Survivor Mitzvah Project

Helping Holocaust Survivors in Eastern Europe

His name is Isaak and today he is 90 years old.  Born in Berdichev, Ukraine, Isaak still recalls very clearly the summer of 1941 when the Fascists appeared and ordered all of the Jews to a nearby town and a certain death. Isaak’s father approached a neighbor who kindly sheltered the family underneath their barn. Food was scarce and danger ever-present. And yet, somehow, the family survived. But, as Isaak says, “Humiliation, hunger and cold. This is what our family endured.”

It is for Isaak and Fanya and Luba and Tsilya and thousands more who reside in remote areas of Eastern Europe that Zane Buzby founded The Survivor Mitzvah Project. After traveling to the region years ago in search of her own family’s roots, Zane was stunned by the poverty, poor health and isolation she witnessed. She returned home inspired to make sure that these elders who have already suffered so much, live their last days in some comfort. Today, more than 2500 people benefit from financial assistance and regular contact, assuring them that they are not forgotten.  Our funds underwrite survivors’ needs.