Some of the younger children of the Dnipro Jewish community cannot remember schooling without the sounds of sirens and the subsequent march to bomb shelters. Under missile fire and drone attacks launched by the Russian forces that have invaded Ukraine, the children and their parents have strived to find a semblance of normality.
There had been about 40,000 to 50,000 Jews in Dnipro before the war, according to community director Zelig Brez, though he noted that no one had truly been certain, since many were not religious or involved in the community. Since the Russian military invaded in 2022, many had fled the country, leaving 15,000 to 20,000 Jews. Some of those Jewish community members had come from elsewhere in Ukraine, seeking refuge from the slow creep and receding of the trenches and frontlines.
Defenses are being built within the city, not just at the front. Earth is being laid to cover a bomb shelter outside the Levi Yitzhak Schneerson school. Every school needs a shelter open to children and the public when the siren wails through the city. Educational institutions can't operate without some sort of shelter; schools that lack shelter have classes that visit counterparts and temporarily teach in their facilities. When there are sirens at the Schneerson school, the lessons continue in the older basement shelter, as one teacher explained that the "sirens can be very long," and if they stopped teaching, then there would hardly be a school day. Sometimes the projectiles fall near -- The school's windows have been blown out twice. The attacks have damaged the area's utility infrastructure, and as a result, Dnipro suffers frequent power outages. Like many businesses, the school has diesel generators. These keep the school's lights on, but, according to the administration, they are very expensive.
When a siren sounds, the children of the institution's girls' school make their way down the winding stairs into the shelter, chatting along the way with no expression of dread. They are used to the missile alerts and continue lessons as best they can in the basement. A teacher explained that they try not to emphasize the war, and continuing as if nothing were wrong helps prevent students from getting stressed. Plans for the new shelter include separate classrooms, bathrooms, and community spaces that will further insulate their studies from the war that seeps across the map from the east.
Thriving against all odds
Despite the war, the school has thrived, Brez said with pride. He grew up with little of his heritage, but now his children could speak Hebrew as well as he did Russian. The 500 students had a full secular curriculum, but had added Hebrew and Jewish studies. The school, which had state-of-the-art electronic blackboards and a special class for its 13 students with special needs, provided an environment where students could excel regardless of circumstances. According to the principal, the school prioritizes academics to remain competitive with other institutions. It was the 10th-best school in the city, 7th-best in Ukrainian, 10th-best in English, and 31st in mathematics nationwide.
At a local Jewish kindergarten, they built a shelter so they could continue operating. The shelter room is used regularly for activities, so the small children are accustomed to being there and aren't overwhelmed by being relocated to its safety. A representative said that the daycare was overwhelmed during the first three months of the war, but managed to overcome the initial shock with the help of philanthropists and organizations such as Combined Jewish Philanthropies Boston. Many institutions in Dnipro received support from foreign Jewish organizations and expressed gratitude to their coreligionists abroad.
This included the Jewish Medical Center (JMC), a multidisciplinary medical facility attached to the Menorah Center. During the early days of the war, it had to treat injuries from those barrages, as well as refugees from Mariupol and Donetsk. Much of the center's equipment is mobile, due to various demands that could arise during the war. The surgery room is equipped with a backup generator, as it "can't be without electricity for even one minute," according to one of the doctors. The vast majority of those treated by the JMC were non Jews. The community's old age home was also occupied mostly by non-Jewish refugees from the east. Dnipro Chief Rabbi Shmuel Kaminetsky said that it was a time of war, and the community had to lend aid.
A local yeshiva had 60 students from around the world before the war, reduced to thirty after the onset of the Russian invasion. At the beginning of the war, they had to learn in the building's hallways, away from the glass windows, which could shatter during attacks. Now they have a shelter in the basement, where they can continue learning under Russian barrages. A yeshiva representative didn't have much hope for the war to end soon.
"We believe in God," he said, a sentiment echoed by other religiously observant Jewish Ukrainians when asked about the war's possible end.
Holding out hope, holding onto optimism
Kaminetsky was one of the few Jews in Dnipro who held hope that the war would soon end and optimism for the future of the country, the city, and its Jewish community. The two sides had traded blows for four years, and both countries had been staggered by the war of attrition. Russia was faltering because of economic issues, he believed. Ukraine didn't have enough people to fight, but had done a good job of protecting itself and preventing Russia from conquering the country, said the rabbi. Most Ukrainians were fighting out of a patriotic love for their country, but those who had held the line were tired.
"[Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky did an unbelievable job," said Kaminetsky, explaining that the country's leader had taken a large risk by staying at the beginning of the war, and to bring it to a conclusion, he might need to take further risks. The rabbi believed that the "strong" and "determined" president would need to take other risks to end the war, and that, long after that day, he would be remembered for winning the war and saving the country.
Brez shared that the war opened new opportunities for Dnipro's Jews to reconnect to Judaism, finding purpose and hope amid the missile barrages. Kaminetsky had enough hope for all of them, believing that once the war ended, those who had left the city would return. There was war, but the Ukrainian people had spirit and could see beyond the dark clouds that blocked the horizon during the difficult winter. Ukrainians and Ukrainians Jews could see a future in which they could rebuild and flourish.
"Ukraine is alive," said Kaminetsky.