Bohachuk Matviy, Hanna and Tetiana 

The salvation of Jewish girl Hanna Kvasha by Matviy, Hanna, and Tetiana Bohachuk is a great example of the heroism of many Ukrainians in the time of the Holocaust.

In the summer of 1941 Vinnytsia region was occupied by German forces and these territories became extremely important for German command and even Hitler personally. Here was started the construction of Adolf Hitler's ''Werewolf'' headquarter. For this purpose, the full-scale cleansing of the territory from the local population was started. Tens of thousands of Jews and people with disabilities were killed.   

Hanna Kvasha was finishing her study in one of the schools in Vinnytsia when the war started. Her mother thought that it was better to send Hanna to the village of Pykiv, to the sisters of the girl’s dead father. On May 30, 1942, all the Jews of the village were murdered. In the evening of the same day, Hanna left the house of her aunts and asked a married couple of evangelists Mykhailo and Olksandra Horupai for help.  They were helping Jews during the Nazi occupation. A few weeks after, Hanna had to leave their house, due to permanent anti-Jewish raids of Nazi police. Hanna was roaming from one village to another, till she appeared in the village of Yaniv (now – Ivaniv), Vinnytsia region. Hanna already knew that there is a family of Bohachuks, evangelists who are also rescuing Jews. 

The girl went to the house of Matviy and Hanna Bohachuk. Hanna told them that she was the granddaughter of their friends Horupais. Bohachuks understood that Hanna is a Jew and despite the grave danger asked her to share dinner with them. Matviy and Hanna Bohachuk had seven children, but they proposed Hanna Kvasha stay with them. She was living in their house till the end of the Nazi occupation in March of 1944.

Not all Jews of Vinnytsia region were so lucky. On May 30, 1942, more than 3 thousand Jews of Ivaniv and nearby villages were killed by Nazis. Germans were also searching for those Jews who managed to survive. During the Nazi raids, Bohacuks were hiding Hanna in the cellar or attic.

The daughter of Matviy and Hanna Bohachuk, Tetiana Bohachuk, also did a lot for the salvation of Hanna Kvasha. The girls were of the same age, so they became friends quickly.

According to the stories of the descendants of the Bohachuk family, who are living in Ivaniv, their grandfather Matviy was friendly with some local Jews before the war, so during the war, he was supporting them.  However, there were many locals who didn't like Jews.  Sometimes those people were even informing Germans about their neighbors, who supported Jews. Bohachuk’s neighbor Vasyl also informed the Nazis that Hanna Kvasha was living in their house. The German policemen were already walking toward Bohachuk’s house when Matviy finally convinced Vasyl to take back his accusations. It cost Bohachuks all their money, which they paid to Vasyl in exchange for his silence.

Fortunately, all the heroes of this story managed to survive the war. Hanna Kvasha settled in the town of Khmilnyk, Vinnytsia region. Later she emigrated to Israel. She never forgot about her saviors and maintained contact with them. There, in Israel, she told about her salvation and help from the Ukrainian family to Yad Vashem Memorial’ specialist.

On October 22, 2001, Matviy, Hanna, and Tetiana Bohachuk were posthumously named the Righteous Among the Nations. The same honorable title got Mykhailo and Oleksandra Horupai.

The descendants of Matviy and Hanna Bohachuk are still communicating with the descendants of Hanna Kvasha even 70 years after these events took place. The terrors of Nazi occupation and the tragedy of Jewish people created strong relations between these families for many years.