Eighth grade students at Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy of Connecticut recently welcomed a very special visitor to their classrooms. At 98 years old, Olga Rosenstein, great-grandmother of BCHA student Leah P. (8th grade), carries a story of resilience that must never be forgotten.

Olga was just 15 years old when the Nazis invaded Odessa, Ukraine. With danger closing in, her family secured a rare lottery spot on a military transport boat bound for Russia. Unlike most, they were allowed to stay on the main deck, an unimaginable stroke of luck in a time of horror.

Their journey led them to Siberia, where they spent three harsh years, surviving against all odds by scrounging a life out of the unforgiving tundra.

According to statistics gathered by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., in 1941, the territory of Ukraine in its current internationally recognized borders was home to one of the largest Jewish populations in Europe. The fate of those Jews depended on many factors, including the local occupying authority and whether they were among the very few evacuated to the interior of the Soviet Union ahead of the invading forces.

While scholars are still researching the scale of the Holocaust in Ukraine, they estimate at least one and a half million Jews were killed there. The Museum is in the process of gathering written records and oral testimony to fully tell the story of what happened in Ukraine during the Holocaust.

Olga’s story is one of courage, endurance and the will to survive. As we remember her journey, let’s reflect on the strength of those who came before us and the lessons they leave behind. Her story reminded BCHA students to take pride in the resilience and strength of the Jewish people, and to never lose hope, nor take our freedom for granted.