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Wasserson helps his cousins from Lviv leave the border to Krakow, Poland.

coordinate efforts back home, efforts
to evacuate in Ukraine have been
tenuous. “​​The situation in Ukraine was, at
the time, devolving quickly,” he said.

“With the randomness of the Russian
assault, it was very hard to understand
what life would be like, especially in
the major cities from day to day.”
Relief efforts in times of war rarely
feel successful, Rowell admitted. For
the dozens of Philadelphia-area friends
or community members reaching out
to the family, finding ways to help can
feel insignificant or futile, he said.

Donations to relief organizations in
Ukraine have gone toward transporta-
tion, housing, medical assistance and
personal protective equipment, as well
as protective flak jackets, according to
Rowell. For those donating money, it
can be difficult to see where their dol-
lars are going.

“I can’t stress it enough. It’s not
about the individuals. It’s not about
us,” Rowell said. “It’s about the fact that
if everyone gets in and pushes, we can
save everyone. We can get everyone out
of there.”
Wasserson has also worked with
U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, a Jewish
Democrat representing Pennsylvania’s
7th District. Wild was in Rzeszow,
Poland, the weekend of March 5 with
members of a bipartisan congressional
delegation. One of Wild’s constituents, Alla
Kligman, reached out to Wild, saying
that she, too, had relatives in Ukraine,
who Wasserson eventually helped
extract. Kligman also has connections to
an orphanage in Ukraine, which was
home to 600 children, which Wild is
taking responsibility for extracting and
relocating. 2 022 –2 02 3 S ea s o n
at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
LORETTA LYNCH
SCOTT KELLY
September 19, 2022
March 6, 2023
Former U.S.

Attorney General
NASA Astronaut
JOHN BRENNAN
TOM FRIEDMAN
October 24, 2022
March 27, 2023
New York Times
Columnist CIA Director
2013–2017 An extraction site at the Ukraine-
Poland border, where Wasserson aided
extraction efforts over eight days
Photos courtesy of Ellen Wasserson
“My office has been working relent-
lessly with the Department of Defense
and the State Department and DHS
(Department of Homeland Security)
to make sure that we can get these
children here to the United States,”
Wild said.

Wasserson has promised additional
financial help.

However, for a large-scale extraction,
some elements are out of an individu-
al’s control. According to Wild, there
has been extensive contact with the
Ukrainian embassy about extract-
ing the orphans. The Department of
Defense has to work to find temporary,
short-term housing for them, likely on
a military base.

“It’s one thing for a group of private
citizens to want to do good and do the
right thing,” Wild said. “It’s another
thing altogether to try to make it hap-
pen by literally getting all of the pieces
in place.” JE
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