Jewish History

In pictures, the 70th anniversary of the SS Exodus in Haifa

Israelis honor the sacrifice made by over 4,500 Holocaust survivors and potential immigrants who were sent back to Germany by the British By Laura Ben-David Survivors gathered around the Exodus memorial, July 18, 2017. (Laura Ben-David) Froma Galant with Natan Sharansky at the Exodus memorial, July 18, 2017. (Times of Israel/Laura Ben-David) A survivor at

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Jewish History, Middle East

‘We are Jews Again’ tells of Refuseniks’ progress

“We Are Jews Again,” Jewish Activism in the Soviet Union by Yuli Kosharovsky, translated by Stefani Hoffman, edited by Ann Komaromi, Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, NY, © 2017, ISBN 978-0-8156-3519-2, p. 319, plus appendices, notes, bibliography, and index, $37.95 By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California –  Many Jews participated in the 1917 Russian Revolution, ousting

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History

Finds in Jerusalem shore up biblical account of Babylonian conquest

On the eve of the Hebrew commemoration of the destruction of the Temples, archaeologists discover remnants of a blaze indicating the city was grander than thought By Amanda Borschel-Dan The structure in which shattered jugs were found during the summer 2017 Israel Antiquities Authority dig, attesting to the destruction. (Eliyahu Yanai, Courtesy of the City

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Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East

1,600 years ago, soldiers may have quaffed wine from this desert press

A large Byzantine-era wine press uncovered in the Negev region is only the second of its kind to be found By Amanda Borschel-Dan Digging in the ancient 1,600-year-old wine press in Ramat Negev, summer 2017. (Tali Gini, Israel Antiquities Authority) While Israel is famous for greening the desert, a recent find of a 1,600-year-old wine

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Jewish History, Middle East

In Moldova, a synagogue with a terrible history is for sale on Holocaust Street

Only 17 out of 7,000 Jews remain in Edinets since WWII. Now, a defunct house of worship where 90 penitents were massacred is on the market By Julie Masis EDINETS, Moldova — In a small town in northern Moldova, a former synagogue is for sale on Holocaust Street. The building, where some 90 Jewish townsfolk

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International, Jewish History

Know who Jacob W. Davis was? He invented Levi’s

Editor’s Note:  Editor Donald H. Harrison and his grandson Shor recently completed a 2,000 mile journey through California and Nevada, collecting and photographing Jewish stories along the way.  This article is the fifth in a series generated during that trip. Story by Donald H. Harrison; photos by Shor M. Masori RENO, Nevada —  Instead of

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Shor M. Masori, Travel and Food

Jewish museum features biochemist Gertrude Elion

PHILADELPHIA (Press Release) —Visitors to the National Museum of American Jewish History (NMAJH) now have the opportunity to learn about biochemist Gertrude B. Elion and her groundbreaking medical research in the Museum’s Only in America®  Gallery/Hall of Fame located on the free-of-charge first floor. The gallery features several artifacts illustrating Elion’s Nobel Prize-winning work, which led to the

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Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education

Rare, historic garments preserved by Levi Strauss & Co.

Editor’s Note:  Editor Donald H. Harrison and his grandson Shor recently completed a 2,000 mile journey through California and Nevada, collecting and photographing Jewish stories along the way.  This article is the fourth in a series generated during that trip. Story by Donald H. Harrison; Photos by Shor M. Masori SAN FRANCISCO – In the

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Shor M. Masori, Travel and Food, USA

Macron restates France’s responsibility for WWII roundup of Jews

French President Emmanuel Macron underscored France’s responsibility for the World War II deportation of Jews on Sunday while marking the 75th anniversary of the detention of more than 13,000 people at the Vélodrome d’Hiver (Vél d’Hiv) in Paris. “France organised it,” Macron said, adding that “not a single German” took part in orchestrating the notorious

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International, Jewish History

Museum exhibit reimagines war crimes trial of Adolf Eichmann, Nazi who coordinated Holocaust

A museum exhibit opening Sunday recreates the historic Nazi war crimes trial of Adolf Eichmann, a former SS lieutenant-colonel convicted and executed for helping orchestrate the Holocaust. New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan will let visitors re-live the 1961 court proceedings starting Sunday when an exhibit opens containing the bulletproof booth Eichmann sat

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International, Jewish History, USA

Were the Jack the Ripper murders an elaborate anti-Semitic frameup?

Author Stephen Senise says it’s no coincidence that Britain’s most infamous unsolved crime is alleged to have been committed by a Jew — it was planned that way all along By Robert Philpot LONDON — It is the greatest whodunit in British history. For nearly 130 years, writers, criminologists, historians and amateur sleuths have pondered

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History

Photos: Neighbors killing neighbors — a Polish community still reels over the massacre of its Jewish residents

If wars leave scars, then Poland has a deep red gash through its middle. For six years during World War II, the country was fought from both sides; the Soviet Union invaded from the east and Germany from the west. Five million Poles died during the war — that’s one-fifth of the population. Three million

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International, Jewish History

Book chronicles and analyzes coercion and depravity

Theresienstadt 1941-1945: The Face of a Coerced Community  by H.G.Adler; Cambridge University Press, 2017 By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — This monumental monograph, to which no book review can hope to do justice, comprises more than 850 pages and constitutes a far-reaching and detailed account, or rather scientific analysis, of the concentration camp that was

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish History