Anatevka () is a Ukrainian refugee village that provides food, housing, education, and medical support for refugees resulting from the 2014 Russian invasion and the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. The village was established in 2015 and currently houses hundreds of families. The village was established by Harav Moshe Reuven Azman, the chief rabbi of Ukraine and Kyiv. The village is located on the outskirts of Kyiv, near the village of

Bilohorodka Bilohorodka (Ukrainian: ''Білогородка'') is a village in Bucha Raion, Kyiv Oblast of north Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Bilohorodka rural hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine, formed on 12 June 12 2020 and including nine ...

History

Establishment

In 2014, Ukraine was invaded by Russia. In response to the invasion, which displaced tens of thousands of people (including thousands of Jews), Anatevka was established on a plot of empty land, near Kyiv. The project was overseen by Chief Rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman, leaders in both America and Ukraine, and Chaim Klimovitsky. The name was inspired by the famous fictional shtetl of Anatevka from the 1964 Broadway musical ''

Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in or around 1905. It is based on ''Tevye and his Daughters'' (or ''Tevye the ...

''. The village was created in order to serve as a safe community for refugees, offering them housing in furbished apartments, access to a Jewish education system, healthcare and mental health support, and community events. Over the ensuing years, the village grew to include apartments which housed refugee families. The community also came to include a kindergarten, a first through tenth grade school (called Mitzvah 613), a ''Cheder'' (a traditional Jewish elementary school), a soccer field, a playground, a kosher hotel, and other Jewish infrastructure including a

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

and a

mikveh Mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. Most forms of ritual impurity can be purif ...

Refugees gather in the Anatevka Refugee Village

2022 Russian invasion

In response to the Russian invasion in 2022, given Anatevka’s strategic position away from Russian attack targets, the village quickly became a staging ground and operational headquarters for humanitarian efforts. Many refugees were evacuated through Anatevka, stopping there for a warm meal or immediate medical care before continuing on to the Moldovan border. The Ceremonial Building of Anatevka

Infrastructure

Anatevka supports a wide range of infrastructure. There are close to a hundred apartments in the village that house refugee families. There is also a kosher hotel which hosts tourists. There is also a mikveh, a synagogue, and a community center. Football Field in Anatevka

Education

Anatevka includes a Jewish education system. The educational system includes the Mitzvah 613 school, a girls' school, a ''Cheder'' which provides Jewish elementary education, a woodworking shop, a football field, and a playground. The educational system includes over 200 students and is one of the only Jewish schools in the surrounding area. Many students travel cross-country to attend the school. Since the 2022 war, the school system has operated online due to the lack of funding necessary to build a bomb shelter.

References

{{reflist Organizations established in 2015 2015 establishments in Ukraine Organizations based in Ukraine Villages in Bucha Raion