Odessa

Odessa's elderly Holocaust survivors are facing a deadly winter. Residents of Odessa, Ukraine, get electricity for just six hours per day, leaving them in the cold and dark most of the time. (Courtesy of Mishpacha Odessa)

Lifesaving Solution to Help Odessa’s Vulnerable Jews

The Jewish Daily Forward ran my piece about the urgent need to help Odessa’s remaining Holocaust survivors live through a harsh winter.


This winter, the city of Odessa, Ukraine, feels like the heart of darkness.

The city faces constant bombardment by the Russian military, freezing nighttime temperatures commonly fall below zero, and electricity is only available for six hours per day: three in the morning and three at night.

Amid these desperate circumstances, Avraham Wolff, the chief rabbi of Odessa and southern Ukraine, is trying to bring some light — and heat.

He’s doing so with jerry-rigged car batteries to provide warmth and electricity to about 400 Holocaust survivors in the city — the most vulnerable of the vulnerable.

“The ones at greatest risk of starving to death or freezing to death are the Holocaust survivors who were not able to flee this place. Holocaust survivors are staring death in the face for the second time, and we can’t avert our eyes.” — Avraham Wolff, the chief rabbi of Odessa and southern Ukraine

Read the rest of my story in the Jewish Daily Forward.

 

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