These days, most people don’t associate the capital of the German state of Saxony with its historic beauty. The infamous Anglo-American firebombing of February 1945 turned the Old City into rubble, killing an estimated 40,000.
“You can live in honor and pay your rent and make music and meet great musicians and travel in Europe,” says Magal. “Berlin is kind of the center of Europe and more special things could happen; the place is really open to different accents, styles and things that sound less generic.”
I’m pleased to announce a first-person piece in German published in Fluter.de, a political magazine for young adults ages 18-25. It discusses why I love Berlin when I was supposed to hate it.
Jerusalem Post, April 25, 2017 First daughter Ivanka Trump entered the lion’s den in Berlin on Tuesday as a panelist at the W20 Summit on women’s economic empowerment, where she was heckled for defending the attitudes of her father, US President Donald Trump, toward women. Trump’s visit to Germany came at the invitation of German …
JNS, April 18, 2017 At an antiques flea market in Berlin, one of several stands proudly displays two Hanukkah menorahs for sale. The husky, white-haired seller, who wears a Soviet hammer-and-sickle pin for show, explains how one of them probably came from Königsberg, a former German city in modern Russia. The other is easy to …
Lost and not found: mystery shrouds Holocaust-era household items Read More »
Jerusalem Post, Arts & Entertainment Page, March 23, 2017 Under the name “Nosh Berlin,” the first ever Berlin Jewish food festival kicked off on Sunday, March 19 at the MarktHalle in the hip neighborhood of Kreuzberg with Jewish-Israeli favorites like cholent, sabich, burekas and bagels, served at this weekly indoor food fair. The program continues …
While the annual marking of International Holocaust Remembrance Day Jan. 27 gives voice to the stories of victims of the Nazis’ atrocities, what can Germans know about perpetrators from their own family?
Some descendants of Nazis are opening the books to their family’s dark past. In honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, ‘Jerusalem Post’ takes a closer look.
Taking a look at how some Israelis in Germany preserve – and adapt – their holiday traditions in a non-Jewish environment.
Jerusalem Post front page story, December 21, 2016 BERLIN – At the entrance to the family-friendly Christmas market in the neighborhood of Prenzlauer Berg in Berlin, the difference in vibe between tonight and previous nights could already be felt the minute one walked through the brick corridor leading into the large courtyard. A sign at …
Die amerikanisch-israelische Autorin Orit Arfa war nach Deutschland gekommen, um endlich normal leben zu können. Seit dem Anschlag in Berlin spürt sie die gleiche Angst wie in Israel, auch weil viele Deutsche die Gefahr nicht sehen wollen
On December 8, in the heart of the European Union (EU) headquarters in Brussels, pro-Israel Christian organizations sought to convey practical advice from Israel to help Europe deal with its terror crisis.
Modern Tel Aviv is just over 100 years old, and today enjoys a reputation as the center of the Middle East’s “Silicon Valley” made into the stuff of legend thanks to the book Start-up Nation. With Israel and Germany having celebrated the jubilee of their diplomatic relations last year, the new phase of the Berlin-Tel Aviv partnership, and more broadly the German-Israeli relationship, is now ripening in the field of start-ups.
Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, September 30, 2016 A few years ago, Yael Merlini wasn’t sure she and her family could stay in Germany. Her children, ages 7, 11 and 15, were the only Jews in their school in Giessen, a town near Frankfurt. The Jewish population numbered fewer than 400, mostly elderly Russian Jews. …
Do Jews belong to Germany? “Absolutely,” he said. “In 1933, we had 500,000 Jewish Germans in Germany, and now we have 5 million Islamic people, and now we have to make a bill. How many Nobel prizes, and how many doctors, professors and artists were from those 500,000 Jews compared to the 5 million Muslims?”
“Germany’s in a state of denial,” Broder said over tea at a café near the ritzy Ku’damm street, sprinkling the conversation with the blunt, incisive descriptions for which he is famous. He clarified that “Germany” refers to the government, intellectual elites, and the mainstream media. “The rank and file are totally different. The rank and file are always considered to be a little bit stupid, uneducated – how you say? – retarded. They’re not.”
The Holocaust is over. I have no authority to make this bold claim, for if I were to believe it then my background as the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors on my father’s side would be irrelevant, and no Jew directly victimized by the Holocaust would have any increased moral standing in commenting on the place of Holocaust memorial in today’s society.
During last year’s jubilee celebrations of the Jerusalem-Berlin diplomatic relationship, much fanfare was made about economic cooperation, cultural exchanges and academic collaborations, but one topic went little discussed: German- Israeli romantic relations.
Shifting Israel-German discourse away from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Holocaust and toward the countries’ common values and interests emerged as a new strategy for Israel advocacy at a time when third-generation offspring of the World War II era are distancing themselves from Nazi crimes.
For those seeking a summer weekend in temperatures that are unpredictably mild, or who want to delve into this creative, multicultural city for more than just Germany’s dark past and tortured history, here’s a mini-weekend guide taking you across the city, from west to east:
Puth was only one call – or rather one message – away when a mutual friend introduced me to Puth’s Israeli music director and guitarist, Asaf Rodeh, ahead of his Berlin concert, which happened to coincide with the Eurovision song contest. Rodeh arranged a “meet and greet” with the pop star for us.
