“The Essence of Judaism”: With JDC’s Help, Finding My Purpose in Warsaw

Tatiana Wojciechowska fled Ukraine for Poland with her elderly mother — and discovered a supportive Jewish community in Warsaw.

By Tatiana Wojciechowska - JDC Client; Warsaw, Poland | December 30, 2024

Tatiana Wojciechowska (right) speaks with her mother outside of the JDC-supported Warsaw Jewish Community Center (JCC).

After a missile struck their neighboring building in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tatiana Wojciechowska and her mother fled to Warsaw with JDC’s help. Once there, they found an entire network of JDC support that helped them feel welcome and settled. Today, as a volunteer at the JDC-supported Warsaw Jewish Community Center (JCC), Wojciechowska has found a new sense of purpose: helping elderly Ukrainian Jews process their emotions through art therapy. 

In this reflection, Wojciechowska describes the journey that brought her and her mother, 83, to Warsaw, as well as the joy and meaning she derives from helping her fellow Jews. 

Tatiana Wojciechowska (right) with her mother.

If you pick up a pencil or paintbrush, you engage not only your mind but also your hands, body, and eyes — almost all your senses. And when you do this in a group, you also use your ears for hearing, your mouth for talking, and your eyes for looking. 

As a psychologist, I know that any hardships, sorrows, or traumas are easier to cope with when there are people around — in my field, we say that one person can heal another. This is incredibly important, and it’s why the art therapy classes here at JCC Warsaw are vital for the community’s elderly Ukrainian Jewish refugees. 

Some of them find it difficult to talk about their problems. I tell them, “Draw what’s happening to you.” 

“What? Draw?” they often say. “We can’t draw. We haven’t done that in years. We’re not kids anymore.”

“Just give it a try,” I say. “See what happens.” 

They take a blank sheet of paper and start to depict the world as they see it, a picture of their inner life. Through the act of drawing or painting, they begin to see the world as more beautiful, vibrant, and colorful. This is crucial for all of us right now because we are all living in uncertainty — nobody knows what tomorrow will bring.

My wake-up call came nearly three years ago, the day after the conflict began, when a missile struck the building next to mine back home in Kyiv, Ukraine. That morning, my daughter had a panic attack. We all felt that staying in Kyiv was too dangerous, but we didn’t leave right away.

Almost a year later, in December 2022, the power cuts started. My mother lived on the seventh floor of our building, and I lived on the eleventh. The elevators stopped working, and the power was off eight hours a day — no cell service, nothing. She was stuck in her apartment, and I couldn’t take her to my place. My mother was 82 at the time — what would we have done if she’d had a medical emergency? 

Our only option was to evacuate. 

Wojciechowska (second from right) with her mother and Monika Elliott (far left), JDC’s program coordinator in Poland.

We knew we could contact the JDC-supported Hesed Bnei Azriel social service center here in Kyiv. My mother had been a longtime member of Hesed, attending their many celebrations and events. I had also been a member of Hesed, though I couldn’t go as often because of my full-time job. 

For many years, Hesed had been a godsend. It was a place where my mother and I could learn more about our traditions and culture. It had also been our Jewish community, a source of support and an opportunity to meet with others. Where else could people my mother’s age go to socialize?

When we realized that staying was no longer possible, we knew that we could trust JDC. We reached out, and they offered to take us to Poland. In just two days, they organized an evacuation bus. We were terrified — for someone my mother’s age, it’s difficult to travel long distances. But when we saw the bus, we knew everything would be okay. JDC had arranged for her to have a bed where she could lie down and be comfortable. 

In retrospect, everything happened so quickly — my friend calls such things miracles.

The evacuation wasn’t the only miracle. On the way to Poland, I thought we’d be going to some large gym where all of us would sleep on bunk beds. I even told my mother, “If anything happens, you’ll take the bottom bunk, and I’ll take the top. Don’t worry, we’ll be close.”

But what I thought would be a nightmare turned into a fairytale. The refugee center wasn’t a large gym — it was a nice hotel. When my mother and I walked into our room, we found pristine white bedding. On top of that, we were told we’d have breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the hotel restaurant. I thought, can such a thing be possible? 

Yes, it could and it was. Our experience on the bus and hotel confirmed what JDC had been to us for years — a steadfast source of support that would never leave our side. 

When you give, you receive even more. And after almost three years after that awful morning back in Kyiv, I’ve received so much by supporting my fellow Ukrainian Jews here in Warsaw, through art therapy. I feel like my skills haven’t gone to waste — psychology is my field, my job, and I have an incredible opportunity to help people in a similar situation. 

Thanks to the club, I meet people from different cities across Ukraine, and we exchange our stories and life experiences.Together, as we draw traditional Jewish symbols or images for holidays, we gain a renewed sense of possibility and hope. 

Here in Warsaw, I’ve also become more aware of my roots. If a tree doesn’t have strong roots, it can’t develop properly. All of my mother’s family are from a small town near Warsaw, so, when we fled our home in Kyiv and became refugees, ironically, we ran straight into our ancestral home. If it weren’t for JDC’s help, we wouldn’t have come here at all — we couldn’t have reconnected with a community that I guess has always been a kind of home for us. 

Without JDC’s help, we wouldn’t have come here at all we wouldn’t have reconnected with a community that’s always been home to us.

To say that I’m grateful is an understatement. My soul, as well as my heart, is filled with gratitude.

The more I learn about the history of the Jewish people, the more I become convinced that we survived primarily because we helped one another. I’ve always admired people engaged in charity. I often think about how spiritually wealthy they must be if they can share with others. It means that they are blessed by God with the ability to give to others. 

To me, this is something divine — and it’s the essence of Judaism. It’s what God has commanded us: to help each other. This is the way in which JDC helps me live a Jewish life each and every day. 

TatianaWojciechowska is a JDC client from Ukraine living in Warsaw, Poland. 

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