Tikva UK reflects on critical work it continues to provide for Odesa’s Jewish community

Tikva was set up in 1993 with a core mission “to rescue and care for Jewish children from Odesa and surrounding regions who have experienced severe neglect, abuse, abandonment, and life on the streets, providing a safe home, essential care, and a consistent, high-quality education from early childhood through to independent adulthood”.

Since the outbreak of war just over four years ago, Tikva has rescued many children, alumni families, and elderly individuals from Odesa to Bucharest, and now works tirelessly in both cities.

In Bucharest, the charity runs Europe’s largest displaced persons camp, which cares for over 1,000 refugees. They have made provisions for nearly 500 refugee children to attend school – more than 200 of whom are in the Tikva orphanage.

[Missing Credit]Children preparing to spend the night on the floor of the displaced persons camp in Bucharest (Photo: Tikva UK)

They also serve more than 1,500 kosher meals per day in Bucharest to refugees from Odesa, and support them with education, housing and structured daily routines to help restore some level of normality.

Back in Odesa, Tikva continues to care for more than 1,200 elderly individuals and more than 200 children. Their daily lives are in the constant shadow of conflict, with children attending lessons in bomb shelters, frequently disrupted by air raid sirens, often in freezing conditions.

Also in Odesa, Tikva’s search and rescue work in extreme circumstances has brought 55 children to safety since the beginning of the war.

And they maintain a network for their alumni who have since made lives in Israel, focusing on safety, stability, and long-term recovery.

Refael Kruskal, CEO of Tikva Odesa, said that “for Tikva’s children and refugees, the war did not end after the first year, it continues to shape every aspect of their lives. Our responsibility is to ensure that even in prolonged crisis, they are protected, cared for and given hope for a better future.”

[Missing Credit]Children being supported by Tikva (Photo: Tikva UK)

Odesa is a port city located 275 miles south of Kyiv. It had a thriving Jewish community in the 19th century, and in 1897, Jews were estimated to comprise 37 per cent of the population.

However, the Holocaust brought severe persecution to Odesa’s Jews, and more than 80 per cent of its roughly 210,000-strong pre-war Jewish community was murdered by the Romanian authorities under Nazi occupation.

Tikva was founded by Rabbi Shlomo Baksht when he rescued six Jewish children from a state orphanage in Odesa in 1993 and opened a children’s home, which has since stayed at the core of Tikva’s operations. 

Before the current war began in 2022, there were more than 300 children’s homes open under the Tikva umbrella in Odesa.

Click here to learn more about Tikva.