Behind the Aegis
Behind the Aegis's JournalInternment camp for Jews in Second World War a little-known piece of New Brunswick history
RIPPLES, N.B.—As a 15-year-old facing the threat of Nazi Germany in Austria, Fred Kaufman could barely imagine that he would soon find himself separated from his family, peering through the barbed wire fence of an internment camp deep in the woods of New Brunswick.
Internment Camp B70, located in Ripples, N.B., housed more than 700 Jews in the early months of the Second World War. More than 70 years later, it is a piece of New Brunswick history rarely spoken of and little known by many.
As the situation for Jewish families in Austria worsened in the months leading up to the war, Kaufman’s father decided to send his son to England — one of 10,000 Jewish boys taken to the United Kingdom as part of a relief effort known as the Kindertransport.
“It was a tough decision to split up the family,” Kaufman said in an interview from his home in Toronto.
But then-British prime minister Winston Churchill was worried there could be spies among the Jews, and he asked Canada and Australia to house them as internees.
more:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/08/03/internment_camp_for_jews_in_second_world_war_a_littleknown_piece_of_new_brunswick_history.html
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This was something I had never seen or heard of before! Hat tip: Mosby in the Jewish Group
Oklahoma couples sue for marriage equality
Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal group, is defending the Tulsa County Clerk’s Office against a lawsuit involving marriage equality because a federal appeals court ruled the governor and attorney general have no standing.
Two lesbian couples from Oklahoma, including one married in California, challenged the state’s ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional.
They believe the Defense of Marriage Act ruling bolsters their case. The case was filed in federal court in Tulsa in 2004 where it has been stalled. However, they are challenging the section of DOMA that still stands, allowing one state to refuse to recognize a marriage performed in another state.
Now that the DOMA ruling has been issued, attorneys for the couples are urging U.S. District Judge Terence Kern to rule in the case.
http://www.dallasvoice.com/couples-marriage-equality-state-10153990.html
HOT DAMN! Anyone wanna come to our wedding?!
ADL: US anti-Semitic incidents down 14%
The total number of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States fell by 14% in 2012, continuing a three-year trend of incremental declines, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents, issued Monday.
The ADL Audit reported a total of 927 anti-Semitic incidents across the US in 2012, including assaults, vandalism and harassment, marking a 14% decline from the 1,080 incidents reported in 2011.
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“Unlike years ago, when racists handed out pamphlets on street corners or sent them through the mail, the Internet provides racists and bigots with an outlet to reach a potential audience of millions.
"This explosion of viral hate is impossible to quantify, but it may have led to a migration of sorts where the haters and bigots are more likely to take to the Internet to express themselves anonymously, rather than acting out in a public setting,” added Curtiss-Lusher.
“The danger, of course, is that these online expressions can inspire and fuel real-world violence.”
more: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4408907,00.html (bold added)
Thoughts?! Speak up!
'Lucky Jew' Statues: Are Polish Figurines A Symptom Of Anti-Semitism Or Just In Bad Taste?
WARSAW, Poland -- Shortly after receiving a sneak peek of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews (there are no exhibits yet: the museum is to open to the public in 2014), I walked along the cobblestone streets of the Old Town section of Warsaw for some sightseeing, when something caught my eye.
A shopkeeper was selling the souvenir staples: long Polska scarves for the chilly Polish winters, Poland magnets, and untraditional tourist fare like a statue of what, at first glance, appeared to be an innocuous, even cute, depiction of a religious Jew. At first I thought maybe my family back home would enjoy it.
Then I looked closer. The Jew, wearing a yarmulke and tallit, had a large, hooked nose. In his hand was a shiny coin.
This was disturbing to me, especially just after hearing of the tales of Jews sent to concentration camps and the remnants of the Warsaw Ghetto who died fighting -- due in part to the stereotypes that I saw on the figures. Who buys these things, I wondered? As it turns out, Poles do. Tourists do. Even the head of the Anti-Defamation League. (All for different reasons.)
more: http://www.ibtimes.com/lucky-jew-statues-are-polish-figurines-symptom-anti-semitism-or-just-bad-taste-photo-1320991#
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I think this surpasses "bad taste" and is an expression of anti-Semitism. Given Poland's history of Jew hate, I can't say I am terribly surprised.
ETA photo:
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