Within the warm embrace of Mishpacha’s Nursing Home, we are privileged to bear witness to the lives of some of the most remarkable souls who have endured the unimaginable; heroes whose stories of survival and resilience inspire us daily.
Meet Yuri, born in 1943, in the village of Mikhailovka, in Russia. His earliest memories are tainted by the bitter taste of loss and persecution. He escaped the clutches of the holocaust against all odds. Stanislav Yakovlevich Medvedev, another member, had his life shattered when his mother died in his arms after being brutally shot by the Germans. Later, he was abandoned by his drunk father.
For these two men, and countless other holocaust survivors, their nightmare didn’t end when the war drew to a close. The heart-wrenching reality is that so many of these heroes escaped one horror only to live another. A life marked by poverty, lack of care, and utter loneliness.
Yuri’s path was one of solitude and despair. Too frail and weak to move, he endured 12 agonizing days of starvation before his compassionate neighbor found him and contacted us for help. Stanislav found himself without a roof over his head, and was sleeping in a park for a year before he was taken to the hospital and eventually brought to Mishpacha.
Today, Mishpacha is a haven to dozens of holocaust survivors, amongst other seniors, who have endured the most dire living conditions, like Yuri and Stanislav. Here, they are welcomed into a nurturing environment that supports them physically and emotionally — with round-the-clock care, comfortable living accommodations, companionship, and access to essential medication and personal care.
As we bear witness to their stories, we are reminded of the profound resilience of the human spirit and the courage that can be found even in the darkest of times.
The road to healing is long — but at Mishpacha, with the help of its community of support, it is made possible. We are fortunate to provide these special individuals with hope, warmth and healing. It has been nothing short of transformative, both for them and for us.