Hartner Ivan, Olena and Vasyl

Ivan and Olena Hartner lived in the village Poroshkovo is 40 km from the city of Uzhhorod. They raised five children. While working as a forester, Ivan repeatedly met with Habor Mermelshtein, the manager of the cargo fleet. He, also married, had a son, Tomash, who was born in 1937.

In March 1939, the region was occupied by Hungarian troops. Habor Mermelshtein was conscripted to the labor battalion. Five years later, on April 15, 1944, he escaped and returned to his village. Habor Mermelshtein understood that it was dangerous to live in the occupied territory, so he wanted to take his family and go to the woods, building a bunker there. His wife was seriously ill at the time and could not make a long journey, so Habor decided to go with his son first, prepare a hiding place and then return and take her. In the thicket, they came across a local forester, who not only did not expose them to the occupiers, but also promised to find someone who would help them. He turned to his father-in-law, Ivan Hartner, and he started bringing packages of food to the Mermelshtein family. Doing this, Ivan took a great risk, because his neighbors could notice his weekly “walks” to the forest and guess their purpose. There were rumors that dozens of Jews were hiding in the local woods. Sometimes Ivan's 16-year-old son Vasyl delivered the products. Understanding the danger of the situation, the young man closely guarded the secret: even his mother, brothers and sisters did not know about his and his father's help to the fugitives.

Having just finished arranging the bunker, Habor returned to the village of Poroshkovo to pick up his wife, but it was too late. She, along with other Jews, was taken to the Auschwitz death camp, where she died.

With the approach of the German-Soviet front, the life in the forest became even more dangerous for the Jews who hid there. Then Ivan Hartner offered the Mermelshtein family to return to the village, and they accepted the friend's offer. Only after that, Ivan told his wife Olena that he had been taking care of a Jewish family for several months. Together they prepared a hiding place in their hayloft. The Hartner family did everything they could to make the Jews' stay there as bearable as possible. This continued until the expulsion of the Nazis in November 1944. Immediately after the end of the war, Habor Mermelshtein and his son emigrated to the United States of America, but even after that, the survivors kept in touch with the saviors for many years.

In 2002, Ivan Hartner was recognized as the Righteous Among the Nations, in 2004 this title was awarded to Olena and Vasyl Hartner.

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