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Local Holocaust survivors recall painful memories as they see war in Ukraine
Local Holocaust survivors recall traumatizing days in their youth in World War II as they see comparisons to the war in Ukraine.
BALA CYNWYD, Pa. - The events in Ukraine are an all too-familiar sight for Holocaust survivors.
"I’ve been through it all, with the Germans," Holocaust survivor Bella Tugenvreich stated.
The 90-year-old Poland native, who has lived in the United States since the 1950’s, was a child, living in Poland, when German soldiers invaded. She and her family escaped, walking for three months to safety.
"SS came in, motorcycles. They start doing things that nobody wants to know. They kill people, rob people. They do things like what’s going on in Ukraine," Tugenvreich elaborated.
She’s seeing the people of Ukraine suffer through many of the same tragedies and says she sees one key difference with Ukraine.
"Nobody was fighting for us. Now, we have one man – President Zelenskyy – who decided to fight and I give him the credit. I feel if the Polish people would have fought, maybe Germans wouldn’t do that," she commented.
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Bella was among some 40 and more Holocaust survivors attending a pre-Passover Seder at the Jewish Family and Children’s Service center in Bala Cynwyd Friday.
Carla Bruski is the Director of the Holocaust Survivor Program at JFCS. She says the war in Ukraine can be very triggering to their members.
"There are absolutely parallels. These folks were children and youth during World War II, so seeing the kids and seeing the older adults in Ukraine right now is absolutely having an impact on them. It’s also triggering and re-traumatizing for them, so we just want to be sensitive to that," Bruski explained.
As fighting continues in Eastern Europe, Bella can only pray that peace will win over the hearts of those currently fighting.
"This is the only thing we can do and I give them so much credit. God should help them," Bella added.
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