the beginning of the Romanian occupation in the summer of 1941, the two families did their best to help their Jewish friends imprisoned in the local ghetto. Among those in need were the Bargrasers – a family of five, a pregnant mother and her four children. Isaak Bargraser had been conscripted to the Red Army when the war between Germany and the USSR had broken out. When, in early 1942, Riva Bargraser was born, 16-year-old Nadezhda Plyasetskaya took the baby to her home and cared for it with the help of her parents. Occasionally, the Romanians would enter the ghetto to round-up Jews: those who were caught were deported to various camps in Transnistria, notorious for their awful living conditions and the atrocities committed against the Jews. During these round-ups, the Bargrasers would usually hide at the homes of either the Samborskiys or the Plyasetskiys until the killing operation was over. And they were not the only ones who hid there: the Zaks, a family of five, among which were a child and a baby, as well as Rachel Shvartsbroit and her relatives, were also frequent guests at the Plyasetskiys’ home. In more quiet times, Filip and Akulina Samborskiy, Filimon and Pelageya Plyasetskiy, and their teen-aged children, would smuggle food and various other articles into the ghetto, thus helping the Jews in their daily struggle for survival. In late 1942, during one of the round-ups, 16-year-old Roman Bargraser was caught and sent to the Trikhatka forced labor camp for Jews in Nikolayev District (now Mykolaiv). He did not stay there long and he succeeded in his attempts to escape. Going back to Shargorod was not a viable option since he was concerned that some of the local policemen wouldrecognize him. He appealed to the Plyasetskiys and the latter hid the boy in their house for six months, until he felt it was safe to go back home. In the last weeks before the liberation, the Jews of Shargorod tried to find shelter outside the ghetto, fearing that they might be killed by retreating German and Romanian troops. At that time, the Samborskiys and the Plyasetskiys hosted more than a dozen people in their houses. After the war, the Jewish survivors maintained contacts with their rescuers. The two gentile families had drawn closer to each other in this effort of saving lives and their children, Pyotr Samborskiy and Nadezhda Plyasetskaya, ended up marrying each other. On December 5, 2002, Yad Vashem recognized Filip and Akulina Samborskiy and their children, Anna and Pyotr, as well as Filimon and Pelageya Plyasetskiy and their daughter, Nadezhda Plyasetskaya-Samborskaya, as Righteous Among the Nations.