Refugee Crisis Update
April 24, 2022
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, over 5 million refugees have been forced to leave their homes. Most of the refugees are women and children. The majority of the refugees are fleeing across the border into Poland – almost 3 million so far. NATAN’s teams are deployed in Przemysl, Poland at one of the largest refugee reception centers in the country.
Thanks to NATAN, she can breathe free: On a recent evening, a 44-year-old woman arrived at the center, post-Covid with a very low oxygen saturation rate. She was with her four young children. As the hours went on, the last oxygen tank began to run out. NATAN’s team leader drove to the border in the middle of the night to pick up an extra oxygen tank. By midnight the woman was sleeping peacefully thanks to a replenished oxygen supply. This is just one of the many small victories experienced by our team members every day.
Helping the Helpers
In many disaster zones, NATAN’s partner organizations are often comprised of young volunteers lacking previous experience in trauma or disaster relief. NATAN’s experienced professionals are able to help these helpers by providing guidance and techniques to relieve stress and ‘battle fatigue’. Read more
Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Memorial Day
Yom HaShoah, Israel’s Holocaust Memorial Day, begins at sundown this Wednesday, 27 April. For our team members in Poland this day is especially meaningful. Przemysl, the city where our team is deployed, was once home to a large and vibrant Jewish Community. That community was annihilated during WWII. Oded Regev, who led one of NATAN’s delegations to Poland this Spring, visited the former synagogue - all that remains of the 25,000 Jews from Przemysl who were killed during WWII. Read more.
The Przemysl Jewish community was part of the thousand-year-old community of Galicia. The first source dating back to 1030. This was the cradle of the Hassidic movement and the home of many renowned Rabbis. In 1939, every third habitant in Przemysl was Jewish. The city had eight synagogues, Jewish Professional Unions, Zionist movements, an Academic Reading Room and much more. Seen here: former Przemysl synagogue . Read more
Thank you, ironSource
We are very grateful to Israeli technology company, ironSource which donated $50,000 USD to NATAN’s Ukrainian Refugee Relief Operation. Part of the sum was donated by ironSource employees from their salary and part by the company. Thank you, ironSource! Read more about ironSource.
NATAN RN Natalia Sandlar uses picture cards to interact with a young child at the Przemysl Refugee Center. Photo © Rom Barnea
Most of the photos in this newsletter are courtesy of Photojournalist Rom Barnea. Learn more about Rom Barnea here: https://rombarnea.carbonmade.com/