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Stefan & Anna Chaikovski

In 1943, surviving Jews attempted to escape from the German-established Buczacz ghetto in what was then Poland. After the sixth and final aktion (violence attacks to "cleanse" an area of Jews), seven members of the Heled-Halpern family - Rachel Heled, her parents and aunt, her cousin Mordechai Halpern and his parents - escaped to the surrounding fields. Stefan Chaikovski, a Ukrainian farmer, happened upon the group while they were hiding, and brought them to a barn near his home, where he and his wife Anna hid the seven Jews under the haystacks for eight months. They provided the group with shelter and food for no compensation.

"He didn't know us before he met us," Mordechai Halpern later testified. "We couldn't offer him any money since we had been robbed of all our possessions... I think he did it out of love of his fellow man. I have no other explanation."

In July 2004, Stefan and Anna were recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Persons. They had four daughters, one of whom, Miroslava Luchka, received the medal and certificate on behalf of her late parents.


Sources: Arutz Sheva (July 15, 2004)