Ukraine: "My parents were not married... My father didn't want us to be considered Jewish and treated like Jews"

Via VICE:

In another room, a woman named Natasha was pacing restlessly. She and her husband had been at the facility for two months, she said — but they hadn't yet been moved to Israel, because Natasha hadn't been able to definitely prove that she carries Jewish blood. The Jewish Agency asked for documents, she said, and she didn't have any.

"How to explain?" Natasha pulled at her hair, which was dyed a bright copper and cut short like a helmet. "My parents were not married. You know why? My father didn't want us to be considered Jewish and treated like Jews." As a result, Natasha didn't have a marriage certificate proving that her parents were married, and that she was the biological daughter of her Jewish father. Now, the Jewish Agency is helping her to undergo DNA testing — to confirm that she is genetically linked to a Jewish half-sister who has lived in Israel for 20 years.

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