Articles written by Toby Axelrod
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Israel's outgoing ambassador to Germany reflects on 4 of the country's most dramatic years since World War II
BERLIN (JTA) — Growing up in London had its ups and downs for Jeremy Issacharoff, Israel’s outgoing ambassador to Germany. On one hand, as a schoolboy he was beaten up by skinheads and called a “dirty Jew.” On the other hand, he had long,...
Mounting refugee crisis in Poland
(JTA) - It is nearly 10 p.m. at the emergency refugee shelter in Tomaszow Lubelski, Poland, near the Ukrainian border. It's bitter cold; snowflakes catch in the headlights of the huge tourist bus...
'Never again,' for the Uyghurs: Jews around the world ramp up China protests as Beijing Olympics start
BERLIN (JTA) - On a recent Friday afternoon, with the Beijing Olympic Games only three weeks away, Mischa Ushakov and Padma Wangyal chained themselves to the entrance of the Allianz insurance giant's...
German teens and young adults are interested in learning about the Holocaust - but they want new ways to do so
BERLIN (JTA) - A new survey of youth in Germany shows growing interest in Nazi-era history, but it also suggests that their attention span is shrinking. According to the study conducted by the...
Sections of lost Torah scroll reappear in a German town 83 years after Kristallnacht disappearance
BERLIN (JTA) - A German Protestant minister has handed over segments of a long lost Torah scroll to the city of Görlitz in southeast Germany, 83 years after his father, a town policeman, came into...
German Jewish leaders call 15 percent rise in politically motivated antisemitic crimes 'absolutely alarming'
BERLIN (JTA) – The number of politically motivated crimes rose sharply in Germany last year, including a 15 percent rise in antisemitic offenses. The total documented by the country’s federal police force is the highest since contemporary...
Fauci receives award from Holocaust remembrance group and references Maimonides
(JTA) — Drawing a line between its mission of Holocaust remembrance and the ravages inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic, the March of the Living honored Dr. Anthony Fauci with an award for “moral courage in medicine” on the eve of Yom...
Jewish leader apologizes for wrongly administered vaccines
BERLIN (JTA) — The head of Austria’s Jewish community has apologized for COVID-19 vaccine doses that were administered to community members, including himself, who were not meant to receive them. In a letter to the community released Monday,...
Jewish artwork hidden during Holocaust needs a home
(JTA) - Plans are under way to find a home for a huge trove of works by a nearly forgotten Jewish artist that was uncovered 78 years after her death in a Nazi concentration camp. The works of Czech...
Holocaust survivors launch campaign to fight Holocaust denial on Facebook
BERLIN (JTA) — Joining a growing chorus of critical voices, Holocaust survivors have launched an international online campaign criticizing Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg that is aimed at countering Holocaust denial on his social media platform....
In Germany, several churches have perverse anti-Semitic sculptures from the Middle Ages - can one man get them taken down?
BERLIN (JTA) - They date back to the late Middle Ages and irritate to this day: The Judensau (literally "Jewish sow") is a Christian folk image that depicts Jews sucking on the teats or peering into...
110-year-old Jewish business mural reveals when building torn down
BERLIN (JTA) - In May, a demolition crew tore down a building in the western German city of Gelsenkirchen. As the walls fell, a 110-year-old advertising mural on the adjacent brick wall was exposed....
At a German train station, a unique memorial is dedicated to Jews deported to their death
BERLIN (JTA) - Nearly 80 years after the last train sent Jews to almost certain death from the main railway station in Wurzburg, a memorial to those who perished was dedicated in the German city. The...
After death threat, pianist Igor Levit warns of rising hatred in Germany
(JTA)-Pianist Igor Levit says he has received death threats and is warning about an increase in hate crimes in Germany. The Russian-born musician, 32, whose family immigrated to Germany in 1995, said... Full story
Makers of Krispy Kreme giving tens of millions to Holocaust survivors and education
(JTA)—A major German industry family will donate tens of millions of dollars to support Holocaust survivors and former forced laborers in the Nazi era. In addition to one-time donations to the Claims Conference and individual laborers, the Reimann... Full story
Artur Brauner, German-Jewish producer of 'Europa Europa' and other major films, dies at 100
(JTA)-German-Jewish film producer Artur Brauner, whose award-winning films include "The Garden of the Finzi-Continis" and "Europa Europa," has died at the age of 100. Brauner, who died Sunday in... Full story
40 years later, the 'Holocaust' miniseries returns to Germany
BERLIN (JTA)-For Sigmount Koenigsberg, the most searing scene in the U.S.-made "Holocaust" miniseries broadcast here 40 years ago was when a German child throws photos of a Jewish family into a... Full story
Berlin volunteers hand out 6,000 kippahs at public parks in solidarity with Jews
BERLIN (JTA)-In an unusual sight, the people lazing about or strolling down the paths in several parks here on a sun-drenched Sunday were wearing gleaming white kippahs. Seventy volunteers handed out... Full story
A girl's pendant found at Sobibor reunites a Jewish family spread across the globe
BERLIN (JTA)-In late 1943, the Germans were desperate to cover all traces of their death camp in Sobibor, Poland. They demolished buildings, bulldozed the evidence, planted trees. More than 70 years... Full story
45 years after the Munich Massacre, murdered Israeli Olympians get a memorial
(JTA)-Forty-five years after the murderous PLO attack on Israeli Olympic team members at the 1972 games, a memorial dedicated to the victims opened today in Munich. The memorial-largely realized through the persistent efforts of family... Full story
These young Jews are optimistic about their future in Europe
BERLIN (JTA)-It's a drizzly Saturday morning in May. Some 160 young Jews, mostly European and ranging from Orthodox to secular, have come to the Hotel Berlin to talk about everything under the sun.... Full story
Berlin attack highlights divide over refugees in fractious German Jewish community
BERLIN (JTA)-Even before the deadly attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, Jews in Germany were divided in their approach to the arrival of hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Muslim... Full story
It's complicated: Germany and Israel mark golden anniversary as friends
BERLIN (JTA)-This month marks 50 years since Israel and West Germany established diplomatic ties. It has been an understandably complex relationship, launched two decades after the Holocaust ended... Full story
Survivors return to Auschwitz determined to share their stories
KRAKOW, Poland (JTA)-What kept you alive? Did your non-Jewish friends reject you? Could you ever forgive? Those were some of the questions posed by Jewish young adults to Holocaust survivor Marcel... Full story
First steps taken to identify trove of Holocaust-era art found in Munich
BERLIN (JTA)—The extraordinary disclosure that a trove of more than 1,400 vanished artworks were found in a Munich apartment has raised more questions than it has answered. What were these works, which were produced by masters such as Chagall,... Full story
