Skip to Main Content

EHS Reflects on the Life and Resilience of Holocaust Survivor Raisa Feldfuks

Far Rockaway, New York, January 27, 2025 — On this Holocaust Remembrance Day, EHS honors the memory of the six million Jews who perished and stand in solidarity with survivors, like Far Rockaway resident Raisa Feldfuks. Her story is a testament to resilience, and the importance of empathy and compassion – values that guide our service to the community we serve.

Raisa Feldfuks was just 3 ½ years old when the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. The occupation led to her father, Lev, being drafted into the Soviet army, while Raisa, her mother, Esther, and her siblings Arkady and Maria, were evacuated from their home.   

The family boarded trains organized by the Soviet Union to Almaty, Kazakhstan in Central Asia, as news of the Nazi atrocities against both Jews and non-Jews spread. The trains ultimately saved countless lives, but they were primitive and lacked good conditions.

“It was very uncomfortable, cramped and in general very difficult, especially for a child at my age,” Raisa recalled.  

Once in Almaty, Raisa’s family moved into a communal flat, with many others. They lived in extreme poverty, in dorm-like conditions, which Raisa described as “very cold.” The family stayed there until 1945, when they returned to Odessa. 

Upon their return, they discovered another family had taken over their apartment, connecting it to a neighboring unit by breaking down the separating wall. Eventually, the family regained their home, the wall was restored, and they moved back in. Tragically, they also learned that Raisa’s father died in Austria just two weeks before the war ended. 

Life in Odessa was challenging, and it worsened when Raisa’s mother became ill and was unable to take care of her three children. As a result, Raisa, Arkady and Maria were sent to an orphanage. 

Arkady later escaped the orphanage and studied shipbuilding in Sevastopol. Raisa remained in the orphanage with her sister until she was 14. 

Raisa married at the age of 22. In 1994, she and her husband immigrated to the United States, but he passed away a year later. Today, she is proud to have two children, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Raisa feels a deep sense of responsibility to share her story with future generations, urging them to learn from the past.   

“War is terrible and horrific, and all should be done to avoid it,” Raisa said.

At EHS, we are proud to honor survivors like Raisa, and remain committed to our mission of serving our community with compassion, respect, and empathy.


About Episcopal Health Services

Episcopal Health Services Inc., (EHS) is a health system located on the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, New York. The system provides emergency and ambulatory care to the densely populated, culturally and economically diverse, and medically underserved Rockaways and Five Towns populations. The system provides people of all faiths with comprehensive preventive, diagnostic treatment, and rehabilitative services, regardless of their ability to pay.