Stepan & Agafya Mozol

Stepan and Agafya Mozol [Степан и Агафья Мозоль], a childless couple and devout Baptists, lived on a khutor close to the village of Chotomla, Polesie (today Khotamel’, Brest District). In early December 1942, a Polish friend, Wladyslaw Kijowski brought the physician Hersh Rotter, and his wife, Chava, to the Mozols’ home. The Germans had spared the Rotters and several other Jewish doctors during the liquidation of the Stolin ghetto, on September 11, 1942, in order to run the local hospital. They knew that it would not be long before they, too, would share the same fate as their brethren and searched for ways to escape. On November 26, with the help of local Catholic priest Franciszek Smorczewski the Rotters managed to escape. Although the Mozols did not know the Rotters, they warmly welcomed them into their home and sheltered them until mid February 1943, at which time they joined the partisans in the forests. During this time, the Mozols faced many dangers, particularly because the Germans had noticed that the doctors had gone missing and were searching for them. Furthermore, despite the Mozols’ difficult financial situation, their wards never lacked the basic necessities. After the war, the survivors immigrated to the United States, changed their names to Henry and Eva Reed, and corresponded with the Mozols.

On May 23, 1979, Yad Vashem recognized Stepan and Agafya Mozol as Righteous Among the Nations.