The Fellowship and our partners in the former Soviet Union continue to provide for impoverished Holocaust survivors while also supporting major aliyah projects and relief efforts in Israel. For many of these elderly Jews in need, childhood came to an abrupt halt when the Nazis invaded their homes. 96-old Bertha in Moldova is no exception.
Bertha grew up in a village in northern Moldova in a large, well-to-do Jewish household. Her family owned the local grocery store and farmland with sheep and horses. The two-story farmhouse where she lived with her parents had everything they needed. But all of that changed when the Nazis invaded in 1941.
“Where are the Jews?” Bertha remembers the soldiers shouting as she and her family hid in the cornfields. The Nazis did not find them, but a local shepherd did. Instead of betraying them, this righteous Gentile welcomed them into his home and pretended they were family when Nazi soldiers searched the house and questioned him.
Sadly, Bertha and her family were eventually captured when they tried to return home. They were rounded up with other Jews and marched to Nazi-occupied Ukraine. When the men and women were separated, it was the last time Bertha saw her father, who was later killed in a ghetto in Odesa.
“We kept walking and walking,” Bertha recalled, describing how the Nazis forced her, her mother, and her sister to trek for weeks to Ukraine without food or water while armed guards hovered over them. Their only food was whatever villagers tossed to them along the way — usually scraps of bread or potatoes. They drank from dirty puddles and streams and slept in forests.
Eventually, they were placed in a ghetto near Vinnytsia. Bertha was forced to work as a maid, cleaning the floors of the commander’s headquarters. She remembers soldiers intentionally tracking mud across the floors after she had cleaned them, knowing she would not be allowed to sleep unless everything was spotless. The commander’s wife, however, looked out for Bertha and protected her from the soldiers.
Liberation finally came in 1944, and Bertha and other survivors were brought back to Moldova. Their farmland, grocery store, and home had all been destroyed or looted. They lived with neighbors until Bertha’s sister found a job and was able to buy them a place to live. Even though religious expression was restricted in the Soviet Union, Bertha still went to synagogue whenever she could. Despite all she endured during her childhood, her fondest memory remains celebrating Passover before the war.
Today, Bertha lives alone in Chisinau as the last surviving member of her family. She spent her life working as a pediatric nurse, but with a pension of only about five dollars a day, she struggles to afford basic necessities. At the same time, Bertha suffers from coronary heart disease and cannot walk without the help of her homecare worker.
The Fellowship’s support does more than sustain her — it is her lifeline. With the monthly financial assistance she receives, Bertha can purchase food and afford the care she needs. And when Passover arrives, she can celebrate her favorite holiday with peace of mind and comfort.
“It’s a miracle that I’m still alive, a great miracle. Life goes on! I’m grateful to The Fellowship. I wish them good health, good luck, and may they be able to earn money so they can help us,” she said.
