B’nai Brith says antisemitism is on the rise in Canada  In its latest annual audit, B’nai Brith Canada reports the number of antisemitic incidents in the country more than doubled from 2022 to 2023 and has now reached a record high. “If a physical barometer did in fact exist, the reading for 2023 would be off the chart,” Richard Robertson, the group’s director of policy and research, said in Ottawa on Monday, which is also Holocaust Remembrance Day or Yom HaShoah. B’nai Brith, a Jewish advocacy organization, said that between Jan. 1, 2023 and Dec. 31, 2023, it logged ..read more

Please join HAMEC for the 60th Annual Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony this Sunday, May 5th at 4:00 pm. Due to the weather, the ceremony will be held at Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel at 300 S. 18th St, Philadelphia. HAMEC Holocaust survivor speaker, Michael Fryd , will share his family’s story. Also, Old York Road Kehillah will host HAMEC Holocaust survivor, George Marcus, for their 24th Annual Yom HaShoah service on Sunday, May 5th at 7:00 pm, at Old York Road Temple Beth Am located at 971 Old York Road in Abington. We hope you can join us for all these Holocaust Remembrance Day ev ..read more

By B. LANA GUGGENHEIM, Reform Judaism.org, May 2, 2024. Click for full report. Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) is a time for meditation, reflection, and somber memorial, though its emotional magnitude can quickly become overwhelming. The following books – including memoirs, histories, and even a cookbook – can help guide your introspection. 1. HITLER’S TRUE BELIEVERS: HOW ORDINARY PEOPLE BECAME NAZIS BY ROBERT GELLATELY It is a widely-believed myth that Adolf Hitler was a unique aberration in history. Gellately, a history professor, explains why such a belief i ..read more

Yizkor, 1943 A story of life in the Warsaw Ghetto BY RACHEL AUERBACH MAY 05, 2016 ILLUSTRATION: JOANNA NEBORSKY AND COREY FOGEL The Ringelblum Archive cataloged the awe-inspiring endurance of the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto against the murderous cruelty of the Nazi occupier, mass starvation, and disease. A collection of diaries and eyewitness accounts, sociological surveys, poetry, public notices and wall posters, theater tickets, chocolate wrappers, and other documents of a life and a place that were anything but ordinary, the Archive was compiled by dozens of researchers and writers working ..read more

Mr. Goldsmith is one of our HAMEC speakers. HAMEC offers the latest in Holocaust education. In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, we provide live and virtual programs. We serve worldwide VIRTUALLY. HAMEC is a key resource in the fight against antisemitism. Our programs are available to schools worldwide and can be in-person (in Pennsylvania and New Jersey) or virtual, depending on your needs. We also offer teacher training, recorded Survivor testimony, museum tours (virtual and in-person), public programs, adult education opportunities, artifacts for loan, a full academic library, and a publicly ac ..read more

LETTER FROM ARIZONA The Losing Battle to Beat Antisemitism in the Age of Misinformation Arizona has mandated Holocaust education but so far it has failed to match the onslaught of denial on social media. Author Bryan Bender interviews the “interactive biography” of Holocaust survivor Oskar Knoblauch. | Sarah Adler for POLITICO By BRYAN BENDER 04/27/2024 07:00 AM EDT Bryan Bender is a former senior national correspondent for POLITICO, focusing on defense and national security. He is vice president for communications strategy at Strategic Marketing Innovations, a government affairs f ..read more

Cristopher Ramirez, April 17, 2024, The Centurion. Click for full report. Mary Romney-Schaab. Click for her website. Lionel Romney, a man from the Caribbean, was a sailor during World War II. Romney was on his way to Greece from Cardiff, Wales on a ship named the SS Makis. When the SS Makis was in the area between Sicily, Italy, and Tunisia, a disaster occurred. The SS Makis triggered a mine leading the ship to sink, but the crew survived. The crew were rescued by the Italian Navy and became political prisoners. Lionel Romney was transferred between multiple internment camps in Italy for year ..read more

Andrew M. Goretsky, EdD, regional director of the Anti Defamation League, writes: It comes as no surprise that 2023 was the worst year for antisemitic incidents since ADL began recording more than four decades ago. The ADL 2023 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, released this week, reveals that there were a total of 8,873 incidents reported across the United States in 2023. That is an average of 24 incidents per day, or one per hour. This is an increase of 140 percent compared to 2022, which was also a record-setting year. In Pennsylvania, we saw levels of antisemiti ..read more

This poster from [the Melbourne Holocuast Museum] collection marks the 37th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, held in Melbourne on 12 April 1980. Speakers included Marcus Einfeld QC and Abram Zeleznikow, a ghetto fighter and partisan, with a memorial service the following day. On 19 April 1943, the Warsaw Ghetto uprising began which became the most widely commemorated Jewish uprising during World War II. On the eve of Passover, around 700 combatants, alongside other inhabitants of the ghetto, resisted final deportation by German troops and police. The uprising was a respons ..read more

‘Irena’s Vow’: The true story of a Polish Catholic nurse who hid Jews during the Holocaust Sophie Nélisse portrays Irena Gut Opdyke in the new film “Irena’s Vow.” | Credit: Quiver Distribution By Francesca Pollio Fenton CNA Staff, Apr 12, 2024 / 16:00 pm A new film depicting the incredible true story of Irena Gut Opdyke, a Polish Catholic nurse who risked her own life to hide Jews persecuted by Nazi Germany during World War II, debuts in theaters across the country April 15-16.  “Irena’s Vow” is told through the eyes of strong-willed 19-year-old Irena Gut. When Gut is promoted ..read more