Drachuk Sofiia, Shevchuk (Drachuk) Iryna

Widow Sofiia Drachuk lived with her 19-year-old daughter Iryna in the village of Hlybochok near the village of Baranivka (current town of Baranivka) in Zhytomyr region. She worked at a factory of electrotechnical porcelain in the nearby village of Pershotravensk There she met the Jew Roza Fishman and her husband Petro Butkovskyi. Before the war, Drachuk and Butkovskyi families were friends and spent their free time together.

After the German attack on the Soviet Union, Petro was mobilized to the front. The day before, he managed to move his wife and two children to his sister in the village of Baranivka. However, in July 1941, the Germans were already in the village. On July 19, the first executions of Jews were recorded there – 74 victims, about 100 more at the end of the month. In October, a mass execution of Jews took place in Berdychiv. Those who were not killed were sent to a labor camp.

Having found out about the whereabouts of Roza and the children, Sofiia immediately came to them and offered help. The women decided to save the children first: five-year-old Maiia and four-year-old Yura. Iryna Drachuk persuaded a policeman she knew to help them get out of the camp. Everything planned was successful, and two Jewish children soon found themselves in the village of Hlybochok. Unfortunately, Roza was not lucky enough to be saved: she became the victim of the next mass shooting – on January 6, 1942.

Since it was difficult to hide the appearance of Maiia and Yura, Sofiia registered them as the children of her eldest daughter, who had long since left the village. The boy and girl stayed with the Drachuk family until the end of the war. Having already demobilized, Petro Butkovskyi took the children and moved with them to the city of Kyiv.

During the rest of their lives, the saved and the rescuers maintained friendly relations.

In 2002, Yad Vashem recognized Sofiia Drachuk and her daughter Iryna Shevchuk (Drachuk) as Righteous Among the Nations.