Comfort and Care for a Holocaust Survivor

Sofi was born in Latvia the day WWII started. When her father, a Red Army officer, left for the front, Sofi’s mother was taken prisoner. 

Sofi explained, “The Nazis took all the children back to Germany. Those that could pass off as German children were given to families to be raised as good Germans. I had dark hair, so I was taken to an orphanage. The Nazis conducted experiments on us, trying to change our eye color.”

At the end of the war, the Soviet army liberated the orphanage. Sofi was reunited with her mother, who had spent time at a concentration camp in Latvia. 

“It took years for my mother to find out what happened to my other siblings,” said Sofi. “Finally, she learned my brother and sister had made it to Israel, but we weren’t allowed to leave the Soviet Union to join them.”

Sofi and her mother finally made it to Israel in 1972. She later married and made a life for herself and her family. 

Sofi said, “I grew up without a childhood, so when I had my own children, I gave them everything I had been robbed of. I was so glad to be able to raise them in Israel.”

When Sofi and her husband got older, he had to move into an assisted living facility while she was left at home to deal with her own health issues. Sofi was lonely and bills were piling up, so when CBN Israel found out about her, we started taking her food baskets.

Sofi said, “You bring groceries, visit regularly and spend time with me, and you never forget to call me on my birthday. I can feel that you truly care.”  

Thanks to the support of CBN Israel donors, Sofi knows she and other Holocaust survivors are not alone.

Sofi said, “I am so happy for people like you who still remember me. There are not many of us left. It’s great to know that you care.”