On July 7th, 2009, Anton Polischcuk passed away at Hassah Ein Kerem in Jerusalem.
Excerpt from an ATZUM letter to donors who helped Anton:
We wish to express our gratitude to those who generously contributed to this struggle to try to save Anton’s life. His unanticipated five month hospitalization and surgeries, intensive care treatments and chemotherapies were made possible by your caring. By so doing you honored the last wish of his heroic Righteous Rescuer grandfather; afforded his family the assurance they did all possible for their only child; brought support to his fiancé; and allowed Hadassah to gain crucial experience with a course of treatment that may well help save the life of a bone marrow transplant patient in the future.
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גמילות חסידים – כתבה מידיעות אחרונות
Right: Anton and his mother in Jerusalem. Left: Viktor before his death: “Save my grandson”A Righteous Person
Translated from Israeli paper Yediot Aharonot, March 24, 2009
When Righteous Among the Nations rescuer Viktor Polischuk discovered his grandson Anton had leukemia he turned to the state of Israel for help. Now his grandson is undergoing treatment in Jerusalem and waiting for a bone marrow donation: “This is the last chance to save my life”, states Anton Polischuk.
The medal received by Righteous Among the Nations Viktor Polischuk reads: “He who saves a single life, it is as if he saved an entire world.” Before his death, Viktor, who, together with his family saved Jews during the Holocaust, hoped this rabbinic assertion would hold true for Israel, from which he asked for help to save his critically ill grandson.
When Viktor Polischuk was 14 his family saved the lives of Lev Burstein and his son Arkadi who had escaped the Gaisen Ghetto in Ukraine. “They gave us food, water and a place to sleep,” tells Arkadi Stanislav emotionally in a phone call from the Ukraine. “When they saw the Germans were coming they made sure to move us to a safer place in Romania. If it weren’t for this family, the Nazis would have reached us and killed us.”
In 1995 Viktor Polischuk was recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority museum in Jerusalem. Three years later he immigrated to Israel with his wife. When his wife passed away a year ago he returned to visit his family in the Ukraine only to discover his grandson Anton, 23, was ill with leukemia. From that moment, Viktor began to struggle for his grandson’s life.
When Anton’s condition did not improve despite treatment in Ukraine, Viktor arranged to transfer him to Russia for treatment. The treatment in Moscow was partially successful, but his family was unable to bear the enormous expenses incurred by the treatment. It was then that Viktor decided to turn to ATZUM Justice Works in Jerusalem, which assists Righteous Among the Nations. “Grandpa didn’t give up,” tells Stanislav, Anton’s brother. “He said that you would take care of him best because Israel has the best doctors in the world.”
Yael Rosen, coordinator of the Righteous Among the Nations Project, had met with Viktor previously and knew him well. “All he cared about during the last months of his life was saving his grandson. Last Wednesday we got word he had passed away in the Ukraine. He was a modest, respected and remarkable man.”
Hadassah Hospital offered to help Viktor and Anton. Anton’s medical documents and samples were subsequently transferred to Israel. It was determined he was in need of a bone marrow transplant that could be better facilitated in Jerusalem than in Ukraine or Russia.
Dr. Vladimir Weinstein, Anton’s physician in the Hematology Department at Hadassah hospital says a search for a suitable marrow donor began immediately. “Since he isn’t of Jewish origin the chances of finding a donor in Israel are low. We began searching for donors abroad, a very expensive process beyond the family’s reach.”
Anton relates that during the months he spent in treatment in Moscow a bone marrow transplant was never an option. “This is the last chance to save my life.” He tells that as a young boy he and his grandfather were very close and that he remembers his grandfather’s stories about the war. “Grandpa remembered the day his mother brought a Jewish father and son to their house in order to help save their lives. He also retained a clear horrific memory of the Nazis taking the last Jews in town, marching them to the local stadium and shooting them.”
There can be no more fitting a tribute to a grandfather who risked all to save lives and allow their future generations to come to life then to help save the life of his grandson.
ATZUM turned to Haverim LeRefuah and its Director, Yehiel Landman, seeking assistance in securing funds for Anton’s treatment. Haverim LeRefuah has opened a fund for Anton.
Donations to the fund for saving Anton Polischuk can be made as follows:
Haverim LeRefuah ++972-3-579-2220
online:
http://www.haverim.org.il/e/funds/one_fund/81.htm
OR
Contribute to ATZUM directly
Please specify that your contribution is for Anton.
The letter written by Viktor to ATZUM
10 January 2009
Greetings, this is Polischuk Viktor, Righteous Among the Nations. During the fascist occupation, risking my own life, I helped rescue persecuted Jews, a father and son, Lev and Arkadi Burstein. My grandson, Anton, has leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant. The cost of the treatment thus far has exhausted our family’s funds. That is why I am turning to you, with the hope you can help us.
Polischuk Viktor
Victor Polischuk
Viktor Polischuk lived in his uncle’s household in Ukraine. When the Germans liquidated the Gaysin ghetto in 1943, it was clear that the Jews’ days were numbered. One night in the summer of 1943, Viktor’s uncle brought home a Jewish father and son, Lev and Arkadiy Burshtein, from the ghetto. Viktor’s family took them into their home, providing food and shelter and caring for all of their needs. In October 1943, when the retreating Germans intensified their atrocities against the Jews still living in occupied territories, Viktor’s family found a way to move Burshtein and his son to a safer hiding place in Transnistria, which was under Romanian control. They found shelter there until the liberation. In 1995, Yad Vashem recognized Viktor Polishchuk as Righteous Among the Nations and shortly afterwards he moved to Israel.
