America's failures in response to the Holocaust
A new PBS documentary series by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein, "The U.S. and the Holocaust," examines how United States policy was not always an open door for Jews in Europe who sought to flee Nazi persecution before and during World War II.
cbsnews.comDutch publisher pulls Anne Frank betrayal book amid critique
A group of Dutch historians has published an in-depth criticism of the work and conclusion of a cold case team that said it had pieced together the “most likely scenario” of who betrayed Jewish teenage diarist Anne Frank and her family. The cold case team's research, which was published early this year in the book “The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation,” by Canadian academic and author Rosemary Sullivan, immediately drew criticism in the Netherlands. Now, in a 69-page written “refutation,” six historians and academics describe the cold case team’s findings as “a shaky house of cards.”
news.yahoo.comCold case team shines new light on betrayal of Anne Frank
A cold case team that combed through evidence for five years in a bid to unravel one of World War II's enduring mysteries has reached what it calls the “most likely scenario” of who betrayed Jewish teenage diarist Anne Frank and her family. “We have investigated over 30 suspects in 20 different scenarios, leaving one scenario we like to refer to as the most likely scenario,” said film maker Thijs Bayens, who had the idea to put together the cold case team, that was led by retired FBI agent Vincent Pankoke, to forensically examine the evidence.
news.yahoo.comPink cake on canals: Amsterdam celebrates same-sex weddings
A large rainbow flag flies from the bell tower of Wester Church to mark the 20th anniversary of the first legalized same-sex marriage in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Thursday, April 1, 2021. Twenty years ago, the mayor of Amsterdam married four couples in City Hall as the Netherlands became the first country in the world with legalized same-sex marriage. The three crosses of the coat of arms of the city of Amsterdam are seen above the flag. “At the same time it is a moment to recognize that the struggle is not yet over; not worldwide, not nationally, but also not in Amsterdam,” Mayor Femke Halsema told The Associated Press. Since the historic event in Amsterdam 20 years ago, same-sex marriage has been made legal in 28 countries worldwide, as well as the self-governing island of Taiwan.
Anne Frank memorial defaced with swastika sticker: "We are everywhere"
An Anne Frank statue in Idaho that officials say is the only monument to the Holocaust victim in the country was defaced with a swastika symbol sticker this week. Boise Mayor Lauren McLean said in an online news conference with community leaders Thursday that authorities are investigating the vandalism at the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial. "The vandalism that occurred at the Anne Frank memorial is reprehensible," McLean said. The Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial was built as a physical statement of our shared values. "This is the only Anne Frank memorial in the United States.
cbsnews.comRomania's Jewish State Theater explores work on Holocaust
Portraits of Auschwitz death camp prisoners are displayed on a mesh as actresses of the Jewish State Theatre, perform during the premiere of the "The Beautiful Days of My Youth" play, based on the diary of Romanian Jewish Holocaust survivor Ana Novac, in Bucharest, Friday, Oct. 16, 2020. Maia Morgenstern, head of the Jewish State Theater and a Romanian Jewish actress best known for playing Mary in Mel Gibson's controversial 2004 movie "The Passion of the Christ," described the play's staging in an interview with The Associated Press as an "all-feminine project." (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)BUCHAREST – The latest premiere at the Jewish State Theater in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, explores the horrors of the Holocaust via a survivor's memories of the Auschwitz and Plaszow concentration camps. Friday's debut of “The Beautiful Days of My Youth” by Romanian Jewish Holocaust survivor Ana Novac follows the National Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorations on Oct. 9, the day when deportations of Romania’s Jews and Roma began in 1941. Some 280,000 Jews and 11,000 Roma were deported and killed under Romania's pro-Nazi regime during World War II.
Alexie, Pilkey books among most 'challenged' of past decade
FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2016 file photo, author and filmmaker Sherman Alexie appears at a celebration of Indigenous Peoples' Day at Seattle's City Hall. Alexie is included in a list of authors who wrote books that were among the 100 most subjected to censorship efforts over the past decade, as compiled by the American Library Association. All wrote books that were among the 100 most subjected to censorship efforts over the past decade, as compiled by the American Library Association. The association does not formally count the number of times books are actually removed from a library shelf or from a school reading list. “There are actually two lines of objections to the Anne Frank diary,” Caldwell-Stone says.
First stone laid at Dutch Holocaust Memorial in Amsterdam
THE HAGUE – A friend of World War II Jewish diarist Anne Frank laid the first stone Wednesday at a new memorial under construction in Amsterdam to honor all Dutch victims of the Holocaust. “I almost can't believe it, but it is now really happening,” Jacques Grishaver, chairman of the Netherlands Auschwitz Committee, said in a statement. “The first of the more than 102,000 stones has been laid.”The last of the stones, each of which is engraved with a name, is expected to be placed in the memorial in March. A Dutch court cleared the way last year for the memorial to be constructed. Amsterdam Municipality had granted permission for construction to start in 2017, but residents argued that it was too big for the location and could cause traffic problems.
Holocaust survivors urge Facebook to remove denial posts
BERLIN Holocaust survivors around the world are lending their voices to a campaign launched Wednesday targeting Facebook head Mark Zuckerberg, urging him to take action to remove denial of the Nazi genocide from the social media site. We take down any post that celebrates, defends, or attempts to justify the Holocaust, Facebook told the AP. More than 500 companies on July 1 began an advertising boycott intended to pressure Facebook into taking a stronger stand against hate speech. Several Holocaust denial groups have been identified on Facebook by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League, some hidden and most private. The United Nations has acknowledged that Holocaust denial is a form of anti-Semitism, and of course anti-Semitism is hate speech, he said.
Revisiting morality in the Age of Dishonesty
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus told of a traveler who was beaten, stripped, and left naked waiting for death. Recent stories tell of modern-day Samaritans rendering aid to travelers (some seeking asylum, some trying to immigrate legally, some illegally) at great risk. They risk death in this effort. The first is to insist that we stop tolerating dishonesty in all of its political forms. Anne Frank was right; we can start making a better world right now.
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