Efraim Zuroff has accomplished much in his long career, but there’s one thing he’s particularly proud of: He’s the most hated Jew in Lithuania. His Lithuanian friend Ruta Vanagaite agrees: She called him a “mammoth,” a “boogeyman” and the “ruiner of reputations”—and that’s just in the introduction to a book they co-authored. Last summer, in […]
The Last Nazi Hunter Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryBefore, During, and After the Holocaust—from Africa to Berlin to North Carolina (c) By Edwin Black In recent years, some in the African-American community have expressed a disconnect to Holocaust topics, seeing the genocide of Jews as someone else’s nightmare. After all, African-Americans are still struggling to achieve general recognition of the barbarity of the
Nazi Policy and Black Victims Read More »
Edwin Black, International, Jewish History, USAFORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (Press Release) — Corey Samuels’ journey to tell the story of her grandfather, Holocaust survivor Henry Oertelt recently culminated in an emotional donation of Oertelt’s personal belongings to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Oertelt had been liberated by General Patton’s Third Army during the Flossenburg death march in April 1945. He arrived in St. Paul, Minnesota, in
Family donates Survivor Henry Oertelt’s effects to Holocaust Museum Read More »
International, Jewish History, USABy Edwin Black After Hitler’s defeat in May 1945, many Nazis melted away from the Reich, smuggled out by such organizations as the infamous Odessa group andthe lesser-known Catholic lay network Intermarium, as well as the CIA and KGB. They ensured the continuation of the Nazi legacy in the postwar Arab world. Egypt was a prime
When Iraq expelled its Jews to Israel Read More »
Jewish History, Middle EastHillary Clinton’s campaign on Tuesday rebuked comments by pro-Palestinian Jewish journalist Max Blumenthal, son of longtime aide Sidney Blumenthal, regarding the recent death of Holocaust survivor and political activist Elie Wiesel. “Secretary Clinton emphatically rejects these offensive, hateful, and patently absurd statements about Elie Wiesel,” Jake Sullivan, senior policy adviser to the presumptive Democratic presidential
Clinton campaign slams ‘offensive’ Max Blumenthal remarks on Elie Wiesel’s death Read More »
Obituaries & memorials, USACHICAGO — Abner Mikva was turned down in his first attempt at civic duty with a line that became embedded in Chicago’s political lore, “We don’t want nobody nobody sent.” Undeterred, the young, liberal outsider from Hyde Park forged ahead for a sterling career as a state legislator, congressman, federal appellate judge and presidential adviser,
Abner Mikva — lawmaker, judge, presidential adviser — dies at 90 Read More »
Obituaries & memorials, USA
NEW YORK (Press Release)–As a scientist, educator, and one of seven children raised in a close African American Jewish family in upstate New York, Rabbi Deborah McKenzie fulfills her childhood dream to become a spiritual leader, and shepherds summer Ma’ariv Monday services for Sim Shalom, the online synagogue, to refresh spirituality each week. (Sim Shalom
Graduate of one-year rabbinical program leads services on the web Read More »
Jewish Religion, USAThe brouhaha surrounding the recognition of Ivanka Trump’s conversion to Judaism by Israel may be nearing it’s end. Trump, the daughter of US presidential candidate Donald Trump, converted to Judaism under the auspices of Orthodox Rabbi Haskel Lookstein. Recently, it was announced that a Rabbinical Court in Israel had ruled that Rabbi Lookstein’s conversions are
Chief Rabbi Lau: Ivanka Trump conversion legitimate Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA
By Stanley Tiger SAN DIEGO–How does one mourn the passing of a prophet? Elie Wiesel was as close to a prophet as we can get in the modern world. It was not so much the winning of the Nobel Peace Prize that impressed me. It certainly put him on the map and made him a
Elie Wiesel was a modern day prophet Read More »
Jewish History, Obituaries & memorialsBy Donald H. Harrison POWAY, California – For my always-on-the-go grandson Sky, 9, there were plenty of activities to keep him un-bored in the hours leading up to the July 4 fireworks. Not only was there a jump house, but there also were games and competitions organized for his age group. By the time the
4th of July: Activities and Jewish American reflections Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, USAPresident Andrzej Duda on Monday pledged to fight racism and anti-Semitism 70 years after dozens of Polish Holocaust survivors were massacred in a brutal pogrom. “It’s the army and militia that opened fire first” on the Jewish inhabitants of the southern city of Kielce, Duda said during ceremonies marking the anniversary. He described the communist
Poland commemorates ‘bestial’ massacre of Holocaust survivors Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryThe great French writer Victor Hugo once said that “adversity makes men.” There is no one in the history of humanity for whom this is more true than the late great Elie Wiesel. The world has lost one of its premier moral voices. His early life was fashioned in darkness, but he brought light to
Three Things I Learned From Elie Wiesel Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryMiyuki Kita, an American Studies professor at the University of Kitakyushu in southern Japan, has focused her entire academic career on Jewish political activism in the United States. Her town has no Jewish community. “Japanese students know only Martin Luther King, Jr., and regard him as the only hero of the civil rights movement,” said
Students learn about Jewish civil rights activism — in Japan Read More »
International, Jewish History, USABy Cynthia Citron HOLLYWOOD — The play has such a despicable name that you would think it would attract every neo-Nazi, Aryan Nation, Skinheaded anti-Semite in southern California. The play is called Bad Jews. But, surprisingly, playwright Joshua Harmon’s four-person diatribe is actually a perceptive reflection of the way in which many modern Jews relate
‘Bad Jews’ depicts split between religious and secular Read More »
Cynthia Citron, Jewish Religion, Theatre, Film & Broadcast