Halyna Chorna (Babchun)

Olexandr and Natalia Babchun were peasants and they lived in the village Prystormy, Pereiaslav-Khmelnytsky area of Kyiv Region. They had six children aged from 2 to 16 years old. In 1941, a Babchuniv’s neighbor Ivan Svyrydenko returned to the village with his wife Rebekah Sapir, who was Jewish and two daughters Valentyna and Lyudmyla.

Most of the villagers knew that Ivan’s wife was Jewish. One day, in summer, in 1942 the police got into the village and arrested Rebekah, but both of her daughters were allowed to stay temporarily with their father.

That day, Ivan asked the Babchun family to hide the girls, because he was very afraid to leave them at home or with relatives. Olexandr Babchun and his son Fedir dug a hole in their orchard, covered it with straw, put blankets on top, and hid Sviridenko’s two little daughters there. Their father, didn’t want to expose the girls to additional danger of his presence, left the village very quickly.

The sisters hid in the Babchun’s orchard for more than 4 months. Sometimes they spent all days in the shelter, only occasionally they could come out to spend some time with the children of their rescuers. Because of fear to be exposured, they never left the yard. Natalka Babcun took care of the girls, trying to replace their executed mother.

At the beginning of 1943, the Svyrydenko’s sisters were taken away by their Ukrainian grandfather who had been hiding them until the liberation of the region in September 1943.

In February 23 in 2000, Yad Vashem awarded Olexander and Natalia Bubchun and their son Fedir the honorary title of “Righteous Among the Nations”.