Travel and Food

MERTHYR TYDFIL, Wales (WJC)–The oldest synagogue of Wales, in the United Kingdom, is to be converted into apartments provided planning permission is granted, the ‘Jewish Chronicle’ reports. The synagogue in Merthyr Tydfil, a town with 30,000 inhabitants, was built in the 1870s. It is currently empty and has been a target for vandals. The neo-Gothic […]

DUISBURG, Germany (WJC)–A 90-year-old former SS member has been charged by German prosecutors with the killing of 58 Jewish forced laborers in the final days of World War II. Adolf Storms is accused of murdering the workers in Deutsch-Schützen, a village in eastern Austria, at the end of World War II. The victims’ remains were

OTTAWA (WJC)–The Federal Court of Appeal has ordered the Canadian Government to revisit its decision to strip a suspected Nazi war criminal, the Ukrainian-born Helmut Oberlander, of his Canadian citizenship. In a 2-1 decision, the court told the Cabinet in Ottawa to reconsider the issue of whether Oberlander was a willing member of an SS

TEHRAN (WJC)–Five people were been sentenced to death and 81 received jail terms in connection with post-election unrest in Iran, prosecutors in Tehran have said. The Iranian Justice Department said those facing the death penalty were members of “terrorist and opposition groups.” No names were given. The statement released by prosecutors in Tehran on Tuesday

By David Amos SAN DIEGO–We know the great musicians of the past from the legacy of wonderful music they left us. But, we may not be familiar with their writing and comments. Some composers were quiet, shy, and introverted, while others were notorious conversationalists, humorists, writers, and commentators on many social issues of the time.

  By Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO–Avraham & Sarah, Yitzchok & Rivkah all lived their lives with faith and dedication to Hashem. They understood the power of mitzvos and prayer, and they realized the Hashem  runs the world. This is an inheritance to their descendents as the following true story illustrates:   There was a

CANBERRA, Australia—Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor has approved the extradition of the Hungarian-born Perth resident Charles Zentai, 88, to Hungary but emphasized the decision was no indication of guilt. Zentai has now two months to appeal the decision. Hungarian prosecutors accuse Australian citizen Charles Zentai, 88, of being one of three men who tortured

REGENSBURG, Germany (WJC)–The bishop of the ultra-conservative Catholic Society of St Pius X (SSPX), Richard Williamson, is facing trial in Germany for denying the Holocaust. Williamson has lodged an appeal against a fine of US$ 19,000 imposed on him by a German court two weeks ago. As Holocaust denial is a crime in Germany, and

AACHEN, Germany (WJC)—The trial in Germany of 88-year-old Heinrich Boere, accused of murdering three civilians in wartime Holland as part of a SS hit squad, has been postponed until next week on medical grounds. The decision came on the third day of the trial after defense attorneys for Boere argued their client could not hear

SACRAMENTO, California (WJC)–Anti-Semitic messages and symbols have been painted on a synagogue in California. Tuesday’s attack on Congregation Beth Shalom, in the Sacramento area, included a swastika, the phrase “Kristallnacht still lives” and the symbol of the SS, which ran the Nazi death camps. Bushes lining the outside of the synagogue building were also set

  LONDON (WJC)–Britain’s chief rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks, has said that Muslims needed to learn to separate religion from power. In a lecture in London to a Christian think tank, Sacks said: “One of the great advantages of being Jewish, is you know how to sing in a minor key. We have had 26 centuries