Jewish History

Soviet Jewry Book ‘Hidden Heroes’ Will Both Haunt and Inspire You

Hidden Heroes: One Woman’s Story of Resistance and Rescue in the Soviet Union by Pamela Braun Cohen; Gefen Publishing House © 2021; ISBN 9789657-023365; 393 pages including appendices and an extensive index. By Toby Klein Greenwald EFRAT, Israel — How did the prisoners of Zion and refuseniks have the courage, strength and dedication to apply […]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Toby Klein Greenwald, USA

Carl Lutz: The Mystery Savior

By Gedaliah Borvick JERUSALEM — In honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which falls out on January 27, permit me to share with you the remarkable story of Charles Lutz. A friend visiting Jerusalem’s Neve Yaakov community was walking on Charles Lutz Street. The street sign mentioned that Lutz was among the Chasidei Umot Ha’olam

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Gedaliah Borvick, Jewish History, Middle East, Travel and Food

Entrepreneur Tells of Taking 2 Companies Public and the Deal He Made for the San Diego Jewish Academy

This memoir tells of a man bouncing on the exceedingly rough seas of entrepreneurship and finding emotional safe harbor again and again in the warmth of his family.  It is not your standard how-I-made-a-bundle-and-you-can-too motivational book; it is a very intimate autobiographical portrait of Del Mar resident Richard Jaffe, which he wrote with the assistance of his daughter Charly.  [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food, USA

Bible Inspired Name of Cemetery in Nestor Neighborhood

In Nestor, a neighborhood of San Diego northwest of San Ysidro, a small, two-acre, formerly abandoned burial grounds, recently undergoing restoration, is named the Mt. Olivet Cemetery. Located at 2127 Iris Street, it is so small, it sometimes is called Mount Oliveito Cemetery. It is surrounded by single-family residences. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

Author Tells of Survivor Mother and the Extraordinary Medical Campaign that Saved Her

This is an academic work, yet a very personal one for Bernice Lerner of Boston University’s Center for Character and Social Responsibility. The Jewish girl referred to in the subtitle was author Lerner’s mother, Rachel Genuth.  Her Romanian hometown of Seghet was annexed by Hungary, then an ally of Nazi Germany. Teenaged Genuth and the town’s other Jews were rounded up and sent to Auschwitz. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History

Dissecting Nazi Propaganda

By Eric George Tauber CINCINNATI, Ohio — The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., gave a lecture via Facebook entitled How the Nazis Manipulated the Masses. Historian Dr. Edna Friedberg and USHMM Teacher Educator Kim Blevins-Relleva were the presenters. Nazi propaganda didn’t begin with hatred, but a kind of patriotism. In the 1920s, the

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Eric George Tauber, International, Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Israeli Agriculture and the Little Landers Movement

At our last stop, Jewish merchants were our focus. Another reason one can anticipate finding a “Jewish story everywhere” is the nation of Israel. Every other country in the world either enjoys or refuses relations with Israel, but whichever the case, it leads to a Jewish-interest story. On a more personal level, there are relationships between the Jews who live in the Land of Israel and people living in other areas of the world. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, Travel and Food

How Zionists Helped Defeat Segregation in Baltimore

By Rafael Medoff WASHINGTON, D.C. — Martin Luther King, Jr. Day this year will be commemorated just before the 75th anniversary of a remarkable but little-known campaign by American Zionists and African-Americans that helped defeat racial segregation in Baltimore. This story began in the autumn of 1946, when the Zionist activists known as the Bergson

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Jewish History, Middle East, USA

Blue Plaque of Sir Arnold Wesker Underscores Jewish Contributions to British Life

By Jerry Klinger LONDON — The simple blue and white rectangular historical plaque for Sir Arnold Wesker located at a Hackney (London) school evokes a familiar identity in London. The plaque, though different in design, is easily associated with the famous (and mostly circular) Blue and White Plaque program run by English Heritage found throughout

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International, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History

Schlepping and Schmoozing along the Interstate 5: Tijuana in the Rear View Mirror

Before we embark on this American journey, let us not forget that there is Jewish life in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, that is well worth remembering. In brief, we can find it at the Centro Social Israelita, the Congregaçion Hebraica de Baja California, and in the Jewish-owned department stores and shops along Avenida de la Revoluçion. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Middle East, San Diego County, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA

‘East West Street:’ Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity

Over the course of six years the author toiled to trace the movements, ideas and political currents underlying two seminal terms in modern international law: ‘genocide’ and ‘crimes against humanity.’ In this undertaking he has interwoven the history and fate of his own family in Galicia (Poland and Ukraine), as well as that of a number of incidental characters, who were involved directly or indirectly in the rescue of some of his family members and the failure to save others. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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