Anti-Semitism isn’t just about alienation and threats of violence. When hatred of Jews becomes normalized, Jewish identities and traditions can be lost forever.
This could have been the case for 80-year-old Maria, who grew up in the former Soviet Union in the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust. She told Fellowship partners, “Maria is my Russian name. My Jewish name is Miriam. I received my Jewish name at the synagogue.”
Like Moses’ sister, for whom she was named, Maria’s life has been marked by quiet endurance. The devastation of the war was still deeply felt in Ukraine when she was born. Her hometown was plagued by hunger and loss. Before her birth, Maria’s father was killed when a German bomb struck the military office where he worked. Her mother had also suffered unimaginable tragedy, losing her three-month-old child when another bomb hit the building where they were sheltering. After these losses, Maria’s mother remarried and later gave birth to her.
Maria’s childhood was anything but stable. Her stepfather died when she was very young, and she lived with her mother in an overcrowded apartment shared by other widowed mothers. For several years, Maria’s mother was forced to place her in an orphanage, though she visited every day. Thankfully, they were reunited when her mother was able to bring her home a few years later.
It was during this time that Maria was introduced to Judaism. She and her mother would visit neighbors on the Sabbath behind closed curtains so no one would see them. Maria remembers those quiet evenings spent in hiding, lighting candles and listening to Jewish melodies. When she was in second grade, her mother became bedridden, and Maria had to learn how to cook, clean, and make trips to the water pump and breadlines.
“My mother taught me from childhood to help not only Jewish families but also people with disabilities. Without exaggeration, I was taught from a young age: you must help others and never expect anything in return,” she said.
Today, Maria lives alone in Ukraine while the rest of her family has moved to Israel. At 80, she has undergone numerous surgeries for bone, muscle, and organ ailments. Her pension barely covers her monthly expenses. Through The Fellowship and our partners in the former Soviet Union, Maria receives home care, food assistance, and meaningful social connection.
Maria says, “Without The Fellowship, my life would be much, much worse. May The Fellowship donors and their families live long, rich, happy, and healthy lives. I am very, very grateful to them because they make the impossible possible.”
