Alina Feoktistova at the Tikva Jewish education complex in Odessa, Ukraine, Nov. 2, 2019. (Cnaan Liphshiz)
ODESSA, Ukraine (JTA) — Alina Feoktistova always knew she was Jewish, but the first time she sought contact with the community was to see if it could pay her tuition. Feoktistova’s family couldn’t afford to send her to college, but the local Jewish community provides an alternative in the… Read more »
Supporters of the government in Kiev collecting stones in downtown Odessa in preparation for clashes with pro-Russian protesters on May 2. (Julia Gorodetskaya) (JTA) — Although Ukraine has been charting a bloody course toward civil war for months, Irina Zborovskaya had always felt safe in Odessa. Living in a cosmopolitan city where hate crimes are rare and a tradition of tolerance for minorities and dissidents prevails, many Odessites were lulled into a… Read more »
Holocaust survivor Larisa Rakovskaya in her Odessa apartment, Sept. 14, 2012. (Cnaan Liphshiz) ODESSA, Ukraine (JTA) — In her dilapidated apartment, Larisa Rakovskaya examines a stack of unpaid heating bills. Sick and alone, the 86-year-old Holocaust survivor and widow is preparing for another encounter with the cold, her “worst and only fear.” Rakovskaya says her hope of staying warm this winter lies… Read more »
(L-R) Tucsonans Donna Moser, Audrey Brooks, Marlyne Freedman and Deanna Evenchik at the Birthright Israel Mega Event at Haifa Naval Base July 12 The faces of our grandparents are with me in early July as I leave for the Jewish Federations of North America Campaign Chairs and Directors Mission to Odessa and Israel with my sister, Donna Moser. Grandpa Nathan and Grandma Sadie came to the United States in 1899 from Odessa;… Read more »
