Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By simmons on January 25, 2016

BBYO (formerly B'nai B'rith Youth Organization) is a pluralistic Jewish youth movement consisting of kids in grades 8 to 12.[1]

In 2002 the movement split from B'nai B'rith International, which had been its parent organization, to become BBYO, Inc.

BBYO's mission is, "More Jewish Teens, More Meaningful Jewish Experiences." The organization emphasizes its youth leadership model, in which teen leaders are elected by their peers on a local, regional and international level, and are given the opportunity to make their own programmatic decisions. Membership to BBYO is open to any high school or 8th grade student who identifies as a Jew. Many local programs also may have programs for teens in grades 6th-8th, called BBYO Connect.

BBYO is unique amongst its peers in being organized into local fraternity- and sorority-like chapters. Male chapters are known as AZA chapters and their members are known as Alephs, and female chapters as BBG chapters, their members known as BBGs. AZA and BBG were independent organizations (beginning in 1924 and 1944 respectively) before becoming brother and sister organizations under B'nai B'rith. In some communities, there are co-ed BBYO chapters which borrow traditions from both organizations.

AZA's original advisor, Nathan Mnookin, soon left Omaha for his hometown of Kansas City, where he started a similar group with the same name. The Omaha group selected a new advisor, Sam Beber, who soon laid out his plans for an international youth movement based on the local AZA model. In 1924, the Aleph Zadik Aleph for Young Men, now an international Jewish fraternity, was formed according to Beber's plan, with the Omaha and Kansas City chapters receiving the first two charters. Four chapters were in attendance at the first convention in June 1924, and ten at the second convention the following summer.

By 1925, AZA had expanded east with dozens of chapters across the country. At Beber's urging, B'nai B'rith took up the issue of officially adopting AZA as its junior auxiliary at their national convention in 1925. Supported by Henry Monsky, who himself was vying for the B'nai B'rith presidency, the convention adopted a committee report affirming its approval of the organization under B'nai B'rith's jurisdiction. Immediately following the convention, B'nai B'rith Executive Committee met and officially adopted AZA, which then became known as the Aleph Zadik Aleph of B'nai B'rith.

In 1944, after a few past failed attempts to begin a Jewish youth group for young women, B'nai B'rith Girls (BBG) became officially recognized and adopted by B'nai B'rith. Anita Perlman is credited with the development of BBG as Sam Beber is credited with the AZA. For the first time, AZA and BBG were united under a single organization, officially cementing their relationship and brother and sister organizations. Combined, the two youth movements were called the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization, and BBYO was born.

Although the organization has changed greatly behind-the-scenes over the years, its original tenets still remain true: dedication to Jewish life, a pluralistic approach, commitment to community service and social action, and a youth leadership model. BBYO continues to be open to all teenagers that identify themselves as Jews, without exception. Members participate in meeting rituals and sing pep songs that date back to the organization's earliest days. The organization continues to maintain and contribute to its International Service Fund, initiated at the very first international convention. Although the number of professional staff has risen dramatically, BBYO continues to maintain democratic youth leadership at every level.

Just as the organization changed greatly in its first few years, starting as a local youth group to being adopted as the official youth auxiliary of the world's largest Jewish organization, it likewise has undergone drastic changes in recent years. After more than 75 years of a general prosperity, B'nai B'rith began a massive restructuring at the turn of the 21st century in response to the changing face of North American Jewry. As a result, what was then the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization split from B'nai B'rith in 2002 and was re-formed as BBYO, Inc., an independent non-profit organization. The new organization received substantial funding from the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and was chaired by Lynn Schusterman.

Traditionally, BBYO was a conglomeration of many largely independent regions. This was the result of the modification of B'nai B'rith's long-standing "district" model. As new forms of communication have brought the members and staff of BBYO in closer contact, and as the differences between geographic regions continue to deteriorate, BBYO has become much more of a top-down organization, with standardized marketing materials and directives. BBYO has reached into the online market with its b-linked.org website, into the middle school market with its BBYO Connect programs, and into the adult market with its Friends & Alumni Network.

BBYO operates at four different levels, each one of which has its own elected teen leaders: international, regional, council and chapter. Depending on the size of and geography of a particular region, it may or may not contain the council level. (Typically, regions that are large in population or spread out geographically are likely to contain councils.) All members are assigned to a chapter, which is part of a region (and sometimes a council). The combined regions make up the international organization. The new position Grand Aleph Swag Godol is taken up by Ian Kandel.

On the international level, BBYO organizes large-scale programs and offerings for its members, both during the school year and the summer. These programs bring together members from all over North America, and all over the world. Despite the fact that BBYO focuses mostly on activities taking place or originating in North America, the organization nonetheless maintains a presence on five other continents as well. Some of these are affiliate chapters that ascribe to the traditions of BBYO but are not technically under the control of the international office. BBYO programs are known to be active in Israel, UK & Ireland, France, Thailand, Bulgaria, Curaao, South Africa, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and most recently Turkey, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, and Argentina due to the new BBYO-JDC partnership.

Districts were a now-defunct organizational unit, that were mostly replaced by regions in the 1980s. The last remaining international districts were disbanded and renamed in 2005 at International Convention.

At the regional level, chapters are brought together on a regular basis for inter-chapter programming and regional programs. All regions have at least one weekend-long convention every year (with some offering as many as a half-dozen). Regions that do not contain councils elect a regional board on a yearly basis. The regional board helps to plan regional events, and supervise their counterparts on the chapter level. There are currently 43 regions in North America. Regions are supervised by professional staff in a regional office.

Larger regions are sometimes split into councils, which operate much the same as regions, with their own council-wide events and elected council boards. A region that has councils will typically have both council events and regional events (encompassing all of the region's councils) over the course of the year. Councils elect a council board on a year basis; these boards function in the same fashion as do regional boards. Councils are supervised by professional staff, which may be in a regional office or a separate council office depending on the size of the council and region.

Chapters are BBYO's most basic organizational level, functioning at a local level. There are currently over 600 chapters in operation (roughly 45% B'nai B'rith Girls, 40% Aleph Zadik Aleph and 15% BBYO) across the world. These chapters contain about 48,000 registered members, and their programs reach over 40,000 teens every year

Chapters regularly engage in self-created programing. Programs are incredibly important and build the relationships among members of a chapter. There are many different programs, and a large bank of ideas can be found at BBYO Program Bank

BBYO each year offers programs in which all regions and councils in the international order come together and gather for various purposes. Through the duration of the school year there are three main programs a member could attend.

A three day convention in August which the top leaders of the regions: the two presidents and the International Boards, and all regional and council presidents, gather to discuss the goals and objectives of the upcoming programming year.

These leaders meet again in February before the International Convention with the addition of the International Chair Network and discuss how the first half of the year has gone and how to improve off it. They also do some final planning for the 5 days ahead of them.

International convention is a five-day convention in which is open to all members of BBYO. It serves as a weekend to reconnect with those whom youve met over the summer, international execs for a second time, business meetings, elections of the new international board for the next programming year and the state of the order of the International Presidents of the girls and the boys.

This is a trace through the remembrance of the Holocaust. One week of the trip is spent in Poland and the other week in Israel. While in Poland the participants connect to their connection to Judaism. The participants then spend one week in Israel celebrating its independence day. The March of the Living is not a BBYO sponsored program, but does send its own delegation on the trip annually.

BBYO offers a variety of different Summer programs dealing with leadership, Judaism, community service, the business world, and international travels to many different countries. The core of these programs have, for many years, taken place at B'nai B'rith Perlman Camp. These programs include:

This program is a twelve-day program in which incoming sophomores, juniors, and seniors in high school attend to learn about the essentials of leading a chapter. There are eight sessions held during the summer, five of which are held at the Beber Camp in Wisconsin (CLTC 1,3,5,7,8), and the other three at Bethany College in West Virginia (CLTC 2,4,6).

This program is an eighteen-day leadership program in which those on regional board learn how to expand what they knew about how to lead a chapter but now how to lead a region. It is part of the Perlman summer.

This program allows those seeking to find their Jewish identity to do so. It is three weeks of forming your own Jewish Self. It constitutes as half of the Perlman summer along with ILTC.

A program offering trips to all 5 continents that BBYO maintains a presence on. These trips include tourism, community service, social education, leadership, and Judaic experiences. One of the activities is tour of Israel. The teens are esorting by local team leader and have a basic introduction to Israel's geography, history, and culture.

Impact Boston Impact D.C.

Impact is two weeks of community service in a chosen location to better make one city at a time. Each program focuses on a different aspect of community service.

BBYO Michigan Business and Entrepreneurship Institute

A two week course highlighting Jewish business leadership along with teaching teens marketing, finance, and product development.

Both AZA and BBG have a segmented programming model, with each proscribed programming area referred to as a "fold". For AZA, the five folds are social, athletic, community service/social action, Judaic and educational; for BBG, the six folds are sisterhood, creativity, recreation, Jewish heritage, community service, and social action. Some chapters also have adopted the unofficial seventh fold of Mind, Body, Attitude (MBA). It aims to create a better self-image, and better self-esteem. Programs can be any time, and can involve any number of chapters (including both AZA and BBG together).

The teen leaders elected to office by their peers at various organizational levels have their own set of office titles, derived from Hebrew. Elections are typically held on an annual or semi-annual basis. The titles are often similar for the equivalent AZA and BBG positions, varying slightly due to a word's gender.

Exact board positions elected can vary slightly between regions and chapters, with some chapters electing additional board positions, and some electing multiple members to a single position (to work together). Additionally, chairmanships may be appointed on an as-needed basis at every organizational level.

BBYO chapters typically contain the same positions as would an AZA or BBG chapters, with the exact position name corresponding to the gender of the person elected to the position. Some BBYO chapters may also elect both a male and female officer to certain board positions (e.g., electing both a moreh and a aym ha-chaverot).

However, within BBYO in the UK and Ireland, the leadership positions work differently. Each chapter has an exec of about six people, who are voted on by all the members of that chapter. The positions are (in order):President, Vice-President, Administrator (sometimes split into Secretary and Treasurer), Programmer, Judaism and Zionism Awareness Officer (Referred to as JZA) and Welfare. Each of these positions has a specific role, but work together as a team to run the weekly meetings. On a larger scale, there is a National Executive, consisting of the positions listed above.

The BBYO in Curaao also has its own way of composing a board. Elections are held annually (usually in August), where each member attending that day votes. The board consist of 5 members. The positions are: President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary and Past-President (the President chosen at the previous elections). One more position that is also voted on, is the one of PR (Public Relations). This position is filled by two members, each representing one of the congregations respectively. The PRs are not part of the board.

More in-depth histories of AZA and BBG are available, as each organization developed independently before being united by B'nai B'rith. In addition, each organization maintains its own customs, traditions, and songs. Likewise, customs, traditions and program vary greatly from region to region, and more information is available on each.

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BBYO - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Posted By admin on January 22, 2016

Choose an interview Ackermann, Eva Adler, Marton Adler, Olga Altus, Irving Arden, Eugene Asner, Abraham Baker, Ella Beer, Magda Berki, Peri Biegun, Miriam Biegun, Samuel Binke, Szymon Birnholtz, Joseph Boros, Eva Brenner, Larry Brysk, Miriam Burdowski, David Butter, Irene Hasenberg Camhi, Bella Chandler, Maurice Charlupski, Franka Charlupski, Franka Cigler, Eva Cohen, Regina Cohen, Barbara Schechter Collins, Steve Cymerath, Simon Dan, Bert Dan, Clara Denes, Lila Dorfman, Henry Dorfman, Mala Weintraub Ebenstein, Noemi Engel Ehrmann, Alexander Eisenberg, Anne Elbaum, Luba Eliahu, Zyta Engel, Isaac Federman, Ruth Fein, Albert Feld, Sylvia Feldman, Eugene Feldman, Manya Auster Fenster, Lily Ferber, Fred Ferber, Miriam Monczyk-Laczkowska Firestone, Charlotte Fischler, Zivia Fishman, Joshua Fisk, Hannah Fisk, Benjamin Fordonski, Nancy Geffen, Hilma Gilbert, Tola Gissing, Vera Goldman, Simon Gorman, Erna Blitzer Gorman, Erna Blitzer Green, Rose Greenberger, Anna Greenspan, Lola Grinbaum, Emerich Gringlas, Joseph Gun, Jack Gun, Jack Hasenberg, Werner Hirsch, Bernard Hirschle, Anne Holcman, Abraham Horwitz, Sally Icikson, Esther Feldman Ilkow, Lanka Jutkevicz, Helen Kahan, David Kahan, David Kallai, Lisa Kalmas, Simon Karp, Alexander Karp, Alexander Katan, Salvatore and Lili Kaye, Louis Kendal, Fred Kent, Ruth Kent, Ruth Kessler, Ilya Martha Klaiman, Joseph Klein, Bernard & Emery Kleinberg, Pauline Koby, Martin Konstam, Henry Korper, George Kowler, Maximilian Kozlowski, Edith Kozlowski, Marvin Krystal, Henry Kupfer, Stefa (Sarah) Sprecher Lang, Helen Lessing, Alfred Lichtman, Rene Liffman, Leo Linson, Edward Lupian, Esther Magnus, Freda Manaster, Helena Mandel, John Marczak, Herman Maroko, Simon Marom, Hugo Merritt, Lucy Glaser Moche, Ben Molnar, Paul Mondry, Abraham Nothman, Nathan Nothman, Sonia Offen, Nathan, Bernard, and Samuel Offen, Nathan Offen, Samuel Opas, Michael Opatowski, Herman Pasternak, Abraham Pasternak, Abraham Petrinetz, Irene Posner, Esther Praw, Esther Praw, Harry Raab, Alexander Raimi, Saul Ramras, Hanna Reiss, Brenda Rich, Selma Romerfeld, Bell Rosen, Alice Lang Rosenow, Eric Rosenthal, Peppy Rosenzweig, Rita Rotbaum Ribo, Joseph Roth, Edith Roth, Nathan Rothenberg, Berek Rubin, Agi Rubin, Zoltan Rubin, Sigmund Salomon, Leon Salzburg, Aaron Sandel, Adele Schey, Vera Schleifer, Alexander Schreiber, Judy Seltzer, Sam Sessler, Tamara Shlanger, Martin Shloss, Felicia Silow, Sara Silver, Regina Slaim, Josef Sobel, Irene Spergel , Baruch Steiger, Zwi Stern, Kurt Sternberg, Malka Stransky, Helen Szostak, Zofia Tanay, Emanuel Taubman, Lola Troostwyk, Miriam Tuchklaper, Sally Vine, George Wagner, Rose Water, Martin Wayne, Larry Webber, Ruth Muschkies Webber, Mark Weinberger, Jack Weiselman, Nathan Weiss, Michael Weiss, Michael Weiss, Shari Weiss, Sidy Wiener, Cyla Wimmer, Eva Zamczyk, Natalie View RSS feed

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Eva Ackermann was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1926. Although an only child, Eva was part of a large extended family, most of whom perished in the war. Eva's parents divorced when she was young and she was raised by her mother. Eva had a reasonably normal childhood, even after the war began. After the German annexation of Hungary in 1944, Eva was separated from her mother and sent to Zurndorf, Austria. From there she was transported to a labor camp in Landsberg, where she was liberated. Her father perished in an air raid shortly before the end of the war and her mother died in Bergen-Belsen.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 51866377

Marton Adler was born in 1929 in Volov, a village in Sub Carpathian Ruthenia. He was the oldest child and had two brothers and a sister. His village was occupied by Hungarians in 1939 when he was ten years old. Marton's father was conscripted into a labor unit in Russia from 1941 until the end of 1942. Eventually the family lost their store due to the "Jewish" laws. The Germans occupied the area in March of 1944 and soon after the family was deported, first to a ghetto in Sokirnitsa and then to Auschwitz where his mother and siblings were gassed. Marton and his father were sent to Buchenwald and then to Dora where his father was killed. Marton was eventually liberated by the British from Bergen-Belsen.

View Video on YouTube

Original Format: video OCLC#: 33345371

An interview with Olga Adler, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Jonathon Fishbane. Olga Adler was born in Beregszsz Czechoslovakia. After the Hungarians invaded Czechoslovakia in 1938, Olga's parents sent her to Budapest where she worked as a clothing model until the Budapest Jews were rounded up and sent to concentration camps. Olga's life was spared after a failed escape attempt and she lived in several camps until she was sent back to the Budapest ghetto as a nurse to the elderly and insane who had been left there. Olga's immediate family, her father, mother, brother and sister, all perished in forced labor or death camps. Upon liberation, Olga returned to her hometown, got married, and soon left for the United States when the Russians took over their town.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 70210201

An audio interview with Irving Altus, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Bernie Kent. Mr. Altus was born in 1920, in Czekanw, Poland. Mr. Altus was the middle child in a family consisting of five children, his mother and father, all of whom perished in the Holocaust. Following the German invasion of Poland in 1939, the Germans arrested Mr. Altus and shipped him to various labor camps throughout Europe, including one in Knigsberg, Germany. In 1942, Mr. Altus was shipped to Auschwitz-Birkenau and assigned to an external Labor Kommando approximately 50 miles from the main camp. In 1945, Mr. Altus was forced to march westward towards Germany, eventually coming to Theresienstadt, where he was liberated by the Soviets after one day. After the war, Mr. Altus returned briefly to his hometown and then relocated to Munich, Germany. In 1949, he emigrated to America with his wife and son.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 52452306

Eugene Arden was a corporal during World War II. Arden's military government unit was attached the United States 7th Army as it travelled into Germany. The unit was responsible for closing down Nazi Labor Camps and for establishing DP Camps. The unit eventually helped liberate Landsberg, a sub-camp of Dachau. After the war, Eugene and his unit spent the post-war period in Heidelberg, Germany.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 52452406

An interview with Abraham Asner, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Sherry Weisberg. Abraham Asner was born in Nacha, Belarus in 1916. After the war broke out, Abraham and his brothers were sent to Radun ghetto as part of a labor force. They survived the liquidation of the ghetto in 1942 and became part of a partisan organization based in the nearby Natsher Pustshe forest. The brothers engaged in partisan activities and missions until they were liberated in 1945. A few years later, Abraham immigrated to Canada with his wife.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 124039009

A joint project between Portraits of Honor: Our Michigan Holocaust Survivors, the Program for Holocaust Survivors and Families, and the Voice/Vision Archive. Ella Baker was born in Vysni Apsa, Czechoslovakia on August 31, 1924 but grew up in Cop, Slovakia. After the German occupation of Hungary in March 1944, Ella and her parents were taken to the Uzhorod ghetto where they were held until being transported Auschwitz-Birkenau. Once there, she was separated from her parents whom she never saw again. While in the camp, Ella worked as a slave laborer making airplane parts. In 1945, Ella was sent on a death march out of the camp, but was forced to return to help clean up after a Russian bombardment. It was there that she was liberated by the Russians and went back to Czechoslovakia and then to Israel in 1948. She left Israel and came to Detroit in 1956 and has been very active within her community in championing Jewish rights and the rights of the mentally ill. She is also a cancer survivor and despite the tragic events in her life she remains positive and optimistic. Her motto is: "Don't dwell on things that you cannot change and try to see what is possible without pretending. Be inquisitive and aware and challenge all unjust situations."

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Original Format: Video OCLC#: n/a

Magda Beer was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1915. After the Germans invaded Hungary, Magda and her family were forced to live in the Budapest ghetto, where she worked in a brick factory. After Budapest was liberated by the Russians, Magda opened up her own factory and remarried before finally moving to the United States.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 575350079

An interview with Peri Berki, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by an unidentified interviewer. Peri Berki was born in 1900 in Hungary. After her husband was deported to a labor camp and their farmland taken away, Peri and her son lived in a ghetto with her sister and at one point, with thirty-nine other people, in a one-bedroom apartment. With the help of her husband and a Gentile innkeeper, they obtained false papers, moved to the Hungarian countryside, and assumed Gentile identities. Throughout the war, they posed as Gentiles, avoiding detection and receiving help from several strangers. When the war ended, the family was reunited and they again obtained false papers to immigrate to the United States.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 60931685

Miriam Biegun was born in White Russia. She and her family fled the ghetto for the Lipiczanska forest, joining the Lipiczanska Puszcza resistance when she was just four years old. In 1944, after living in the forest for three years, she and her siblings returned to Zhetl to find it in ruins. After a few months, they moved to d, where her siblings went to a kibbutz and Miriam went on to Berlin by 1947. While in Germany, she was also with her aunts and uncles in Ziegenhain and Jger-Kaserne before ultimately travelling to Israel with an aunt, uncle, and cousin and meeting her husband on the ship. The two were married in Israel before moving to Winnipeg and Windsor before finally settling down in Oak Park around 1970.

View Video on YouTube Link to Portraits of Honor Project

Original Format: video OCLC#: 810901628

Samuel Biegun was born on December 25, 1932 in Pinsk, Poland. When the war began, Russian forces occupied Pinsk and put Samuel and his family under house arrest. The family was then taken to live in a village called Airtau for the duration of the war. After the war they returned to Poland for a short time before moving to DP camps in Germany and eventually to Israel. From there, Samuel and his wife moved to Canada and finally, the United States. Link to Portraits of Honor Project

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 670512179

Szymon Binke was born in 1931 in d, Poland. Shortly after the Nazi invasion his family was moved to the city's Baluty district which became the d ghetto. In 1944 the family was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where his mother and sister were gassed. Szymon was placed in the Kinderblock but escaped from it to join his father and uncles in the main camp of Auschwitz. Later he was transferred to a series of forced labor camps until he was liberated in May 1945.

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Original Format: video OCLC#: 45257341

Joseph Birnholtz was born in Czstochowa, Poland. When the war began, Joseph and his family were forced to live in the ghetto. When the ghetto was liquidated, he was separated from his family and forced to work at the HASAG factory near Czstochowa. After being liberated by the Russians in 1945, Joseph joined a kibbutz in Poland before eventually moving the United States and becoming a cantor.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 670525497

An interview with Eva Boros, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Kay Roth. Eva was born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia in 1932. After the German annexation of the area, Eva's father began sending her siblings to Budapest, Hungary. Eva was smuggled there in 1944; however, the German invasion of that country prompted her to return to Bratislava. In September 1944, Eva was sent to the countryside surrounding Bratislava in order to go into hiding. Following the end of the war, Eva immigrated to Israel and then to the United States in 1969.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 57175058

An interview with Larry Brenner, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Larry Brenner was born in Vsrosnamny, Hungary in 1924. With the outbreak of the war, his father was sent to a forced labor camp and Larry went to live in Budapest to help an aunt run her business. In 1944, Larry was deported to a forced labor camp in J&aactue;szber&eactue;ny, the first of several forced labor camps to which he was sent. Larry was liberated from Gunskirchen, a subcamp of Mauthausen, and after liberation, he spent the next several years finding surviving family members and dodging the Hungarian Army draft. In 1948, Larry immigrated to America.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 76167128

Miriam Brysk was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1935. Following the German invasion of Poland, Miriam and her family moved to Lida, Belarus, which was her father's hometown. When Lida was turned into a ghetto, her father, a surgeon, was forced to treat Germans at the local hospital. On May 8th, 1942, Germans massacred most of the residents of the Lida ghetto, but Miriam and her family narrowly escaped death. After returning to the ghetto, the Jewish partisans contacted Miriam's father, requesting his assistance as a surgeon. The family joined the partisans in the Lipiczanska forest, where Miriam was passed off as boy for her safety. Link to Portraits of Honor Project

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 708330728

David Burdowski was born in Kodawa, Poland on September 27, 1924. Following the invasion of Poland, he was taken to a forced labor camp called Buchwerder Forst. From there he was taken to work in a paper factory and was then sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau. David was transported to many camps during the war before being liberated on a train outside of Dachau by American forces in Staltach. After the war he lived in the Feldafing Displaced Persons Camp and met his future wife. He moved to America in 1949 and started a family

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 318898165

Dr. Irene Hasenberg Butter was born in Berlin in 1930 but moved to Holland with her family in 1937. In June 1943 the family was deported, first to Westerbork, a transit camp, and then in Feb. 1944 to Bergen-Belsen. The family managed to be included in an exchange transport in early 1945, using falsified Equadorian passports. During the transport her father died. The rest of the family were released and went to North Africa and later moved to New York City after the war ended.

Original Format: video OCLC#: 31713792

An interview with Bella Camhi, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Bella Camhi was born in Salonika, Greece, ca. 1925. Following the German occupation of Greece, Bella, along with her mother, father and three sisters, was placed in the Salonika Ghetto. In 1943, the family was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where everyone, except Bella and another sister, was gassed on arrival. Bella was assigned to work in the "Kanada Kommando" and her younger sister was placed in the "Kinderblock," from where she was later sent to the gas chambers. Sometime in 1944, Bella was moved out of Auschwitz-Birkenau, loaded onto a wagon and later abandoned in an empty field. After being liberated, Bella walked to Munich, Germany. She later returned to Salonika and finally immigrated to the United States sometime in the early 1950s. Link to Portraits of Honor Project

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 56429688

Maurice Chandler was born in Nasielsk, Poland where his parents owned a textile store. After the Germans invaded the town, Maurice and his older brother escaped across the Bug River to Russia where they lived with a cousin until his brother became homesick. Maurice returned his brother to his parents, now in the Warsaw ghetto, and became trapped in the ghetto as well. The brothers escaped the ghetto and worked as farm hands. After his brother died of typhus, Maurice adopted a Polish identity and continued his work on Polish farms for the remainder of the war.

View video of Maurice Chandler in the Jewish Quarter of Nasielsk, Poland in 1938. Courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the David Kurtz Collection.

Original Format: Audio OCLC#: 318901239

Franka Charlupski was born in 1920 and lived with her family in d, Poland. The Weintraubs were in the d ghetto from 1940 until August 1944 when they were transported to Auschwitz and separated. Her mother died in Auschwitz and her father died in a labor camp. Franka and her sister spent three days in Auschwitz before being moved to a labor camp outside of Bremen, Germany. On April 7, 1945 this camp was closed and the inmates were moved to Bergen-Belsen where they were liberated by the British Army on April 15.

Original Format: video OCLC#: 32214428

Franka Charlupski was born in d, Poland. After the Germans invaded Poland, Franka and her family were moved into the d Ghetto where they did forced labor. In August1944 the family was deported to Auschwitz. From there Franka and her sister were sent to Bremen and then to Bergen-Belsen where they were liberated. After the war, Franka met and married her second husband and moved to the United States.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 751988619

An interview with Eva Cigler, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Eva Lipton. Eva Cigler was born in Beregszsz, Czechoslovakia in 1926. After the Hungarian annexation of the area, Eva's family, consisting of her mother, father, four sisters and one brother, experienced increasing anti-Semitism from the Hungarians. In 1944, the family was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where her mother, father, brother, and one sister were gassed. After some time in Auschwitz-Birkenau, Eva was transported to an unspecified satellite camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. From there she was sent to Bergen-Belsen where she was liberated. After spending some time in a Displaced Persons Camp in Celle, Germany, Eva returned to Beregszsz for a brief time. From there she went to Prague and immigrated to the United States.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 57175198

An interview with Regina Cohen, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Regina Cohen was born in Chust, Czechoslovakia in 1929. She was the fifth child of nine in a middle class Orthodox family. She and her family were sent to the ghetto in Chust and then were deported to Auschwitz in spring 1944. After a few months, she was selected to work in a Siemens factory near Nuremberg. She was then moved to a factory in Nuremberg where the American Army liberated her. Regina went home to Chust to find her only surviving family, one sister and one brother. Regina and her sister moved out of Russian occupied Czechoslovakia into a DP camp in Heidenheim, Germany where they stayed for three years. Regina continued her education in the DP camp and learned English in order to move to Montreal to be a mother's helper for a Jewish family. She met her husband in Windsor and soon moved to Detroit to start her family.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 70832305

An interview with Barbara Schechter Cohen, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Mrs. Schechter Cohen, born in 1941, is child survivor of the Holocaust. Following the outbreak of the war, Barbara and her mother were separated from her father. Traveling on forged papers, Barbara and her mother went to Austria, where he mother worked. Following the end of the war, the two were placed in a DP camp outside of Stuttgart Germany, where they were reunited with Barbara's father. The family emigrated to the United States in 1946. Link to Portraits of Honor Project

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 052971467

Steve Collins was born on October 7, 1918 in Posk, Poland--a small town located near Warsaw. Steve recounts life in pre-war Poland and his experiences during the beginning of the Second World War. When the war broke out in 1939, Steve fled to Warsaw and joined the Polish Army to fight the invading German forces. One night during combat, Steve managed to escape back to Posk. In Posk, Steve was placed in the newly formed ghetto. Steve was then transported to Prussia and from there sent to Auschwitz.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 843346223

Simon Cymerath grew up in a close-knit family in Starowicea [Starowice], Poland. When the Germans occupied Starowicea [Starowicea], the family was moved into a ghetto and Simon was first sent to work in a local factory and then to work in a forced labor camp. Simon escaped from the labor camp with the help of a Jewish contractor and returned home to Starowicea [Starowice] where he went back to work in the factory. Soon after, the family was sent to Treblinka where his parents and youngest brother perished; Simon and two other brothers were separated and sent to Auschwitz. Simon survived Auschwitz working as a painter on a Monowitz work detail. In April 1945, the camp was evacuated and the prisoners forced on a death march that ended with their liberation by the Americans. After liberation, Simon worked several years with the American army, reunited with his only surviving brother, and immigrated to the United States in 1950.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 68810108

An interview with Bert Dan, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Kay Roth. Bert Dan was born in Cluj, Romania in 1916. He served as a soldier in the Romanian army at the outbreak of World War II. After the Hungarians occupied Romania, he was arrested and imprisoned for a year; upon his release Bert was drafted into various labor camps and work details throughout Eastern Europe. During a forced march back to Hungary, he escaped with a group of other prisoners and was found by the Russian army. He was freed and eventually returned to Cluj. Bert began to work with Jewish committees helping to locate and assist Hungarian and Romanian Jews returning to their homes from Poland. He eventually set up a committee office in Prague, Czechoslovakia where he was reunited with his fiance. They married after the end of the war and immigrated to the United States in 1949.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 71339357

An interview with Clara Dan, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Kay Roth. Clara Dan was born in Trgu-Mures, Romania (later Hungary) in 1921. Clara was the youngest of three siblings. In the spring of 1944, Clara, her sister and her parents were rounded up and placed in a makeshift ghetto in Koloszvar, Hungary. After several weeks there, they were shipped to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Clara and her sister survived the selection on the ramp and were reunited in the camp. After some time in Auschwitz, Clara and her sister were sent to work in a bullet factory in Hundsfeld. When the Russians came too close to the area, the sisters were marched to Gross Rosen and then sent to Bergen-Belsen where the British Army liberated them. After the war, Clara and her sister were placed in a DP camp in Celle, Germany where they were reunited with their brother.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 62739949

Born in a small town in Hungary, Mrs. Denes moved to Budapest in 1940 with her husband. Her husband was taken to labor camps several times between 1940 and the end of the war. When the Germans occupied Budapest in 1944, Mrs. Denes had two small children, Judy and George. Using false papers, she assumed the identity of an unwed mother and was treated as such by the people around her. She was in Budapest when the Soviet army liberated it. Her husband returned soon after the liberation. Again using false papers, the family fled Hungary after the war and eventually settled in Detroit, Michigan in 1955.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 36451405

Born in Glowaczow, Poland in 1922, Henry Dorfman was one of four children in a large Orthodox family. Following the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, the Dorfman family continued to live in Glowaczow under an increasing amount of persecution from the Nazi occupation forces. The family was relocated to a large ghetto in Kozienice in 1941. While in the ghetto, Henry and his father were separated from his mother and three siblings and used as laborers on the estate of a Volksdeutsche (native German) aristocrat. Sometime in the fall of 1942, the entire Dorfman family was rounded-up and put on a transport to the Treblinka death camp. Once again, separated from his mother and siblings, Henry and his father escaped from the train. His mother and siblings died en route to, or immediately upon arrival at Treblinka. Following their escape, Henry and his father hid in a barn and were given assistance by one of the workers employed by the Volksdeutsche aristocrat. Later they served in a partisan unit until the area was liberated by the Soviet Army in 1944. Henry remained in Europe for several years following the end of the war, helping his father establish two businesses in d, Poland and establishing his own in Germany. He later moved to the United States with his wife, Mala, whom he met in Poland after the war. Link to Portraits of Honor Project

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 50806481

Mala Weintraub Dorfman was born in d, Poland in 1923. When the war broke out in 1939, Mala and three of her five siblings were sent to live with their grandmother in the Kozienice ghetto. Mala worked as a nurse in the ghetto until she was deported to Skarzysko where she worked in an ammunitions factory for two years. She was then deported to Czstochowa where she was liberated a year later by the Russians. After the war, Mala returned to d, married, and was soon reunited with her sisters at Bergen-Belsen. Mala lived with her husband in Germany until their immigration to the United States in 1949.

View Video on YouTube Link to Portraits of Honor Project

Original Format: video OCLC#: 70958436

Noemi Engel Ebenstein, born in 1941, is a child survivor of the Holocaust. In her interview she retells stories told to her by her mother about how the family survived the Holocaust. Her father was sent to a forced labor camp when Noemi was a baby. In May 1944, Noemi, her brother and mother were deported from Subotica, Yugoslavia to the camps, first to Strasshof labor and then to Moosbierbaum where they were liberated by the Soviet army.

View Video on YouTube Link to Portraits of Honor Project

Original Format: video OCLC#: 38750545

Alexander Ehrmann was born in Kralovsky Chlumec, Czechoslovakia, which became part of Hungary in 1938. His family consisted of himself, his parents, two brothers and three sisters. In 1944 the family was deported to a ghetto and then to Auschwitz where his parents, a sister and her son were killed. After the uprising in the Warsaw ghetto ended, Mr. Ehrmann was transferred from Auschwitz to Warsaw with a labor group to salvage materials from the ghetto. After spending five days in Dachau, he was transferred to Mhldorf, where the inmates were building an underground aircraft factory. When the camp was evacuated, Mr. Ehrmann and other inmates were put on a train and moved back and forth in the unoccupied area until they were liberated by American troops. After the war he was reunited with two sisters and his younger brother.

Original Format: video OCLC#: 32948524

An interview with Anne Eisenberg a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Charlene Green. Anne Eisenberg was born in Slatinske Doly, in Czechoslovakia. As a child, she and her family moved to Sighet. Following the Hungarian annexation of Sighet, Anne's father and brothers were conscripted by Hungarian authorities and sent away for forced labor. In 1944, Annie, along with her sisters, mother and aunt were placed in the ghetto in Sighet and then deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where only her and one sister survived. They were then shipped to the forced labor camp Gelsenkirchen and then to Smmerda. They were liberated near Brno, Czechoslovakia in 1945. Anne was then placed in a DP camp near Linz, Austria. Following a return to Sighet, she immigrated to the United States. Link to Portraits of Honor Project

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 58564641

An interview with Luba Elbaum, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Arthur Kirsch. Luba Elbaum was born on Jan. 10, 1923 in Lublin, Poland. When the war broke out, she worked with her family for the Germans. While her family was taken to the ghettos in Lublin and Belzyce, Luba worked on a farm for the Germans. In 1941 she was deported to Budzyn to be a housemaid for the Oberscharfhrer Felix. A year later, Luba was deported to Paszw for work detail, then to Auschwitz. In 1944, she was transported to Bergen-Belsen where she was selected along with 300 other girls to be deported to Aschersleben to work. Luba was then forced on a six-week death march to Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia where she was liberated on May 8, 1945. Link to Portraits of Honor Project

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 76168055

Zyta Eliahu was born in Nadwrna, Poland. Soon after the Germans took over the Sudetenland, Zyta and her parents moved to Podmokly, Czechoslovakia and later to Prague. While in Prague her parents registered Zyta with Nicholas Winton to have her transported to England before the war broke out. She was fostered with a family in Loose, Kent before reuniting with her parents in Israel in 1948.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 261134359

An interview with Isaac Engel, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Issac Engel was born in Zwoln, Poland ca. 1921. Following the German invasion in 1939, Issac and his family hid from the Germans in the village of Zileonka. Shortly there after, the family was separated and Issac moved between local villages. In 1942, Isaac's family left hiding and went to the town of Ciepielw, where they were rounded-up by the Germans and either killed on the spot or deported to Treblinka. Issac was sent to Skarzysko-Kamienna as a forced laborer for the Hugo Schneider Aktiengesellschaft (HASAG). From Skarzysko-Kamienna, Issac was sent to Gross-Rosen, Nordhausen, Dora and Bergen-Belsen. After liberation, Mr. Engel was placed in the DP Camp at Celle, where he remained until 1949. Link to Portraits of Honor Project

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 55895341

Ruth Federman was born Prostjov Czechoslovakia, spending her early years in Prague. Her mother attempted to send her to England on one of the last of Nicholas Winton's trains. Mrs. Federman's train was turned away and of the 250 children on the transport, only Mrs. Federman and one other passenger survived the Holocaust. Mrs. Federman's mother arranged passage to Palestine for her daughter. She arrived alone at the Port of Tel Aviv in December, 1939.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 318901095

Albert Fein was born in Uzhorod, Czechoslovakia, now Ukraine. Albert and his family lived under Hungarian occupation until they were transported to the Kamenetz-Podolsk ghetto. The Fein family escaped the ghetto by passing as Christians and was sent to Kolomyia where they stayed for the duration of the war. Link to Portraits of Honor Project

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 316802616

Sylvia Feld with Nancy Fordonski grew up in a large family of ten children in Zloczew, Poland. Following the Nazi invasion in 1939, Sylvia and Nancy, along with their mother, father and several siblings, fled to the nearby town of Zdunska Wola, where two of her older sisters lived. Following a brief stay there, Sylvia, Nancy and one of their brothers went to stay with their grandmother in Szadek, Poland. Nancy and her family returned to Zdunska Wola where they remained in the ghetto until 1942. When the Germans liquidated the Zdunska Wola ghetto in 1942, Sylvia, Nancy and another sister were sent to the Lodz ghetto and many of her other family members were deported and murdered. Following the liquidation of the ghetto in 1944, they were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau. After a brief time, they were shipped to Stutthof and then to Dresden. Following the bombings of that city, Sylvia and Nancy were sent on a forced march to Theresienstadt. During the march, they escaped and hid on a farm near Karlsbad (Karlovy Vary) where they were liberated by the American army.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 858940662

An interview with Eugene Feldman, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan--Dearborn. Eugene Feldman was born in the late 1920s in Glinka, Poland. Situated in the Soviet zone of occupation after 1939, Glinka was under Soviet rule until 1941. Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Eugene and his family were sent to the nearby ghetto in Stolin. During an Aktion, Eugene, his father, stepmother, and cousin hid from the Germans, escaped from the ghetto and returned to Glinka. They left the village and hid in the countryside, following a band of partisans through White Russia (Belarus). After the war, Eugene went to d, Poland and then on to a DP camp in Freimann, Germany. From there he immigrated to the United States.

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 57175283

Manya was born in Dombrovitsa, Poland in 1923. Her family was orthodox and considerably large, numbering close to 200. Following the outbreak of the war in 1939, the Soviet Union occupied Dombrovitsa. Russian occupation ended however in 1941, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union and Manya's hometown fell into German hands. The Jews in Dombrovitsa immediately felt the effects of German anti-Semitic measures. In August 1942, the Germans liquidated the ghetto in Dombrovitsa and Manya, along with her father, brother and eldest sister escaped into the forest. Her mother and her two sisters remained and they were deported to the nearby town of Sarny where they were murdered. After fleeing the Germans, Manya and her remaining family joined the Kovpak partisan movement. Manya was separated from her father and siblings and spent the remainder of the war hiding in several small villages in the region and serving in different partisan units. Her father and siblings were killed in combat. Following the end of the war, Manya was placed in a DP camp in Berlin. She then emigrated to the United States.

View Video on Youtube Link to Portraits of Honor Project

Original Format: video OCLC#: 50499827

An interview with Lily Fenster, a Holocaust survivor, conducted by Dr. Sidney Bolkosky, Professor of History at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Lily Fenster was born in Warsaw Poland in 1926. After the German invasion of Poland, Lily, along with her mother, father and five sisters, was placed in the Warsaw Ghetto. After some time, Lily was able to escape from the ghetto, leaving her family behind. In the ghetto, her four sisters died from hunger and her father disappeared. After making her way to ukw Podlaski, Lily was able to work on a farm and raised enough money to have her mother smuggled from the ghetto. Within six weeks of the reunion, Lily's mother was deported to Treblinka. Lily, having obtained a Kennkarte, and hiding among the Gentile population was able to evade capture. After her mother's deportation, Lily moved into the main city of ukw Podlaski, where she obtained work as a nurse, until the Russian liberation. While in ukw Podlaski she met her future husband. After the war, Lily, along with several others, made her way to d and then on to Germany. She emigrated to the United States in 1951. Link to Portraits of Honor Project

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 55803082

Fred Ferber was born in 1930 in Swietchlowice, Poland in 1930. In 1933, the Ferber family re-located to Chorzow, Poland and then on to Krakw, Poland ca. 1936. Following the German invasion, the Ferbers were forced into the Krakw Ghetto located in Podgorze. In 1943, the family was rounded-up and sent to the Paszw forced labor camp on the outskirts of Krakw. While in Paszw, Fred's father was murdered by the camp's Kommandant, Amon Goethe. Fred worked in the metal and fabric shops in the camp while his mother worked in a labor detail. Fred's brother was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where he died. Fred was separated from his mother when he was transferred with a number of other prisoners to the Mauthausen forced labor camp in Austria. From there, he was transferred to Gusen II and then to Gunskirchen (both sub-camps of Mauthausen). He was liberated by the American Army in May 1945. Following liberation and a short stay in a Displaced Persons Camp where he recuperated from typhus and dysentery, he returned to Poland to find his family. He was reunited with his mother in Sopot, Poland. After finding his mother and learning the fate of his brother, he moved around Europe until the late 1940s, when he immigrated to America. While in America, Fred stayed in an orphanage in San Francisco while attending school and college. Link to Portraits of Honor Project

Original Format: audio OCLC#: 50504347

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Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive ...

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Posted By admin on January 22, 2016

Why did the Nazis direct all their anger and all their accusations against the Jews?

The answer to this question lies in the strong anti-Semitic tradition in Europe, which predated the Nazis rise to power. This was not a specifically German phenomenon. A widespread hatred of the Jews can be found in the writings of Martin Luther and it was an important part of the self-perception of many Christians.

In a more modern form, at the end of the 19th century, a racist-biological anti-Semitism was developed, where the Jews were perceived as a deformity on the body politic. The Jews were also increasingly perceived as a specific problem to society, a problem that needed solving if the nation were to survive.

In Germany, Hitler and the Nazis succeeded in segregating the Jews from the rest of the population, despite the fact that German Jews were among the best assimilated in Europe. Jewry was also linked to communism (in Judeo-Bolshevism), thus making the Nazis capable of presenting the Jews as one the German middle classs greatest fears.

There has been much debate among historians as to why the Nazis set out to exterminate the Jews. Some have stated that it had always been Hitlers plan to exterminate the Jews, while others have perceived the mass murders as a result of a long and curved process, where the Nazi Jewish policy was gradually radicalised.

The Jews presence in the German-occupied parts of Europe was seen as a problem and a great annoyance. At best, they were to disappear from the face of the earth, so that the Nazis could reach their goal: a Greater Germany free from Jews. Different solutions were tried: voluntary immigration, forced immigration, and several different plans for deportation. Plans surfaced to deport all the Jews to the east, first to eastern Poland, then to Siberia. Serious plans were also developed that included deporting all European Jews to the east African island of Madagascar.

All these plans had to be dropped, however, because of the war that started in Europe in 1939. At the same time, the Nazis had gained experience with systematic mass murder in the form of the Euthanasia Programme, where physically and psychologically disabled were killed by the state. This constituted the crossing of an important psychological barrier. Another such barrier was crossed with the beginning of the Germans cruel war of extermination against the Soviet Union, which commenced in June 1941. All usual conventions for warfare were dropped at the beginning of this the final battle against Judeo-Bolshevism.

The result of the frustrations with the unsuccessful deportation plans, of the experiences with the euthanasia actions, of the war with the Soviet Union, and not least of the wish to find the Final Solution to the Jewish Question all these elements led to the systematic mass murder of approximately 6 million Jews.

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Holocaust | The reasons for the Holocaust

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Posted By admin on January 22, 2016

The Holocaust was the systematic annihilation of six million Jews during the Nazi genocide - in 1933 nine million Jews lived in the 21 countries of Europe that would be occupied by Nazi Germany during World War 2. By 1945 two out of every three European Jews had been killed.

The number of children killed during the Holocaust is not fathomable and full statistics for the tragic fate of children who died will never be known. Estimates range as high as 1.5 million murdered children. This figure includes more than 1.2 million Jewish children, tens of thousands of Gypsy children and thousands of institutionalized handicapped children.

In his book Sheltering The Jews the Holocaust historian Mordecai Paldiel later wrote:

"Never before in history had children been singled out for destruction for no other reason than having been born. Children, of course, were no match for the Nazis' mighty and sophisticated killing machine .."

KZ Dachau was the first concentration camp established in Nazi Germany - the camp was opened on March 22, 1933. The camp's first inmates were primarily political prisoners, Social Democrats, Communists, trade unionists, habitual criminals, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, beggars, vagrants, hawkers.

In the late 1930's the Nazis killed thousands of handicapped Germans by lethal injection and poisonous gas. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, mobile killing units following in the wake of the German Army began shooting massive numbers of Jews and Gypsies in open fields and ravines on the outskirts of conquered cities and towns.

Eventually the Nazis created a more secluded and organized method of killing. Extermination centers were established in occupied Poland with special apparatus especially designed for mass murder. Giant death machines.

Holocaust Photos

Six such death camps existed: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor, and Treblinka. Large-scale murder by gas and body disposal through cremation were conducted systematically by the Nazis and Adolf Hitler's SS men ..

Victims were deported to these centers from Western Europe and from the ghettos in Eastern Europe which the Nazis had established. In addition, millions died in the ghettos and concentration camps as a result of forced labor, starvation, exposure, brutality, disease, and execution.

- Louis Blow

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Gates To Hell - The Nazi Death Camps

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Posted By admin on January 22, 2016

Hitler and Goering were arguing about the Jews, Goering stating that they were quite clever people and Hitler vehemently denying they were any such thing.

Finally Goering told Hitler that they should go out in the city and Goering would show Hitler it was true. Hitler agreed, so they disguised themselves and went out on the street.

Goering took Hitler into a shop, went up to the counter, and asked the clerk: Do you have any left-handed teacups? The clerk stared at Goering for a moment and then said no, mein herr, I do not.

The two left with Hitler complaining that he did not understand what the point of this was and Goering telling him to be patient. They went to another shop and Goering gave the same act: Do you have any left-handed teacups? The clerk stared and shrugged his shoulders.

They left with Hitler becoming incensed over this nonsense and Goering begging for patience. Finally they went into a Jewish shop; Goering again asked the clerk: Do you have any left-handed teacups?

The clerk smiled graciously, went into the back room and made a show of rummaging around, brought out a saucer and teacup, set down the saucer, and carefully placed the cup with the handle pointed so Goering could pick it with his left hand. There you are, mein herr! the clerk said.

Goering bought the teacup, thanked the clerk, and the two men left. Goering turned to Hitler and said: See, I told you the Jews were very clever people.

I dont see what was so clever about that, Hitler snapped. He just happened to have one in stock!

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Holocaust Jokes: Being Funny in the Face of an Almighty Scam

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Posted By admin on January 22, 2016

The Holocaust is one of the greatest atrocities in history, and today it's hard to look at it and understand just what could lead so many German people to participate in such blind hatred of their fellow man. During the Holocaust, a huge percentage of the German population 8.5 million were members of the Nazi party. Soldiers and officers worked to round up more than six millions Jews as well as millions of other people they deemed undesirable, and then murder them outright. Trying to understand the causes of the Holocaust is difficult, primarily since there is really no single cause or trigger that can be pinpointed. Instead, many different factors have to be considered. Certainly, one can trace the roots of the Holocaust back to early Christianity. Many people to this day blame Jews for the murder of Jesus Christ, and it's easy to assume that this had something to do with the Holocaust. However, most agree that the causes of the Holocaust weren't actually religious in nature, but were rather born from political issues, economic factors, and more. Germany after WWI was a shadow of its former self. The German economy had suffered tremendously, German pride was bruised, and many Germans began to notice that Jewish people had begun to make good lives for themselves. Simply put, Jews were becoming an important part of European society. The combination of jealousy over this and the fact that German economic factors weren't where they once were helped make it easy for many to use the Jews as a scapegoat. Throughout history, Jews have often been blamed for a wide variety of perceived crimes, and in post WWI Germany, this sentiment continued. Hitler and the Nazis stoked those fires. Even those who had only a passing jealousy of a Jewish neighbor, for instance, could easily begin to hate when given the right fuel for their flame. Nazi propaganda, combined with psychological factors often called 'herd mentality', made it easy for the Nazis to begin spreading their message of hate and gradually gaining new followers. Of course, the causes go much deeper and become far more complex than just this simple explanation. But when scratching the surface of the Holocaust in search of causes, pure, unfettered racism combined with various political and economic situations, mingled with more than a small bit of jealousy, was enough to set the Holocaust in motion and eventually lead to the death of millions of people.

Please help us with our fight towards Holocaust Denial.Donateby purchasing our DVD "Hitler's Children" or contribute to ourFB Page. Thank you!

Photo credit:Recuerdos de Pandora/Foter/CC BY-SA

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Causes Of The Holocaust - Hitler's Children

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Posted By admin on January 22, 2016

Level: Basic

In the Bible, Jews were called Hebrews or Children of Israel The terms "Jew" and "Judaism" come from the tribe or kingdom of Judah "Jew" now refers to all physical and spiritual descendants of Jacob A person can be Jewish by birth or by conversion Traditionally, Jewish status passes through the mother, not the father

The original name for the people we now call Jews was Hebrews. The word "Hebrew" (in Hebrew, "Ivri") is first used in the Torah to describe Abraham (Gen. 14:13). The word is apparently derived from the name Eber, one of Abraham's ancestors. Another tradition teaches that the word comes from the word "eyver," which means "the other side," referring to the fact that Abraham came from the other side of the Euphrates, or referring to the fact Abraham was separated from the other nations morally and spiritually.

Another name used for the people is Children of Israel or Israelites, which refers to the fact that the people are descendants of Jacob, who was also called Israel.

The word "Jew" (in Hebrew, "Yehudi") is derived from the name Judah, which was the name of one of Jacob's twelve sons. Judah was the ancestor of one of the tribes of Israel, which was named after him. Likewise, the word Judaism literally means "Judah-ism," that is, the religion of the Yehudim. Other sources, however, say that the word "Yehudim" means "People of G-d," because the first three letters of "Yehudah" are the same as the first three letters of G-d's four-letter name.

Originally, the term Yehudi referred specifically to members of the tribe of Judah, as distinguished from the other tribes of Israel. However, after the death of King Solomon, the nation of Israel was split into two kingdoms: the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel (I Kings 12; II Chronicles 10). After that time, the word Yehudi could properly be used to describe anyone from the kingdom of Judah, which included the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi, as well as scattered settlements from other tribes. The most obvious biblical example of this usage is in Esther 2:5, where Mordecai is referred to as both a Yehudi and a member of the tribe of Benjamin.

In the 6th century B.C.E., the kingdom of Israel was conquered by Assyria and the ten tribes were exiled from the land (II Kings 17), leaving only the tribes in the kingdom of Judah remaining to carry on Abraham's heritage. These people of the kingdom of Judah were generally known to themselves and to other nations as Yehudim (Jews), and that name continues to be used today.

In common speech, the word "Jew" is used to refer to all of the physical and spiritual descendants of Jacob/Israel, as well as to the patriarchs Abraham and Isaac and their wives, and the word "Judaism" is used to refer to their beliefs. Technically, this usage is inaccurate, just as it is technically inaccurate to use the word "Indian" to refer to the original inhabitants of the Americas. However, this technically inaccurate usage is common both within the Jewish community and outside of it, and is therefore used throughout this site.

A Jew is any person whose mother was a Jew or any person who has gone through the formal process of conversion to Judaism.

It is important to note that being a Jew has nothing to do with what you believe or what you do. A person born to non-Jewish parents who has not undergone the formal process of conversion but who believes everything that Orthodox Jews believe and observes every law and custom of Judaism is still a non-Jew, even in the eyes of the most liberal movements of Judaism, and a person born to a Jewish mother who is an atheist and never practices the Jewish religion is still a Jew, even in the eyes of the ultra-Orthodox. In this sense, Judaism is more like a nationality than like other religions, and being Jewish is like a citizenship. See What Is Judaism?

This has been established since the earliest days of Judaism. In the Torah, you will see many references to "the strangers who dwell among you" or "righteous proselytes" or "righteous strangers." These are various classifications of non-Jews who lived among Jews, adopting some or all of the beliefs and practices of Judaism without going through the formal process of conversion and becoming Jews. Once a person has converted to Judaism, he is not referred to by any special term; he is as much a Jew as anyone born Jewish.

Although all Jewish movements agree on these general principles, there are occasional disputes as to whether a particular individual is a Jew. Most of these disputes fall into one of two categories.

First, traditional Judaism maintains that a person is a Jew if his mother is a Jew, regardless of who his father is. The liberal movements, on the other hand, allow Jewish status to pass through the mother or the father if the child identifies as Jewish. For example, according to the Reform movement, former Phillies catcher Mike Lieberthal, who had a Jewish father but chooses not to be identified as Jewish, would not be Jewish according to the Reform movement, but former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who had a Jewish father and adopted a Jewish identity as an adult, would be considered Jewish. See their position here). On the other hand, the child of a a Christian father and a Jewish mother who does not publicly identify himself as Jewish would be considered Jewish according to the Orthodox movement, but not according to the Reform movement. The matter becomes even more complicated, because the status of that interfaith child's children also comes into question.

Second, the more traditional movements do not always acknowledge the validity of conversions by the more liberal movements. A more liberal movement might not follow the procedures required by the more traditional movement, thereby invalidating the conversion. For example, Orthodoxy requires acceptance of the yoke of Torah (observance of Jewish law as Orthodoxy understands it), while other movements would not teach the same laws that Orthodoxy does and might not require observance. The Conservative movement requires circumcision and immersion in a mikvah, which is not always required in Reform conversions.

Many people have asked me why traditional Judaism uses matrilineal descent to determine Jewish status, when in all other things (tribal affiliation, priestly status, royalty, etc.) we use patrilineal descent.

The Torah does not specifically state anywhere that matrilineal descent should be used; however, there are several passages in the Torah where it is understood that the child of a Jewish woman and a non-Jewish man is a Jew, and several other passages where it is understood that the child of a non-Jewish woman and a Jewish man is not a Jew.

In Deuteronomy 7:1-5, in expressing the prohibition against intermarriage, G-d says "he [i.e., the non-Jewish male spouse] will cause your child to turn away from Me and they will worship the gods of others." No such concern is expressed about the child of a non-Jewish female spouse. From this, we infer that the child of a non-Jewish male spouse is Jewish (and can therefore be turned away from Judaism), but the child of a non-Jewish female spouse is not Jewish (and therefore turning away is not an issue).

Leviticus 24:10 speaks of the son of an Israelite woman and an Egyptian man as being "among the community of Israel" (i.e., a Jew).

On the other hand, in Ezra 10:2-3, the Jews returning to Israel vowed to put aside their non-Jewish wives and the children born to those wives. They could not have put aside those children if those children were Jews.

Several people have written to me asking about King David: was he a Jew, given that one of his female ancestors, Ruth, was not a Jew? This conclusion is based on two faulty premises: first of all, Ruth was a Jew, and even if she wasn't, that would not affect David's status as a Jew. Ruth converted to Judaism before marrying Boaz and bearing Obed. See Ruth 1:16, where Ruth states her intention to convert. After Ruth converted, she was a Jew, and all of her children born after the conversion were Jewish as well. But even if Ruth were not Jewish at the time Obed was born, that would not affect King David's status as a Jew, because Ruth is an ancestor of David's father, not of David's mother, and David's Jewish status is determined by his mother.

In March, 1997, the Agudath Ha-Rabonim issued a statement declaring that the Conservative and Reform movements are "outside of Torah and outside of Judaism." This statement was widely publicized and widely misunderstood, and requires some response. Three points are particularly worth discussing: 1) the statement does not challenge the Jewish status of Reform and Conservative Jews; 2) the statement is not an official statement of a unified Orthodox opinion; 3) the statement was made with the intent of bringing people into Jewish belief, not with the intention of excluding them from it.

First of all, the Agudath Ha-Rabonim statement does not say that Reform and Conservative Jews are not Jews. Their statement does not say anything about Jewish status. As the discussion above explains, status as a Jew has nothing to do with what you believe; it is simply a matter of who your parents are. Reform and Conservative Jews are Jews, as they have always been, and even the Agudath Ha-Rabonim would agree on that point. The debate over who is a Jew is the same as it has always been, the same as was discussed above: the Reform recognition of patrilineal decent, and the validity of conversions performed by non-Orthodox rabbis.

Second, the Agudath Ha-Rabonim is not the official voice of mainstream Orthodoxy. Their statement does not represent the unified position of Orthodox Judaism in America. In fact, the Rabbinical Council of America (the rabbinic arm of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America) immediately issued a strong statement disassociating themselves from this "hurtful public pronouncement [which] flies in the face of Jewish peoplehood."

Finally, before one can denounce a statement like this, one should make an attempt to understand the position of those making the statement. According to Orthodoxy, the Torah is the heart of Judaism. All of what our people are revolves around the unchanging, eternal, mutually binding covenant between G-d and our people. That is the definition of Jewish belief, according to Orthodoxy, and all Jewish belief is measured against that yardstick. You may dispute the validity of the yardstick, but you can't deny that Conservative and Reform Judaism don't measure up on that yardstick. Reform Judaism does not believe in the binding nature of Torah, and Conservative Judaism believes that the law can change.

The Agudath Ha-Rabonim did not intend to cut Reform and Conservative Jews off from their heritage. On the contrary, their intention was to bring Reform and Conservative Jews back to what they consider to be the only true Judaism. The statement encouraged Reform and Conservative Jews to leave their synagogues and "join an Orthodox synagogue, where they will be warmly welcomed." I believe the Agudath Ha-Rabonim were sincere, albeit misguided, in this intention. I have known several Orthodox and Chasidic Jews who believed that if there were no Reform or Conservative synagogues, everyone would be Orthodox. However, my own personal experience with Reform and Conservative Jews indicates that if there were no such movements, most of these people would be lost to Judaism entirely, and that would be a great tragedy.

The opinion of mainstream Orthodoxy seems to be that it is better for a Jew to be Reform or Conservative than not to be Jewish at all. While we would certainly prefer that all of our people acknowledged the obligation to observe the unchanging law (just as Conservative Jews would prefer that all of our people acknowledged the right to change the law, and Reform Jews would prefer that all of our people acknowledged the right to pick and choose what to observe), we recognize that, as Rabbi Kook said, "That which unites us is far greater than that which divides us."

There once was a site called Jewhoo, that had an extensive list of Jewish actors, athletes, and other celebrities. The site disappeared in 2005. I gather that the site owners got tired of doing a lot of work researching the Jewish background of celebrities only to find their efforts copied all over the Internet without even the slightest acknowledgement. The site exists no more, and the information is lost. Think about that the next time you copy someone else's work and insist that you're doing no harm.

In the absence of Jewhoo...

JINFO has an outstanding collection of Jews who have won the nobel prize in various areas or have excelled in various academic fields.

Heebz! seems to be trying to fill the vacuum left by the disappearance of Jewhoo in a Web 2.0, member-editable format, similar to IMDB. I'm a bit underwhelmed by it, probably because when I first discovered it, four of their ten "Latest Famous Jews Added/Updated" are not Jews at all. You have to click through to the full entry to find out that these four are in the categories "People Mistaken for Jews" and "Honorary Jews and Allies." And the information they include on the site is rather limited.

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Judaism 101: Who Is a Jew? - JewFAQ

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Posted By admin on January 22, 2016

About Egypt Map :- The culturally rich Arab Republic of Egypt is among the most populous countries in Africa. Egypt covers an area of about 390,000 sq miles and the nation is one of the most significant in terms of ancient history and as a tourist destination. The Map of Egypt is an excellent guide to understanding the major tourist attractions of this ancient country - the Abu Simbel Sun Festival, the Aswan Dam, the Pharaonic Wedding of Luxor, the Open-air Museum, the Abu WlHaggagMoulidtheArchetectural Monuments and Namma Bay near Sharm Al Shaikh, the Opera House, Art Festival, and Egyptian Museum of Cairo, and Wafaa Al Nil, Abu Al Abbas, and Al Mursi Mosque of Alexandria. Most of Egypt is covered by the deserts the White Desert, the Black Desert, the Western Desert, the Eastern Desert, and the Libyan Desert. The Nile runs from south to north leaving a very fertile valley where most major cities of the country have sprung up. These cities include Aswan, Luxor, Quena, Sohag, Asyut, Al Faiyum, Giza, Cairo, Tanta, Alexandria, Port Said, Dumyat, and Damanhur.

In the 3rd century BC, Egypt became ruled by the Hellenistic Ptolemaic Kingdom, which was ruled by Cleopatra VII before her suicide. The country was Christianized in the 1st century, with the arrival of the Byzantine Empire, leading to the formation of the Coptic Church. However, by the 7th century, the Arabs arrived in Egypt during the Islamic Conquest, bringing Sunni Islam. They ruled Egypt until the Ottomans conquered it in 1517. Muhammad Ali Pasha came to rule the Ottoman province of Egypt in 1805, and he along with the successive rulers, made drastic changes to Ottoman Egypt, and moved the country toward independence.

With European influence, the Suez Canal was built in Egypt in 1869, and Britain bought the rights to the canal in 1875. The British and French were both heavily involved in Egyptian affairs, and the country became a British Protectorate in 1914. A major revolution occurred in 1919, after which the British government decided to declare Egyptian independence in 1922, though there was still heavy British influence and military presence until 1954. The revolution of 1952 led to the declaration of the Egyptian Republic the following year. However, in 1958, Egypt joined Syria to become the United Arab Republic, and was part of the United Arab States with North Yemen. The union ended with Syria's succession in 1961.

Egypt was the focus of widespread revolts in January 2011, in protest of Mubarak's rule. The Egyptian leader then fled the country and the military installed an interim government. After a constitutional referendum and a new election, the new president, Mohamed Morsi came to power. Various protests have persisted, and in 2013, a coup d'etat removed Morsi from government. A new constitution was put in place in early 2014.

Neighboring Countries Egypt borders Libya, Sudan, Egypt and the Gaza Strip, and is just across the Gulf of Aqaba from Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Major Cities

The Nile River has three sources. The Blue Nile comes from Ethiopia's Lake Tana and supplies the majority of the water to the Nile in Egypt. The White Nile flows from Uganda's Lake Victoria, through Juba in South Sudan and Khartoum in Sudan. The Atbara River is the shortest of the sources, flowing from Ethiopia to Khartoum and into Sudan.

Points of Interest Egypt has many historic and cultural sites of interest, such as the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx, the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing. Nearby in Cairo, the Hanging Church, Cairo Tower, the Al-Azhar Mosque, and the showcase of Egyptian history and present at Pharaonic Village can be found. Alexandria, the next largest city, sits along the Mediterranean and houses many historical sites, like Citadel of Qaitbay, Pompey's Pillar, and the Roman Theater, alongside beaches and a modern city. Luxor features temples and royal tombs, the Valley of the Kings (or Biban el-Moluk), an archaeological site that is home to the Tomb of Tutankhamun, and the Tomb of Ramesses VI, as well as several other royals.

Other sites include Memphis, with its museum and statue of Ramses II, the monastery of St. Katherine, the oasis of Siwa, and the resorts of Taba Heights and Sharm el-Sheikh.

Transportation The main airport in Egypt is Cairo International Airport, which offers service around the world, followed by Luxor International, which offers service primarily from Europe. Smaller airports are located in Alexandria, Aswan, and Sharm el-Sheikh. There are ferries to Egypt from across the Gulf of Aqaba, with service to Nuweiba, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, and ferries to Venice across the Mediterranean. Long-distance buses travel from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to destinations in Egypt. Buses are also a good way of getting around the country. While driving a car in Egypt is possible and fairly inexpensive with subsidized fuel, the conditions can be dangerous with bad roads and loose laws. Trains run frequently between Cairo and Alexandria, as well as from Cairo to Luxor and Aswan. Taxis are great for getting around cities, though scams are common.

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Last Updated On : July 23 ,2015

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Egypt Map, Map of Egypt

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Posted By admin on January 22, 2016

A Big Ciry in Palestine on the border with Egypt.

Israel has attacked Gaza And killed 1000 kid.

Cockney rhyming slang: Gaza Strip=Lip

2. He gave me Gaza so I thumped him one.

the livest area of the upper township metropolitan area in which warfare has been present for the past eighteen years. from the 'last snowball of the millenium war,' to the epic 'wallball scuffle,' gaza is a dangerous place to be at all times. its boundaries presently extend from berwyn drive northward to ocean avenue.

'theres a party in gaza tonight.' 'where at?' '9 seasound.'

the area-in-limbo between northern upper township (palmora & beesleys point) and southern upper township (seaville/petersburg), new jersey. though borders often fluctuate, the best estimation of the gaza strip defines it as the area between butter and hope corson roads. both factions of the township have been grappling for control of the district for the better part of a decade.

'we need to run through gaza to scoop zenon & them.'

Wow, Mackenzie sure is a gaza genius. Holy Shit, I got gazed by the CAL Scrim teams old school.

can be used interchanegeably for sexual conduct or for military conduct.

Question: Did you use protectoin? Answer: No, I just went the gaza.

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Urban Dictionary: Gaza

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Posted By admin on January 22, 2016

GAZA

ga'-za (`azzah, "strong"; Septuagint Gaza; Arabic Ghazzeh):

One of the five chief towns of Philistia and probably the oldest, situated near the coast in lat. 31 degrees 30' and about 40 miles South of Jaffa. It is on a hill rising 60 to 200 ft. above the plain, with sand dunes between it and the sea, which is about 2 1/2 miles distant. The plain around is fertile and wells abound, and, being on the border of the desert between Syria and Egypt and lying in the track of caravans and armies passing from one to the other, it was in ancient times a place of importance. The earliest notices of it are found in the records of Egypt.

Thothmes III refers to it in the account of his expedition to Syria in 1479 BC, and it occurs again in the records of the expedition of Seti I in 1313 BC (Breasted, History of Egypt, 285, 409).

It occurs also in the early catalogue of cities and tribes inhabiting Canaan in the earliest times (Genesis 10:19). Joshua reached it in his conquests but did not take it (Joshua 10:41; 11:22).

Judah captured it (Judges 1:18) but did not hold it long, for we find it in the hands of the Philistines in the days of Samson, whose exploits have rendered it noteworthy (16:1-3,11,30). The hill to which he carried off the gate of the city was probably the one now called el-Muntar ("watch-tower"), which lies Southeast of the city and may be referred to in 2Kings 18:8, "from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city," Gaza, with the other chief towns, sent a trespass offering to Yahweh when the ark was returned (1Samuel 6:17).

Hezekiah defeated and pursued the Philistines to Gaza, but does not seem to have captured it. It was taken by Sargon in 720 BC, in his war with Egypt, since Khanun, the king of Gaza, joined the Egyptians and was captured at the battle of Raphia (Rawlinson, Ancient Monarchies, II, 142). It was probably destroyed (see Amos 1:7). It was certainly dismantled by Alexander the Great in 332, when it dared to resist him. It was then exceedingly strong, verifying its name, and was most bravely defended, so that it took Alexander two months to reduce it. He put to death all the men and sold the women and children as slaves (Grote, History of Greece, XI, 467). It was restored, however, and we learn that Jonathan forced it to submit to him (Josephus, Ant, XIII, v, 5; 1 Macc 11:62), and Alexander Janneus took it and massacred the inhabitants who escaped the horrors of the siege (Josephus, Ant, XIII, xiii, 3). Pompey restored the freedom of Gaza (ibid., XIV, iv, 4), and Gabinius rebuilt it in 57 BC (ibid., XIV, v, 3).

Gaza is mentioned only once in the New Testament (Acts 8:26), in the account of Philip and the eunuch. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, it became a center of Greek commerce and culture, and pagan influence was strong, while the church rounded there was struggling for existence. Many martyrs there testified to the faith, until finally, under Theodosius, Christianity gained the supremacy (HGHL, 12th edition, 188). It fell into the hands of the Arabs in 634 AD, and became and has remained a Moslem city since the days of Saladin, who recovered it from the Crusaders in 1187, after the battle of Hattin. It is now a city of some 20,000 inhabitants, among whom are a few hundred Christians.

See also AZZAH.

H. Porter

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Gaza - Definition and Meaning, Bible Dictionary

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