Tucson’s Whole Enchilada Benefit
When it happened, I’d finally decided to move forward through the crowd, loosely grouped in front of the outdoor stage at Tucson’s iconic Hotel Congress. Beloved local band Sidewinders, the penultimate act at this Whole Enchilada benefit show, was already playing their third number. But I still hadn’t committed myself to the experience.(...)
Holocaust Memorial Day in Torino
It’s an awkward sort of honour. But Torino always has the best Holocaust Memorial Day billboards. (...)
Germany’s Racism Crisis
It was a transparent failure. Irmgard Furchner, a 96-year-old ex-secretary at the Stutthof concentration camp, had disappeared the day her trial was to begin, having been accused of complicity in the deaths of over 10,000 Jews.(...)
Jews and the German Elections
September 2021: general election time in Germany. It will be the first since 2005 in which Angela Merkel will not be a candidate for chancellor.(...)
The Micha Brumlik Interview, Part II
His academic career is self-evident. Micha Brumlik is extremely cautious with how he characterises Jewish life in today’s Germany.(...)
Taking Responsibility for Refugees
The recent Italian films The Life Ahead (La vita davanti a sé) and Mom to Hundreds (Tutto il giorno davanti) thematise the plight of underage migrants from the developing world, seeking to extract maximum sentiment from audiences.(...)
Celebrating Jewish Germany, Part I
The year 2021 marks 1700 years of “Jewish life” in Germany. (...)
The JID Interview, Part I
Israelis in Germany. Say what? Few stories about European immigration have been as loaded, and complex as those about Jews moving from the Middle East to Germany. (...)
The Ramsis Kilani Interview, Part II
If it was just about numbers, in Germany, Jews and Palestinians could be equals. (...)
Germany’s Other Holocaust Victims
Sometimes, apparently trivial expressions of bigotry can take on surprising importance.(...)