By Alex Gordon HAIFA, Israel — There has been a war in Europe for nine months now. What could be more dangerous than a war in Europe? A war in Asia, which could start because of a war in Europe and would go with it. Who is pushing for war in Asia? The very country […]
The Irony and Danger of Ukraine’s Push for a War in Asia Read More »
Alex Gordon, Israel, Middle East, Opinion
By Alex Gordon HAIFA, Israel — For 25 years I lived opposite the Opera House in Kiev and many times I was near the scene of this murder, near the first row of the parterre and the orchestra pit. As a lover of classical music, I was a frequent visitor to the Kiev Opera House,
Murder in the Kiev Theater Read More »
Alex Gordon, International, Music, Dance, and Visual ArtsBy Alex Gordon HAIFA, Israel — In 1922, Hugo Bettauer, an Austrian writer of Jewish origin, published a satirical anti-utopia, the novel The City Without Jews. The book was published 47 times in seven languages. The author wrote: “The people have chosen a political savior, Dr. Karl Schwertfeger of the Christian Social Party.” The writer
The City Without Jews Read More »
Alex Gordon, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, OpinionBy Alex Gordon HAIFA, Israel — In political statements and commentary, the expression “on the right side of history” often appears. The politician or commentator puts his worldview and his actions “on the right side of history,” and his opponent’s opinions and policies on its ” wrong side.” Often statements about the right side of
On the Right Side of History Read More »
Alex Gordon, International, Israel, OpinionBy Alex Gordon HAIFA, Israel — The assassination in Sarajevo of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Habsburg throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was the most important political assassination of the twentieth century, for it was the trigger for World War I. However, this assassination, committed in 1914, was not the only resounding political assassination in the
The Red Terror of the Pacifist Read More »
Alex Gordon, International, Jewish History, OpinionBy Alex Gordon HAIFA, Israel — Tragedies often have a comic origin. This affair started out as being amusing and pleasurable, as well as uplifting, life-affirming and optimistic. It is August 25, 1917 Berlin. The premier of the operetta, The Black Forest Girl (Schwarzwaldmädel) is performed at the Komische Oper theatre. It has been a
By Alex Gordon HAIFA, Israel — From 1843 to 1854 the literature of Germany, a country which had been fragmented into 36 states, began to produce unifying folk tales in which the German nation began to crystallize. The founding father of the new national identity expressed through literature was the writer Berthold Auerbach. He portrayed
By Alex Gordon HAIFA, Israel — In June 1917, in the capital of the Russian Empire, Petrograd, formerly St. Petersburg, the poet Leonid Kannegiesser wrote a poem in which he glorified the chairman of the Provisional Government Alexander Kerensky, comparing his idol to the Messiah. Kannegiesser was born into a wealthy and cultured family of
The Jewish War Over Red Terror Read More »
Alex Gordon, International, Jewish History, OpinionMy grandfather Yaakov, my mother’s father, had seven brothers and one sister. At that time Jews in Russia gave birth to many children, because it was God’s will. Then God was forbidden in the Soviet Union, and there were fewer and fewer children. In our family there was less obedience to God’s commandments and fewer children were born. My grandmother Rosa gave birth to only two daughters, the eldest Leah and the youngest Dora, my mother. As in other Jewish families, the mother’s role grew as the number of children decreased. [Alex Gordon, Ph.D]
Jewish Fiction: The Yiddishe Mama Complex Read More »
Alex Gordon, Jewish FictionThis man fulfilled the typical dream of Jews who wanted to remake the world and their country of residence ‒ he became prime minister of a European state. Unlike Disraeli, he was not a baptized Jew. Born May 14, 1867, in Berlin to a Jewish family, Kurt Eisner became prime minister of Bavaria at age 51. [Alex Gordon, Ph.D]
History: Bavaria’s Revolutionary Jewish Prime Minister Read More »
Alex Gordon, International, Jewish HistoryBy Alex Gordon HAIFA, Israel — The images and colors of childhood sometimes determine later pictures of life. In my childhood, during the big Soviet holidays, an airship hovered over the city with four portraits on its huge body. One of the men portrayed in the portraits surpassed the other three in the amount of
On the Way to Israel Read More »
Alex Gordon, International, Israel, Opinion
By Alex Gordon HAIFA, Israel — The narrow corridor of the Physics Department of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, was strewn with doors all bearing plaques with the names of professors in Hebrew. I walked down the corridor, seeing “Professor …” everywhere. When I reached the very end, I noticed a
One Handshake Away From Albert Einstein Read More »
Alex Gordon, International, Israel, Science, Medicine, & Education
By Alex Gordon HAIFA, Israel — Johann Sebastian Bach composed six French Suites that began to be performed decades after the death of their author. In 2004, the non-musical French Suite, a novel about World War II, was published by the publishing house Denoel, translated into 38 languages. The book won France’s second most prestigious
80 Years On, Remembering ‘French Suite’ Author and Holocaust Victim Irène Némirovsky Read More »
Alex Gordon, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Holocaust, International, OpinionBy Alex Gordon HAIFA, Israel — In postwar Germany, the humiliating burden of enormous contributions created an enormous economic crisis, hyperinflation, and impoverishment. Everything was devalued and the demand for antisemitism grew. During the Weimar Republic, articles accusing Jews of pushing the country into war and losing it were increasing in number. In 1922, the
The Murder of An ‘Elder of Zion’ Read More »
Alex Gordon, International, Opinion