Katharina Raub was born in Bielefeld, Germany. When she was eight years old her parents divorced and Katharina’s mother told her that she was Jewish. Katharina was shocked. All of her friends were Christian and suddenly Katharina felt different.

As she went from a child to an adolescent, Katharina decided to learn about her Judaism. She began attending synagogue and wanted to become involved in the Jewish community. But there were barely 150 Jewish people in her town and most were émigrés, without teenage children, from the FSU.

During 11th grade, Katharina came to Israel on a Jewish Agency for Israel exchange program to meet Jewish and Israeli youth. She lived on a kibbutz with 20 American Jewish teenagers and met Israelis her own age. “I simply fell in love with Israel, and at the end of the year I called my mother and told her I was staying in this great country.” After completing high school, Katharina turned 18 and officially made aliyah. “I then went straight to the army,” says Katharina with a soft laugh. “I wanted to be like everyone else.”

Katharina’s basic training was difficult, mostly due to her minimal Hebrew. However, when she was placed in the Foreign Relations Branch of the Ground Forces, she found her niche. “The people I worked with were great and helped me so much with my Hebrew. I loved dealing with military delegations from countries all over the world.”

As a lone soldier in Israel, Katharina received assistance from the Jewish Agency’s Fund for Lone Immigrant Students and Soldiers. “Even though I was a lone soldier I always knew that I had people supporting me,” says Katharina.

Katharina has just finished her army service. She wants to study foreign affairs at the prestigious Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center. “The most telling moment for me since making aliyah was when I was visiting Germany. As my mother was reading my flight schedule to Israel, I said to her, ‘Remind me, when am I flying back home?’”