Program Stories

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.

Born to a Jewish family in Ukraine in 1936, Alla remembers happier times before the war. Before the

“Believe it or not, I am 100 years old,” says Sarah. When IFCJ Canada volunteers recently visit

When Fellowship volunteers recently found Zhana, an 82-year-old Holocaust survivor in the bombed-out Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, it was very difficult to communicate with her. Zhana’s age and her many health problems have made communication difficult, as has the past year of trauma as she tries to survive in a warzone.

“Mykolaiv is my hometown,” says Tatiana, an elderly Jewish woman in southern Ukraine. “It was

Klavdiya’s parents both survived WWII, as did their infant daughter. “Everything went all right,” she says, “or at least it seemed so.” Then she tells us how the Soviets began a campaign against Jews, forcing her father to resign from the military and the family to flee further east, before sending Klavdiya and her disabled sister to live with their grandmother.

On the exact day World War II ended is when Larisa was born. Her parents survived by evacuating to