Hnatyuk Isaac

The life of Isaac Hnatyuk was full of bright and dark moments. He was quite a famous citizen of Manevychi, a small town in Volynia. 

Isaac was born on 20 of June 1920 in Hryva village. Before the Second World War, it was a part of Poland. But when the war began, they were citizens of village Zelena, near city Berestechko. The oldest of Isaac’s brothers volunteered for the Red Army. Isaac did the same.  Their parents with other family members moved to the city Torchyn. Isaac sister with her husband was captured by Nazi and sent to Germany as a forced laborer.

Together with Soviet forces, Isaac swallowed the bitter pill of retreatment and encirclement from which he managed to escape. At night he reached his native village Hryva, where he was born. In October of 1941, Isaac found local partisan’s leader. He got a mission to find partisans in the city of Torchyn. He was also sent to collect ammunition and weapon. Isaac got a call time “Sashko”, and his younger brother Spyrydon became “Starik” (the elder).

The cover was a local German farm, where they worked officially and lived in their relative’s house. Unfortunately, he was a member of the German police unit. But brothers were so careful, that he was in absolute ignorance about Isaac and Spyrydon underground activity.

But in 1943 they were betrayed and caught. Isaac, his mother, and father were imprisoned. Isaac was sent to the Nazi concentration camp. But on the way to the camp, prisoners killed the guardians and escaped from the train. With the help of polish fighters, they crossed the river of Buh and a few days after they reached one of the local partisan units. There were Isaac’s relatives – father, mother, two brothers, and two sisters.

The new partisan unit had another mission. Its members struggled for the union of all local partisan groups. Finally, they managed to incorporate a few units and got support from local villagers. Also, they were protecting villages from occupants.

“Regarding the fact, that there are a lot of civilians in the area of our activity, including children, women and old people, who abandoned their native places because of Nazi terror. They lost their houses and they have no food. Order is to establish three civilian camps for children, women, and elders” From Order №11 of Partisan Groups from December 17, 1942

In one of those camps, there were families of partisans, Red Army soldiers and Jews. They were engaged with agricultural activity, cattle and food supply for the partisans. Those camps were safer places then villages.

There were two Jewish sisters in that camp – Leya and Bela Roh. But not a lot of people were familiar with their story. And even their savior Isaac Hnatyuk kept silent. It was dangerous to speak about this heroic act even after the end of the war because the attitude of soviet authorities toward Jews was different from time to time. Repressions followed friendliness, friendliness followed enmity and so on. Only after the dissolution of the Soviet Union Isaac told his story openly and without fear. It happened in an independent Ukraine when Isaac open all details of this salvation. But he considered this act rather not as a heroic deed, but as an act of pity and humanity.

During 1942 and 1943 hundreds of Jews were removed from ghettos to the partisan camps. A lot of them became partisans themselves and fought Nazi bravely.

Among the officers of the unit was a Jew – major Tselermeyer. Two Jewish boys in the age of 16 and 13 years died making explosives. Josef Blonshtein killed 18 armed enemies, helped to explode 11 trainloads and 8 cars. His brothers Adam and Hersh were killed in actions. His brother Mykhailo was a fighter in an explosive brigade, sisters Bela and Mara were nurses and scouts un the same unit. They fought Nazi bravely and helped to destroy the German machine of war in Ukraine. Many of them got orders and medals for those acts during the war. They were like one huge family working for the victory.

After the liberation of the region from German forces, the inhabitants of the secret camp returned home. All relatives of Leya and Bela Roh were killed. They got education and job from as the help from the Soviet state. 

Tens of years passed since that dark events. Leya immigrated to Israel and Bella immigrated to Russia, but they never forgot their savior. During his life, he got many awards and medals, but one of them was special. Israel Embassy in Kyiv awarded Isaac Hnatyuk with Righteous Among the Nations award. His name, according to the decision Yad Vashem, was written on the wall in the Alley of Righteous. He also got his medal and diploma of the Righteous Among the Nations in 1996. Also in 2006, according to the decision of the Ukrainian Jewish Council Isaac Hnatyuk got another award – Righteous of Ukraine.

There were other saviors in Manevychi and in the neighboring villages. Among them Oleksandr Sheludko, who guided a group of 73 people to the local partisan camp. In the village of Komarovo small Jewish boy (now citizen of Israel) found safe shelter and survived the genocide.

In 1944 Isaac Hnatyuk volunteered for the Red Army again. Together with his military unit he participated in the battle for Warsaw and Konigsberg. He was wounded and shell shocked. After the war he returned his family home in Manevychi. He got married and died in this small town in North-Western Ukraine. His brother Spyrydon was executed by Nazi because of his partisan activity.

On the Righteous Among the Nations diploma, there are words: “Who saved one life, saved the Universe”. And this is also about Isaac Hnatyuk, whose heroic deed can’t be forgotten.