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ST. LOUIS COUNTY — The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has reverberated throughout the Jewish community here, an alarming reminder of the Holocaust and Soviet oppression during the Cold War.

“The older members of our community who lived through that, or remember that, this brings up certain memories and maybe emotions,” said , president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis.

As of Thursday morning, he said, the federation had raised $525,000 to support Jews staying put in Ukraine and those on the move. Temporary housing, satellite phones and medical care are among the list of needs, as well as securing institutions.

Before the war, there were about 200,000 Jews in Ukraine, including its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“As a community, we believe that Jews take care of Jews,” Herstig said. “We need to take care of one another wherever they may be around the world.”

According to the federation, a nonprofit founded in 1901, there are an estimated 60,000 Jewish people in the St. Louis region. Herstig said 450 of them pitched in for the emergency fund so far with donations ranging from $10 to $50,000.

“It’s an incredibly generous community, and they have really stepped up,” he said. “Gifts are still coming in daily.”

In a mass email first sent out Feb. 25, the federation said its concerns for Jewish people in Ukraine were quickly accelerating.

“Additionally, our global partners are tracking potential vulnerabilities within the Russian Jewish community which might emerge in response to the strong Israeli position supporting Ukraine,” the email said.

The federation says all of the donations will support the Joint Distribution Committee, or JDC, a global Jewish humanitarian organization, and the Jewish Agency for Israel, or JAFI, which helps Jews immigrate to Israel.

The says it’s trying to raise $20 million to help those organizations on the ground.

“Our community is responsible for some portion of that,” said Herstig.

Irina Becker is keeping a close eye on the situation overseas. She and her parents came to St. Louis in 1990 as Jewish refugees from what is now Ukraine.

“Every person has a right to live their life in peace in their home, and every country has a right for their borders to be sovereign,” said Becker, 44, an attorney. “When those two rights are compromised, everybody can agree that those things need to be protected.”

Becker said her aunt and uncle recently packed up and fled southern Ukraine with their daughter, 5-year-old grandson and a cat. She said they drove into Moldova, another former Soviet republic, for safety. Becker has been in touch with them. They are staying in a hotel. She said JDC volunteers helped them at the border.

“I think they still hope they can go back,” Becker said. “ÁńÁ«ÊÓÆ” want to stay in Europe for the time being to see if it will be possible to return home and salvage any of their home, their money that’s left in the bank.”

Posted at 3 p.m. Thursday, March 10.