Nadiya Laznyuk (Andrievska)

The Andrievsky family, parents Vasyl and Maria, children Gafia, Evlampia, Nadiya and Mykhailo, lived in the village of Troshcha, Lypovets district, Vinnytsia region.  Vasyl Andrievsky worked as a carpenter in a collective farm workshop together with the blacksmith Froim Chmelyk.  Froim’s family was one of the many Jewish families of Troscha.

In September 1941, the village of Troscha was occupied by the Germans.  At that time, Froim Chmelik’s family consisted of Rachel’s old parents (Froim’s wife), two younger sisters, two sons of Froim, Arkady and Eugene (6 and 4 years old), and Froim’s sister Rosa.  Before the war, Rachel and Rosa were teachers at the school.  At the beginning of the occupation, the Jewish population was not touched, but in late 1941 and early 1942, raids, executions and deportations of Jews to the ghetto began.

The first batch of Jews was taken away by the Germans in early 1942.  Rachel’s parents and sister fell into this group and were shot.  The threat loomed over other members of the Chmelyk family.  In search of salvation, Froym and his family moved from one house to another, until Vasily Andrievsky, whom he knew well from his work on the collective farm, invited a Jewish family to live with him.  At that time, the Andrievsky family, who lived in a large house on the outskirts of the village, had four children of their own, as well as a twelve-year-old nephew and two-year-old grandson. In addition, Andriyivsky had a large farm with a cellar and hayloft, where the  Chmelyk family hid depending on the weather.  At the same time, despite the weather, Andrievsky’s younger children, Nadiya and Mykhailo, were on duty at the gate to warn  the  Chmelyk family if strangers approached.  Sometimes the  Chmelyk family left their shelter to breathe fresh air.

In 1942, Rachel gave birth to a son in the cellar, who was given into custody to another person who took care of him until the end of the occupation.  The baby’s crying could attract too much attention and destroy both families.  Even older children were forced to whisper, and for several years after the war they could not get rid of the habit. Nadiya’s brother, Michael, helped transport the newborn to safety.  The boy was named Michael in honor of the rescuer.

When Soviet troops liberated Troscha in 1944, Vasyl and Misha Andrievsky moved the Chmelyk family to their parents’ house, where Rachel’s sister lived.  Froim joined the Soviet army and died.

On March 12, 2006, Yad Vashem awarded Vasyl and Maria Andrievsky with the honorary title of “Righteous Among the Nations”.

On November 5, 2009, Nadiya Laznyuk was recognized as the “Righteous One of Ukraine”.