JERUSALEM NEWS
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Events, happenings, and Opinions Concerning
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Jerusalem News-767
Jerusalem News-767
7 Iyar 5768, 12th May 2008
Contents:
1.
HaModia:
[Pictures] Prince Charles Opens Cracow's
Jewish Center that he initiated and partly paid for
2. As Nazis die out, historians push to collect their stories
3. Irish Soldiers to Chad, Africa
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1.
HaModia:
Prince Charles Opens Cracow's
Jewish Center that he initiated and partly paid for
"Prince Charles Opens Cracow's Jewish Center"
by Yehudah Marks
Source: "HaModia", 2 Iyar, 5768, Feature, May 7, 2008, B21.
Prince Charles has opened a new Jewish Community Center in the southern city of
Cracow, under the patronage of the Prince, which is expected to change the scene
of the Jewish community in Cracow.
The five-story center, constructed in the grounds of the Tempel synagogue in
Cracow's old Jewish quarter, was built by the London-based World Jewish Relief
charity (WJR), together with Prince Charles who helped collect money, partly out
of his own pocket, for the construction of the Jewish center after a
previous visit to Cracow in 2002.
The heir-to-the-throne was greeted by hundreds of tourists when he arrived in
Cracow's main square, Rynek Glowny.
He then traveled to Kazimierz, the city's Jewish quarter, where many prominent
figures in the Jewish community in Poland were present for the opening of the
Jewish center, including Chief Rabbi of Poland Rabbi Michael Schudrich, Chief
Rabbi of Galicia Rabbi Edgar Gluck and a delegation from the WJR.
Upon opening the center the Prince saluted the work of WJR and reminisced about
his visit to Cracow six years ago when he decided to help the community.
"If I may say so, to stand here between the Tempel and Kupa synagogues in the
heart of the traditional Jewish community here in Kazimierz, is literally to
touch history, because your community is known for its stories, some of which
have born witness to the darkest clouds in human history.
"But today the story of your community opens a new and vibrant chapter. So this
Bayit Chayil, or 'House of Strength,' provides a much needed place in which to
respect the past, while wholeheartedly embracing the future," the Prince said.
"It gives me enormous pride, and as I say, moves me deeply to be able to stand
here today, and unveil these plaques, and nothing could possibly give my wife
and I greater pleasure and pride, than to declare the new Jewish community
center open."
Prince Charles made a "substantial
contribution" to financing the f1.5 million center, said
WJR
director Jonathan Ornstein.
Polish Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich, who officiated in the ceremony, said at
the event, "The Polish Jewish community has suffered unimaginable hardship over
the centuries. Once one of the largest Jewish communities in the world, today it
is among the smallest. However, thanks to the munificence and grace of the royal
couple, the Cracow community, once a bustling center of Jewish life, now has a
real chance of returning to its former glory."
Rabbi Schudrich affixed the mezuzah on the front door, after which the Prince
also helped bang a nail and take part in the official opening of the center by
unveiling a ceremonial plaque, followed by dancing with the community's
children.
"Never did we imagine that we would have a center, a home for the whole
community of Cracow," said Holocaust survivor and Cracow resident Ryszard
Orowski, attending the grand opening last week.
"I stand here today remembering the family and loved ones whom many of us lost
so tragically in the Holocaust, but now I can look to the future with true hope
that our wonderful community can again come alive," said Orowski, who lost his
entire family in the Nazi Holocaust.
"Here you can see all the people involved and the sad fact is that the Jewish
community is pretty tiny; it's around 200 people registered in the kehillah and
many more living in the city but not registered," Przemyslaw Piekarski, who has
lived in Cracow for over 35 years, said.
"Many people come and promise us a future,
but the prince and World Jewish Relief
promised and today's ceremony shows that they also deliver, and we are so
very grateful for this," said TadeuszJakubowicz, president of the Cracow Jewish
community. The center will offer all sorts of activities for the city's Jewish
residents, providing a facility for social, educational and religious programs.
It will serve around 1,000 people including the elderly and the Jewish students
studying at Cracow University. In addition, Cracow attracts millions of tourists
every year.
On the prince's previous trip to
Cracow,
he met elderly Holocaust survivors and was deeply moved by their plight. In a
meeting with the local Jewish community, he asked what their important needs
were.
When they said they need a new modern facility where all Jews in
Cracow
can gather, organize community life, integrate and celebrate the holidays, the
Prince said he would help and discussed the idea with the World Jewish Relief,
based in Camden in North London, which he is affiliated with.
On his initiative, the charity group began working towards building the center.
WJR chairman Nigel Layton said, "We are honored and delighted that the royal
couple joined us for this momentous occasion and we are grateful to them for
their wonderful support of WJR throughout this project."
2. As Nazis die out, historians push to
collect their stories
by toby axelrod
http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/35139/format/html/displaystory.html
Extract:
It was the spring of 1943 when Otto Ernst Duscheleit, a Hitler Youth leader,
received the call: Join the Waffen-SS or be sent to a penal battalion.
"I was 17 and I knew little about what was happening," Duscheleit recalls.
He would spend two years on the front.
Duscheleit helped set Russian villages ablaze during the retreat of German
forces, and though he says he did not commit atrocities against Jews, he watched
as Jews were loaded onto trains for deportation to death camps.
"They were wearing the yellow star," Duscheleit says. "I saw them, but I didn't
think about what was happening."
About 40 years later, Duscheleit had a dream in which someone called him an "SS
pig." The former Nazi began to reflect on his past. Overcome by shame, he
started meeting with students and children of survivors to tell them his story.
3. Irish Soldiers to Chad, Africa
Local soldiers off to Chad
http://www.nwipp-newspapers.com/DN/free/325328822784119.php
BY CJ MCGINLEY
Extracts:
Ten soldiers from Rockhill barracks set off on Wednesday for one of the most
volatile and corrupt regions of the world.
Over 400 Irish troops will be deployed by May for the UN mandated EU military
operation in the Republic of Chad where they will spend the next four months.
The mission is one of the ambitious and challenging undertaken by the defence
forces. Chad is one of the world's most acute humanitarian crises.
Speaking to the Donegal News before their departure four local soldiers spoke of
how they were looking forward to the challenge ahead. However, they are also
concerned about the growing conflict in the region and the risks attached to the
dangerous mission. Ireland will play a significant and substantive role in this
mission as the second largest contributor.
Corporal Gavin Crawford from Manorcunningham has been in the Army for ten years
and has has previously served overseas in Lebanon and Liberia.
He said: "I think the heat is going to be a very challenging because it is up
over 50 degrees but we will have to just get used to it," he said.
"Our mission is to get in there and set up a camp and help the engineers and
logistics crews as well as gathering information," he added.
The role of the Irish troops in Chad will be threefold: to help establish a safe
and secure environment for refugees, to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian
aid to the refugees and to protect UN and humanitarian personnel. The Donegal
soldiers will be based in the south eastern area of Goz Beida.
During the 12-month period of the Government agreed participation, a total of
1,200 Irish soldiers will serve on this mission.
"The intention in Chad is that our soldiers will patrol in strength, as we did
in Liberia. We will not initiate hostile action, but will always be prepared to
react, should the situation demand. It is a mission that will test our
organisation, planning, logistical capability and most of all our professional
soldiers," said Lieutenant General Pat Nash, who is leading the mission.
Recently, the Darfur crisis in Sudan has spilt over the border and destabilised
the nation. While many political parties are active, power lies firmly in the
hands of President D?y and his political party, the Patriotic Salvation
Movement. Chad remains plagued by political violence and recurrent attempted
coups d'?at, and is one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world;
most Chadians live in poverty as subsistence herders and farmers.
Since 2003 crude oil has become the country's primary source of export
earnings, superseding the traditional cotton industry.
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