Kovalchuk Leonid and Mariia

The Kovalchuk couple and their three young children lived in the village of Kuty in Ternopil region. On July 5, 1941, German forces occupied the region. Leonid and Mariia immediately began providing temporary shelter to soldiers escaping from captivity, guiding them eastward. During one of these “raids”, Leonid encountered three Jews hiding in a neglected forester's cabin in the woods. All three were from the neighboring town of Shumsk. He left them some food he had with him, and the next day, he returned with a new supply. As the cold weather set in, the man suggested that the Jews move to his home. Mariia Kovalchuk was particularly moved by the fate of 16-year-old Ilya Hinsburg, whose parents had been killed during one of the first mass shootings.

In the winter of 1943, Aleksandra Svyrydenko sought refuge at the Kovalchuks' home. A friend in the town of Shumsk had been hiding the Jewish woman, but when the situation became increasingly perilous, she directed Aleksandra to go to her relatives in the village of Kuty. Oleksandra mistakenly ended up with Leonid and Mariia, and they offered her to stay.

When the situation became more critical, the Kovalchuk family arranged for Ilya and Oleksandra to be moved to Leonid's parents' house in the village of Oderadivka where they stayed until the Nazis were expelled from the region in February 1944. Two other Jews joined the partisans.

After the war, Ilya Hinsburg and Olexandra Svyrydenko remained in Ukraine and maintained a connection with their saviors.

In 1996, Yad Vashem recognized Leonid and Mariia Kovalchuk as Righteous Among the Nations.

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