Dedicated to mothers who have lost their children

Dedicated to mothers who have lost their children
At one of the meetings, where I attended at the invitation of the head of the Department of Support for Aliyah of the World Zionist Organization Marina Rosenberg-Korytnaya and the director of the Representative Office of the Department of Support for Aliyah of the WZO in North America Evgeny Lekah, I met Olga Ryzhkova in New York. I could not write this article for a long time, I did not have the strength. I began to write and cried at the same time, so I ask you to forgive me for publishing it only now. This article is dedicated to all mothers who have experienced the most unimaginable grief - the loss of their sons or daughters. In Israel, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and in all corners of the world, mothers mourn their children who passed away too soon. This should not happen. Mothers should not bury their children.
Olga Ryzhkova told me her personal story when we met in Manhattan. This strong yet fragile woman, who was once afraid of flying, flew to New York after 27 years in Israel to tell the world once again: the hostages must be freed. "The hostages are a bleeding wound for all people of good will," she added. "They must be returned home at any cost, even by making concessions. We must agree, for heaven's sake, that about 100 people will return to their families."
Olga Ryzhkova is an example for many. Her story about the resilience, courage and unity that define Israeli society sounded like a call to recognize the shared responsibility for human values.
Olga Ryzhkova is the hero's mother, who buried her beloved son Maxim Ryzhkov in Israel. Maxim served in elite, top-secret troops, which she compared to the fighters from the popular Israeli TV series "Fauda". On October 7, 2023, at 7 a.m., he and his unit flew to the Gaza Strip by helicopter. Maxim and ten of his fellow soldiers were killed in a mine explosion in the first days of Hamas' bloody attack on Israel.
Maxim passed away just a month before his 31st birthday. "My family came to the Middle East from the Far East, emigrating to Israel in 1996 from Komsomolsk-on-Amur," Olga said. "Over the years of aliyah, I realized one thing: the more they beat us, the stronger we are."
These words, filled with bitterness and pride, sounded like a manifesto of unbending will. "You don't cry for fallen heroes - you applaud heroes," Olga concluded, and the audience applauded her standing.
Olga works in a military factory in Israel, manually and with painstaking precision soldering circuit boards for the Iron Dome system, a powerful defensive weapon that saves Israeli lives and protects civilians.
Every mother who has lost a child carries within herself an immense, incurable grief. And yet they continue to live, work, give themselves to the world, as if reviving their children in their deeds and actions, said the famous pediatrician Lyudmila Sverkunova.
This article is a tribute to the memory of Maxim Ryzhkov and all the sons who left us too early. Mothers should not bury their children. They should not...
These days, after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, another 7 hostages were released. We thank everyone who was with us all these years after the bloody events in Israel, who fought with us, went to rallies, wrote letters for the speedy release of the hostages.
Marina Lagunova, New York