Program Stories

Born 86 years ago into a large Jewish family in Yemen, Hana made aliyah (immigrated to Israel) with her parents and nine siblings when she was just an infant.

Dunka, a Holocaust survivor who has spent all of her 92 years in Ukraine, has lived a long life. But she never imagined that in her old days, she’d relive the horrors of World War II all over again.

When IFCJ Canada volunteers stopped by Bella’s humble apartment with holiday aid, the 84-year-old Holocaust survivor beamed as if her life had been changed. Sadly, just receiving winter help has changed Bella’s life.

“World War II began when I turned three,” Tzilia tells us, “and my whole life changed.” Born in Zhytomyr—a city heavily bombed during the ongoing war in Ukraine—Tzilia’s life before the Nazis invaded was one of happiness and faith. Her mother ran the city’s Jewish orphanage.

Ludmila is no stranger to hardship. As an infant, an infection impaired one side of her body, and vision in one of her eyes. This led to Ludmila having to figure out how to navigate life despite her disabilities… a life that she learned to love.

Iosif lives in conditions too primitive and decrepit for any climate, much less the winters of Eastern Europe. Next to a dingy parking garage in the capital of Eastern Europe’s poorest country, the hovel that this 82-year-old Holocaust calls his home is made of rough plywood and has no drywall or insulation. His shack also lacks heat or electricity.

Her tiny house is built of cinderblocks and contains just a few things: pots, pans, utensils, a small table for two, a bed. There are no modern devices like those found in today’s homes in Canada — no central heat, no dishwasher, no washing machine, no computer. The walls have no insulation, so old rugs hang from the walls in an attempt to block the cold.

Each year, as the brutal Ukrainian winter looms, the most vulnerable populations who IFCJ Canada—and YOU—serve in Ukraine become our focus.

Never having married or had children, 75-year-old Ruben misses the warm buzz and company of his early family years.

“When the war started, I was not yet four years old,” says 85-year-old Rachel from her home in Israel.

Maya has always been an early riser. In her younger years, she would wake up with the sun and get her housework done during those hours. She raised a family and made a home and then set off to her lifework in the theatre.

Her hands, now twisted with arthritis, still work diligently for several hours a day.