Herasymchuk Pavlo and Lyubov

Lyubov and Pavlo Herasymchuk with their children Klavdia, Halyna, and Mykola lived in village Shubkiv in Volyn’ region. When the Nazi occupation began, Pavlo met his Jewish friend Isaac Homut from the city of Tuchyn. Then Pavlo Herasymchuk offered the shelter for Isaac and his family.

In September 1942 there were rumors about the destruction of the ghetto in Tuchun, so Pavlo was worried about Isaac and his family. He arrived to Tuchun to find them. Pavlo succeeded in removing from ghetto Isaac’s wife Polina and daughter Laura at the age of eight.

“Father came back at night and brought the woman and girl with him. They were hungry and scared, they were crying all the time. Later Isaac came alone. He was beaten in the ghetto” From memoirs of Halyna Herasymcuk.

Isaac stayed in Ghetto to find older daughter Hanele, who was hosted in another Ukrainian family. But during the liquidation of ghetto Hanele was killed with other Jews. That happened on September 23, 1942. Isaac managed to survive and he came to his wife and a younger daughter who were in Pavlo’s house.

The last perfectly understood the grave danger of rescuing Jews not only for himself but for the whole family. From time to time there were rumors about the execution of the rescuers of Jews. At some moment fear for his family forced Pavlo to ask Isaac to leave their house. However, the thought about the probable death of Homut’s family never left him. So, after the family council, Pavlo decided to let them stay. They made a secure shelter in the stable.

“Pavlo couldn’t give us a lot, he was also poor. A bit of soup, bread, water… Once a day he was entering the stable pretending like he is going for a feed for horses. Everything should be done in that way not to disturb the strangers and neighbors. We were sharing our bread with mice. They were everywhere. I was so afraid of mice, but there was no other option” From memoirs of Laura Homut

At the end of the occupation, some German forces were placed in Shubkiv. A few soldiers lived in the stable for two long weeks, above the heads of Jews. During this period the last were without food and water.

“We were afraid that the floor will just collapse at once and Germans will fall down on our heads. Mother was trying to calm me. The remnants of bread and water were divided into small portions” From memoirs of Laura Homut

After the end of the war, Isaac with his family immigrated to the United States, but they were maintaining strong communication with their rescuers during the whole post-war period.

On March 15, 1990, Pavlo and Lyubov Herasymchuk were awarded Righteous Among the Nations award. On December 6, 1999, their children Klavdia, Halyna, and Mykola got this award as well.