Few nations have been so lauded for their stance during the Holocaust as tiny Denmark. As October approaches, marking the 70th anniversary of the rescue of Danish Jewry, numerous events in Denmark and overseas commemorate the mass effort in which hundreds, possibly thousands, of Danes helped smuggle almost the entire Danish-Jewish community to coastal towns…
A left-wing Danish political party is seeking to outlaw ritual circumcision in Denmark. The Social Liberal Party, a small coalition partner of Denmark’s ruling Social Democrats party, adopted the anti-circumcision stance this week following an internal vote by delegates during a party congress in Nyborg, 75 miles west of Copenhagen, according to the news site…
The invaluable Thomas Edsall reports in his New York Times blog on a paper by an MIT economist, co-written with a Harvard political scientist and a French economist, that claims America can’t adopt more egalitarian social policies because it’s our “cut-throat capitalism” that allows countries like Sweden to have their “cuddly capitalism.” The idea is…
Most of the collection of the Museum of Danish Resistance in Copenhagen was saved from a fire that destroyed large parts of its building. The fire early Monday morning started in the museum cafe and spread to the exhibition hall, the Associated Press reported. The cause is unknown. The building likely will have to be…
The organizers of a Copenhagen event celebrating diversity asked Danish Jews refrain from displaying the Israeli flag “for security reasons.” The request came during preparations for the city-sponsored Mangfoldigheds festival held early last month, according to the Copenhagen-born Jonas Herzberg Karpantschof, former chairman of the European Union of Jewish Students. The Danish Zionist Federation displayed…
Tolerant Denmark, the nation that famously saved its Jews during World War II, is embroiled in a fierce debate about whether circumcision should be medically supervised or even banned. The Scandinavian country is not alone: Health officials in Norway, Austria and Switzerland have also questioned circumcision this summer. But in Denmark, the debate has dominated…
In this week’s podcast, host Josh Nathan-Kazis is joined by Forward editor Jane Eisner to discuss Mitt Romney’s Vice Presidential pick, Paul Ryan and what his plans for Medicare mean for Jewish seniors. Then, Forward contributor Eddy Portnoy phones in to explain the death of the eastern european Yiddish accent. Finally, staff writer Paul Berger…
First, there was the violent outrage sparked by a Danish newspaper’s publication of cartoons of the Muhammad. Now, there’s a new Danish target of Muslim discontent: cookies — “Jewish cookies.” Aside from their name, the traditional Danish cookies actually have nothing to do with Jews, but that apparently hasn’t stopped some elements of the Muslim…
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