Free From Constant Shelling
“Planes flew over our home dropping bombs. Everything was exploding…”
When hostilities began in Donetsk, Ukraine, Oleksi and Ganna decided to take their children to their summer home located in a quiet village away from the conflict.
Then, in 2014, the fighting reached their summer home. They found themselves right in the middle of fighting between the Ukrainian army and the “Donetsk People’s Republic.” Explosions and gunfire circled around them.
“Everything started to explode,” says Ganna. “We wanted to leave the village we were in, but the bridge that connected the two banks of the river was blasted from both sides. It seemed like a nightmare when it started. Planes flew over our home dropping bombs. Everything was exploding extremely close.”
“We didn’t have any basement in the summer house, so the table seemed to be the only shelter I could think of,” Ganna says. When the shelling started, we went outside and started to search for a basement somewhere.”
While the family did think of moving to Israel before the war, Ganna didn’t want to leave her parents and grandmother behind in Ukraine. But, sadly, her parents passed away. Ganna moved her grandmother, Dusia, from Donetsk to Kiev because she didn’t want her to live alone.
The family wondered if Dusia would consider moving to Israel with them. The idea of returning to the historical homeland of the Jewish people excited Dusia, and she agreed to relocate with the family. “All of our knowledge about our Jewish origins comes from our grandmother,” says Ganna. “Her family even speaks Yiddish. She has survived the Holocaust, Jewish deportation, the Holodomor Terror-Famine in Ukraine, World War II, and now the war in Donbass. She’s a hero!”
Ganna feels so blessed to be making aliyah (immigration to Israel) with The Fellowship, and finally escape the uncertainty of war in Ukraine.
In Israel, Ganna knows her children will have great opportunities in education: “Yehor has already finished high school. He is a genius who adores physics and math. Once in Israel he'll learn Hebrew and try to enter the Technion or Tel Aviv University.
The family is eager to live in a country where the Jewish holidays will be celebrated on a national level. “Of all of the holidays,” says Oleksi, “we love Purim and Passover the most. We can't wait to celebrate in our new homeland.”
“It's thanks to the seminars The Fellowship provided that our family has a clear understanding of what we should expect,” says Ganna. “At the seminars we learned a lot about the aliyah process, as well as about the health care and education systems in Israel. In addition, the financial support of The Fellowship is very generous. We now have concrete plans of what to do in Israel. Thank you!”
Calls are increasingly coming in for help from suffering Jews caught in the crossfire of the war in Ukraine. Please join in our efforts to provide aliyah to all who call seeking safety in the Holy Land.
