Responding to the Call for Humanitarian Relief in Ukraine: A Personal Connection Through My Wife's Russian Jewish Ancestry

Cecile and I have recently donated $500 to CARE’s Ukraine Crisis Fund, in memory of Cecile’s Russian Jewish grandparents David and Dora who escaped religious and ethnic persecution in a small town in Kiev (Russian spelling) vs Kyiv, (in the Ukrainian language) in the early 1900s. The decision opened up some old ancestral wounds, but we felt compelled to relieve some of the human suffering going on in Ukraine who have been caught in the crossfire, especially women and innocent children. Our son Jason’s middle name was given to him in honor of his great grandpa David (Dawid, in Hebrew).

Like so many, we have been transfixed by Putin’s invasion against Ukraine and horrified by the barbaric onslaught of its’ people, especially the mothers and their innocent children. I wanted to help in some way and discussed it with Cecile who agreed. Her grandparents lived in a small village called Ladyzhinka near Kiev, which in 1793 became part of the Russian Empire. By the end of the nineteenth century Jews accounted for around 32% of the population. This soon changed. During the pogroms (an organized massacre of the Jewish people) in Ladyzhinka around 1905 Jews were forced to flee. Needless to say, Ukraine has a long history of not being good to the Jews. Seeing the writing on the wall her great grandparents fled to Chicago, around the same period that Sholem Aleichem, author of “Fiddler on the Roof," who also grew up outside Kyiv fled to New York.

Fast forward to 1941, Nazi forces captured Kyiv, and promptly posted notices for Jews to gather near a place known as “Grandmother’s Ravine,” also known as "Babyn Yar.” On September 29-30, 1941, the SS-led forces gunned down 34,000 Jews, not including children who in many cases were buried alive as Nazi policy forbade wasting bullets on them. They were dumped in the ravine. By the end of the war, 100,000 were killed including Ukrainians, that lay in a mass grave at Babyn Yar, the site of the Holocaust memorial in Kyiv, World War ll’s deadliest massacre, recently bombed by the Russian military.

Prior to Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine, 2021 was shaping up to be a banner year for Ukraine’s Jews—a long overdue embrace of a long-suffering minority elected a Jew, Volodymyr Zelenskyy for president in 2019. Zelenskyy's grandfather fought the Nazis in World War ll and he lost members of his family in the Holocaust. At the same time, Volodymyr Groysman, also Jewish became prime minister. In May of last year, Ukraine’s top rabbi inaugurated a new synagogue at Babyn Bar. Several months prior the government approved plans for a $100 million, two-museum memorial at Babyn Yar that was slated to become the world’s largest Holocaust shrine, which Zelenskyy’s seemingly made a top priority. The year after Zelenskyy and Groysman took office, Pew Research Center study found that that 83% of Ukranians had a favorable opinion of Jews, compared to only 5% the year before thanks to government that unites people rather than divides.

This would make the late Israel ben Eliezer, or Baal Shem Tov, a Jewish mystic and healer, and, the father of Hasidic Judaism that has a center in Ukraine very happy.

The ongoing war with Russia beginning in 2014, including the current Russian invasion has given Ukraine’s Jews a renewed sense of patriotism. Their national identity is no longer tied to their ethnicity but rather their citizenship. Unlike the years Cecile’s grandparents experienced persecution and felt compelled to leave the country, due to positive political developments mentioned earlier, Ukraine’s Jews are more accepted today than any other time in its history. “Thanks to Putin, there are now Ukrainian Jews,” the chief rabbi of Kyiv was quoted as saying in 2016. Unfortunately, as the aggressive and deadly invasion by the Russian military continues against Ukraine the top priority now is sheer survival of a sovereign nation of Jews and non-Jews alike.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the most famous man in the world at this moment in history is drawing from a deep well within himself, demonstrating to the entire world what true courage, leadership, and commitment look like. The former comedian, turned president is leading the Ukrainian people through an existential crisis with a heartless dictator. He has proven himself to be a skillful and credible communicator that makes headlines and lights up social media platforms. He has a deep sense of humanity and empathy, rarely seen in the political leaders. He is resolute in the midst of adversity yet down to earth and accessible. He has given people hope in what appears to be a hopeless situation amid a refugee crisis that Europe hasn’t seen since 1945. We pray this will be enough. With several attempts made against his life by would be assassins, the country and supporters main fear is he may become a martyr to the cause.

In the meantime, our donation is intended to ease the suffering of people caught in the crossfire and is dedicated to the memory of Cecile’s late grandparents, David and Dora whose choice to escape the tyranny made it possible for Cecile and I to meet and raise a beloved family. They had two children, Cecile's nana Esther (her mother Marge's mother) and her uncled Joe. The second photo is Esther taken in Chicago (second photo).

"Only the Brave”—a poem for Ukraine

To kneel before a tank

Prepared to perish

And picks up arms

Their arms have never held

To hold fast to the freedom

That they cherish,

Unyielding faith

The giants can be quelled

With dropping jaws, we marvel

At the Courage of Ukraine

A hero named Zelenskyy at its head