Pavlovskyi Petro and Hnat

Petro Pavlovskyi, with his wife and six children, lived on a farm near the village of Mali Dorohostayi in Rivne region. During the Holocaust in Volyn, a man saved the lives of a Jewish acquaintance, Shmuel Hrinshtein, and his son Mykhailo from the nearby town of Olyka. Father and son lived in the Pavlovskyi family for almost two years, hiding in a hayloft. Petro's children also took an active part in rescuing the Jews: they brought food and everything necessary, stood on guard when the Hrinshteins went outside.

Shmuel and Mykhailo were not the only ones saved by the Pavlovskyi family. In the summer of 1942, eight more Jews appeared on Petro's courtyard from the village of Ostrozhets: Israel Podeshva with his wife Sara and children Aaron, Menakhem and Feiha, Saryna who was the sister of Khaia-Leia Keselman with son Aaron and the little girl Ronia Shvartsberh.

Petro could not hide everyone, so he asked for help to his brother Hnat Pavlovskyi, who lived on a nearby farm. Hnat with his wife and children immediately joined the rescue of the Jews.

The families of Petro and Hnat, who belonged to the Evangelical Baptist community, never doubted the correctness of their decision, even in the face of the threat of death.

All Jews, except for Israel Podeshva, who died of illness, waited at the Pavlovskyi family for the expulsion of the Nazis. Later, they moved to Poland and from there they went all over the world. Mykhailo Hrinshtein settled in Israel and regularly corresponded with his saviors from there. On January 31, 1978, Yad Vashem recognized Petro and Hnat Pavlovskyi as Righteous Among the Nations.

The grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the saviors received diplomas and medals of the Righteous as early as 2022. Volodymyr Pavlovskyi, Petro's grandson, shared his thoughts about his grandfather during the award presentation:

”They say it's a feat. Perhaps it is, but it seems to me that it was primarily the human attitude of my grandfather and his brother towards the people who needed to be saved...”