Last week, Fellowship staff, along with our President and Global CEO Yael Eckstein, traveled to the former Soviet Union to deliver aid to elderly beneficiaries. During their stop in Moldova, they visited the Jewish cemetery in the town of Dubăsari, one of the oldest Jewish heritage sites in the country. Dating back to the late 18th century, the cemetery offers a glimpse into a once-thriving Jewish community before World War II, when thousands of Jews were murdered. The Fellowship also visited Elizaveta, who will celebrate her 100th birthday this year, delivering a food box to her home. At nearly a century old, she remembers those tragic events all too well.
Elizaveta vividly recalls what her community was like before World War II. She grew up hearing Yiddish spoken in the streets and at home, celebrating Jewish holidays like Purim, and searching for the afikomen during Passover. She still speaks a great deal of Yiddish today and welcomed Fellowship staff into her home in the language.
She said, “I remember celebrating my tenth birthday, and then the war began. After that, everything changed. My family became refugees. We were forced to leave everything behind and walked for miles looking for shelter, but few people were willing to help. We had nothing. Nobody wanted to take us in because we were a big family. They told us, ‘You are a big family, keep walking.’ We crossed the Volga River, but people treated us badly because we were Jewish. They wouldn’t give us anything –not even a crumb of bread.”
Elizaveta remembers becoming so thin she was “like a stick” as seven family members were forced to live together in a single tiny room with only wooden planks to sleep on. The war also left lasting physical scars on both her and her sister. One day, Elizaveta was wounded by shrapnel and had nothing to stop the bleeding. The only aid a nearby medic could offer was to tear a piece of his clothing and use it as a bandage. Her sister was so severely injured that her leg had to be amputated.
Sadly, Elizaveta says anti-Semitism still exists where she lives in her Soviet-era apartment building. Despite this, she enjoys visiting the local Hesed center, where Yiddish can still be commonly heard. Today, she lives on a small pension and depends on the food assistance she receives from The Fellowship. At her age, she spends much of her time in bed while a caregiver helps her with daily tasks and errands.
She sends her heartfelt thanks to our donors who make this support possible. “I am so happy you came to visit me. You are such good people. Please thank everyone who donated so that, even at almost 100 years old, I can continue receiving these food packages. Thank you, may you all live to 120.”