MADRID (WJC) –Spain’s Congress adopted a bill granting Spanish citizenship to the descendants of Jewish families expelled from the country in 1492, in a gesture of reconciliation. Legislators approved the new law in a session on Wednesday, ahead of a vote in the Senate, the upper house of parliament. the law is expected to come […]
Citizenship path for heirs of those Spain expelled Read More »
International, Jewish History
EDIRNE, Turkey (WJC)–The deputy CEO of the World Jewish Congress, Maram Stern, was in Turkey this week to take part in the re-opening ceremony of the Great Synagogue of Edirne, which was restored for $2.5 million and is the first synagogue to open in Turkey in two generations. Guest of honor at the ceremony was
Great Synagogue of Edirne, Turkey, reopens Read More »
Jewish History, Middle EastBy Dan Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — After this website published a news article headlined “A Tale of Two Holocaust Survivors” on March 17, Tomi Reichental, who was one of the two men mentioned in the story and who is 80, contacted me by email from his home in Ireland and said he would like
Shoah survivors with parallel stories plan meeting Read More »
International, Jewish History, USA
An Improbable Journey: A True Story of Courage and Survival During World War II by Susan Schenkel, Ph.D; ISBN 978-0-9894377-2-1, 183 pages, $12.95 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – After her mother’s death, author Susan Schenkel decided to research the lives that her parents, by then both deceased, had led during World War II
Biography traces parents’ survivals during WWII Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish HistoryBy Dan Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — Peter Kubicek is an email friend of mine who I have known for about ten years now. He lives in New York and I live in Taiwan but we meet often online to chat about current events and Jewish history, especially the Holocaust. Kubicek is a Holocaust survivor,
A tale of two Holocaust survivors Read More »
International, Jewish History, USA
SAN DIEGO (Press Release)– On April 13, 2015 various theaters, cultural organizations and memorial institutions across the country will unite to honor victims of the Holocaust by joining in Remembrance Readings for Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah). This inaugural event is led by theaters from San Diego, including the La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, North Coast
Holocaust readings planned by local theaters Read More »
Jewish History, San Diego CalendarTHESSALONIKI, Greece (WJC)– This city remembered its nearly 50,000 Jews sent to Nazi death camps during World War II. A memorial marking the 72nd anniversary of the roundup and deportation of Thessaloniki Jews was held Saturday, ahead of March 15th, the day when the first Jewish convoy left the city. Participants placed flowers on train tracks where
Greek city remembers Jews deported to Auschwitz Read More »
International, Jewish History
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—Some 20 years ago, Brian Schottlaender was serving as an associate librarian for collection services at UCLA, when Doug Greenberg invited him to visit a movie studio lot in Burbank. Greenberg took him to the trailers which then were housing the interviews that volunteers had videotaped with survivors of the
UCSD offers public access to Shoah archive Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & EducationEditor, San Diego Jewish World As we prepare for the annual Holocaust commemoration on April 19th, we are reaching out to ask for your help. We are searching for names of local Holocaust Survivors as well as those who have passed away in this last year. Although we work closely with the New Life Club,
Letter: Federation seeks to honor Shoah survivors Read More »
Jewish History, San Diego Calendar, San Diego CountyBy Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO –– Esther’s Children: A Portrait of Iranian Jews edited by Houman Sarshar, published by the Center for Iranian Oral Jewish History, 2005, is a large book which opens with a three page foldout of the timeline of significant events in Iranian-Jewish History. It is a history which begins in 539 BCE
From the Jewish Library: ‘Esther’s Children’ Read More »
Jewish HistoryBy Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — On June 21, 1964, David Goodman was a teenager living in his family’s Manhattan apartment. He noticed his mother pacing nervously: another of her sons, Andy, just 20 years old, was missing somewhere in Mississippi. David was anxious and frightened as well. It was the “Freedom Summer”—during which
Civil rights martyr’s brother seeks new coalitions Read More »
Jewish History, USA
SACRAMENTO (SDJW)–State Sen. Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) delivered the daily invocation in the Senate chambers on Thursday, March 5, marking the holiday of Purim. Hertzberg summarized the story of Purim from the Book of Esther and had hamantaschen distributed to each of his 39 Senate colleagues. He also praised Sen. Marty Block (D-San Diego), chair of the
Purim invocation given in state Senate Read More »
Jewish History, USABy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — Raphael Lemkin is probably the most influential figure of the Twentieth Century not widely recognized by posterity. Born in 1900 in a Polish village located in the Russian Empire, he had witnessed pogroms when he was growing up. Originally studying linguistics, he eventually became a lawyer. In the 1920s
The Wandering Review: ‘Watchers of the Sky’ Read More »
Jewish History, Lawrence Baron
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—When Joseph Kanfer, the father of Purell hand sanitizers, focuses this week on Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speeches to AIPAC and to Congress, he will do so “because I think it is necessary for our very survival but my love is Jewish education.” Kanfer, whose GOJO manufacturing company is
Industry leader says Jews should speak up about Iran Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, USA