Kozyrskyi Stanislav and Ahafiia

Stanislav and Ahafiia Kozyrskyi lived in the village of Kordelivka (Khmilnytskyi district) Vinnytsia region. The couple raised four children: 18-year-old Anton, 17-year-old Victoria, 15-year-old Franz and 10-year-old Halyna. On the eve of the German-Soviet war, the family moved to the village of Brailiv (current – Brailiv village of Zhmerynka district) in Vinnytsia region. In the summer of 1942, Halyna saw her former neighbors from the village of Kordelivka – Roza Molotkovska and her son Aron. The boy was her classmate.

 “Once I went to the bazaar and there by chance I met the Molotkovskyi family. I did not immediately recognize Aron; he was dressed in women's clothes. His mother specially disguised him as a girl so that the Germans would not see that he was a Jew. I immediately understood that they were in danger...”. From the memoirs of Halyna Kozyrska

The girl called Aron and his mother to her house. Roza had known the Kozyrskyi family for many years as decent and kind people, so she gratefully accepted the invitation. Despite the danger that threatened the family, Stanislav and Ahafiia supported their daughter's urge to help a classmate. They sheltered the woman and the boy, fed them, changed their clothes, and arranged a safe hiding place for them. Feeling safe, Roza told about her experience. After the war, their eldest son Semen was mobilized to the Red Army. The middle one – Hedal – managed to get out of the ghetto, where the family was relocated, and his mother did not know anything about his fate at the moment. Roza with her husband and 10-year-old Aron tried to escape from the village of Kordelivka, but they did not succeed. When shootings began in the village, at first they hid in the neighborhood of their neighbors. Then, for several months, mother and son wandered around other villages until they met Halyna.

Stay for a long time in the village of the Brailiv were extremely dangerous both for the Jews and for their saviors. Therefore, Stanislav and Ahafiia decided to ferry the fugitives across the Southern Bug River to the Romanian occupation zone. There were rumors that the Jews were treated less cruelly there; the Romanians allowed them to live in open ghettos and did not kill them. Kozyrskyi family needed to find a reliable guide among the locals, because the border was well guarded, especially in places where the river could be crossed. The search lasted almost two weeks. Meanwhile, Roza and her son were hiding with the Kozyrskyi family. In order not to attract the attention of outsiders, during the day they stayed in the basement of the house, and at night they went to a hiding place made in one of the rooms. Finally, a woman was found who knew how to cross the river, avoiding the guards: according to her, she had done it more than once. Roza and Aron Molotkovski said goodbye to the rescuers and trusted the stranger. Two days later, they safely reached the ghetto in Zhmerinka and lived there until the withdrawal of German troops from the city in March 1944.

After the war, Roza found out that her eldest son Semen died at the front, and the second son – Hedal – after escaping from the ghetto, joined the Soviet partisans and thus saved himself. For a long time, Roza and Aron Molotkovskyi tried to find their saviors. However, they did not succeed, because the Kozyrskyi family moved to another settlement, and the Molotkovskyi family themselves emigrated to Israel. Only 60 years later, in 2008, Aron looked for his former classmate Halyna Kozyrska.

In 2009, after his submission, Stanislav and Ahafiia Kozyrskyi were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations. In 2010, Halyna Kozyrska was awarded the title of Righteous of Ukraine.