There’s nothing stronger than empathy, when you know what it’s like to be in another person’s shoes, when you can identify with their pain and suffering because you lived through it, when it also compels you to reach out a helping hand, even giving the last bit you have.
That is the case with so many Holocaust survivors, WWII veterans as well as children of war we work with and help monthly through our humanitarian projects.
They contacted us and said they felt compelled to do something, to help somehow when they saw the unfolding terror of war they themselves lived through and survived.
These precious people that have so little in their old age that they heavily rely on our humanitarian assistance every month, feeling the urgency and reliving the horrors of war, put together their last bit of savings and reached out to us to use it to help not people in Ukraine.
Different people responded to our urgent appeals for help, which is a tremendous blessing in this acute time of need, but to have these precious Holocaust survivors express their desire to help with whatever they have, was by far the most touching thing for us all and a great lesson in compassion.
They responded saying: “We know firsthand what it’s like to live through a war and its horrors, what it’s like to flee and in one day become refugees, and, if you’re fortunate, survivors.
These dear people survived the Holocaust, concentration camps, ghettos, terrors of war that marked them and stayed with them for the rest of their lives, said: “Knowing full well what people are experiencing right now, we cannot help but feel overwhelming compassion. Their pain is our pain. We need to help our brothers. Buy anything you can with this small contribution of ours. Help everyone, not just Jews, every person you can.”
We are absolutely humbled and deeply touched by the heart and compassion of people who lived through what is considered the biggest atrocity of the 20th century.
We are grateful to still have some of them with us today. The lessons they continuously teach us are now more important than ever.
Join our humanitarian relief efforts geared towards refugees in Ukraine, as well as ongoing support for the precious Holocaust survivors that we help, and that have found in their hearts to give out of the little they had towards the plight of others.