On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day: 11 survivors who fled Ukraine landed in Israel
The survivors were brought to Israel on a special flight of the Friendship Foundation.
Among them is Valery Kanievsky, 84, who fled Kharkiv with his wife and son.
"I did not believe I would come to Israel and it would certainly happen that way," he said.
According to Immigration and Absorption Minister Pnina Temano Sheta, "It is a national duty and a government commitment to take care of the survivors."
Walla!
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27/04/2022
Wednesday, 27 April 2022, 19:00 Updated: 19:19
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Holocaust survivors who immigrated to Israel by the Friendship Foundation, today (Photo: Friendship Foundation, Dan Goto, Friendship Foundation)
Eleven Holocaust survivors who fled Ukraine landed in Israel today (Wednesday), the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, on a special flight of the Friendship Foundation.
Valery Kanievsky, 84, escaped from Kharkiv and immigrated to Israel with his wife and son.
When he was 3, World War II broke out.
His parents left Kharkiv on a freight train under the bombings to northern Russia where they suffered harsh conditions without heating in the freezing cold.
"I did not have a normal childhood," he said.
"There were no toys and most of the time I would walk around with a feeling of hunger. Because they knew we were Jews, I cursed a lot as a child."
At his age, Valerie did not believe he would have to experience such a war again.
"The war with Russia caught us by surprise," he shared.
"Our city was destroyed. We lived in a sense of fear with the bombings non-stop. My 42-year-old did not get permission for a long time to leave due to the law in Ukraine that forced men up to age 60 to stay. Only two months after applying for a medical committee did he get permission to leave Ukraine."
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Holocaust survivors who immigrated to Israel by the Friendship Foundation, today (Photo: Friendship Foundation, Dan Goto, Friendship Foundation)
"This is the second time I have left Kharkiv," he added.
"At my age I did not believe that I would come to Israel and certainly it would happen that way. My son planned to travel to Israel and began the process of obtaining an aliyah visa even before the war began. I thought we would go visit him in Israel, but I did not imagine myself moving there."
Ina Kartashova, 86, immigrated to Israel with her daughter and her pet cat.
"I was five when we lived near Kyiv and World War II broke out," she said.
"My father was drafted on the second day of the war. My mother's sisters who were traveling to a small village near Kyiv were shot to death on the street. The whole family was killed."
Did not share how her mother had previously told how she heard others say, "Look at these Jews, they deserve it."
Ina fled with her mother as far as Kazakhstan and from there returned to Kiev after the city was liberated.
The father of the family never returned from the front.
He was killed in December 1941.
After working as a teacher in Kyrgyzstan, she returned to live in Kiev in recent years.
"When the war started at the end of February, we heard loud explosions. On television they announced that it was worth collecting the documents and being ready to leave. On the first day of the war we decided to leave Kyiv and drive to a relatives' house in the Circassian region. To leave for Israel. "
Ina, who lives with her daughter in the Galilee landscape, concludes: "I feel terrible that at my age I have to run away again. During World War II I was just a helpless girl. Now at 85 I am helpless again and have to run away."
Holocaust survivors who immigrated to Israel by the Friendship Foundation, today (Photo: Friendship Foundation, Dan Goto, Friendship Foundation)
"Right and duty to care for survivors"
Immigration and Absorption Minister Pnina Tamano Sheta said that Israel has "a national right and duty and a government obligation to take care of Holocaust survivors, provide them with a warm and protected home in Israel, and help them with all their needs." "Because of the danger to life with the great assistance of the State of Israel and the aliyah organizations. I see their rescue and bringing them to Israel as a first-rate national task, as well as a huge right to receive them with warmth and love."
"I am proud of the privilege we have of granting these dear people, who for the second time in their lives were in danger of extermination, the closing of the circle that allowed them to return home - to Israel," added the president of the Yael Eckstein Friendship Foundation.
"Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, we have assisted our partners in bringing thousands of Jews to Israel. The arrival of the survivors on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day symbolizes more than anything the essence of Zionism and mutual guarantee among the Jewish people.
The foundation said that since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, it has constantly assisted in evacuating Jews from their homes, providing food, medicine and necessary equipment, establishing a support and assistance line and more.
"The Emergency Plan of the Friendship Fund for Jewish Communities in Ukraine has so far included emergency grants totaling $ 6.5 million to a number of organizations working in the field," it said.
"The last emergency grant for Pesach was $ 2.5 million. The emergency grants were in addition to the annual grant of about $ 8 million. And the needs in real time and in accordance with the reports send the immediate assistance required. "
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