Alleviating Poverty

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.

“In peace I will lie down in sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.” (Psalm 4:8)

Life for a Jew in Ukraine has never been easy. Dolores knows this firsthand. She’s known this for every one of her 82 years in the country’s capital, Kiev.

Born to a Jewish family between the World Wars, Raisa soon learned of wartime hardship and horror w

Varvara remembers the Jewish traditions, from long, long ago. From before the Nazis. From before the Communists. From before the current war in Ukraine.

“When the Nazis came, they came for us. I was one of three children, but I pretended that I did not belong to my family and that is how I survived,” says 95-year-old Mariya, a cold and tired Jewish woman who still lives in the same village in Ukraine the Nazis invaded as World War II began.

While many of the Jewish elderly who depend on IFCJ Canada for lifesaving aid and loving companionship, as well, their loneliness only arrived in their twilight years. But for Marfa, her entire lifetime has been one of loneliness.