Elena shows the last photo taken of her mother. She is one of 70 survivors currently being helped through Operation Blessing’s Holocaust project in Israel.

NAZARETH, Israel - Elena was only nine years old in 1941 when German forces occupied her hometown of Minsk, Belarus.

Soon after, she, along with her parents and two siblings, were forced to live in a ghetto—or barbed-wire encampment policed by German soldiers and dogs—with more than one hundred thousand other Russian Jews.

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Her family fought to survive the hunger, daily beatings and mass executions, but when soldiers raided the sector where they lived, Elena, her mother and sister managed to escape and hide, but her father and brother were shot and killed.

Eventually, Elena’s mother learned of a resistance movement within the ghetto, and with the help of partisan groups operating in the forests outside the camp, she successfully escaped with Elena and her sister.

It wasn’t until 1944 that the Red Army liberated Belarus and her family was able to return home. Many years later, in 1990, Elena immigrated to Israel.

Nearly half of Israel’s Holocaust survivors live below the poverty line. OBI hopes to be able to support 200 survivors by the end of this year.

Today, while survivors like Elena are no longer enslaved behind barbed-wire prisons, many are experiencing imprisonment of a different kind: poverty.

They have no family left to help care for them, and many live in loneliness and encounter unique medical problems resulting from malnutrition and hardships experienced during the war.

Operation Blessing Israel is working to bring hope and help to these Holocaust survivors in the form of food, medication, and other relief.

“Every survivor we’ve visited gives us a chilling tale of their experience during the Holocaust,” said David Darg, OBI’s director of international disaster relief and special projects.

“Operation Blessing is providing different services according to the needs of each survivor,” he continued. “Some need groceries, others need medical care or help with their housework. We are currently serving 70 survivors and hope to increase to 200 by the end of this year.”

For Elena, the help has not only brought practical relief, but it’s also helped heal her heart.

"Thank you, Operation Blessing, for help and for the caregiver. I felt so lonely and helpless for years and now I not only have support but also relationships!"

HOW YOU CAN HELP
You can help by making an online donation toward OBI's Holocaust Survivors Project. Please make an on-line donation today.

 

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