The Jewish children with Israel Minister Shai (2nd from left), Rabbi Teichtal (centre) and day-care center manager Ronde Gaudenzi Photo: Ralf Gunther
By Isabel Pancake
The children finally have a place where they can play and romp carefree. An extension of the Jewish kindergarten “Gan Israel” for Ukrainian refugee children was opened in Wilmersdorf on Wednesday.
At the opening, the Israeli Minister for Diaspora Dr. Nachman Shai came specially.
The new containers can now accommodate 60 Ukrainian children between the ages of three and five. The children come from Dnipro and Odessa, and some of the Jewish orphans who came to Berlin by bus in March are now going to the day-care center in Wilmersdorf.
The containers and the playground were set up within a few weeks Photo: Ralf Gunther
“The main language is German, but some of our teachers can also speak Russian, Hebrew and even Ukrainian,” says Jana Erdmann, spokeswoman for the Jewish Education Center in Chabad.
So far, the little ones could only say “good morning” and “thank you” in their new language.
Yehuda Teichtal, Chairman of Chabad: “We are now in Berlin, in Germany, in the country from which Jews had to flee 80 years ago. It is wonderful that Berlin is a place of refuge today.”