Holocaust survivor Leonid Kamensky had to leave his home for the second time in his life due to an enemy invasion. He wanted to stay in Ukraine at all costs.
interviewed by the Jüdische Allgemeine .
Kamensky fled Ukraine to Germany last May.
"I was in a state of shock at the thought of leaving my home"
he said quietly.
He lived with his wife in Mykolaiv for sixty years until he was widowed eight years ago. His son fled to Germany at the beginning of the war, and now both of his grandchildren live here. "But I didn't want to come with them," explained Kamensky.
However, when he read that his city might suffer the same fate as Mariupol, he packed up everything in two days and traveled by bus to Germany via Moldova.
Leonid Kamensky will be 89 years old in a few days, according to a subsequently issued birth certificate.
"I'm actually turning 90 now," he added. His papers were lost when he was still a child when his mother buried them to protect herself and the boy.
His mother was a member of the Communist Party and his father was Jewish. In 1941, when Nazi Germany invaded Ukraine, his mother fled with him from the German invaders, many hundreds of kilometers away. Mostly on foot.
As a boy, he witnessed the bombings and the sight of dead people on the side of the road. In Ukraine, more than 1.5 million Jews fell victim to the Holocaust.
Since the beginning of the war, the organization "Aid Network for Survivors of Nazi Persecution in Ukraine" has taken care of people who, like Kamensky, survived the horrors of Nazi terror. The network of more than 50 organizations primarily supports those who remained in Ukraine with donations.
But while the need is increasing, the willingness to donate is decreasing
- complains one of the employees of the organization. According to estimates, there are still nearly 40,000 survivors of the Nazi terror in Ukraine, including Jews, forced laborers and political persecuted. Despite the war, very few of them would leave the country. The move would be primarily made by those whose family already lives in Germany.
Leonid Kamensky emphasized how grateful he was for Germany's acceptance of him. However, he still remembers his childhood fears of the German invaders.
The elderly Holocaust survivor talked about the apartment he left behind, the garden shed he built himself and the many plants he took care of.
“I want to go home,” he said.
"But do I really have the strength for it?"
Featured image: Jüdische Allgemeine
