World War II
The Riddle of the SatmarThursday, May 23, 2013 by Allan Nadler | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In this review of an adulatory biography of the Satmar rebbe, first published February 17, 2011, Allan Nadler considers Judaism's most traditional—and most alienated—community.
The Last BooksWednesday, May 1, 2013 by Jonathan Brent | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The invisible structures created by the Jewish people of Eastern Europe over a thousand years were given shape and transmitted through the books and the documents collected by YIVO. These structures still move us. If we do not know what they are, we do not know ourselves.
The Betrayal of Salonika’s JewsThursday, April 18, 2013 by Andrew Apostolou | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
When the Germans entered Salonika on April 6, 1941, they found a willing cadre of collaborators and a broad section of Greek Christian opinion hostile to the Jews.
The Mad ZionistWednesday, April 3, 2013 by Ran Baratz | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
British Major-General Orde Wingate, who fought in theaters from Palestine to Burma, was a military genius. He was also a Zionist's Zionist. A new Wingate biography tries to explain why.
World War II and the Impossibility of Polish HistoryWednesday, February 27, 2013 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Must any history of Poland in the Second World War therefore put the Jews and the Holocaust at the center? If it does not, is that originality or revisionism?
Raider of the Lost KnishWednesday, January 30, 2013 by Laura Silver | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
More than Hebrew School, a Torah scroll or the eternal light in the synagogue, the knish provided sanctuary. It encapsulated my identity: ethnic, funny, and grounded in the past.
A Voice Saying Something RightTuesday, January 29, 2013 by David Curzon | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Poet Harvey Shapiro, who passed away this month at age 88, captured in plain words the mystery of everyday life, the trauma of war, and the grandeur of Jewish tradition.
Jews and Human Rights In Europe: the Unfulfilled PromiseFriday, December 28, 2012 by Michael Pinto-Duschinsky | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
While many German war criminals escaped prosecution, the European Court of Human Rights may soon outlaw brit milah across Europe. [Part II of II]
America and the Muslim Brotherhood: A RomanceThursday, December 20, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
One of the most consistent and depressing aspects of U.S.-Middle Eastern relations is the determination of our intellectuals and officials to defend Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood.
Chemical Warfare in the Middle East: A Brief HistoryThursday, December 13, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
At this time of Hanukkah’s memories of Syrian tyrants past, the Syrian tyrant present, Bashar al-Assad, has reportedly assembled chemical weapons for use against the rebellion.
Editors' Picks
“Hitler's Reign of Terror” Emily Greenhouse, New Yorker. A 1934 documentary of Nazi oppression might have galvanized America against Hitler; but under pressure from Germany, the film was banned.
Our Mothers, Our Fathers Thomas Rogers, New Republic. A new German miniseries depicting the cruelty of soldiers during World War II shows that "the crimes of the Wehrmacht are no longer a taboo," but "a well-integrated theme in German history."
With the Zionists in Gallipoli Natan Slifkin, Rationalist Judaism. Having commanded both the Zion Mule Corps and the Jewish Legion during World War I, Colonel John Patterson spent the rest of his life fighting the British establishment for a Jewish homeland.
A Marriage Made in Hell Rafael Medoff, JNS. Seventy-five years ago this week, German troops entered Austria to impose the Anschluss—and found the people, in the words of Sigmund Freud, "entirely at one with their brothers in the Reich."
FDR and the Jews Marc Fisher, Moment. “Roosevelt sounded at times like a Zionist, at times like a skeptic about Palestine’s capacity to absorb new settlers, and at times, when speaking to anti-Semites, like an anti-Semite himself.”
Five-Star Refuge Erica Lyons, Asian Jewish Life. The Peninsula in Hong Kong remains one of the city's finest hotels. In the aftermath of the Second World War, however, it was a shelter for 283 Jewish refugees.
Misuses of the Holocaust Peter Berger, American Interest. "Is the Holocaust of European Jewry during World War II an absolutely unique event? Or may it properly be used to refer to other events of mass massacres?"
The Fatal Misjudgment Christoph Strupp, Spiegel. Reacting to Hitler's rise to power 80 years ago this week, U.S. Consul George Messersmith called him "only a phase in the development towards more stable political conditions."
The Jews of Middle Earth Jeffrey Saks, Torah Musings. "I do think of the 'Dwarves' like Jews," wrote Tolkien, "at once native and alien in their habitations, speaking the languages of the country, but with an accent due to their own private tongue."
The Children Britain Didn't Save Fred Barschak, Jewish Chronicle. The Kindertransport saved 10,000 from Nazi territory in the late 1930s. But when it came to rescuing 1,800 Jewish children from Vichy France in 1942, Britain turned its back.