Jewish travelers find that visiting synagogues/communities adds an interesting dimension to trips. For all travelers, discovering Jewish historical "footprints" leads to greater understanding of cultural forces which have shaped our world. דֶרֶך צְלֵחָה!
Cover photo: Garrett Ziegler
Nbelohlavek Jewish life in the Americas stretches back to the very beginnings of European colonization, though often in hidden form. In the late 15th and 16th centuries, following the expulsions from Spain (1492) and Portugal (1497), some Sephardic Jews and conversos (Jews who had converted to Christianity, often under pressure) arrived in the New World with Spanish and Portuguese expeditions. Because open Jewish practice was forbidden under the Inquisition, these early communities remained…
Read more…The capital of this southern region of The Netherlands is also known as the City of the Four Freedoms, a tribute to the descendant of a native son, Franklin D. Roosevelt. It is home to one active synagogue and two Jewish cemeteries. Pictured below is the entrance to the Ashkenazi cemetery; there is also a Sephardic cemetery, which was in use from the 16th century, when this region of Holland welcomed Jews expelled from Portugal. Middelburg is also home to the Etty Hillesum house, a moving…
Read more…Yes, of course, the four capitals of Central Europe we visited on our Danube River cruise with Grand Circle Tours – Prague, Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest – were all wrapped in wonder, overwhelmed with their impressive history, expansive promenades and architectural grandeur. But it was an experience near Linz in upper Austria that most impacted me – a visit to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp, one of the first to be built by the Nazis, in 1938, and in 1945 the last to be liberated (below).…
Read more…On this holiday of freedom, when our ability to travel is severely restricted, I post this inspiring 20th century story of breaking the bonds of oppression, plus a tale of solidarity during WWII that saved a beautiful synagogue. Wishing you all a happy and healthy Passover: https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Riga-the-hub-of-the-Baltic-Way-601698
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Can Bistro at Canyons, a new glatt kosher restaurant at the Canyons Ski Resort in Park City, succeed?
Did you hear the one about the Jewish gaucho? No joke, actually - here's a piece from this past weekend's Washington Post that talks about an "Argentine Borscht Belt":
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/jewish-gaucho-tradition-fades-i...
All I can say is "oy, che...!"
I do wonder why it is that governments never come out and apologize? Whether it's the Japanese for the rape of Nanking, or Americans for slavery, or the Spanish for the Inquisition, they hem and haw and never come out and say "We're sorry." Could it be that an apology opens the way for reparations demands? Or are they really not that sorry?
I like these posts, too, Margaret. Like David Paul, I knew nothing about Stutthof.
STUTTHOF TOUR ex-GDANSK
Stutthof was the first concentration camp built by the Nazi Germany regime outside of Germany. Completed on September 2, 1939, it was located in a secluded, wet, and wooded area west of the small town of Sztutowo. The town is located in the former territory of the Free City of Danzig, 34 km east of Gdańsk. Stutthof was the last camp liberated by the Allies, on May 9, 1945.
The Camp was the place where an estimated 65. 000 inmates from 25 countries were exterminated during WWII. The death rates were extremely high from malnutrition, typhus and exhaustion. The traumatic exhibition shows the record of human suffering.
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