Program Stories

Just a small child when the Nazis overran her hometown, Serafima fled in the arms of her mother as

Leonid has lived a life marred by tragedy. But to meet him you wouldn’t know it—the optimism an

When Lidia meets us at the door of her small apartment in Nof HaGalil — an Israeli town near Nazareth — just the few steps she took leave the 90-year-old Jewish woman out of breath. She cannot get used to this helplessness, not after a physically exhausting life as a milkmaid or as that of someone who survived the Holocaust.

Natalia is 50 years old, but she looks much, much older. The worry and tiredness etched into this J

Sensing impending doom for his Jewish family, Hana’s father sent his two daughters off with their mother and grandparents, while he stayed behind to tend the farm. When the Nazis arrived in 1941, his family believed he’d been killed… and they believed that to be the case for the entire war.

Just a small child when World War II came to her Jewish family’s community in Ukraine, Beba remembers little of life before the Holocaust. With seven children whose lives depended on her, Beba does remember that her mother “was a real hero.”

Evgenia lives in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the town of Katzrin in the Golan Heights in northern Israel. The block of apartments is in poor condition, but Evgenia’s apartment is cozy, clean and neat—this elderly Holocaust survivor has kept it up as best she can, all by herself.

One moment, Rozalia, just 10 years old, and her sister were having fun playing in the street. The next moment, the sky turned dark and they “looked up where planes flew high and bombs fell down,” she says.

“I wake up at 6 every morning and exercise for an hour and a half.” That’s one of 93-year-old Arkady’s secrets to staying strong and independent after surviving so much during his life. But the main reason this Holocaust survivor is still here is because of God’s love.

That’s what Valentina says when we ask about her early years. Her mother a pregnant Jewish woman and her father a soldier during the early days of WWII, even Valentina’s time in the womb was spent on the run.

Having survived the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, Fredirika made aliyah (immigrated to Israel) many decades ago. Now suffering from dementia and many other health issues, this 97-year-old Holocaust survivor is finding peace and care in her final years in Israel thanks to Fellowship friends like you.

Emma remembers when World War II began. Only three at the time, she still remembers when the Nazis arrived in her home country of Belarus.