tracing the past, embracing the present: Ekaterina’s journey to Judaism

By: Tasha Ackerman 

It wasn’t until Dr Ekaterina Yukhnovich’s parents began the process of making Aliyah and immigrating to Israel that she began learning about her Jewish ancestry. When a search for documents in Belarus taught her the names of her ancestors, she began to imagine what life was like for them and became curious about this side of her heritage. What started as just names on official documents has set her on a journey of self-discovery. 

As part of the process to make Aliyah, it’s necessary to provide a ‘proof of Judaism’ document. In former Soviet countries such as Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, a ‘Hebrew’ nationality is often written on one’s birth certificate which indicates one Jewish identity and provides sufficient evidence for the purposes of Aliyah. Discovering these bureaucratic requirements shifted Ekaterina’s understanding of her heritage, highlighting the contrast between her lived experience as a Russian in a non-religious household and the historical identification of her ancestors as Jewish. Even though her family did not still live by Jewish traditions, their Jewish identity had been a defining aspect of her family’s existence. This discovery led her to suddenly learn about distant relatives in Belarus and in Israel.

For Ekaterina’s father, to prove his Judaism, it meant he needed to obtain documents from Belarus. Ekaterina’s great-grandfather, David Zalmanovich Yukhnovich was born in Mogilev, Belarus. Her great-great-grandmother, Fania was from a village in the Mogilev region, V’iun and married her husband, Zalman Yakhnovich in the early 1920s. Ekaterina’s grandfather, Gennadiy was born in Mogilev in 1948, though David and the family moved to Moscow in 1950.

In 1939, Mogilev had a Jewish population of almost 20,000, though by 1943, over half of the Jewish population was killed by the Nazis. On 26 July 1941, Mogilev was taken by the Germans in the Siege of Mogilev, and Jews immediately were separated from the rest of the population through curfews, yellow badges, and rules that restricted their interactions with non-Jews. The Mogilev Ghetto was established on 13 August 1941, and Jews were given a 24-hour notice to move to the ghetto area.

The conditions in the Mogilev Ghetto were comparable to ghettos across western Europe, with overpopulated homes, limited access to food, and where inhabitants were forced into slave labour. Several large-scale massacres were committed, killing thousands of Jews at once.

Although Ekaterina may not know the personal accounts of her ancestors’ struggles during this period, the well-documented hardships faced by Jews in Mogilev sparked her journey to uncover her roots. This exploration, driven by historical and ancestral research, was not only about understanding the past but also led her to the local Jewish community in Newcastle where she now lives. As she learned more about her Jewish ancestry, the more she felt inspired to dive into her heritage, fuelling the desire she’s had since childhood to understand this part of her identity. 

While Ekaterina doesn’t know the personal stories of her ancestors and what they experienced in Mogilev, as she started to learn about her Jewish ancestry, she also learned about the history which has inspired her quest into her own identity. Even though Ekaterina’s family did not follow Jewish traditions while she was growing up, her father would refer to his Jewish heritage. She can recall comments her father would make about his Jewish identity and point out antisemitism in old films and theatre, for example pointing out Klezmer music in a musical used to perpetuate Jewish stereotypes. Even though she didn’t learn much about the Jewish religion or Jewish lifestyle, she inherited her father’s sense of Jewish pride. 

Ekaterina explained she had a bad relationship with the protestant school she attended as a child, and would protest attending, claiming I’m Jewish, I don’t need to go. Ekaterina felt like she was looking for something to identify with. Eventually, this would lead her to seek a community in which resonated with her. 

After moving to the UK at age 12 to attend boarding school, Ekaterina found herself even more distanced from the Russian culture she grew up in. However, it wasn’t until recently, when circumstances prompted her to explore her Jewish heritage, that she discovered a profound connection. As she began learning about the rich traditions of Judaism, her long-held search for belonging grew into a deeper commitment to embracing a heritage that finally resonated with who she truly is.

Ekaterina’s parents had been considering Aliyah from Russia for some time, but her own connection to Judaism deepened in ways she hadn’t expected after October 7. Two days after the attacks, she ordered a Star of David necklace on Etsy, an instinctive act that, in hindsight, marked a shift in how she saw herself. At a time when Jewish identity was under threat, she felt compelled to wear a visible symbol of her heritage, even though she was still in the early stages of understanding what that heritage meant to her. This past year, Ekaterina started attending a Reform synagogue in Newcastle, and just recently decided to start the conversion process. 

The more she has learned about Jewish culture and traditions, the more she has felt she’s found answers to questions she may not have consciously known she had. For example, in her first few classes, she was introduced to Jewish grieving and burial customs. This structure provided her with a new way to think about loss, which was something she had always feared. Learning that Judaism offers a clear, ritualized path for mourning gave her a sense of comfort, allowing her to see grief as something that could be navigated rather than simply endured. “That is what I’ve been searching for,” explains Ekaterina. “ It takes that fear and gives an answer to it”

She describes herself as the kind of person who once she becomes interested in something, she just wants to keep learning more. This curiosity has driven her deeper into Jewish practice, from attending synagogue regularly to learning Hebrew on Duolingo, something she jokes she is more committed to than her parents who now live in Israel. “I kept on trying to identify with it but obviously I didn’t know enough about it to actually do anything about it,” she reflects. Now, she is doing something about it, actively building a Jewish life for herself.

After completing her PhD, Ekaterina had more time to dedicate to volunteering and began looking for meaningful ways to engage with the Jewish community. She came across an opportunity to volunteer with The Together Plan on Jewish Volunteering Network. Ekaterina decided to join as a caseworker for the archive services team, a role that felt particularly relevant given her own family’s experience, having gone through the process searching for documents in Belarus to prove their Jewish ancestry for Aliyah.

For Ekaterina, volunteering with The Together Plan aligns naturally with her growing interest in Jewish history and identity. Having witnessed first hand how difficult it can be to access documents from Belarus, she understands the value of connecting individuals with their ancestral records recognising the impact it has had thus far on her own life. As she continues to explore her own heritage, she looks forward to being part of an initiative that preserves Jewish history. 

Ekaterina’s journey has taken her from knowing little about her Jewish heritage to actively embracing it. What started as a bureaucratic search for family documents turned into a deeper exploration of identity. Now, as she continues her studies at the synagogue and starts her volunteering journey with The Together Plan, her commitment to learning and engaging with the Jewish community is growing. This process is connecting her past to her present and is helping others uncover their own histories along the way and for that she is extremely grateful.