(Jewish Group) Ukrainian Jews, scarred by a bloody history, find themselves refugees once again

[Behind the Aegis]

Jews from Ukraine arrive at a Jewish community center in Chisinau, Moldova, Feb. 25, 2022. (Courtesy of Rabbi Pinchas Salzman)

Across Ukraine, Jews are engaging in a historically Jewish experience: becoming refugees.

And hundreds of them from Odessa have headed to an unlikely destination, the impoverished nation of Moldova whose capital, Chisinau, was the site of a major pogrom that became a symbol of Jewish flight Eastern Europe in the early 20th century.

As Russian troops pour into Ukraine and bomb its cities, many Ukrainians are on the move both internally and in an attempt to leave for other countries. Border crossings in the country’s west and south are attracting thousands of prospective exiles, according to the Guardian. There are also at least 100,000 internally displaced persons.

Some of the Jews who live in Ukraine — who number at least 43,000 and potentially many more — are part of that unfortunate migration.

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