Russian Crimean Annexation Puts Stress on Ukraine's Holocaust Survivors

LOS ANGELES, March 24, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Zane Buzby, Co-Founder and Principal Director of the U.S.-based Survivor Mitzvah Project ("SMP") today issued the following statement regarding the upheaval in Ukraine and its impact on Ukrainian survivors of the Holocaust that receive critical daily life support from SMP.

"SMP has been closely following the developments unfolding in Ukraine for the last several months, now culminating with the Crimean annexation by Russia along with a mass migration from Crimea into Ukraine.

During this period, SMP has been maintaining contact with elderly Ukrainian Holocaust survivors for whom we provide life-sustaining aid. Our Holocaust survivors, who have suffered the most unspeakable of crimes against humanity, now continue to be subject to political upheaval and local chaotic conditions reminiscent of some 70 years ago. Our survivors live in constant fear of the actions of Russia, as well as the actions of internal Ukrainian elements, which are not friendly to the Jewish population.

Once again, fear of the unknown stalks the survivors as a daily experience.

Our survivors rank among the most vulnerable of Ukrainian people. SMP continues to provide the essentials of life to those in Ukraine that we already serve. The Survivor Mitzvah Project has mobilized to increase emergency aid to the elderly Holocaust survivors in Ukraine and we applaud the efforts of other Jewish organizations that have pledged to provide security assistance as well as relief to Ukraine."   

We ask all of our contributors and all people of conscience to provide financial assistance to the most vulnerable within Ukraine by donating today to the Survivor Mitzvah Project at http://www.survivormitzvah.org or by calling 800-905-6160.

The Survivor Mitzvah Project provides direct and continuous financial aid to elderly and forgotten Holocaust Survivors scattered throughout Ukraine and Eastern Europe who are sick, impoverished, isolated and living in harsh conditions. Their families and communities destroyed by the Nazis, they are struggling to survive, lacking the means to buy even the most basic of human necessities: food, medicine, heat and shelter. The Survivor Mitzvah Project ensures that they live out their last years with support and dignity. All donations go directly and immediately into their hands. VIEW VIDEO: http://youtu.be/bJLRKA2VhAY.

For additional comment and photos please contact Zane Buzby at 800-905-6160 or by e-mail at: [email protected].

Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJLRKA2VhAY
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140324/MM88023

SOURCE The Survivor Mitzvah Project