Viktor Komodrazhnikov had always idolized the Israeli soldiers. From the days of his childhood in Russia, he had dreamed of being one of them. Three years ago, with the support of Keren Hayesod - United Israel Appeal, Victor made the courageous decision to realize his dream, and made aliyah - on his own. Like all new immigrants, Viktor was helped through his first steps in Israel thanks to financial support provided by Keren Hayesod - United Israel Appeal.

But Viktor's life changed drastically on the night of Friday, June 1st 2001. That night, a suicide terrorist blew himself up just outside the Dolphinarium Discotheque in Tel-Aviv where Viktor was waiting in line to buy tickets. Twenty-one people were killed in the explosion - all of them young new immigrants. Viktor was among the 120 people wounded.

For months Viktor fought for the right to serve in the IDF in spite of his injuries. And in the end, he won. In December 2002, Viktor became an Israeli soldier. Since he has neither the financial nor the emotional support system that most Israeli soldiers enjoy, the Jewish Agency Fund for the Victims of Terror has given Viktor a grant to purchase various supplies and equipment he will need during his service.

In 1994, Galia Pearlman and her family left the Ukraine and made aliya, settling in Jerusalem. Galia has had to support her two sons, Sinai (15) and Ilan (8), her mother-in-law Kira (67) and Kira's aging mother Jenia, on her meagre salary as a check-out worker at the Kiryat Yovel Supermarket. That same supermarket was the target of a suicide bombing last April. Galia emerged from that attack physically unharmed, but it left deep emotional scars and she has suffered from chronic anxiety ever since. And once again, on November 21st 2002, tragedy struck the Pearlman family. That morning, Kira picked Ilan up from his home in Jerusalem's impoverished Ir Ganim neighbourhood, to take him to school. Barely minutes after they got onto bus #20, Galia heard the explosion from her house. Grandma Kira, who had survived the horrors of the Holocaust, and 8 year-old lIan met their violent deaths at the hands of a Palestinian suicide terrorist. Seven of the eleven victims were new immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

Shoval and Shachar S. aged 6 and 7 years old respectively; were orphaned when their parents Gadi and Tzippora were killed in a suicide bomb attack on downtown Jerusalem in March, 2002. Tzippora was pregnant with twins when she was killed. Gadi's sister Anat and her husband Oded (who also lost his father in a suicide attack on a Jerusalem bus a few months later) are raising the two girls. As their family home is very cramped they received a grant of US$20,OOO from the Fund for Victims of Terror; to enable them to relocate to a more suitable apartment.

As difficult a transition this is for me from the life and family I had in Buenos Aires, I know aliyah was the right decision, " Federico Sektzel; new immigrant J from Buenos Aires.

"I came to Israel in 198O in Operation Moses so I understand what it's like to come from the Third World, where there is no technology, no cars, no electrical equipment, and suddenly find yourself in the modern world. That's why I'm able to mediate between the Ethiopian culture and the Israeli culture. I use my own experience to help today's immigrants. Thanks to the help I was given, I am now in a position to help others. I feel that I am lucky to have this opportunity, " Moshe Baata, Directol; the Nurit Absorption Centel; Beer Sheva.