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lla and Maksym 
Kondratenko’s lives 
changed forever the 
morning of Feb. 24, 2022, when 
the Russian army invaded 
Ukraine. It was the start of a 
harrowing journey that would 
eventually lead them to Saline, 
Michigan. They are trying to cre-
ate a new life now and reestablish 
the thriving business they left 
behind.
The couple’s former home in 
Kharkiv was 17 miles from the 
Russian border. They awakened 
early that day to a red sky and 
the sound of bombs exploding. 
They spent the next few days 
crowded in the basement of their 
apartment building, without heat, 
electricity, food or medicine. 
Those who left to collect food or 
firewood risked being shot.
The Kondratenkos family had 
been in business since 2015 and 
had more than 10,000 items on 
their website. The warehouse 
containing their company’s 
stylish handbags, purses, wallets 
and backpacks was bombed and 
destroyed.
If that wasn’t enough, Alla was 
37 weeks pregnant with compli-
cations. She started to experience 
severe abdominal pain. They 
drove seven miles to the hospital 
in the dark without headlights, 
which might make them a target. 
Alla was told she would have 
died if she had arrived 15 min-

utes later. Her baby Daiana was 
born on day four of the war. The 
hospital had no space for them, 
so they drove south to Poltava, 
the town where Alla’s mother’s 
family lived. 
In anticipation of the birth, 
their 3-year-old son Davyd had 
been staying with Maksym’s par-
ents in the even more precarious 
town of Izyum, seven miles from 
the Russian border. In March, 
Maksym made the perilous drive 
alone, passing through almost 60 
Ukrainian and Russian check-
points, to pick up his son from 
the occupied town. His mother 

evacuated with him, but his 
father and grandmother refused 
to leave their house. They said 
they were too old to start over.
After Maksym’s return to 
Poltava, the family fled the fight-
ing for Odessa. Then in June, 
they made the difficult decision 
to leave Ukraine and everything 
they knew behind. 
The Kondratenkos family were 
sponsored by a couple in Saline 
who involved more than 100 
local volunteers to receive them. 
Alla and Maksym, his mother 
Olha, and their children arrived 
Sept. 14, 2022. 
In Maksym’s words, they 
are “starting from zero.
” While 
Maksym works an hourly job 
at Comcast, Alla focuses on 
rebuilding the business, called 
Kondra Industries.
They are supporting not only 
themselves, but also their families 
in Ukraine, the seven or eight 
friends who help design their 
products and all those involved 
in the manufacturing. “We are 
like a light in the darkness for 
them,
” Maksym says.
Their stylish handbags, purs-

es and backpacks are made of 
high-quality leather, vegan leath-
er and fabric and are assembled 
by hand. They feature a variety 
of colors, textures, zippers and 
clasps and are a good value at 
$25-$85.
Showing the courage and resil-
ience of many immigrants before 
them, the couple is not alone in 
starting a business. Studies show 
that immigrants are at least twice 
as likely as the native born to 
found companies and account for 
25% or more of all U.S. business 
start-ups.
The Kondratenkos family 
are one of the nearly 600 refu-
gee families that Jewish Family 
Services of Washtenaw County 
has helped resettle this past 
year. The agency is support-
ing their efforts through its 
Microenterprise Development 
program.
For those interested in pur-
chasing items, search for Kondra 
Bags on Amazon. 

For more information about Jewish 

Family Services of Washtenaw County, 

visit JFSannarbor.org.

A Fresh Start
Ukrainian refugee family restarts life, business in U.S.

GABBY MARKOWITZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Enjoying a picnic are 
refugee community 
members from some 
of the countries 
assisted by JFS of 
Washtenaw County.

Alla and 
Maksym 
Kondratenko’s 
Kondra 
collection, for 
all!

