World War II
I’ve Got Friends in Low-lying Places . . .Thursday, December 6, 2012 by Moshe Sokolow | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
It would be tragic if Israel were to lose the vote of any of its few reliable supporters at the UN, but that is just what might happen over the next few years—not due to any political intrigue but on account of global warming.
Art and Idolatry in AustriaTuesday, October 30, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Art transforms life through beauty but inspires a possessiveness unlike any other. Collectors tend toward obsession, which overwhelms morality; museums, like the medieval church, wash away sin with exhibitions for the public good.
Holocaust Reparations: The Back StoryMonday, August 13, 2012 by Michael Pinto-Duschinsky | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
On July 10th, dignitaries from the U.S., German, and Israeli governments attended a curious ceremony at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.
Editors' Picks
Righteous Among the Nations William Doino, First Things. Yad Vashem's recognition of Cardinal Elia Dalla Costa, who recruited rescuers and sheltered Jews in the cardinal’s palace, shows the complexity of the wartime role of the Catholic Church.
Wingate of Zion Max Boot, Weekly Standard. Israel remembers Orde Wingate for turning Jews in Mandate Palestine into a fighting force—as T. E. Lawrence had done for the Arabs. But Wingate's legacy stretches further still.
Berlin’s Black Christmas Mark Steyn, Spectator. “White Christmas,” by Irving Berlin, a Siberian Jew, helped define the holiday for Americans. But for Berlin himself, Christmas was the day he lost his baby son.
In Memory of a Friend Seth Mandel, Commentary. Senator Daniel Inouye, who died this week, was a decorated war hero, a champion of his state of Hawaii—and a stalwart and constant friend of Israel.
The Other Kindertransport Sarah Wildman, Forward. We know about the thousands of Jewish children sheltered in wartime Britain. For 75 years, though, no one knew about the smaller group ferried to Denmark, Sweden, and Palestine.
Preconditions to Murder Timothy Snyder, New York Review of Books. It is no accident that the Final Solution took place in territory where first the Soviets had destroyed independent states, then the Germans had destroyed Soviet institutions.
Arendt and the Arabs Richard L. Rubenstein, New English Review. Hannah Arendt feared that Zionism would create a “Jewish island in an Arab sea.” But her Eurocentrism kept her from seeing just how hostile that sea would be.
A Brutal Peace Tara Zahra, Nation. The postwar expulsion of German speakers from Czechoslovakia formed one more chapter in the story of Europe’s incapacity to reconcile the claims of democracy and nationalism.
Bipolar Poland John Connelly, Nation. Historians of World War II have viewed Poland either as a nation of heroes or as a nation of collaborators. How can these two narratives be reconciled?
Communist Colluders Anne Applebaum, Jewish Chronicle. After World War II, East European Communist parties sought to burnish their image as nationalist patriots. How did they do it? Anti-Semitism, of course.