Fellowship Friends Like You Mean the World to Roza


Roza Kritz, Israel, Nof HaGalil, With Dignity and Fellowship
Photo: Arik Shraga

YOU, a faithful friend of The Fellowship, have surely displayed that you know God. How you have helped Roza, an elderly Jewish woman in Israel who has experienced history’s major tragedies, is proof.

Roza was only five when the Nazis invaded and her Jewish family fled their small Ukrainian village. “A lot of barges with refugees were bombed, and people were killed,” she says. “We were lucky to jump on a barge that traveled at night. The night was moonless and dark, and the Nazi bombing wasn’t successful — that’s how we survived.”

All of the family’s belongings were stolen along the way, and when Roza, her little sister, and their mother eventually reached safety, they had no choice but to live on the streets. The locals didn’t treat the Jewish refugees well, or even help them. “They were cursing at us and throwing watermelon rinds at us. After weeks of hunger, Roza’s mother found a job which supported the family for the rest of World War II.

After the war, Roza graduated from medical school. But then another tragedy struck in the 1980s. She was responsible for treatment of the local Chernobyl accident inspectors, sent to deal with the consequences of the nuclear disaster. Roza developed thyroid and colon cancer after caring for these young men. “My health was destroyed by Chernobyl.”

Today, after making aliyah (immigrating to Israel) in the 1990s with her husband, she is now alone after he passed away. This elderly widow also has many health issues and is very weak. Still, she finds the energy to take care of her husband’s grave and grows a small garden nearby.

Roza is especially excited for The Fellowship to visit during the High Holy Days, but for something more than just the nourishing food — the friendship this precious Jewish widow receives when Fellowship volunteers arrive at her home. “I’m happy to have such a wonderful friends by my side,” she says — Fellowship friends like YOU, who defend the cause of the needy children of God like Roza.