During World War II they fled from the Nazis and survived the Holocaust. Now they are fleeing from Putin’s bomb war!
BILD met Ukrainian Holocaust survivors who escaped the Russian bombing raids and now have to leave their homes.
Raisa (90) was born in 1932 in Nikolaev. When the Nazis came, she was evacuated and survived the war. Now she has to flee Kyiv.
Raissa says of the Russian attack on her homeland: “It was terrible for me. Because I’ve survived before. And I thought: If it all starts all over again, what have I – and not only me – done that makes this happen again? In Kyiv, groceries are already disappearing from the shelves, and very quickly.”
Photo: To Biermann
“data-zoom-src =” https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/raissa-im-gespraech-mit-bild-reporter-filipp-piatov-ed83dac198fe47618dd7061fed77d838-79352848/Bild/13.bild.jpg”/> Raissa in conversation with BILD reporter Filipp Piatov – she now wants to move to relatives in IsraelPhoto: To Biermann
She never would have thought that Russia would one day attack Ukraine. “Never in my life. Never,” says Raisa. “I taught Russian language and literature. If I had known that when I went to university, I would not have become it.”
Her judgment of Putin is clear: “I have the impression that he doesn’t have all the cups in the cupboard anymore. He has no reason to attack Ukraine.”
Putin’s claims that the Nazis are in power in Ukraine are complete nonsense. “He claims that in Ukraine we live in fascism. But that’s not the truth,” says Raissa. “I’ve been living in Ukraine for so many years and I haven’t experienced anything like what happened to me when I was a child. I was beaten for my heritage. People yelled at me. The school principal tormented me.” Raissa knows what anti-Semitism is – she has never encountered anything like it in Ukraine today.
Photo: To Biermann
” data-zoom-src=”https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/raissa-on-the-way-to-the-bus-the-you-go-to-polen-soll-b953f55218e84a139eb626ffbedb1a7d-79352886/Bild/ 13.image.jpg”/> Raissa on her way to the bus that is supposed to take her to PolandPhoto: To Biermann
Lydia: She was hiding from the Nazis, now from Putin’s bombs
Lydia (90) was 10 years old when she experienced World War II in a village near Kyiv. “I can still remember the bombing, that we were sitting in the basement and of course when a bomb went off near us and my older sister died of a heart attack because she was so scared. I never would have thought that I would experience something like this again.”
Photo: M.Firyn
” data-zoom-src=”https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/lydia-on-the-polish-side-of-the-border-she-has-it-first-once-managed-6dec29434c8a49f58e5f0b0abb6df36b-79352906/ Image/13.image.jpg”/> Lydia on the Polish side of the border. She made it oncePhoto: M.Firyn