“I have lived all my life in Kyiv.  My husband was a wonderful man, and we had a happy life together.  We had one daughter and now I have two grandchildren.  My husband died last year, and I was left a widow.  My daughter’s family and I started to live together as we were better off that way.  I helped with the grandchildren – babysat to let my daughter and son-in-law go out to work.”

“We never thought about repatriating to Israel, even when the war started, and Kyiv was under bombardment.  My daughter didn’t want to leave her husband.  He had no right to leave the country and I wasn’t going to leave my children.”

“We have no relatives in Israel – only good friends of mine.  They invited us, persuaded us to make the decision to leave even though I didn’t want to.  Now, when enemies are destroying the energy of our country; when we are without light for most of the day; when it is impossible to keep warm and wash properly and feed the children we had to make this decision and radically change our lives.  I want to escape from the war, from the cold, from the constant blackouts, from the fear that there will be massive shelling again and that it will be freezing cold.  Everything around here is simply unbearable.”

“My daughter and I prepared the documents for repatriation together and wanted to leave together, but my son-in-law was hospitalized and had an operation. My daughter decided to stay with him for a while to help him recover, and then she would come to me with the children. When the war is over, my son-in-law will join us.  It really hurts to part with my daughter and grandchildren.”

“This is the first time for me to go to another country – it’s all new to me.  I have never been to Israel before.  I want to get settled, find a job and a suitable place to live so that my daughter and the children can come to a place that’s prepared.  It’s scary to go to a new place, but so necessary.”

“Ezra helped me with the documents for the consular check.  I didn’t know where to start or how to do it at all.  They gave me advice, paid for the requests to the archives, helped me get to Vinnitsa from where I went for consular check in Moldova and onward flight to Israel.”

“I am eternally grateful to you!  Your help for me was really a support in a critical situation.  You helped me decide to take a step towards a better change in my life!”