Baran Mykhailo, Ahafiia, Illia, Mariia and Hryhorii

Brothers Mykhailo and Illia Baran lived with their families in the village of Novi Petlykivtsi in Ternopil region. Both were friends with the Jewish Khalfan family. Abram Khalfan was a dentist and his wife Sara was a therapist. They often came from Buchach to provide medical services to the villagers. When the Nazis occupied the region at the beginning of July 1941, the Khalfan family did not have time to evacuate and remained in the occupied city. In August, they witnessed the execution of more than 300 Jews from Buchach, and already in December, they found themselves in the ghetto. In the autumn of 1942, Abram and Sara managed to avoid being deported to the Belzec death camp in Poland. The couple paid the guard and left the ghetto with Abram's sister and her son Eliiakh. The Jews found shelter in the house of Illia Baran, whose family took care of them until the end of the occupation. In July 1943, during the liquidation of the ghetto, two of Abram's colleagues – doctors escaped and joined him.

Mykhailo and Ahafiia also hid Jews. Once, while working in the field, Mykhailo saw an old acquaintance, Shlomo Hines, with his 14-year-old nephew Villi Anderman, who were gathering the remains of grain and running away to hide in the forest. The next time the man offered them shelter on his side. Later, Yakiv Khornreikh also joined the society of these Jews. All three were hiding in the attic of the Baran residence. Yakiv was a shoemaker, so he immediately began to sew and repair clothes and shoes for peasants whom he knew before the war and whom he trusted. In this way, the Jew helped Mykhailo and Ahafiia with food.

At the end of March 1944, the Red Army occupied Buchach and its surroundings, and the Jews were able to leave their shelters. Later, most of them emigrated to Israel.

In the 1990s, Villi Anderman sought out the children of his saviors and reconnected with them.

In 2001, Yad Vashem recognized Mykhailo, Ahafiia, Illia, Mariia and their son Hryhorii as Righteous Among the Nations.

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