INTERNATIONAL RAOUL WALLENBERG FOUNDATION
RIGHTEOUS AMONG THE NATIONS – FEMALE SAVIORS
HTTP://WWW.RAOULWALLENBERG.NET/SAVIORS/WOMEN/LIST-WOMEN-SAVIORS
CHRIS MCDONOUGH, EDITOR [THE FOUNDATION ASKED ME TO REDUCE LONG BIOGRAPHIES TO BIO-NOTES.]
Galena Burtschik, Ukraine
In June 1941, war broke out while Galina Burtschik was visiting her grandmother in Ukraine. Her mother, Anna, traveled to fetch her but the return trip proved impossible. They were trapped in the village.
In 1943, Anna was approached by four bedraggled children, aged four to thirteen. The children said their mother had been murdered in an aktion. Anna brought the children to her mother’s home. Galina took responsibility for them.
At that time the village was starving; people ate grass and traded personal belongings for food. Three neighbors brought potatoes, beets, and milk to help feed the Jewish children.
After the war, the children were reunited with their father.
As at 2006, Galina is in her 70s and still lives in the village in Ukraine. She and the children have remained in touch.
In 1943, Anna was approached by four bedraggled children, aged four to thirteen. The children said their mother had been murdered in an aktion. Anna brought the children to her mother’s home. Galina took responsibility for them.
At that time the village was starving; people ate grass and traded personal belongings for food. Three neighbors brought potatoes, beets, and milk to help feed the Jewish children.
After the war, the children were reunited with their father.
As at 2006, Galina is in her 70s and still lives in the village in Ukraine. She and the children have remained in touch.