German Foreign Minister Johann Wedepohl paid a special visit to the children of the Mishpacha Children’s Home orphanage in Odessa, more than three years after his government’s swift action helped rescue them from the horrors of war.
When war erupted in Ukraine in February 2022, Chabad-Lubavitch of Odessa was forced to evacuate hundreds of students and staff. The grueling 52-hour journey took place in two buses that left Odessa at 7 a.m. on March 2.
They didn’t arrive in Berlin until Friday midday after passing through seven countries.
From Odessa, they fled to Moldova, where the children played outside and ate before continuing on to the longer leg of the trip: Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia, and finally, Germany.
German authorities immediately facilitated the entry of 124 orphaned children, issuing emergency passports at the border to ensure their safe passage to temporary shelter in Germany, and days after their arrival, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Chabad of Berlin to welcome the evacuees personally. They remained in Berlin until it was safer to return to Odessa, where they have been ever since.
Wedepohl was accompanied on his visit by German Ambassador to Ukraine Mr. Martin Jäger and Germany’s Honorary Consul in Odessa Mr. Alexander Kipke. The minister spoke to the children and distributed candy, while Rabbi Wolff presented him with a silver embossing of a German passport issued during the war to a young boy named Tuvia, whose rescue it had facilitated.
When Igor Shatkhin, president of the Union of Jewish Communities in Southern Ukraine, told him that the gift should remind Wedepohl of the kindness he showed the Jewish community when they needed it most, the minister responded movingly:
“We didn’t just come to observe. We came to ensure success and security for the lives of these children. We haven’t forgotten you for a moment, and we will continue to do everything we can to ensure you a better future.”
Start a Discussion