Buhai Sofiia

Sofiia Buhai lived in the village of Kadlubyska (current – Luchkivtsi village) in the Lviv region. At the end of June 1941, the Germans occupied this territory and "new orders" came into the lives of the villagers. At that time, 14-year-old Sofiia was a domestic worker for a wealthy woman Maria Bitshchan. The hostess trusted the girl, so she decided to involve her in rescuing her Jewish friends.

The Nazis drove the local Jewish population to the ghetto in the city of Brody, which was created in the autumn of 1941. They arranged it on the streets Brovarna and Solomyana. Jews from the city and surrounding villages were held there, about 12 thousand people in total. The first deportation took place on September 19, 1942. According to various sources, from 2 thousand to 4,500 people were gathered that day on the market square in the center of the city and sent to the Belzec death camp. The second eviction action took place on November 2, 1942, when a group of 2,500–3 thousand Jews, including members of the Judenrat and Jewish police officers, were taken to Belzec.

From December 1942, the ghetto was surrounded by barbed wire. About 4 thousand Jews from the city of Brody and the surrounding villages and towns still lived on the two streets. Any contact between locals and Jews in the ghetto was strictly forbidden. However, Mariia Bitshchan managed to bribe the guard and arrange the escape of her friends: doctor Khaim Vais, his wife Ryvka and daughter Esther. The fugitives hid in Mariia's house for almost two years, and Sofiia Buhai took care of them all that time. In one of the rooms, the girl suggested that the doctor Vais  arrange a hiding place – remove several boards from the floor, so that through a narrow gap you can get to a small basement room. The hole in the floor was covered with a track and disguised with a bed. The Jewish family stayed in this shelter before the Nazis were expelled. After the war, Khaim and Ryvka settled in Poland, and daughter Ester Natan emigrated to Israel after marriage. Later, the rescued tried to find their saviors, but learned that Mariia Bitshchan's house had burned down, and her fate was unknown.

In 1991, Yad Vashem recognized Sofiia Buhai as the Righteous Among the Nations.

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