Swiss banks publish list of bank accounts that have been dormant for 60 years GENEVA (WJC) — Swiss banks on Wednesday published the names of more than 2,600 people whose bank accounts in Switzerland have lain dormant for more than 60 years, giving them or their heirs one last chance to claim their wealth before it reverts […]
Never Again: Holocaust news for December 16, 2015 Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryBy Joe Spier CALGARY, Alberta, Canada — On May 29, 2012, U.S. President Barack Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, posthumously to Jan Karski with these words “As a young officer in the Polish Underground, Jan Karski was among the first to relay accounts of the Holocaust to the
Jan Karski’s Holocaust reports went unheeded Read More »
International, Jewish History, USABy Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — Neil Folberg’s And I Shall Dwell Among Them: Historic Synagogues of the World, Aperture Book Publisher; 1st edition, September, 1995, is a very special treasure. Each of the almost two hundred large color photographs is an individual work of art about Judaism’s places of worship. Folberg brings expertise and
Photo book of synagogues deeply touching Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Jewish ReligionBy Kenneth Bandler ROME — Rabbi David Rosen, AJC (American Jewish Committee) International Director of Interreligious Affairs, welcomed a new Vatican document on Catholic-Jewish relations at a Vatican press conference today on the 50th anniversary of Nostra Aetate. The document, “A Reflection on Theological Questions Pertaining to Catholic-Jewish Relations,” was issued by the Pontifical Commission for
AJC welcomes new Catholic statement on Jews Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryLauder urges Hungary to defund statue of Nazi collaborator NEW YORK (WJC) — The president of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), Ronald S. Lauder, called on Hungary to stop the unveiling of a statue in honor of a Horthy-era government minister funded in large part by a grant from the Hungarian government. The life-size bronze
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Jewish HistoryROSTOCK, Germany (WJC) — A 95-year-old German must stand trial for charges that he assisted in the murder of at least 3,681 people at Auschwitz-Birkenau during World War II, a judge ruled on Tuesday. The court in the northern German city of Rostock decided that Hubert Z. is fit to stand trial, noting that the defendant can be
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International, Jewish History
By Ryan M. Greiss NEW YORK — The Jerusalem-based nonprofit Shavei Israel has launched a Portuguese-language e-book called “Do You Have Jewish Roots?” offering a practical guide to uncovering one’s Jewish ancestry. The unprecedented 109-page guide is aimed at assisting the millions of people in Brazil, Portugal and elsewhere who may have a long-lost Jewish lineage.
Helping Portuguese, Brazilians, others find Jewish roots Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion
MADRID, Spain (WJC) — King Felipe VI on Monday thanked Jews of Spanish origin who were expelled from the country in the wake of the March 1492 edict by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. “Dear Sephardim, thank you for your loyalty,” the king told representatives of Sephardic Jews from different countries, during a ceremony at the Royal
King Felipe VI thanks Sephardim for their loyalty Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryBy Joe Spier CALGARY, Alberta, Canada — It was 1944 in the Nazi concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen and a young Dutch boy, Yoachim Yosef was nearing his 13th birthday. Among the inmates was the former Chief Rabbi of Holland who prepared the boy for his bar mitzvah. Each morning they would secretly study Torah on
Like father like son: Ilan and Assaf Ramon Read More »
Jewish History, Middle East, USA
Blood of the Band: An Ipai Family Story by David L. Toler, Jr.; Sunbelt Publications, © 2015; ISBN 978-1-941384-12-1; 285 pages, including index; $19.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –This is a story of the San Pasqual band of Ipai Indians. The Ipai are the western branch of the Kumeyaay Nation, as opposed to
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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego CountyBy Bob Lerner VALLEY CENTER, California — History was made in 1974 when, for true first time ever, the Pope conferred Knighthood on a person of the Jewish faith. The man was Col. Irving Salomon of Valley Center, and the sword used in that knighting ceremony will be on display at the Valley Center
Papal sword that knighted a Jew goes on display Read More »
Jewish History, San Diego CountyBy Joe Gandelman SAN DIEGO — If there is ever a movie that cries out for being seen NOW it’s filmmaker Robert Rippberger’s 7 Days in Syria. When it was completed some months ago it was a solid documentary about the Syrian Civil War that took you so inside the devastation that you could almost
Why Jews should feel compassion for Syrian refugees Read More »
Jewish History, Joe Gandelman, Middle East, USAA history of early Nazi Germany worth reading In the Garden of Beasts; Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson; Broadway Books, New York, 2011 By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — The Garden of Beasts in the title refers to the inhabitants of Berlin’s Tiergarten, the park in central Berlin that once served
Never Again: Holocaust news for November 23, 2015 Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish HistoryMy Grandfather Would have Shot Me, by Jennifer Teege and Nikola Sellmair. The Experiment, Pub. 2015, 221pp By David Strom SAN DIEGO — At the age of 38 Jennifer Teege was at the Hamburg central library. There she glanced at a book with a red cover and was drawn to it. From photographs in the book,
Mixed-race descendant of Nazi murderer tells of life Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History