Syla: A True Heroine Receives Life-Giving Support

Syla is a poor Jewish widow living by herself in a dilapidated, two-room shack in the former Soviet Union. Her house has no electricity or running water and she suffers from numerous medical problems. You would not guess it from looking at her, but Syla is a true heroine whose inspirational story of bravery deserves to be told to the world.

As a young girl growing up in the former Soviet Union, Syla learned to speak German from her family's neighbors. This was very rare among Jewish girls in her area - and, little did she know, it would later save her life, her children's lives, and the lives of countless other Jews.

In 1941, Nazi armies invaded Syla's village. They were followed by the notorious mobile Nazi killing squads, the Einsatzgruppen, whose job it was to follow the German army, murdering Jews and other "undesirables." Because Syla could speak German, she managed to convince the Nazis that she and her children were Germans. Syla and her family were spared.

Syla was determined to help others escape as well. Because her home was often used by the Nazi officers, she was able to learn in advance of the planned killing of local Jews. To alert Jews in other villages that they were in danger, she would send her sons out at night to put bags of salt on the doorsteps of those who were targeted, so they could flee to safety. In this way, Syla helped untold numbers of innocent Jews escape certain death.

Today, Syla is just one of the many elderly Jews in the former Soviet Union who live in great economic hardship. But I am happy to report that Syla does now receive a wide range of essentials food, medication and medical consultation, heating fuel, visits from a home care worker through The Fellowship’s Isaiah 58 program.

Thanks to Isaiah 58, Syla no longer has to struggle simply to survive. I hope you will donate today to this life-giving ministry, so that others like her will be able to live the remainder of their lives with a measure of comfort and dignity.