Survivors Face New Terror on October 7th
“On October 7th, I woke up to sirens, then heard my neighbor’s screams. I went outside and saw him standing there, looking me in the eyes, but not shooting. He had just killed my neighbor’s children. I turned around, waiting for him to shoot me in the back. He didn’t. I moved back to my yard and went back inside. I think about this event every day. It reminds me of when we were taken by train from Moscow to the Urals during World War II. The people then wore black shirts, like the terrorist.”
Ella, 86, and her husband Lev, who will turn 101 next month, both survived World War II. They live in the Mishor HaGefen neighborhood of Ofakim, which suffered 52 casualties in the October 7th massacre.
Ella spared Lev from the traumatic event by not putting in his hearing aid that morning. “Hamas’s behavior is like that of the Nazis. It’s frightening to live in such a reality,” he says about the events in the neighborhood that black Saturday.
Community Support Program Aids Elderly Survivors
Upon the couple’s return home, they were contacted by the city’s welfare department and offered assistance through a ‘Community Supporter’ – a program by JDC-Eshel and the Ministry of Welfare and Social Security, which began operating in the city alongside the “Meshiv HaRuach” program, initiated in Ofakim in partnership with JDC and the local authority.
The idea behind the program is to alleviate the load on municipal social services departments during emergencies. Community supporters locate elderly citizens and people with disabilities living in the community, accompany them, and assist by understanding and fulfilling their needs to improve and maintain their functioning and condition, in coordination with and under the guidance of the city’s social services department team.
The program operates in 35 municipalities in the south and north and in 7 municipalities hosting evacuees. In total, 72 community supporters assisted 8,500 elderly citizens and people with disabilities.
Olga, Ella and Lev’s community supporter, is in daily contact with them, inquiring about their needs, arranging transportation for medical treatments, and also provides a companion named Maria who keeps them company or accompanies them wherever needed.
Ella and Lev have children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. All are involved and care for them, along with the support of Olga and Maria, who strengthen the embrace that the couple so deserves, especially at this time.
Photo: Yahel Batito
