Section: Jewish Telegraphic Agency (USA)
Israeli blogger jailed in Azerbaijan pardoned by president
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The president of Azerbaijan has pardoned an Israeli blogger who was sentenced to three years in prison in Azerbaijan for illegally entering Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed the pardon on Monday for Alexander Lapshin and it went into effect immediately, Haaretz reported. In July, Lapshin, 40, who also...
Poland’s Jewish revival is marred by community infighting
The 27th Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow, Poland, held in July 2017, is a sign of renewed interest in Jewish life 70 years after the Holocaust. (Courtesy of Krakow Jewish Culture Festival) (JTA) — For close to 30 years, leaders of Polish Jewry have been celebrating what they call the revival of their once-great community from near annihilation...
Krakow JCC’s new preschool signals hope for a community’s rebirth
Sara Zielinski, with her mother Elizabeth, center, and a volunteer at a pre-Shabbat program at the Jewish Community Center of Krakow. Sara is part of the inaugural class of Frajda, the first pluralistic Jewish nursery and preschool in Krakow since World War II. (Courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Krakow) KRAKOW, Poland (JTA) — Michal...
Ukraine readies for record pilgrimage of 40,000 Jews to Uman
Hasidic pilgrims praying near the burial site of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov in Uman, Ukraine, Sept. 14, 2015. (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images) (JTA) — Ukrainian authorities are preparing for a record pilgrimage by tens of thousands of Jews gathering in the city of Uman for Rosh Hashanah. Authorities are expecting up to 40,000 Jewish pilgrims ahead of...
Belarus court clears way for building of luxury apartments atop former Jewish cemeteries
(JTA) – A judge in Belarus cleared the way for the construction of apartments atop two former Jewish cemeteries. Separately, unidentified individuals smashed 24 headstones in a Jewish cemetery in Ukraine. Eduard Dolinsky, the director of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, in a statement wrote that the incident in Ukraine was discovered Tuesday at...
Israeli man shot dead near synagogue in Kiev
The Brodsky Synagogue in Kiev, Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons) (JTA) — An Israeli man was found shot dead near a Kiev synagogue in what is believed to have been a robbery rather than an anti-Semitic incident. The body of Sachroch Torsonov, 29, of Jerusalem, was found late Wednesday night near the Brodsky Synagogue in the center of the Ukrainian...
Russian Jews slam Moscow’s exclusion from Holocaust memorial project in Poland
(JTA) — A leader of Russian Jews called on Poland to avoid any exclusion of Russia from an international forum that is responsible for preserving for educational purposes the former Nazi death camp of Sobibor. Mikhael Mirilashvili, the president of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, issued the call Sunday, following claims by Russian officials that...
I talked to the ‘anti-Semitic’ Swiss hotel owner. It’s more complicated than you think.
The Paradise Apartments hotel in Arosa, near Zurich, Switzerland. (Courtesy of Paradise Apartments hotel) (JTA) — A chuckle tickled my throat as Ruth Thomann, a Swiss hotelier who posted signs urging her “Jewish guests” to shower before entering the pool, assured me that she has “nothing against Jews.” To be clear, I don’t find racism...
This Holocaust monument in Belarus is haunting — and subversive
“The Unbowed Man” statue at the Khatyn Memorial in Belarus commemorating Yuzif Kaminsky, a survivor of Nazi atrocities, and his slain son Adam. (John Oldale/Wikimedia Commons) KHATYN, Belarus (JTA) — Even by Soviet standards, the massive memorial complex near Minsk to the victims of Nazi atrocities stands out for its immense scale and ambition....
Researchers find Jewish headstones at the Nazi killing site of Babi Yar
(JTA) — Before murdering tens of thousands of Jews at Babi Yar near Kiev, Nazi troops dumped at the killing site dozens of Jewish headstones they had stolen from Jewish cemetery, researchers in Ukraine discovered. “The tombstones were removed from a local Jewish cemetery during the Holocaust and thrown into the same ravines where over 150,000...
