Alleviating Poverty

Yosef and Ruth live in the Holy Land and have been married for 60 years. And for Yosef, an 84-year-old Holocaust survivor, this is the second time he’s faced war firsthand.

“God heard my prayers and saved us. Every time they tried to break down the door, I chanted the ‘Shema Yisrael’ (Hear, O Israel) prayer, and God heard me.”

Can you believe Faina’s neighbour physically carries her to take cover when terrorist rockets fall? “I can’t walk by myself, so my neighbour carries me out on his back every time during the siren,” Faina says.

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

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.

Betya worries about her family who are left back in Ukraine, where the ongoing war threatens them each day.

86-years old, Bronya lives outside the Holy City of Jerusalem, in the Holy Land of Israel, her people’s historic and biblical homeland.

When IFCJ Canada volunteers arrived at Nina’s house recently—a tiny rural shack outside of Kyiv, Ukraine—they were struck by how this elderly Holocaust survivor and her humble home seemed to have changed little from the WWII-era days she remembered.

Sibo is an 84-year-old Holocaust survivor living in the Israeli city of Netanya. Despite at last living in Israel, her historic and biblical homeland, Sibo still found herself all alone and in need of help, after a lifetime of hardship, until IFCJ Canada stepped in to support her.

Malka’s childhood story is heart wrenching. Not only did she experience suffering and losses during World War II, but she also survived homelessness, extreme poverty and hunger during the post-war years. She tells her story and takes long pauses after each sentence, giving herself time to relive her memories.

Svetlana’s grandmother used to say, “Keep our family history, and know it well.” And that’s what Svetlana has done, passing her family history and faith to the next generations, including IFCJ Canada volunteers who visit the elderly Holocaust survivor in her humble home near the biblical city of Nazareth.

Katerina remembers when her small town in Ukraine had a thriving Jewish community. She remembers the synagogue. She remembers her parents when her parents were still alive. Katerina remembers those days.