MAY 5 • 2022 | 17

ON THE COVER
with personal care. I ended 
up helping to bathe her, as we 
couldn’t find anyone else to 
do it. 
• An elderly man from 
Mariupol, putting his 
10-member family, a dog and 
a pregnant cat in three cars 
and slowly making his way 
out, having to stop for days at 
a time to gather enough gaso-
line to continue their escape. 
He left his house after a rocket 
exploded in his yard, busting 
his windows and hitting his 
leg with a piece of shrapnel. 
They had to abandon their 
cars near the border. His son, 
an Israeli citizen, was not 
allowed through, as he was 
also a Ukrainian citizen and 
under 60. 
The elderly man was emo-
tionless as he told us, “I am 
from a city that doesn’t exist 
anymore,” and sharing that 
tanks “ironed out” an old 
cemetery, so he won’t be able 
to find his mother’s grave 
when he comes back. He held 
a piece of shrapnel in one 
hand and a newborn, blind 
kitten, the size of a small 
apple, in his other hand. His 
cat had five kittens the day 
after they arrived at the hotel, 
after almost four weeks of 
travel, and he said that this 
was what kept him sane and 
moving forward — his family 
and this pregnant cat with 
precious cargo in her belly. 
• A tall, powerful looking 
woman with a proud carriage, 
a former model, crying in the 
elevator, as she was preparing 
to send her 13-year-old son 
off to a special program for 
teenagers in Israel (similar to a 
boarding school) alone, while 
she was going back to Ukraine 
to join her husband.
• An elderly woman, whose 
mother was the Righteous 
Among the Nations, saving a 
Jewish family during World 
War II, evacuated from 
Chernigov by an Israeli vol-

unteer, staying at the hotel for 
a few days before she flies to 
Israel to stay with the descen-
dants of the Jewish family. A 
circle of kindness and human-
ity closing in a full loop. 
• And so many others, com-
ing with no change of cloth-
ing, needing everything from 
underwear, socks, a T-shirt, 
pants, a coat and shoes to a 
toothbrush and toothpaste.

BACK HOME
I am now back in Michigan, 
safe and sound. I was in 
Poland for 11 days, but it feels 
that I see life very differently, 
even after such a short time. 
Amidst all the pain, loss and 
all the trauma of the war, I saw 
amazing spirit, dedication and 
so many Light Workers gath-
ering to help. 

TOP: A volunteer nurse sorts 
through donated medical supplies. 
ABOVE: JAFI staff with volunteers. 
LEFT: A piece of shrapnel that was 
taken out of an elderly man’s leg 
after his home was hit.

continued on page 18

