Today in Berlin, two buses arrived from Ukraine with Jewish orphans and other children evacuated from the city of Odessa. The below article from the Berliner Morgenpost is translated by Fousesquawk.
Jewish children from Ukraine arrive in Berlin
March 4, 2022
Katrin Lange
Caption below photo: Mendi Wolff (M), son of the chief rabbi of Odessa and Southern Ukraine, stands in a corridor in a hotel among children from an orphanage in Odessa.
The children and young people fled from a home in Odessa. Now, after two days, they have arrived in Berlin.
Berlin/Odessa. The boy was barely three months old when his young life took a dramatic turn. The war in Ukraine had approached his home city. He lived with his mother in a surrounded city. Out of fear for her child, the mother decided on a difficult step. She separated from her baby and (sent) him on the trip to Germany. Alone but in safety. On Friday morning, the two large buses with 108 Jewish orphans and their chaperones arrived in Berlin from the Ukrainian city of Odessa.
Since Tuesday night they were on the road, spared no hardship. Along the way, there were traffic jams and many obstacles. Some 2,000 kilometers lay behind them. The exhaustion can be seen as they get off (the buses), but also the joy, of having made it. The smallest hold on tightly to their stuffed animals and dolls and hug their caretakers.
They are all staying in a hotel in City West. In addition to the baby, there are two small children present, who were born in 2021, thus, only a few months old. According to Jana Erdmann, spokeswoman of the Chabad Lubawitsch Educational Center Berlin, all age groups up to teenagers are represented.
The Israeli ambassador Jeremy Issacharoff briefly visited and greeted the children and young people in the hotel on Kufurstendam. The side streets around the (building) were closed off by the police. The trip had been organized by the Jewish educational and aid organization, Chabad Berlin, which works with a children's home for the Jewish community in Odessa.
Long waiting times at the border with Hungary
The orphanage of the Mishpache Chabad community was evacuated because an attack by the Russian army on Odessa was feared. On the travel from Germany, the buses had to cross several borders. "From Ukraine to Moldova and from Moldova to Romania, it went relatively easy," reported Jana Erdmann. From Romania to Hungary, however, it lasted much longer. But the buses also made overnight stops.
Among the occupants of the two buses were not only orphans, explained the spokeswoman. Some parents, like the mother of the baby, had also used the transport to bring their children to safety. There was also a grandmother present, who accompanied her grandchild to Berlin.
The children for now will remain in the hotel, which is also not far from the synagogue. For them, there are different options. Some children have relatives in Germany, (and) they will probably travel further on to them. "Some will surely go on to Israel or France, for example," says Jana Erdmann. The third option is to wait until they can return to Ukraine. "But it doesn't look good that they can return to Ukraine in the foreseeable future," says the spokeswoman.
The Chabad Community in Berlin is not only taking care of the orphans; they are also taking in Ukrainian refugees and placing them, for the most part, with community members. Chabad is represented in 35 locations in Ukraine. Ukraine has a large Jewish community, 350,000 Jews living there.
DRK-Home in Nikolassee offers help
The Elisabeth Weiske Home in Nikolassee offered help with the accommodation of the Jewish orphans. Almost 40 children live In the DRK facility, "We've been able to take in some of them," says the director, Kristina Gajewski. For a longer period, for example, 3 months, 5-10 children could stay. If it is just for a short time, it could clearly be more. Then it would be sufficient to lay out mattresses. If support is needed, the home is available.
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Fousesquawk comment: It is especially heartwarming to see Germany open its arms to Jewish refugees. It is, after all, a new Germany. It is hardly perfect-no place is- but this is definitely not the Germany of Hitler.
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