Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a war against his neighbors under the pretext of “destroying” Ukraine. But now, after decades of destruction and emigration due to the Holocaust and Soviet repression, the Jewish community has been living in a glorious period in the country until a month ago, when it was evacuating its followers.
In the Chabad Synagogue in the heart of the port city of Odessa, and the only one of the four pre-war synagogues that existed, about twenty Jews came to recite the morning prayer “Shakhalit” and then went to work or volunteer in the city, where tensions were very tense due to a possible Russian attack.
But that synagogue is no longer what it used to be, because now the wooden benches look almost empty compared to how they were filled before February 24.
The Odessa community is one of the largest in the country, according to data from the Jewish community that provided @@ to Efe, and out of 25,000 Jews, at least 5,000 have been evacuated to Moldova since the beginning of the war.
The rest either stayed with relatives or were not fit to leave, because they were men, old enough to be summoned by the army to fight the Russians.
“De-Nazization? A lie”
The director of the Jewish Museum of Odessa, Zvi Hirsh, opened the door to a small hidden space where he kept relics from the Holocaust and the Jewish migration throughout the 20th century.
He told Effie that he had lived for twenty-five years in this coastal city, the so-called Pearl of the Black Sea, where “no one” looked bad at him on the street or “insulted” him because he was Jewish.
Speaking of de-Nazism, he said, “My understanding is that Putin is lying,” noting that the speech on the invasion of Ukraine was “pointless”.
Putin insists that only taking into account Russia's “legitimate security interests”, including the “sovereignty of Crimea” illegally annexed in 2014, as well as the “demilitarization and de-Nazism” of the Ukrainian state, as well as the “demilitarization and de-Nazism” of the Ukrainian state, will it be possible to resolve the conflict-neutral state with Ukraine.
At the end of the prayers, Abraham Wolf, a senior Rabbi from Odessa and southern Ukraine, was sitting in his office, where he received several calls, including from his wife who had fled and was in Germany.
He told Effie that he was originally from Israel and came to Odessa at the age of 22, but that his 30 years of working for the Jewish community in the city “have disappeared”.
“What I've achieved in 30 years is gone. It's all in one second. But that's what God wants, I do my job, and that's the result,” he said.
Regarding “de-Nazism”, the rabbi said he did not want to talk about politics, although he could understand that Putin made a mistake.
“Three plus one equals four. But now (for him) one plus one is one million.” He said it was a big mistake to imply that the Russian president had made an invasion on the grounds of “de-Nazism”.
Yonin
The rabbi pointed out that before the war, the city had two entirely Jewish nurseries, two orphanages, elementary schools and even a Jewish university. In total, there are 11 buildings of the Jewish community, including four synagogues. “But now, everything is closed except the Chabad Synagogue,” he said.
Wolff said that although the Russian occupation had arrived in the city, it would continue to exist because Odessa was one of the most imminent targets of the Moscow army.
It refers to two acquaintances who are currently in two Ukrainian cities under Russian occupation, who continue to work and do not want to reveal any further details publicly.
“We're doing everything for the Jewish community. I don't know what's going to happen, but I don't want to seek an explanation, I don't want to imagine or fantasize.” He said although he did know he would stay in Odessa. Another person who doesn't want to “talk politics” because he says he “doesn't have time” is Oleg, 40, who wears an Israeli intelligence agency Mossad sweatshirt.
When asked about the “de-Nazization” of the country, he said, “I don't have time to read the news, but I do know we will help those who need it.”
Christina, a Ukrainian and American Jew who accompanied him on an evacuation mission, told Effie that Ukraine “has no reason” to say that the country is “Nazi”.
(contains information from EFE)
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