The Survivor Mitzvah Project

10/01/2026

The act of sharing is more important than how much we give. The hardships and suffering endured during the Holocaust has shaped the survivors’ entire lives, but so has the kindness and compassion that found its way into the darkness. It is that spark of kindness from others, that impulse to give, that made the difference between hope and despair, and between life and death.

Holocaust Survivor Marlena G. writes, when everyone shares what they have, even a meal made from wild herbs and frozen potato peels can be considered a “feast.”

“Let’s not talk about sad things. Let’s talk about nettle. Nettle is a delicious herb when it is tender and fresh. It contains multiple vitamins, and can help stop bleeding. My aunt used nettle and orache to make pancakes in a traditional wood-fired oven. She also cooked soup from these herbs, and if we were lucky enough to find potato peels in the snow, it became a feast! This is what we ate from 1942 to 1943. In 1944 we had a small garden where we grew our own potatoes and cabbage. To speed up ripening the tomatoes, we put them in felt boots and kept the boots on top of the oven.” – Holocaust Survivor Marlena G. from Moldova.

All it took was nettle pancakes or a bit of potato peel brought home to the family kitchen. For Marlena Germovna and so many other Holocaust Survivors, sharing with others gave them hope in the midst of suffering and starvation.

This Sukkot, we celebrate the selflessness and generosity that sustains all of us. To the Holocaust Survivors who shared what little they had to help each other survive, the passage of time has not diminished your courage and heroism. To our compassionate donors, the distance of thousands of miles has not diminished the power of your kind hearts. Despite whatever problems or obstacles you are facing in your own lives, you continue sharing your warmth and support with those who need it even more. Donate today at www.survivormitzvah.org

10/01/2026

We’re sharing this article by Masha Pearl of The Blue Card, which makes an important point: when we remember the Holocaust, we should make sure that living survivors receive the support they need.

This is at the heart of what we do at The Survivor Mitzvah Project. With your support, we are able to help Holocaust survivors with the things they need today - food, medicine, heat, shelter and caregivers.

We invite you to read the article and learn more about why supporting living survivors matters:

Every Rosh Hashanah, Jewish tradition asks us to take an honest accounting. We look back at whom we helped, where we fell short and what we intend to change. In the midst of the High Holy Days, Jewish philanthropy should apply that same scrutiny to the way we fund Holocaust remembrance. Our communit...

09/29/2026

Traditions carry memories across generations. As many younger people gather to celebrate Sukkot, for Holocaust survivors, sleeping or sharing a meal outdoors can evoke a very different kind of memory - memories of a time when food was scarce and sharing what little they had could mean the difference between hunger and survival.

Holocaust survivor Maya I. tells us that the sharing of food can be the gesture that makes all the difference.

“At the end of October 1941, 500 elderly people and all children younger than 15 were marched to Ukraine, to the Southern Bug region. My grandparents, Aunt Ida with her child, and my brother and I were among them. Those who were too sick and exhausted to walk were shot.

We were brought to the former kolkhoz (collective farm) yard in the village of Gvozdavka, Liubashivka district, Ukraine. There were already many Jews there. We had to sit on the ground. It started to rain. Grandfather was severely beaten on arrival. He died several days later.

There was only one well, and one barrack for 200 people. The policemen who guarded us were stationed in a hut in the center of the yard. We were not given any food. In the camp, prisoners suffered from typhoid and dystrophy. I became ill with typhoid fever. In November, a woman from the village took me and my aunt to the other side of the barbed wire. I don’t remember her name, but she gave us some bread and showed us the way. With great difficulty my aunt carried me on her back. We walked through the fields, trying to avoid busy roads.

In December, we made it to Ribnita, Moldova. The mayor ordered Aunt Ida and I to register in the ghetto. He instructed us to register as dependents of any man who had no family of his own. Isrul Boyarskiy registered us as his dependents. When he earned money, he shared food with us – mamaliga (cornmeal porridge) and oilcake. Later he became Aunt Ida’s real husband. We survived thanks to him.” – Holocaust Survivor Maya I., from Moldova.

09/17/2026

It is the New Year, 5787! The elderly Holocaust survivors in Eastern Europe you have been helping would like to thank you for your generous support.

We recently received this letter from Larisa Abramovna B.: “I am 85 years old and originally from Kramatorsk. There is war there now. I had to leave for a safer place in western Ukraine. I would like to say so many kind words about your support and the work you do to help people during this difficult time. Thank you for your compassion!”

A blind survivor Liana Fedorovna B., 87, dictated a letter to the caregiver she hired with our help: "Dear friends, I am very thankful to you for your kind hearts, for your help, for remembering us, for showing compassion toward us, your fellow human beings. Thank you for everything you do for us!”

A survivor in Ukraine, Valentina Stepanovna M., who received dietary and hygiene supplies thanks to your support: "We would not be able to survive without your help, for which we are deeply grateful.”

These are just a few lines from the thousands of letters of thanks we receive for your kindness, compassion and generosity.

These brave individuals in their 80’s and 90’s live in incredibly harsh conditions, lacking food, life-saving medication, and heat. Aging survivors are isolated, ill, and alone. Many live in huts they built themselves after the war. Made of mud and straw bricks, these huts are now in desperate need of repair before the brutal winter arrives.

Now more than ever survivors need our help. For Rosh Hashanah, the Holocaust survivors in Eastern Europe send you all they have – their heartfelt good wishes and endless thanks.

Together we can do so much more for them, and truly make a difference in their lives!

Help write a name in our Book of Life!

Send your special Rosh Hashanah donation today!

Wishing you a sweet New Year and an abundance of blessings!

Sincerely,

Zane Buzby and everyone at The Survivor Mitzvah Project!

09/14/2026

At the head of a new year, we look forward with hope and celebrate the people, traditions, and shared meals that bring us together.

Sonia was born in Polesskoe, Ukraine. She was in medical school when World War 2 broke out, forcing her to flee to Siberia. She worked for over 40 years in the medical field in Polesskoe before she and her son, Yuli (pictured above), were forced to resettle again due to the Chernobyl catastrophe. Yuli made us a feast using all of his mother’s recipes. Sonia sat in a chair overseeing the kitchen, and one could feel the love they shared by cooking together.

Yuli and Sonia’s gefilte fish recipe:
•500 grams of fresh fish (whitefish or carp)
•2 large onions
•2 carrots
•2 parsley roots and greens
•2 pieces of white bread
•2 eggs
•Salt and pepper
•Bay leaf

1. Peel the fish, remove the eyes, cut off the fins. Wash the fish under a stream of cold water.
2. Remove the head, cut the fish in half and put the scaled side down on a pan.
3. Cut up one carrot, one onion, and the parsley. Put the bay leaf and the greens of the parsley on the pan.
4. Cut the fish into parts. Remove the fillets from the skin and bones. Put the fillets through a strainer, through a fine mesh. Then add the remaining onion, carrot, and the bread and mix well.
5. Add the eggs, salt, and pepper to taste. Carefully mix, then moisten your hands with cold water and fill the skin with the minced fish, or form balls of the desired size.
6. Place the prepared fish on the head and vegetables, and cover the fish with cold water. Salt the water to taste.
7. Cook over a medium fire until done. Let the fish rest and then place it carefully on the dish.
8. Take out pieces of carrot and put one on each portion of fish. Put the remaining carrot pieces around the fish. The remaining fat in the cooking water can either be poured over the fish or poured into a separate dish and chilled.

09/13/2026

On the last day of Rosh Hashanah, please donate to help a Holocaust survivor live more safely and comfortably through the year ahead.

The people pictured here are in their 80s, 90s, and beyond. Each person has a lifetime of memories and a story that continued long after the Holocaust. Today, many are living alone, with the only people they interact with being their caretakers. Many are disabled, bedridden, or in declining health. All deserve food, medicine, heat, shelter, and compassionate care, and some loving kindness.

Many organizations are doing important work for Holocaust survivors. Yet major systematic gaps remain, and survivors across Eastern Europe are still living in isolation without enough support for their most basic needs. Even decades after the Holocaust, this still remains a pressing issue. They cannot afford to wait for help.

As a new year begins, we have an urgent opportunity to be there for them. Your acts of kindness at Rosh Hashanah will impact their entire year. Bring hope, loving kindness, and create miracles for these survivors as we enter a new year.

They are still here. There is still time to help. Donate today at www.survivormitzvah.org

09/12/2026

This recipe was shared with us by a Holocaust survivor who was part of The Survivor Mitzvah Project family, and whom we were honored to support.

Anna P. was born on July 20th, 1918. Married with a baby at the start of the war, her husband was sent to the Front on the first day of fighting. He died without ever seeing the baby. When her family learned that killing squads were coming, her family ran to the river to escape. German planes bombed all the boats, and an explosion immediately killed her father. They hurriedly buried him on the riverbank. Anna, her mother, sister, and the children escaped by swimming across three rivers, the children tied to their backs.

Anna’s family fled to a collective farm in Kazakhstan to escape German bombings. Anna was awarded medals and certificates documenting her wartime experiences. After the war, Anna went on to work as a teacher for over 50 years. During Rosh Hashanah, we honor survivors by sharing their recipes and wishings for a sweet and fruitful new year.

Anna’s Apple Strudel
•3 eggs
•¾ glass vegetable oil
•6 tbsp of warm water
•2 glasses of water
•2 glasses of flour
•½ teaspoon of salt
•½ teaspoon of baking powder
•1 kg of sour apples
•400 g [14 oz] of raisins
•2 tsp of cinnamon
•2 glasses of brown sugar

1) Whisk the egg with vegetable oil and water. Mix the flour with salt and baking powder. Add these to the egg and knead the dough.
2) Divide the dough into three parts, roll each part into a ball and leave in a warm place for one hour.
3) Roll the dough out on a board sprinkled with flour, spreading the dough until it becomes as thin as paper
4) Mix cut apples, nuts, raisins, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Lay ⅓ of this stuffing out evenly onto the dough while leaving uncovered a small hem on one side (about 10 cm). Turn this hem over toward the stuffing and roll it into a roll, beginning with the opposite side.
5) Repeat with two other rolls.
6) Place the rolls on a smeared baking pan, smear the top with vegetable oil, and [rest] for 15 minutes. Then, make incisions with a knife (up until the middle) into the slices, about 2 cm thick. Bake at 180-190°C [350-375°F] for 1 hour. When chilled, cut into pieces.

09/12/2026

On the second day of Rosh Hashanah, we continue to reflect not only on the years that have passed, but on the fullness of every life.

These faces are more than their Holocaust stories.

They are survivors, but they are also teachers, musicians, engineers, artists, neighbors, and friends. Each has a lifetime of experiences, memories, and dreams.

They have favorite foods and familiar routines. They have senses of humor, strong opinions, people they love, and people they miss. They have celebrated birthdays, raised families, built careers, formed friendships, and created lives in the decades since the Holocaust.

It is easy for the word “survivor” to become the first thing we see. But no human life can be contained in a single word.

The Holocaust is an enormous and painful part of their history, but it is not everything they are.

As we enter a new year with reflection and hope, we honor the lives they have lived, the people they are today, and the stories they are still writing. It is our privilege to know them not only for what they survived, but for who they truly are.

Donate today at www.survivormitzvah.org.

09/12/2026

“At the start of the war my father was drafted, and my mother and I were evacuated to the Orenburg region in the Ural Mountains. To survive there, my mother had to work very hard. We suffered hunger and cold. In 1944 we returned to Ukraine where we again suffered hunger, cold, and devastation—since our house was destroyed and all of our belongings disappeared.

During the war, all of our relatives who stayed in Ukraine were murdered. My father came back alive but very sick, and we, as everyone else at that time, were always hungry. Later I graduated from nursing school, became a nurse, got married, and gave birth to three children.” – Holocaust Survivor Galina B.

Galina’s memories hold both the suffering she endured and the life she built in the years that followed. Alongside her story, she shared her Honey Cake recipe as blessings for a “Sweet New Year”.

Galina's Lekah (Honey Cake) Recipe:
•Take five eggs, separate egg whites from yolks, and beat egg whites with one cup of sugar until stiff. Beat the yolks until thickened and mix them in with the whites.
•Mix in one cup of flour and a dash of vanilla.
•Grease a cake pan with oil, and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Check the cake's readiness according to its color (it should be golden brown) and by inserting a toothpick in the center, which should come out clean.

09/11/2026

There is still time. As Rosh Hashanah approaches, those words carry even greater meaning.

The Holocaust survivors SMP helps are now in their 80s, 90s, and beyond. Some still move around their homes independently. Others spend much of their time bedridden. Age is catching up with a generation that has already carried more than anyone should have had to bear.

We cannot change what happened to them as children and young adults. But as we reflect on the past and look toward a new year, we can renew our commitment to being there for them now.

There is still time to provide food, medicine, heat, shelter, caretakers, and the everyday support that becomes increasingly important with age. There is still time to help survivors live these years knowing they are cared for and have not been forgotten.

A new year offers an opportunity to turn reflection into purpose and hope into action. While they are still here, we can make a difference in their lives.

Donate today at www.survivormitzvah.org.