Boris is making aliyah with his wife Elya and sons Georgii and Yuri. He tells their story:
“We ourselves are from Donetsk. Therefore, the main reason for our move is that it was very dangerous for us to stay in Donetsk. The area where we lived was often shelled. And for the last few months, my wife, because of fear, practically did not leave the basement. And when a shell hit a neighboring house, we immediately began to gather our documents. Our middle son has been living in Israel for five years now. He really likes it there, and he is not going anywhere to leave there. Therefore, he has been calling us to come for a long time.”
“Back in 1984, my mother could have gone to Israel. For her, Israel was a very old and cherished dream. At that time, our family lived in Armenia. And at my mother’s work, one person, also a Jew, was going to leave for Israel. She was very interested in this issue. And I don’t know how, but after a while my mother received a visa for permanent residence from Israel. But my brother and I did not support her decision, and she was forced to stay. We lived very well in Armenia. And my mother really liked the Armenian people. Therefore, my brother and I married Armenian women (it was said, a little in a joking way). My brother and I spent most of our childhood in Armenia, where we got an education, got married and got good jobs, with very good salaries. For example, I worked in the Yerevan metro construction as a tunneling foreman. The May brigade was at the forefront at that time, and they even wrote about us several times in the newspapers. Therefore, we were not going to leave anywhere, and we were not going to let our mother go. Time passed, and in 1990 we returned to Donetsk. We also settled quite well there and did not think about moving. Even when this military conflict began in 2014, we were not going to leave. Only my middle son, in 2016, left for Kyiv and repatriated from there, my nephew also left with him. When my mother found out about their decision to live in Israel, she was very happy. She lived to the age of 93 and died in 2021. And we, when it became dangerous for us, in 2022, to be in Donetsk, nevertheless decided to make this move. First, we went to the Crimea to my brother, we quickly sent our data on an accelerated program, for repatriation to Israel.”
“What dreams can I have now? The main thing is that we quickly adapt there and join the society. And, of course, it is to see the well-being of my three sons. So that they can get a good job there, find good families, and give birth to grandchildren for us.”
“I personally have not come across anti-semitism, maybe because my father is Russian, and my surname is Russian. But my mother survived, even during the Second World War. In general, she was raised by only by her father, her mother died giving birth. When the Germans entered Donetsk, my mother was then 13 years old. And just a few days later, they gathered all the Jews from their district, where they lived, and took them to be shot. And in this column, there was my mother with her father. And her dad just pushed her off the column, and thank God, she was immediately picked up by people who were standing along the road. And it was a Ukrainian family. It’s just a miracle that the Nazis did not notice how my mother jumped out of the column. And that these people accepted her, risking their own lives. At first, they hid my mother in their basement. And then, when they were convinced that there was nothing to be afraid of, they were able to receive her in their home.