IF YOU HEARD WHAT ELLIE HEARD

ELLIE SHARES THE STORY OF HER GRANDMOTHER VERA RAKHLIN, WHO WAS BORN TO A LOVING FAMILY IN DRYBIN, BELARUS, IN 1918. WHEN VERA WAS FIVE, THE FAMILY MOVED TO GORKI, BELARUS, WHICH IS WHERE VERA AND HER BROTHER GREW UP. VERA TOOK HER EDUCATION VERY SERIOUSLY, AND WHEN SHE WAS 13, WENT TO COMMUNITY COLLEGE IN MOSCOW. ON A SUMMER VISIT HOME TO GORKI, SHE MET THE MAN WHO WOULD BECOME HER HUSBAND, ILYA. IN 1939, THEY WELCOMED THEIR SON BORIS. IN 1941, WHILE ILYA WAS SERVING ON THE FRONT LINES IN THE RUSSIAN ARMY AND VERA WAS WORKING IN MOSCOW, THEIR SON BORIS WAS WITH FAMILY IN BELARUS. WHEN THE NAZI’S INVADED GORKI, THEY FORCED ALL THE JEWS, INCLUDING VERA’S FAMILY AND YOUNG SON INTO A GHETTO WHERE CONDITIONS WERE INHUMANE AND VERY DIFFICULT. WHEN THE NAZIS WERE APPROACHING MOSCOW, VERA ESCAPED TO SIBERIA, WHERE SHE WAS APPROACHED BY THE KGB TO WORK FOR THEM GATHERING LOCAL INTEL. AFTER THE WAR, ILYA AND VERA REUNITED AND ILYA WENT BACK TO GORKI TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THEIR FAMILY. IT WAS THEN WHEN HE LEARNED THE DETAILS AND FATE OF THEIR SON BORIS, AS WELL AS THE REST OF THEIR FAMILY, WHO WERE ALL MURDERED BY THE NAZIS.

VERA AND ILYA SET OUT ON THE DIFFICULT TASK OF REBUILDING THEIR LIVES IN RUSSIA. THEY WELCOMED TWO DAUGHTERS. AS ANTISEMITISM CONTINUED TO RISE IN THE SOVIET UNION, THE FAMILY ULTIMATELY DECIDED TO LEAVE. ILYA PASSED AWAY IN 1975, AND VERA INITIALLY WAS HESITANT TO LEAVE THE SOVIET UNION. HER DAUGHTERS CONVINCED HER TO GO, AND THE FAMILY MADE THEIR WAY TO THE U.S. WHERE THEY SETTLED IN LOS ANGELES AND REESTABLISHED THEIR LIVES, AND BUILT A FAMILY THAT CONTINUES TO GROW AND THRIVE TODAY.

IF YOU HEARD WHAT ELLIE HEARD, YOU WOULD NEVER FORGET.