Offspring of SS Officers Dance for Holocaust Survivors

Ceremony in Jerusalem Conjures Up Mixed Feelings

By: David Shear for Shalomlife.com

A number of Holocaust survivors took part in a unique dance ceremony held at the Jerusalem International Convention Centre on Wednesday, but the event was about much more than just dance.

The dance group that performed was the German troupe known as the YC Dance group, of which a number of its dancers happen to be the grandchildren or great-grandchildren of the notorious Nazi group, the SS, which, under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II (1939–45). The SS, along with the Nazi Party, was banned in Germany as a criminal organization after 1945.
"We are not to blame for what our fathers did, but as long as there are survivors still alive, we have a responsibility to talk to them, ask forgiveness and try to relieve the terrible pain they are in," said one member of the dance group.
"Being in contact with us isn't easy for the survivors, but when we meet with them they always greet us with open arms," said Paul Davis Peter, another dance member whose grandfather served as an officer in the German Armed Forces during World War II.

"Usually they are willing to accept our forgiveness, and we know that what they went through cannot be described or explained in words, and they are entitled to treat us however they please. Our role as Germans and dancers performing in front of Holocaust survivors is to say there is a new generation in Germany that will make sure that what happened then will not happen again."

"This evening is very difficult and very emotional,” said 80-year-old survivor Sarah Goldfinger. “It brings back memories and it will be hard to sleep tonight. I receive the group with mixed feelings. I appreciate them coming here, because I understand how difficult it must have been for them."

Oy vey: How animated films draw on Jewish stereotypes

In lending their voice to animated movies like 'Madagascar' and 'Antz,' Jewish actors play into the long-held stereotype of the urbanized Jew who is unable to survive the wild.

With the re-release of the movie "Finding Nemo" (2003), which made prominent use of Jewish actors, and the recent announcement of its sequel, "Finding Dory" (2015), it is perhaps timely to consider how animated films feature Jews and Jewishness.

Little to nothing has been written about the representation of Jews in animated films. Yet these films, which generally feature anthropomorphic animals, very often make use of Jewish actors. The result, consciously or otherwise, is that they also often make use of Jewish stereotypes.

This is particularly interesting given what film scholars call the "metamorphic condition": the fact that in animation literally anything can happen. The laws of physics – gravity, for example – can be flouted at any time, as can filmic conventions. Doors can bend, people can fly, liquids can turn into solids, solids back into liquids – all in the blink of an eye.

Yet despite this "anything-is-possible" rule of animation, which allows for endless feats of creativity, the genre still sticks to age-old stereotypes of Jews.

There are numerous examples of this, from the "An American Tail" films (1986-1999) to "Antz" (1998). But perhaps the best example is Dreamworks' "Madagascar" (2005), in which four zoo animals – Alex, a lion; Marty, a zebra; Melman Mankiewicz III, a giraffe; and Gloria, a hippopotamus – escape from Central Park Zoo, where they lead pampered lives, to see the world beyond the zoo.

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Israeli company looks to U.S. to advance hummus science

Sabra Dipping Company, the joint venture between Israel’s Strauss and the U.S. food and drinks maker PepsiCo, opens a R & D center in Virginia devoted to the science, production, engineering, packaging and delivery of the chickpea-based spread.

The next scientific breakthrough in the hummus world isn’t likely to happen in Tel Aviv or Beirut but in a suburb of Richmond, Virginia. At least that is what Strauss Group is counting on as it dedicated on Tuesday a research and development center devoted to the science, production, engineering, packaging and delivery of the chickpea-based spread.

Dubbed the Center of Excellence, the facility is being operated by Sabra Dipping Company, the joint venture between Israel’s Strauss and the U.S. food and drinks maker PepsiCo, and is adjacent to a manufacturing plant that has operated on the site since 2012.

While hummus is Sabra’s flagship dip, the center’s staff won’t be dedicating all their time to research on chickpeas but on all the other ingredients that go into Sabra’s line of prepared salads. The center will cooperate with local universities and agricultural research centers and will include a culinary center as well as laboratories.

“Opening the research and development center, the first of its kind in the world, is an important milestone for the Strauss Group in its partnership with Pepsico worldwide,” said Strauss CEO Gadi Lesin Tuesday. “It enhances our transformation into a leading international player both in the salads segment and in dips.”

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Child Survivors Return Home

What happens when a documentarian turns the camera on himself? "For almost 50 years I've been filming other people's lives," says Holocaust survivor and filmmaker Marian Marzynski at the start of his new documentary Never Forget to Lie, "but my childhood seems to be my psyche's unfinished business."

Marzynski and others he interviews survived the Holocaust in Poland by posing as Christian children, often without their parents. Marzynski even became a devoted altar boy.  Never Forget, which airs on PBS's Frontline, returns Marzynski and his subjects to the physical sites of their most difficult memories: the courtyard of a building in the Warsaw ghetto, a forest near Treblinka, the mountain pass between Poland and Slovakia where one man saw his mother for the last time.
Sixty-eight years after the war, the recollections these encounters jog are often cloudy or fragmented, consisting of a single conversation or emotion. It's sometimes hard to watch. But Marzynski's camera is patient, lingering on tiny details of rooms and landscapes as though trying to help rekindle the survivors' memories. In the process, we, the viewers, become repositories for images and stories that might otherwise have vanished.

The Black Hebrew Israelites and Kansas

By Jerry Klinger

"And the LORD said to them, "Now listen to what I say:
"If there were prophets among you, I, the LORD,
would reveal myself in visions. I would speak to them in dreams". - Numbers 12:6

St. Mary's County, Maryland: William Saunders Crowdy was born August 11, 1847. He was born a slave. His father, Basil Crowdy, was a deeply religious Christian who oversaw the drying of clay on the plantation. Crowdy was raised with the family knowledge that he was descended from the ancient kings of the Ndongo Empire. His ancestor was captured by Portuguese slavers.

Crowdy was unusual. It was illegal for slaves to read but he learned to read the bible. He was particularly engaged by the Hebrew prophets and the role of Elijah. When he was severely abused by an overseer, Crowdy prayed to Moses to deliver him. Crowdy was delivered from the abusive slave master.

Ten years after his miraculous delivery from the overseer, the Civil War was a reality. At Crowdy's first opportunity he ran away from the plantation and joined the Union army to fight for his and the freedom of all slaves. Crowdy was 16. He enlisted in the 19th Maryland Colored Troops and saw action at the Battle of the Wilderness and outside of Petersburg. Crowdy remained in the army becoming a Buffalo Soldier with the fifth Cavalry. He rose to the rank of quartermaster sergeant and was honorably discharged in 1872.

Crowdy eventually settled down in Guthrie, Oklahoma, following a career as a cook on the Santa Fe Railroad. He married and raised a family. In Guthrie, Crowdy was very successful. He was one of the largest Black farmers in the area, with nearly 100 acres of land. He was a pillar of his community, and a member of the Baptist church.

September 13, 1892, was the date of the first vision that Crowdy spoke of. God had come to him in the field and told him to lead his people, the Black people, to the True Religion. He was to redeem Israel out of spiritual and mental bondage. The vision confused him. He asked God for more time, resisting the vision.

The Civil War was very fresh in former slave minds. The Biblical imagery of the Children of Israel being liberated by God, with a strong hand from bondage, and Moses as their leader, was well known and often repeated. The slave world had ended but the world of Black enslavement under prejudice, bigotry and hatred was never far from the American Black experience.

Three years later, in 1895, Crowdy was chopping wood when again he had a vision. He said of the vision, "it was like the sound of rushing birds." The second vision terrified him. The vision told him "Run for your life". He ran to the woods. It was deep in the woods that God revealed the vision of what he must do. It was in the woods that William Crowdy became the "Prophet", a title and designation that he was known by until he died.

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Jews and Baseball

Jews and baseball: they go together like gefilte fish and horseradish. You didn't realize? Consider: Commissioner Bud Selig? Jewish. The greatest pitcher of all time? Jewish. The guy who composed "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"? Jewish. The Clown Prince of Baseball? Jewish.

It's an old love story, Jews and baseball. Since before Babe Ruth slugged his first dinger, Jewish immigrants have loved the sport. Learning baseball was a rite of assimilation. True, not many Jews wore the uniform. But those who did were lovingly embraced.

Moe Berg in the 1920s. Mike Epstein and Ron Bloomberg in the 1960s. Shawn Green in the 1990s. Ryan Braun and Kevin Youkilis today. And, of course, two Hall of Famers. (Could there be a third? Only if a certain Milwaukee outfielder can prove he never messed with the funny juice.)

For a glimpse into the long, passionate love affair between Jews and baseball, catch the 2011 documentary narrated by Dustin Hoffman called…well, Jews and Baseball.

A Very Serious Woman

They called her “Battling Bella,” and Bella Savitsky Abzug (1920-1998) lived up to that nickname. Born in New York City to Russian Jewish immigrants, Bella earned an undergraduate degree at Hunter College and a law degree from Columbia University. After passing the New York bar in 1947, Abzug was hired as a labor lawyer, one of the few women practicing law in the United States at the time. As a lawyer, she not only fought for labor rights, but also handled civil rights cases. In order to be taken seriously, Abzug began wearing what became her signature large hats so that she would not be mistaken for a secretary. 

Abzug first ran for office when she was 50 years old. In 1970, she won a seat in the House of Representatives, representing the West Side of Manhattan, and was re-elected three times before attempting to win a place in the Senate. Although her Senate campaign was unsuccessful, as was her 1977 mayoral campaign against Ed Koch, Abzug continued her high-energy activities in her many political involvements. She was co-chair of President Carter’s National Advisory Committee on Women and Chair of the National Commission on the Observance of International Women’s Year. Abzug also helped create several prominent organizations such as WomenUSA and Women’s Environment and Development Organization.

In addition to being an advocate for women’s rights, Abzug was also an outspoken Zionist. Her ardor for Zionism began with her membership in the Zionist youth group Hashomer Hatzair. In 1975, Abzug led the fight to rescind the United Nations resolution declaring Zionism a form of racism. (It was not revoked until 1991.)

In 1986, Abzug lost her husband Martin, whom she had met on a bus heading to a concert in Miami shortly after she graduated Hunter. Their two daughters mourned Abzug’s passing on March 31, 1998. 

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