Survivor: Lidia Budgor

By Jane Ulman
Published on June 13, 2013

The cattle car pulled up to the Auschwitz platform. As the doors opened, German soldiers with guns and barking dogs began pushing out the more than 100 Jews arriving from the Lodz Ghetto.

Report: Security guards fail to pursue assailants of German rabbi

Published on June 6, 2013

Security guards at a shopping mall in Germany failed to pursue the youths who attacked a rabbi, a German news agency reported.

This week in power: French president, Jewish fund, Egypt support, Bronner op-ed

By Danny Groner
Published on May 30, 2013

Germany commits to additional $800 million for home care for Holocaust survivors

Published on May 28, 2013

The German government agreed to significantly expand its funding of home care for infirm Holocaust survivors and relax eligibility criteria for restitution programs to include Jews who spent time in so-called open ghettos.

Survivor: Irene Rosenberg

By Jane Ulman
Published on May 15, 2013

“Mommy, I’ll be right back.” Irene Rosenberg — then Irene Grunfeld — said as she was leaving the apartment of her cousin Mancy Weiss, where she and her mother were staying temporarily.

“A German Life – Against All Odds, Change is Possible” by Bernd Wollschlaeger – Book Recommendation

By Rabbi John Rosove
Published on May 14, 2013

Accused Auschwitz guard, 93, arrested in Germany

Published on May 7, 2013

Hans Lipschis, reportedly one of the 10 most wanted Nazis, was arrested in Germany.

A suit and a story

By Rob Eshman
Published on May 1, 2013

It had been a tough week. The more news I read about the Boston bombing, the less I understood. Who were these young men, full of grievance, using a fresh start in America to maim and kill innocents?

German office to investigate 50 alleged Auschwitz guards

Published on April 8, 2013

A Nazi crimes agency in Germany will launch an investigation of 50 alleged former Auschwitz guards living in the country.

Survivor initiative to thrive on common cents

Published on April 3, 2013

Sixty-eight years after being liberated from the horrors of the Holocaust, many aging survivors are living another nightmare — poverty without hope.

A unique resource, German Holocaust archive reaches out

Published on April 3, 2013

George Jaunzemis was three and a half years old when, in the chaotic weeks at the end of World War Two, he was separated from his mother as she fled with him from Germany to Belgium.

Report: ‘Prisoner X’ spy Ben Zygier tipped off Hezbollah

Published on March 25, 2013

The man known as "Prisoner X" unwittingly caused the arrest of two Hezbollah supporters who were spying for Israel, a German magazine claims.

German university fires professor for denying Holocaust

Published on March 15, 2013

The University of Aachen in Germany fired historian Vladimir Iliescu for claiming the Holocaust never happened in Romania.

Austria’s president says Nazi past can’t be forgotten

Published on March 12, 2013

Austria cannot draw a line under its Nazi past despite the desire of many Austrians to so do, its president said on the 75th anniversary of the country's annexation by Nazi Germany.

Germany should award pensions to ghetto survivors, Jewish body says

Published on March 3, 2013

Germany's main Jewish body is calling on the German government and parliament to step in on behalf of survivors of World War II ghettoes who have not yet received a German pension for their work.

The Holocaust just got more shocking

Published on March 3, 2013

Thirteen years ago, researchers at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum began the grim task of documenting all the ghettos, slave labor sites, concentration camps and killing factories that the Nazis set up throughout Europe.

Iran, world powers meet in Kazakhstan on Islamic Republic’s nuclear program

Published on February 26, 2013

Iran and six world powers are meeting for talks on Iran's nuclear program.

Iran claims new uranium deposits

Published on February 25, 2013

Iran claimed to have uncovered new deposits of uranium ahead of talks with world powers on its nuclear capacity.

Kerry will wait on Israel visit to accompany Obama

Published on February 20, 2013

John Kerry will tour the Middle East during his first foreign tour as U.S. secretary of state, but will visit Israel two weeks later with President Obama.

Filmmaker Claude Lanzmann honored at Berlin film festival

Published on February 14, 2013

French documentary filmmaker and producer Claude Lanzmann will be honored at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival, where he spoke about filming his famous "Shoah" documentary.

‘Lore’ sees Holocaust through German teen’s eyes

By Tom Tugend
Published on February 6, 2013

To help us grasp the enormity of the Holocaust, we have the testimonies of survivors, of liberators, even of bystanders, but what about the perpetrators and, even more, their children, who grew up worshipping Adolf Hitler? “Lore,” the movie, grapples with that complex question from the perspective of the title character, a 14-year-old girl (impressively played by Saskia Rosendahl), daughter of a high-ranking SS officer and his equally fanatical wife.

Author Tuvia Tenenbom being probed in Germany for Hitler salute

Published on February 5, 2013

Israeli-born Jewish author Tuvia Tenebom is under investigation in Germany for raising his arm in the Hitler salute.

Warsaw Jews want to trade historic building for new offices

Published on February 4, 2013

The Jewish community of Warsaw is advancing plans to demolish one of its historic ghetto-era buildings in favor of new offices.

Merkel takes Morsi to task over Jew comments

Published on January 31, 2013

German Chancellor Angela Merkel used a meeting with Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi to criticize his past remarks on Jews.

Top Egyptian official calls Holocaust a ‘myth’

Published on January 30, 2013

A top Egyptian official close to President Mohamed Morsi called the Holocaust a myth.

German Jewish activist voted sexiest female politician

Published on January 17, 2013

A 25-year-old Jewish woman has been voted Germany's sexiest female politician.

Iran talks to resume soon, reports say

Published on December 17, 2012

Iran and the six major world powers it deals with on nuclear issues are preparing for talks, according to multiple reports.

Swiss army officer slammed for praising Nazi-era German general

Published on December 13, 2012

A Swiss army commander reportedly praised Nazi-era German general Erwin Rommel before a group of officers, holding up Rommel as an example for the Swiss army to follow.

German Parliament passes law guaranteeing legality of ritual circumcision

Published on December 12, 2012

The German Parliament passed a law protecting the right of Jewish and Muslim parents to choose a ritual circumcision for their sons, after months of heated debate over efforts to ban the practice.

This week from Israel

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on December 10, 2012

Netanyahu, Merkel ‘agree to disagree’ on settlement construction

Published on December 6, 2012

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "agreed to disagree" on a plan to build 3,000 apartments in a controversial area near Jerusalem.

Settlements showdown beckons for Netanyahu in Berlin

Published on December 4, 2012

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a dressing down from Angela Merkel on Wednesday over his plans to build more Israeli settlements, a policy that has incensed Europe and left even Germany, one of Israel's strongest allies, questioning his commitment to peace.

Polish ruling on kosher meat angers Jews

Published on November 28, 2012

Jewish groups said on Wednesday a Polish court ruling on methods used to slaughter livestock could halt the production of kosher meat, threatening their religious freedom in a country where Nazi Germany massacred millions of Jews in World War Two.

German prosecutors say doctors did not hasten Demjanjuk’s death

Published on November 27, 2012

Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk's death was not hastened by medication administered at a nursing home in Bavaria, prosecutors said.

Kristallnacht family Torah reaches new generation

Published on November 8, 2012

It was the “Night of Broken Glass” in Germany, Kristallnacht — a national pogrom of death and destruction of Jewish property and the rounding up of Jews — and Dietrich (David) Hamburger was in hiding.

Human rights court rejects PETA appeal on Holocaust campaign

Published on November 8, 2012

Germany can bar the animal rights group PETA from comparing the fate of animals today with that of Holocaust victims, Europe's highest court for human rights ruled.

Loyola marymount commemorates Kristallnacht

By Tom Tugend
Published on October 31, 2012

On the night of Nov. 9-10, 1938, brown-shirted storm troopers torched and looted hundreds of synagogues and destroyed 7,500 Jewish businesses throughout Germany and Austria in what is known as Kristallnacht, “the night of broken glass.”

Dutch church official apologizes for commemoration of German soldiers

Published on October 29, 2012

A Netherlands church official apologized to a Jewish group for a memorial ceremony that commemorated Holocaust victims with soldiers who died fighting for Nazi Germany.

Survivor: Alex Friedman

By Jane Ulman
Published on October 3, 2012

The train arrived at Dachau one morning in late November 1944. As the doors opened, German soldiers wielding big sticks yelled, “Raus, raus” (“Out, out”). Alex Friedman and the other Jewish prisoners exited, were marched toward the camp and, outside in the snow and cold, ordered to strip.

Shlomo Venezia, who survived being an Auschwitz Sonderkommando, dies

Published on October 2, 2012

Shlomo Venezia, a Holocaust survivor who wrote about his experiences in an Auschwitz Sonderkommando unit and spent years bearing personal testimony to the Shoah, has died.

German poet Gunther Grass slams Israel in second poem

Published on October 1, 2012

Gunter Grass, Germany's Nobel Prize-winning author, has published another poem criticizing Israeli policy.

Germany wants to ban screening of anti-Muslim movie in Berlin

Published on September 19, 2012

The German government wants to ban a right-wing group from showing the controversial anti-Islam film "Innocence of Muslims" in the nation's capital.

Israel and the world Pt. 19 - weekly news from Israel

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on September 10, 2012

Berlin demonstration calls for right to ritual circumcision

Published on September 10, 2012

Jews and Muslims in Berlin demonstrated for the right to carry out ritual circumcisions, a right that has been endangered in Germany.

Frankfurt ripped for honoring scholar who backs Israel boycott

Published on September 6, 2012

Protests are mounting against plans by the city of Frankfurt to honor Jewish-American scholar Judith Butler, a staunch critic of Israel.

German Jewish leader slams IOC at memorial for Munich 11

Published on September 6, 2012

The head of Germany's Jewish community at a memorial ceremony for the Munich 11 lamented the "icy coldness" of the International Olympic Committee in refusing to mark the 40th anniversary of the massacre.

German state of Berlin declares circumcision legal

Published on September 5, 2012

The state of Berlin declared circumcision legal. Berlin became the first of Germany's 16 states to declare the practice legal following a Cologne court ruling in June that non-medical circumcisions on children amounted to a criminal offense, according to the German news agency DPA.

Turkish minister: Religious freedom no longer guaranteed in Germany

Published on August 28, 2012

Turkey's minister for European affairs, Egemen Bagis, has called circumcision bans in Germany "a danger for liberty."

German rabbi criminally charged for performing circumcisions

Published on August 21, 2012

A rabbi in Bavaria has been slapped with criminal charges of committing bodily harm, in the first known case to arise from an anti-circumcision ruling in May.

Nazi guard may be tried in Germany

Published on August 21, 2012

Prosecutors in the Bavarian city of Weiden think they have a good chance of bringing an 87-year-old former Auschwitz guard to trial.

Jewish studies flourish in China

Published on August 15, 2012

The last quarter century has witnessed a veritable explosion in the academic field of Jewish studies. During that time, Israel solidified its place as the global center in the field, while in the United States virtually every university and college of note has established its own program, center or chair.

German rower leaves Olympics after claims that her boyfriend is a Nazi sympathizer

Published on August 3, 2012

A German Olympic rower has left the Olympic Village following claims that her boyfriend is a member of an extremist political party inspired by the Nazis.

Germans launch pro-circumcision petition

Published on July 30, 2012

Two Jews and a Muslim in Germany have started a pro-circumcision campaign to counter a court ruling that bans the practice.

Health issue or anti-Semitism: Switzerland joins German circumcision ban

By Norman Lavin, M.D, PhD., UCLA Medical School
Published on July 26, 2012

Health issue or anti-Semitism: Switzerland joins German circumcision ban

Published on July 26, 2012

Today come reports that hospitals in Zurich and St. Gallen have suspended the practice on Jewish and Muslim boys in the wake of a similar ban in Germany ordered by a judge in Cologne.

Germany’s guilt

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on July 26, 2012

U.S. military doctors in Germany will continue circumcision

Published on July 24, 2012

U.S. military doctors stationed in Germany will continue to perform circumcisions despite a ruling that has roiled the country’s medical and political establishments.

Clinton: Remain vigilant against Holocaust denial

Published on July 24, 2012

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Holocaust denial and Israel criticism that crosses into anti-Semitism require vigilance.

Survey finds young Frenchman unfamiliar with WWII Jewish roundup

Published on July 17, 2012

Most young Frenchmen never heard of the World War II roundup of Paris Jews, a survey shows.

Dr. Seuss and the Holocaust in France

Published on July 16, 2012

Seventy years ago this week, 15-year-old Annie Kriegel was sitting in her Paris high school classroom, taking an exam, when her mother suddenly burst into the room and warned her not to come home—the Nazis were preparing to round up and deport any Jews they could get their hands on.