Articles written by Toby Axelrod
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'Golda,' biopic about Israeli leader at war, wins top prize
BERLIN (JTA) – Israeli director Guy Nattiv and British actor Helen Mirren have received a Dove Award from the Cinema for Peace Foundation for their joint work in the 2023 biopic, “Golda,” in which Mirren stars as Golda Meir, the fourth prime minis...
Grandson of Munich massacre victim assaulted in Berlin in alleged hate crime
BERLIN (JTA) — Police in Berlin have arrested a 23-year-old man who allegedly attacked and seriously wounded a Jewish student in a bar on Friday. The Jewish student and his family say the attack was a hate crime. The victim, Lahav Shapira, 30, was h...
Citizenship applicants must sign statement in support of Israel
BERLIN (JTA) — Recognizing Israel’s right to exist is now mandatory for those who want to become German citizens in the former East German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Applicants living in the state will have to confirm in writing “that they recog...
Germany bans neo-Nazi group to send 'signal against racism and antisemitism'
(JTA) - Germany has banned a neo-Nazi group after raiding the homes of its leaders across the country, in a move the government said "sends a clear signal against racism and antisemitism." The Hammers...
Parts of synagogue destroyed in 1938 by Nazis found in the city's river
BERLIN (JTA) - Alongside Munich's river, construction workers made a sensational discovery last week: Stone tablets carved with the Ten Commandments from the city's former main synagogue, which was...
'Death to the Jews' chants heard at Berlin pro-Palestinian rally
(JTA) — Berlin police are investigating a pro-Palestinian rally where demonstrators allegedly chanted “Death to the Jews” and “Death to Israel,” phrases that if verified could be criminal offenses under Germany’s strict post-World War II hate speech...
Germany returns 16th-century sculpture to heirs of Jewish owner
BERLIN (JTA) - A federal German cultural organization has returned a 16th-century sculpture to the heirs of its pre-war Jewish owner who faced Nazi persecution. The Berlin-based Prussian Cultural...
In Germany, Kristallnacht goes by a different name
(JTA) - This week, Jewish communities across the United States are commemorating the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the anti-Jewish riots that marked a brutal turning point in the Nazi campaign of...
Germany's public broadcaster mandates that all employees support Israel's right to exist
(JTA) — Germany’s public broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, has revised its code of conduct to require support for Israel’s right to exist, and employees who fail to do so may now be fired. The move announced Sept. 1 preceded a court order last week that...
Germany apologizes to Munich Massacre victims and opens research commission into events surrounding the tragedy
(JTA) - At a ceremony held on the air base where 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were murdered during the 1972 Munich Olympics, German officials apologized for the "lack of protection" that led to the...
German director takes stereotypes by the horns
BERLIN (JTA) — Nestled in the Bavarian alps, the city of Oberammergau has one major claim to fame: every 10 years, it hosts the world-famous Passion Play, which tells the New Testament story of Jesus’ death and resurrection. It has been doing so sinc...
Antisemitism scandal roils international art exhibition held in Germany
(JTA) - The director of a major international art exhibition has resigned after a work that included caricatures of Jews and Israelis ignited a reckoning over antisemitism. The scandal leaves...
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, civiliz...
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 Cologne...
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 rec...
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 Hasho...
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, Osk...
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. S...
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...
