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Ukranian Holocaust survivor rescued, brought to Israel

Ukranian woman who fought the Nazis was rescued from the war zone at the age of 97, reuniting with her son in Israel.

By World Israel News Staff

Millions of Ukrainians have been displaced since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, with thousands of Ukrainians immigrating to Israel. 

Among the refugees is Holocaust survivor Jenya Bernstein, Ynet reported.

Only a week before Bernstein’s arrival, her son Alex and his family made Aliyah, and he regretted not being able to convince his mother to join him.

Determined to rescue her from the intensifying situation, he managed to do so with the help of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, according to Ynet. Now mother and son are reunited safely in Israel.

“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.”

After her mother was murdered by Nazi occupiers in eastern Ukraine, Bernstein and her sisters fled to Russia, where they joined the Red Army in fighting the Nazis, according to Ynet.

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Bernstein is expecting to celebrate her 98th birthday in June, making her the oldest of the new arrivals from Ukraine.