97-Year-Old Ukrainian Holocaust Survivor And Red Army Veteran Joins Her Son In Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — 97-year-old Holocaust survivor Jenya Bernstein had never thought of coming to Israel. However the war in Ukraine has led her, like millions of others, to seek a save haven and reunite with her son who lives in Israel. Bernstein is the oldest of 8,000 Ukrainians who are eligible to immigrate under the Law of Return and have made aliya in the wake of the war.

Born in a small village near Kyiv, Bernstein from a young age helped  support her family. Her father passed away when she was 17 and her mother was murdered in World War II while visiting relatives in Eastern Ukraine which was overrun by the Nazis. Jenya and her sisters fled deep into Russia and she later joined the Red Army and fought the Nazis.

“This war reminds me of World War II, and I didn’t believe that I’d be in a similar situation again in my life,” Bernstein told Ynet. “In the beginning, we didn’t really hear the bombing until they got close to the area I live in. Then I realized that my life would be in danger once again and I may not make it out alive.”

Even after learning she was in danger, Bernstein was afraid to embark on the long journey to Israel, and chose to stay at home in Kyiv. Her son Alex had left earlier, immigrating like other Ukrainians before the war started. However after seeing the carnage wrought on Kyiv and other cities, he regretted not persuading his mother to join him.

Watching the events from afar, Alex realized the situation was getting too precarious and asked the Jerusalem municipality to help extract his mother from the warzone. With the help of the of the Kyiv Jewish community, the local chapter of the Chabad movement and the Joint , a rescue mission managed to transfer Bernstein from bombed-out Kyiv to one of eight immigration centers operated by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews in Chisinau, Moldova where she waited until finally arriving in Israel.

“I don’t know how, but I wasn’t afraid of the bombing after everything I’ve been through,” Bernstein said to Ynet. “I listened to my son, who said I had to escape, and many good people made it happen. I don’t think that a person my age should go through what I’ve been through. But what’s important now is that I’m here with my son and the family is in Israel.”