Toby Axelrod
By Toby Axelrod
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News Potsdam’s stylish new synagogue is the German city’s first since WWII
(JTA) — The city of Potsdam, Germany, has its first new synagogue since the Holocaust — and it’s quite a looker. The synagogue is part of the newly inaugurated European Center for Jewish Learning at the University of Potsdam, which will also be the umbrella for the school’s School of Jewish Theology founded in 2013…
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Fast Forward Germany looking to prosecute over a dozen more Nazi war criminals
BERLIN (JTA) – As Germany prepares to put a 100-year-old man on trial for Nazi war crimes, public prosecutors in several German states have announced that they are investigating more than a dozen other suspects. Most of the cases involve concentration camp guards who may be charged as accessories to murder following the precedent-setting conviction…
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Fast Forward In a German city with 30 Jews, a restored Art Deco synagogue will house interfaith efforts
(JTA) — For years after World War II, the once magnificent Goerlitz Synagogue in Germany housed a family with goats and pigs. The roof of the Art Deco building was crumbling; the government came close to demolishing the whole structure. But this week, that very synagogue — the only one in the state of Saxony…
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Fast Forward Israeli flags burned outside 2 German synagogues, ‘Free Palestine’ spray-painted on another in Spain
(JTA) — Israeli flags were burned in front of two synagogues in Germany and the words “Free Palestine” were spray-painted on another one in Spain. The incidents this week are among the first manifestations of antisemitism in Europe connected to the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in which six Israelis and at least 50 Palestinians…
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Fast Forward Germany’s antisemitism commissioner urges ban on wearing yellow star to protest pandemic lockdowns
BERLIN (JTA) – Germany’s antisemitism commissioner is urging a crackdown on protesters who don yellow stars to complain about the pandemic lockdown. Speaking Friday, Felix Klein urged authorities across Germany to bar protesters from using the symbol, saying it relativizes the Holocaust. The Nazis forced Jews to wear a yellow Star of David as a…
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Fast Forward Germany sees 15% rise in politically motivated antisemitic crimes to record high
BERLIN (JTA) – The number of politically motivated crimes rose to record levels in Germany last year, including a 15% rise in antisemitic offenses to a new yearly high. The annual report by the Federal Criminal Police Office released Tuesday showed an 8.54% increase over 2019, to 44,692 crimes, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said….
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Fast Forward In precedent-setting case, German city to return painting to heirs of Jewish businessman who was once in concentration camp
BERLIN (JTA) — The city of Dusseldorf has agreed to return an Expressionist painting estimated to be worth $18 million to the heirs of its original Jewish owner this week in a move that could set a precedent for German restitution claims. Kurt Grawi, a Jewish businessman and art collector, fled Nazi Germany for Chile…
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Fast Forward Germany would share Europe-only COVID vaccine with Israel, citing ‘special relationship’
(JTA) — Germany has pledged to include Israel in Europe’s deal for a future vaccine against the COVID-19 virus, in keeping with Germany’s “special relationship” with Israel as a response to the Holocaust. According to Israeli media, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and Health Minister Jens Spahn made the commitment to Israel’s Foreign Minister Gabi…
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Opinion What a remarkable Torah rescued from Iran — then LA’s fire — can teach about community amid devastation
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Fast Forward Israel’s judicial overhaul is back. So are the protests.
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Opinion After 15 months of war, Israelis are all scaffolding, helping hold each other up
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