Jewish charity staff are working in Ukraine to “close the circle” and support those whose ancestors protected Jews from the Nazis.
JRoots, which ordinarily organises Jewish heritage tours, has been working with descendants of those who helped Jewish people in the Second World War.
Tzvi Sperber, who co-founded the charity, called on his network of Polish contacts - including drivers, hotels and caterers - to bring Ukrainian refugees to safety in Poland, house them in makeshift accommodation and support them in their onward journeys.
The charity has been assisted in its work by many Polish volunteers - among them those ancestors helped Jews flee persecution.
Sperber, 52, who grew up in Britain and lives in Israel, said many shared their stories with him after spotting his kippah. “It’s coming full circle now, as we’re there to help and say thank you.”
In recent days JRoots has also helped the descendants of a Ukrainian Righteous Among the Nations.
The case is sensitive so those involved cannot be named, but Sperber told the JC: “An English family turned to us for help regarding a family of a Righteous Among Nations who they were preparing to take in.
Meanwhile Anna Niedźwiedź and her husband, who works with Sperber, have been supported by JRoots to open their Krakow home up to refugees. She told the JC she was inspired by her grandparents who hid Jews from the Nazis.
“My grandmother told me many stories about the war and I read many books about the holocaust. I think it made me more sensitive to injustice,” she said.
“When the refugees come to my home I say ‘you’re not my guests, you’re my family’.”
JRoots organises itineraries in Poland and beyond to Holocaust sites like Auchwitz, the Warsaw Ghetto and Oskar Schindler’s factory.
Speaking from Krakow, Sperber said of his tours: “I speak about the righteous among nations. Then we see this terrible suffering taking place so I wanted to put that lesson into practice.”
The charity has transformed a “huge building” into a bustling aid distribution centre, while the upper level provides shelter for 100 people. Sperber has also block-booked dozens of hotel rooms, provided food, toiletries, clothing and toys for the refugees, while also setting up childcare centres and dispatching medical convoys into Ukraine.
His phone constantly rings with calls from individuals, organisations and institutions asking what they can do to help.
Among them a convent outside Krakow sheltering around 100 mothers and children. Thanks to funds raised by international donors, JRoots provided the nuns with desperately needed washing machines.
Sperber said: “They showed me where they hid Jewish children and their parents during the war and showed me that there was a German camp on the other side of the convent. So they were hiding Jews under the Nazis’ noses.”
The current crisis resonates strongly with Jews, said Sperber. “It’s this idea that we can’t be bystanders because when you’re a bystander you risk becoming a perpetrator when you watch people suffer. We have to do what we can.”
