From left: Haya (Eva) Mogilever was born in 1914 in the Ukraine. She will celebrate her 100th birthday with a celebration at her home in North Brunswick this weekend. NORTH BRUNSWICK — A township woman who lived through World War II and the Cold War will be celebrating her 100th birthday this week.
Born on Dec. 18, Haya (Eva) Mogilever will be honored at a family celebration on Dec. 20.
Mogilever was born in the Ukraine to a farmer’s family in 1914. Her parents also owned a carbonated beverage factory, according to her granddaughter, Natalia.
Mogilever was the oldest of seven children and the only one to make it to 100 years old.
Her family lived through the Russian Revolution, followed by the programs and then the civil war.
She married Leo Mogilever in 1935 and had three children.
Mogilever and her family were forced by Nazis into concentration camps during World War II. More than half of her entire family fell victim. Mogilever hid from the Nazis in the forest and left on horseback, lucky enough to escape going to the camp and save her children.
However, she lost her oldest son, Jacob, who was only 7 years old when he died of pneumonia. He was removed from the train so that others would not catch the disease, Natalia said.
Mogilever’s family lived in the USSR during the Cold War. Being Jewish in Russia affected their lifestyle, so Mogilever immigrated to the United States in 1991 with her husband, children and grandchildren, she said.
She now has two children, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
