Zaderii Fedir and Onysia

Fedir and Onysia Zaderii with their children Vira and Anton lived in the village of Mykhailivka, near the city of Shumsk in the Ternopil region. In July 1941, the region was occupied by the Nazis.

In the winter of 1942, while returning home through the forest, Fedir noticed a couple of small figures in the snow. He stopped his horse, came closer, and saw two very cold girls. They were so exhausted that they could not speak or even resist when the stranger put them on his sled. At home, Fedir handed the rescued children to his wife. Onysia immediately realized that they were Jewish. She washed and fed the little escapees. In the morning, the children were able to tell her about themselves. Before the war, they lived with their parents in the town of Shumsk; when the Germans arrived, their family was moved to the ghetto. In August 1942, their father Hersh Shpak and older sister Leia were executed by the Nazis, and later their mother Shprynka perished with their newborn son Yosel.

12-year-old Liuba and 8-year-old Sonia were lucky to survive. The girls wandered around the surrounding villages. One Ukrainian family took them in for a while, but they had to flee because of threats from their neighbors. Before Fedir found them in the winter woods, the children had not eaten for three days, had frostbite on their hands and feet, and were mentally prepared for the worst.

Liuba stayed with the Zaderii family until the Nazis were expelled in February 1944, and Sonia was sheltered by Onysia's sister from the neighboring village of Surazh. After the war, the sisters moved to Israel.

/

In January 2002, Yad Vashem recognized Fedir and Onysia Zaderii as Righteous Among the Nations.