The war in Ukraine was also an issue at the delegates’ meeting (DV) of the Swiss Federation of Israelite Communities (SIG). At the same time, the social organization of the Jewish communities in Switzerland, the Association of Swiss Jewish Refugee Aids/Welfare (VSJF), met for its DV. The VSJF has a social service that offers help to Jewish people, most of whom do not belong to any community.
The shock of the Swiss Jews is great. She has a long history with her fellow believers from Ukraine. We are in close contact with Jewish communities in Ukraine, says SIG President Ralph Lewin. Many Swiss Jews have relatives in Ukraine. The solidarity among Jews is just as great as in the Swiss population as a whole.
“Everyone is suffering with what is happening now. There is a very large Jewish community there. For example, my father-in-law was born in Ukraine. The task now is to alleviate the suffering of these people and to find an end to this war,” says Ralph Lewin.
Legend:
Ralph Lewin was a member of the canton of Basel-Stadt from 1997 to 2008 and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bank Coop (today Bank Cler) from 2010 to 2017. Since 2020 he has been President of the Swiss Federation of Israelite Communities (SIG).
Keystone Archive (2013)
The fact that Putin justified the war in Ukraine with the denazification of the country is not only shocking but also absurd as a comparison, says Lewin: “Of course there are individual Nazis, as in many other countries. But that the head of state is a Nazi regime is completely unfounded. Ukraine has a Jewish President who was elected in a democratic election. The designation of this regime as a Nazi regime is primarily a trivialization of the Holocaust.” At that time, one and a half million people were killed in Ukraine.
Around 300 Jews who fled from the Ukraine
To date, about 300 Jews have fled from the Ukraine to Switzerland before the current war unfolds. This is not the first time, says Gabrielle Rosenstein, President of the Swiss Jewish Welfare Association (VSJF).
«Our association was founded shortly after 1900, when Jews were forcibly recruited by order of the Russian Tsar, especially in the Ukrainian region, when Cossacks were carrying out pogroms. There was a huge wave of emigration, also to Switzerland,” says Rosenstein.
The Jewish communities did a lot for the refugees at the time. Even today, the solidarity is great: from housing to schools, a lot is provided for the refugees. There are also special events for the refugees organized by Jewish communities.
This also includes kosher food or a Seder, a ceremonial meal at the beginning of the Jewish Passover festival, which was organized for a large group of Ukrainian refugees in Davos (GR). “It was a special communal experience for the Ukrainian women, which has to do with flight and exile,” explains Gabrielle Rosenstein.
Federal Councilor Karin Keller-Sutter was the guest of honor at the delegates’ meeting in Bern. Regarding the war in Ukraine, she praised the solidarity and thanked the Jewish community for their commitment.