After Russia launched its invasion on February 24, Ukrainian Hasidic Jews, like millions of other Ukrainians, fled the country -- clearly unconvinced by Russia's claim that it was seeking to "de-Nazify" Ukraine. They sought refuge with families and charitable organizations wherever they could. One such organization is the Machne Chabad rescue village, located on the shores of Lake Balaton in Balatonoszod, Hungary.
Hasidic Jewish Refugees From Ukraine Find Shelter In Hungary
- By RFE/RL
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Hasidic Jewish refugees dance during a religious celebration at the Machne Chabad rescue village at Balatonoszod in Hungary on July 11.
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Olha Malka, a Ukrainian Hasidic Jewish refugee, plays with her daughter at Lake Balaton. Machne Chabad, located at a former communist leaders' summer retreat, is providing temporary housing for her and other refugees.
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Around 400 people live in the rescue village, the largest facility of its kind in Europe, which is run by the Association of Hungarian Jewish Communities (EMIH) and the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine.
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The Ukrainian authorities barred men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving the country when Russia invaded in February. But some, like these Hasidic Jews praying at Machne Chabad, have managed to flee.
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Ukrainian Hasidic Jewish refugee children draw warships and tanks on the ground with chalk.
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Neomi Gluzman Kravchenko, a Hasidic Jewish refugee from Ukraine, plays with her son Mykhaylo in their room. While some have given up on the idea of returning to Ukraine, Kravchenko says she hopes they can wait out the war in Hungary and then go home.
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Breakfast at the rescue village.
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Marharyta Yakovleva Ormotsadze pets her dog Yena. Israel has been a popular destination for Ukrainian Jewish refugees, with an estimated 30,000 people arriving there since the war began.
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The exodus of so many Hasidic Jews has been a blow to Ukraine's Jewish community. The chief rabbi at the EMIH, Slomo Koves, says: "Jewish life was so thriving, so strong, so rich. Just before the war, they say it was like on a peak...it's such a shame that all this just scattered in one day because of the war."
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Children at the rescue village. Historically, the Jewish community in Ukraine has faced anti-Semitic pogroms, the Holocaust, and Soviet-era repression.
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The Drobytskiy Yar Holocaust memorial on the outskirts of Kharkiv was damaged by Russian shelling in March. An estimated 50,000 Jews have fled Ukraine, weakening a community that had been rebuilt since the Soviet Union's demise.
