Even after experiencing childhoods robbed of joy, comfort, and safety, Holocaust survivors in the former Soviet Union have admirably found ways to reclaim their lives as adults—building careers, embracing their Jewish faith, finding love, and starting families. But as they grow older, maintaining that care and stability becomes increasingly difficult.
This is the case for 85-year-old Elena in Moldova, whom The Fellowship recently visited. Elena has no memories of life in Kishinev before the Nazis invaded in 1941. After her father was drafted into the army, her family’s home was hit and destroyed by German bombers. Elena and her mother were away at the time and survived, but her aunts and grandmother were killed.
With their home in ruins, Elena and her mother fled to Ukraine, hoping life would be safer there. Instead, they were forced into a ghetto, where they remained with other Jews until it was liberated in 1944. Hunger, disease, and death were constant threats. When Elena was two, she nearly died after contracting typhus, while her mother had almost no food or water to give her.
Her mother later told her horrifying stories of what happened to the Jewish people in the area, who were hunted during Nazi raids. People were shot searching for extra food, even when it was frozen to the ground during the winter. Elena’s mother remembered hiding from the Nazis with Elena as a baby, terrified that her cries would reveal their location.
Yet they were not entirely alone. On one occasion, righteous Christians hid Elena and her mother inside a well until the danger passed. To this day, Elena believes she survived because of one miracle after another.
Living conditions improved only slightly when they returned to Kishinev. They lived in a basic wooden shack, and although the war was over, the scars of years of hunger and illness remained. Elena developed a painful joint condition as a result.
Still, she studied hard, graduated from school with honors, and went on to study economics at Kishinev University. She later worked for many years as an economist. Elena also met her husband, Misha, a fellow Holocaust survivor whose family had endured severe hunger during the war. Sadly, both Misha and their son have passed away, leaving Elena alone.
Today, Elena struggles with health problems and survives on a small pension. After paying for utilities, she has almost nothing left for food and medicine. Food is one of her greatest worries, and she carefully considers every purchase, trying to make what little she has last.
Thanks to The Fellowship, she no longer must face that worry alone. She says, “I’m very frugal with food. I wouldn’t be able to afford anything. Sweetness is love. Love, life, health. May life be sweet.”