German FM Wadephul to sign agreement with Israel giving Yad Vashem five million euros yearly

Good news! Bravo!

"Yad Vashem raises controversy with German educational centers

In May, Yad Vashem announced plans to open an educational center in Munich and a satellite branch in Leipzig, its first permanent facilities outside Israel. ..."

German FM Wadephul to sign agreement giving Yad Vashem five million euros yearly | The Jerusalem Post "The agreement will replace an older one agreed upon in 2020, in which Germany committed to providing €1 million annually until 2031."

The Righteous: Rescuing Marc Chagall from the Nazis

Recommendable!

If there is a Jewish Nobel for saving Jews, Muslim Ahmed al-Ahmed just won it. He belongs among the Righteous Among the Nations!

Right on! Bravo! The video of Ahmed al-Ahmed disarming this coward killer was  stunning! How many lives were saved by him!

Was this a divine intervention or what? God takes and giveth away (Book of Job, Old Testament)!

I bet Israel and the Jews will reward this man handsomely!

Will Ahmed al-Ahmed be entered into the Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem next to e.g. Oskar Schindler? I think he deserves it. This would be such a strong signal not least to the Arab/Muslim world! Of course, the man and his background/motives will be vetted etc.

"... Ahmed al-Ahmed, a 43-year-old Sydney fruit shop owner and father of two ...

Ahmed al-Ahmed belongs among the Righteous Among the Nations ...

It is time for Jewish organizations in Australia and worldwide to elevate Ahmed al-Ahmed as a symbol of what courage looks like when it is unscripted and unpolished, when it comes from instinct and decency rather than ideology. ..."

" ... is not a fruit seller from Sydney's Sutherland Shire, despite early reports. He is, in fact, the owner of a tobacco and speciality convenience store, which he has operated since 2021. ..." (Source) Who cares what kind of shop owner he is!

"Ahmad, whose cousin told Australia’s 7NEWS that he was shot once in the arm and once in the shoulder ..."

The Jewish world should honor, praise Ahmed al-Ahmed | The Jerusalem Post

WATCH: Australian Muslim bystander disarms, tackles Bondi Beach shooter

The hero! Let's wish him a speedy and full recovery!

For the first time ever, a President of Israel visits Albania

Which country? It is a NATO member since 2009 and a candidate for the EU since 2014.

During the Cold War it was one of the strangest communist countries under the charismatic leadership of Enver Hoxha of the world besides North Korea. It was not part of or left the Warsaw Pact and the COMECON. Albania split from the Soviet Union in 1961. Among communist leaning students in the West, Albania had quite a bit of following.

"Isaac Herzog’s visit to Albania Thursday marked the first time an Israeli leader set foot in the only European country that ended World War II with more Jews than it started with.

Albania’s role in saving Jews during the Holocaust was a key theme of the Israeli president’s brief visit, which included a ceremony at the Holocaust memorial in Tirana as well as meetings with descendants of some of the 75 Muslims, Catholics and Orthodox Christians listed by Israel’s Yad Vashem as Righteous Gentiles — those who risked their lives to save Jews from deportation to Nazi death camps following Germany’s occupation of Albania in September 1943. ...

“Albanians hid Jews without regard to where they came from, or whether they were rich or poor,”  ...

estimated that up to 3,000 foreign Jews found refuge in Albania during World War II. ..."

In Albania, which saved Jews from the Nazis, educators teach the Holocaust to a new generation - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Albanian President Bajram Begaj meets Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tirana, Albania, Sept. 12, 2024.

Albania’s national Holocaust memorial, situated in a Tirana park, has commemorative plaques in Albanian, English and Hebrew.

Newly discovered letter shows Pope Pius XII likely knew about Nazi death camps

This story is making big news these days! Unlike some other reports, this one at least mentions that brave members of the catholic church defended or rescued Jews and so on.

Maybe the then Pope was not up to the job, but other members of the clergy were. Unfortunately, they were too few and a more active Pope could have made a difference and saved more lives.

Apparently, there are also a few bishops among the Righteous Among Nations honored by Yad Vashem. Here is one German bishop Bernhard Lichtenberg. Here is a French bishop Monsignor Pierre-Marie Théas.

"... Earlier this month, researchers uncovered documentation listing thousands of Jews who had been sheltered from the Nazis in Catholic convents and monasteries. ..."

Newly discovered letter shows Pope Pius XII likely knew about Nazi death camps - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Giant mural erected in LA, honoring a Polish nurse, Irene Gut-Opdyke who during WWII saved 12 Jews

Amazing stuff!

"The citizens of Poland have the highest count of individuals who have been recognized by Yad Vashem as the Polish Righteous Among the Nations, for saving Jews from extermination during the Holocaust in World War II. There are 7,177 (as of 1 January 2021) Polish men and women conferred with the honor, over a quarter of the 27,921 recognized by Yad Vashem in total." (Wikipedia)

The Rosenstrasse Protest of 1943 - Aryan wives protested in Berlin "Give us our [deported Jewish] husbands back"

Update of 3/1/2023: In the meantime, I have learnt that Yad Vashem did not commemorate these women, because it only honors those individuals who helped other and not their e.g. spouses.

What did German women (so called Rassenschänder [race desecrators]) do, who were married to Jewish men during the Nazi dictatorship? Perhaps this exhibition provides some answers.

Curiously, the German government financed Goethe Institute does not mention in their article about these courageous German women whether they were inducted into Yad Vashem as The Righteous Among the Nations. Quite a surprising omission!!!

"... an exhibit to the Rosenstrasse Protest, the largest public demonstration against the deportation of Jews in the Third Reich. The exhibit highlights the courageous women at the center of the protest who fought for their husbands.

At the end of February 1943, the Nazis arrested thousands of Jews in Berlin for deportation to concentration camps. Among those arrested were 1,800 Jewish men who were married to "Aryan" women. These men were held in a building at Rosenstrasse 2-4 in Berlin-Mitte. Their wives and family members protested in front of the building on Rosenstrasse from late February into early March of 1943, demanding the men’s release. The imprisoned men eventually returned home. To this day, the women of Rosenstrasse are inspiring role models for civic engagement."

Exhibit Opening Reception and Panel Discussion: “Give us our husbands back” - Goethe-Institut USA

The Rosenstrasse Protest timeline

The two men Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World

Very long article about his life, time etc.! I did not have the time to read it all!

"In The Escape Artist, Jonathan Freedland, a British journalist, tells the story of Rudolf Vrba ([born Walter Rosenberg] 1924-2006), who, the book claims, was “the first Jew ever known to break out of Auschwitz and make his way to freedom – one of only four who pulled off that near-impossible feat.”"

"... He escaped from the camp in April 1944, at the height of the Holocaust, and co-wrote a detailed report about the mass murder taking place there. Distribution of the report by George Mantello in Switzerland is credited with having halted the mass deportation of Hungary's Jews to Auschwitz in July 1944, saving more than 200,000 lives. After the war, Vrba trained as a biochemist, working mostly in England and Canada.

Vrba and his fellow escapee Alfréd Wetzler fled Auschwitz three weeks after German forces invaded Hungary and shortly before the SS began mass deportations of Hungary's Jewish population to the camp. The information the men dictated to Jewish officials when they arrived in Slovakia on 24 April 1944, which included that new arrivals in Auschwitz were being gassed and not "resettled" as the Germans maintained, became known as the Vrba–Wetzler report. ..." Wikipedia

The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World | Frontpage Mag Meet the Escape Artist.

97-year-old German woman convicted in juvenile court of complicity in 10,500 Nazi death camp murders

She was the secretary of the commander of a concentration camp in Poland! She was just 20 years old when World War II ended.

This verdict has some symbolic meaning, but what else? Will it help to deter or prevent future genocides no matter where or who was involved or for what reason committed? One may hope so!

"... Tried in juvenile court because she was under 21 at the time, she was sentenced Tuesday to two years of probation, in what is likely to be one of the final convictions related to crimes committed during the Nazi regime. ..."

97-year-old German woman convicted of complicity in 10,500 Nazi death camp murders - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Photo credits: The Jerusalem Post

To save Jews and keep the Nazis away, three hospital doctors in Rome invented a fake infectious disease

Great story about the human spirit!

"... How three doctors at a hospital in Rome shielded a group of Jews from the Nazis in 1943 and 1944 by inventing a fake infectious disease called Syndrome K. The prospect of catching the disease kept the Nazis, who were occupying Rome following the fall of Mussolini, away from the hospital. The Jews there hung on until the Allies liberated the city in June of 1944. ...
Borremeo [one of the non Jewish doctors], who among other things protected the family of one of his Jewish mentors, is recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial authority. ..."

To save Jews and keep the Nazis away, these doctors invented a fake infectious disease - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

AI facial recognition tech identifies rocker Geddy Lee’s mother in anonymous Holocaust photos

The story speaks for itself!

Note this technology is still in its infancy. E.g. kinks etc. are still being ironed out (what a beautiful old fashioned idiom in the age of AI 😄).

I recently discussed here the pros and cons of face recognition.

"Rockstar Geddy Lee found never-before-seen photos of his mother’s family thanks to a new effort to apply artificial intelligence facial recognition technology to photographs from the Holocaust.

Lee’s mother, Holocaust survivor Mary Weinrib, died last summer at 95 years old. But the researchers of the AI technology, From Numbers to Names, managed to find a photo of Weinrib from her time at the displaced persons camp in Bergen-Belsen — a photo that then led Lee to find other photos of his mother’s extended family from the Yad Vashem photo collection. ..."

AI facial recognition tech identifies rocker Geddy Lee’s mother in anonymous Holocaust photos - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Pope hosts Yad Vashem director at Vatican

There is a long history of the catholic church and antisemitism. 

You have to give some credit to the current Pope Francis for his efforts to improve relations between believers of the two faith and to address the issue.

If you are not familiar with Yad Vashem The World Holocaust Remembrance Center see e.g. here, here.

"Amid controversies concerning the Vatican’s Holocaust-era record, Pope Francis and the head of Israel’s state museum on the Holocaust, Yad Vashem, met for a first-of-its-kind talk.

Yad Vashem Director Dani Dayan met with the pope Thursday at his office in the Vatican. During their 30-minute talk, they spoke about ways to “bolster collaborative activities” in areas of “Holocaust remembrance, education and documentation, and to discuss efforts to fight antisemitism and racism worldwide,” Dayan’s office wrote in a statement.

Dayan thanked the pope for his 2020 decision to open the Vatican’s archives related to the wartime Pope Pius XII, whose critics say did too little to intervene on behalf of the 6 million Jews that the Nazis murdered in the Holocaust. ..."

Pope hosts Yad Vashem director at Vatican - The Jerusalem Post Pope Francis and the head of Israel’s state museum on the Holocaust, Yad Vashem, met for a first-of-its-kind talk.

The 'Spanish Schindler' saved 5,200 Jews during the Holocaust. Now Spain wants to find their descendants

Ángel Sanz Briz, one of the Righteous Among the Nations. 

"In an unprecedented effort to find their relatives and raise awareness about their stories, Spanish authorities are releasing a list of the Hungarian Jews protected from the Nazis by a diplomat nicknamed the “Spanish Schindler.”

Ángel Sanz Briz was recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust memorial and museum, in 1966 for using an ingenious legal maneuver to save more than 5,200 Jews from being deported to Auschwitz in 1944.

But even though his efforts saved five times as many Jews as those of Oskar Schindler, his story is far less well known — in part because the staunchly anti-Israel Franco regime, which ruled Spain from 1939 to 1975, barred him from accepting Yad Vashem’s honor. [the hero died in Rome, Italy 1980] ..."

The 'Spanish Schindler' saved 5,200 Jews during the Holocaust. Now Spain wants to find their descendants. - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Using an expired Spanish law that extended citizenship to descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain in 1492, Spanish diplomat Ángel Sanz-Briz saved 5,200 Hungarian Jews in Budapest from being deported to Auschwitz in 1944.

The Eternal Wisdom Of Anne Frank

Posted: 2/10/2020

Today, the Epoch Times Morning Brief email contained following Words Of Wisdom feature at the top:

"In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." ANNE FRANK

I have to admit/confess that I never read the famous Anne Frank diaries. The full quote containing above excerpt is actually:

“It's difficult in times like these: ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us, only to be crushed by grim reality. It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart. It's utterly impossible for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more. In the meantime, I must hold on to my ideals. Perhaps the day will come when I'll be able to realize them!”

Some other, remarkable quotes:

1. “Is discord going to show itself while we are still fighting, is the Jew once again worth less than another? Oh, it is sad, very sad, that once more, for the umpteenth time, the old truth is confirmed: "What one Christian does is his own responsibility, what one Jew does is thrown back at all Jews."”
2. “I've found that there is always some beauty left — in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you. Look at these things, then you find yourself again, and God, and then you regain your balance. A person who's happy will make others happy; a person who has courage and faith will never die in misery!”

We owe so much to this young, wise beyond belief teenager who was murdered in the Holocaust! Her resolute faith in God is truly an inspiration!

Last, but not least: We should always be thankful to and remember the handful of very brave Dutch people, who were hiding Anne Frank, her family and other Jews. “Victor Kugler, Johannes Kleiman, Miep Gies, and Bep Voskuijl were the only employees who knew of the people in hiding.”These heroes became Righteous Among The Nations!

 

Sources (S):

1. https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anne_Frank
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Frank

Berthold Beitz - A Leading German Post-World War Industrialist – RIP

Another Schindler

Until today (7/31/2013) when I read here (German language) the news about passing away of Berthold Beitz, I was not aware at all that this preeminent German manager and his equally courageous wife Elsa are Righteous Among The Nations celebrated by Israel at Yad Vaschem. As a German to be recognized by Israel as a Righteous Among The Nations is probably the highest honor that any German can receive by Israel.

At the young age of 27, he and his wife risked their lives to rescue as many Jews as possible from certain death. His post-war professional career is closely associated with the German steel giants Krupp & Thyssen.

One only wishes there had been more Germans as courageous as him and his wife.

Interview With A Survivor

As his death was announced today in my home town news paper, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, it also republished an interview (German language) with Mr. Jurek Rotenberg in Israel. He and his mother were saved by Mr. Beitz. It is a very touching story, but I will not go into details here.

Libya Ought To Redress The Jews For The Atrocities They Suffered

A Bit Of Recent History

As happened in other Arab countries, a large number of Jews were murdered or forced to leave Libya in the 20^th century. These pogroms were officially condoned. These pogroms happened at the end of World War II, 1948, and around 1967.

Here is the personal account of such atrocities committed against Jews in Libya. It is a blog written by David Harris at the HuffingtonPost.com headlined “A Neglected Anniversary” dated 7/8/2012.

Here are some excerpts from this blog (Emphasis added):

·         “Here [in Libya] was a community that had lived on the soil for more than two millennia, long predating the occupation by invading armies from the Arabian Peninsula. And Jews, numbering nearly 50,000 at their peak, had contributed in every way imaginable to the area’s development. Libya went to work to erase every trace of Jewish existence.”

·         “The link with the country today known as Libya - believed to date back to the tragic 15th-century exodus of Jews from Spain, in the case of my wife's maternal lineage, and 2,000 years to the involuntary Roman transport of Jews from Palestine in the case of her paternal lineage -- was severed.”

·         “What happened to the brave soul who saved my wife's family? He survived, but begged the family never to disclose his name. He feared retribution from fellow Libyans who might do him harm for the "crime" of saving ten Jews.” (Will Israel one day add the name of this brave Arab to Yad Vashem as a Righteous Among The Nations?)

Libya never showed any remorse for what happened neither did the other Arab countries to my knowledge.

How To Redress?

Now that the first free elections since independence were held in Libya, it would be recommendable that Libya engages in the Mid-East peace process by first telling the Arabs in Gaza and West Bank to get real and to abandon violence against Israel.

Second, like Germany, Libya should compensate Jewish survivors for their suffering.

Third, Libya ought to welcome back any Jews who wish to return etc.