A new exhibit at New York City’s Museum of Jewish Heritage–A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is filled with chilling artifacts outlining the transformation of Auschwitz from a Polish town known as Oswiecim to the largest documented mass-murder site in human history, where 1 million people were killed

Nearly 20,000 people have already seen “Auschwitz: Not long ago. Not far away.,” the most comprehensive exhibition about Auschwitz ever shown in North America. Seventy-four years after the liberation of Auschwitz, this is the first traveling exhibition in the United States dedicated to the camp’s historical significance. The exhibition opened on May 8, the anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, when the Allies celebrated Nazi Germany’s surrender of its armed forces and the end of World War II in Europe.

Visitors are given a glimpse into the exhibit even before stepping foot inside the museum itself. Outside is stationed an original German-made Model 2 freight-train car used for the deportation of Jews to ghettos and extermination camps in occupied Poland. Inside, the exhibit’s 20 galleries are filled with more than 700 original objects and 400 photographs, mainly from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.

“Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.” thoroughly details Jewish life and culture in pre-war Europe all the way through the rise of Nazism and the Third Reich, the construction of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, deportations, life in the concentration camp, liberation and the ultimate creation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.

The artifacts on display are on loan from more than 20 institutions and private collections around the world. In addition to the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and the Museum of Jewish Heritage–A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, participating institutions include Yad Vashem in Jerusalem; the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam; the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.; Auschwitz Jewish Center in Oswiecim; the Memorial and Museum Sachsenhausen in Oranienburg; and the Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide in London.

The exhibit was conceived by the international exhibition firm Musealia and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland, and curated by an international panel of experts in collaboration with historians and curators at the Research Center at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.

Among the items in display are mug shots of concentration-camp prisoners, family pictures found in the labor camp and hundreds of personal items, such as suitcases, shoes and children’s belongings, that deportees brought into Auschwitz.

Other artifacts include a prisoner-made chess set and storage box made out of a sardine tin, engraved with “Auschwitz 1943”; a shower head from one of the Auschwitz crematoriums; concrete posts that were part of the fence of the Auschwitz camp; a bunk bed from the prisoner barrack at Auschwitz; a desk and other belongings of the first and the longest-serving Auschwitz commandant, Rudolf Höss; a gas mask used by the SS in Auschwitz; a sales poster for the book Mein Kampf from 1930; a SS helmet owned and used by Nazi official Heinrich Himmler and his annotated copy of Hitler’s Mein Kampf; dreidels and bullets found in mass graves; the trumpet that Dutch musician Louis Bannet played in Auschwitz; visas issued by Japanese Vice Consul in Lithuania Chiune Sugihara, often referred to as “Japan’s Oskar Schindler”; prisoner registration forms and identification cards; and a rescued Torah scroll from the Bornplatz Synagogue in Hamburg, which had its interior destroyed during Kristallnacht in 1938 and was then demolished the following year.

The exhibition arrived in New York City after a run at Madrid’s Arte Canal Exhibition Centre, where it was extended two times, drew more than 600,000 visitors and turned out last year to be one of the most visited exhibitions in Europe.

What hate can do …

Many visitors were visibly moved, and some teary-eyed, upon leaving the comprehensive exhibit in New York City, which takes about two hours to complete. Jessica Joseph, 66, whose mother survived the Auschwitz concentration camp, called the exhibit “very powerful.”

She told JNS, “To me, the most striking thing is that it’s in New York because I think, mentally, when it’s elsewhere and you see an exhibit like this—whether it’s at Yad Vashem or the [Holocaust] museum in Berlin—it’s there, and you’re here and you’re safe and you’re not exposed. And seeing it in the heart of Manhattan … to me, it’s frightening.”

“It can happen again,” added her husband, Leon Kroll, 79, who started tearing up at the end of the exhibit.

Joseph continued saying, “There’s a reality to it that when you go somewhere else and you see an exhibit, and then you take a plane and then you come to the safety of America, which is what all these people did, and seeing it here—it caught me off-balance. It’s extremely powerful to see tangible artifacts as opposed to stories.”

When asked if she thinks others need to see the exhibit, Joseph replied “yes” and explained, “It’s important for people who don’t know about it. It’s important for the younger generation. I was just thinking that all our children work; it’s very hard for them to find time to go to museums. And I was thinking, I’m gonna volunteer to babysit for all the children at different times, so that each one of them can go and spend freely time here because they need to see it. And non-Jews need to see it—especially now, at the times that we’re living in. There are many things that resonated politically with what’s going on today that’s terrifying.”

The museum’s president, Jack Kliger, told JNS that when the exhibit was in Madrid, almost 50 percent of the attendees were under the age of 40. He wants to attract the same young crowd at the New York presentation. He added, “I hope that people will learn and realize that it was not so long ago, and really this is what hate can do. Not only what hate did, but what hate can do. We particularly want younger people—many of whom don’t even know what Auschwitz means—to learn the lessons to never forget and teach their children.”

“Frankly, survivors don’t need to learn the lessons,” he said. “It’s everybody [else] who needs to understand and not accept that this cannot happen again. We want younger people, all people to realize that hate, which can manifest itself like this, is something you must constantly be opposed to.”

Chiune Sugihara, Japanese diplomat and rescuer of Jews

In connection with the exhibit, the Museum of Jewish Heritage hosted an event with Nobuki Sugihara, son of the late Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat serving in Lithuania who risked himself and his family to issue transit visas to Jews trying to flee Nazi-occupied Europe. He helped rescue 6,000 Jews.

Nobuki spoke of his father’s heroic acts and met nearly 170 “Sugihara visa” survivors and their descendants, who thanked him for his father’s efforts. Some even brought their original transit visas with Chiune’s handwriting on them, including Nathan Lewin, 83, who was 4 when Chiune issued travel visas for him and his parents to go from Eastern Europe to Kobe, Japan.

Rachel Rappaport’s late father was given a transit visa by Chiune and traveled to Shanghai, where he joined the Mir Yeshiva, which was founded in Lithuania and was the only religious school in the region that had most of its students, as many as 300, survive the Holocaust. The students relocated to Shanghai, taught religious classes and remained there until eventually moving to Jerusalem or Brooklyn, N.Y., where they reopened branches of their school.

Rappaport’s father moved to Israel from Shanghai, had 13 children and now boasts more than 100 grandchildren, all because of Chuine’s travel visa. “Thank you so much really for giving us this life,” she told Nobuki. “Without him, we would not be here today.”

During his talk at the museum with journalist Ann Curry, Nobuki debunked stories told about his father—for example, one regarding Chiune throwing out signed visas from the window of the train he was taking to Germany after being forced to leave his post in Lithuania. Another story that Nobuki said never happened was about his father giving his consular seals to refugees so they could continue making visas on their own after he was forced to leave.

Nobuki encouraged people to educate themselves about the Holocaust and preserve the stories correctly with only facts, not exaggerations. He told the crowd to focus on the truth about what took place in Nazi-occupied Europe.

“Make it known and documented so future generations can learn about what happened during the Holocaust,” he said. “In Japan, Europe, America, Israel—we all have to keep the records of the history [and] written documents, we have to keep them and we have to share. … It’s for the next generation. Fifty years, 100 or 200 years [from now]. It’s our task to keep the history correctly.”

             (JNS.org)

“Auschwitz: Not long ago. Not far away.” runs through Jan. 3, 2020, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage–A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in Lower Manhattan. The exhibition is intended to tour other cities around the world; destinations will be announced by Musealia and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.

Original videos, podcasts, and columns tap into parenting, mental health, relationships, and more, bringing “Jewish to life”

Momentum, previously known as the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project, is celebrating the movement’s tenth anniversary by launching an online media platform designed exclusively for Jewish mothers. The site (www.momentumunlimited.org) features original videos, podcasts, and columns that tackle real-life issues that moms face everyday – from mental health to family drama and from confronting self-doubt to practicing mindfulness. Media is available in English, Hebrew, Russian and Spanish.

Founded in 2009, Momentum has welcomed over 17,000 Jewish individuals from 28 countries to its Momentum Year-Long Journey, which begins with an experience in Israel, and empowers women to change the world through Jewish values that transform themselves, their families, and their communities.

In its second decade, the organization is taking the empowerment of the Momentum Year-Long Journey and sharing it with Jewish women around the world. With its new media platform, Momentum Unlimited, the movement is bringing its inspiration to their fingertips, on demand, in real time, and wherever they are.

Featuring motivational speakers, Jewish educators, parenting experts, and marriage and relationship counselors, Momentum’s media approaches pressing issues with a unique combination of timeless Jewish wisdom, down-to-earth messages, and an uplifting tone.

“I came home from the Momentum trip full of inspiration and energy,” said Jen Edelman from Sydney, Australia. “My soul was bursting, but inspiration is not sustainable without being fed and nurtured. The new website, along with my Orah sista’s in Sydney, provide the stories, mini-talks and content to centre myself, be present and keep the inspiration alight.”

Since its launch on May 20th, Momentum’s new site has had more than 25,000 unique visits. The podcasts have experienced approximately 2,500 downloads with Adrienne Gold Davis’s “Rise & Shine” podcast trending on Apple, and becoming one of the top 20 most popular Jewish podcasts.

“Our worlds are so busy, often moving faster than we can possibly go,” said Gerilyn Shorten from Los Angeles. “I love listening to the podcasts on the new website, often more than once, during a quick ride or when I’m straightening the house. I feel /Volumes/iWork/Jewish Voice/Special Features–Momentum Launches article–pic 1.jpg more centered, more grounded. On especially rough mornings, I’ll put on certain talks while my kids are in the car, making us more mindful as we head into our busy lives.”

“Since the beginning, Momentum’s goal has always been to inspire Jewish women around the world to connect to their rich heritage and to infuse new meaning into their lives,” said Lori Palatnik, Momentum Founding Director. “While we began with the Momentum Year-Long Journey, we soon heard that women wanted to connect to more inspiration and empowerment every day. With our new multimedia platform, we’re bringing “Jewish to life” – making Jewish values accessible to even more Jewish women, families, and communities across the world and helping them unlock their power in extraordinary ways.”

Momentum’s new media features include:

• The Pashmina Podcast: intimate one-on-one interviews with Jewish lawyers, fashion designers, and entrepreneurs about their inspiring – and often tumultuous — journeys to success.
• Rise & Shine: an uplifting podcast by international educator and former TV personality Adrienne Gold Davis, that shares universal lessons steeped in Jewish values to give moms the boost they need to start their day right.
• Mental Wealth: a column in which psychotherapist Chaya Lester explores many of our mental health struggles — from eating disorders to the terror of abusive relationships – and sheds light on how Jewish wisdom can lift us in our darkest times.
• ABC’s with Lori: a video series, hosted by Lori Palatnik, one of the first Jewish mom vloggers, which shares empowering messages about how exercising our free will can dramatically change our lives.
• “Descubre Tu Poder Interior”: a podcast in which marriage and family counselor Jael Toledo speaks to the Latin American community, sharing how women can choose the type of life they want to live.
• My Israel Minute: a video series, hosted by Dana Sender-Mulla, that peeks into unique pockets of Israeli innovation and shares #OnlyInIsrael moments that are especially empowering for moms.
• When Our Paths Cross: A Russian article series by journalist Alina Rebel that explores six women’s individual quests for truth in love, in her career, and in her Jewish journey.

Rabbi Shlomo Tawil was beaten by youths shouting anti-Semitic slurs

Rabbi Shlomo Tawil, director of Chabad-Lubavitch in Rosario, Argentina, was recovering at home after being assaulted by three youths on Sunday night during the holiday of Shavuot.

According to neighbors who came to the rabbi’s aid, the attackers shouted anti-Semitic insults at the rabbi, and began hitting him in the head and abdomen. They then threw him to the floor, kicked him and trampled his hat before fleeing.

The attack drew widespread criticism from around Argentina, as the number and level of violence of anti-Semitic incidents there has seen an alarming escalation. Ten days ago, a swastika was spray-painted on a Jewish-owned hair salon in Buenos Aires. Neo-Nazi pamphlets were also distributed in the area near the salon. In another incident, a cantor was attacked while returning home from Shabbat services.

According to a report in the Jerusalem Post, the local representative of the DAIA Jewish political umbrella in Argentina, Gabriel Dobkin told local media Monday that the organization would file a complaint with police in the coming hours. He said that police were working with a city prosecutor to determine If the attack was captured on surveillance cameras and called for a thorough investigation. He called the violence against the rabbi “a fierce, cowardly, antisemitic attack.”

The Jerusalem Post also reported that DAIA and the Jewish community of Rosario said in a joint statement that they “demand from the authorities a total and absolute clarification of this unfortunate event.”

“We hope that these violent people will be definitively eradicated from the Argentine society that has chosen the path of coexistence, peace and justice,” the statement also said.

The president of the local city parliament, Antonio Bonfatti, tweeted Monday that “as a society we cannot allow these acts of violence and intolerance,” and called for “peace and coexistence.”

In February Argentina’s chief rabbi, Gabriel Davidovich, was seriously injured in a brutal attack during a home robbery that is currently believed to be gang-related and not anti-Semitic. Five suspected attackers were arrested in that case.

Rosario, which is located at the heart Argentina’s industrial corridor, has the country’s third-largest Jewish community.

In July of 1994, 85 people were killed and hundreds seriously wounded when the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association building was bombed in Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack to date. Evidence has emerged that the terror organization Hezbollah may have been behind the deadly blast.

Argentina’s Jewish population of about 180,500 is the largest in Latin America and the third-largest in the Americas, after the United States and Canada.

Ever wished you cold own a private island? Here is your chance. A private island, just outside the Big Apple, has just hit the market for $13 million. Columbia Island, located just off of New Rochelle in Westchester, is now for sale. Spanning roughly 2 acres surrounded by the waters of the Long Island Sound, the oasis is just a short boat ride from The Bronx’s City Island, or a 30 minute car drive from Midtown Manhattan.

As reported by the NY Post, the island boasts a 5,600-square-foot, four-bedroom, two-bathroom home. The hurricane-proof luxury residence is also self-sustaining thanks to a desalination machine, solar panels and other necessities. There is, of course, also a dock, because the only way to get there is by boat. The sale price also includes the neighboring and mostly undeveloped Pea Island.

It sounds like a dream come true, but its owner says developing it was more like a nightmare. “I was sort of cocky,” says Al Sutton, the island’s current owner. “You get on the island, even if it’s a wreck, and it’s just gorgeous — the sky, the tide, the birds, everything. And that sort of blinded me and my thoughts. I just went: ‘Wow, what a Zen experience this could be.’ ”

In 2007, Sutton, who is a doctor, actor, author and producer, purchased the island for $1 million. He then invested $8 million and the next 11 years in developing it. Sutton says, he could have gotten the same experience renting “a rowboat from City Island for $10” without the demanding task of constructing a home on the salt-and wind-beaten site. “I’m 85 now,” said Sutton, “and I guess when I bought it, I was in my 70s and I was more ambitious.” Now, although construction on the home is done, he has not moved in and is looking to sell.

Sutton was not the first to be consumed by the island’s allure. The property has been sold several times in the past. In 1936, the Iselin family sold the island to New Rochelle’s Huguenot Yacht Club. In the 1940s, CBS purchased it and which speedily built a 400-foot-tall broadcast tower there. In the 1960s, however, a plane crashed into the tower, and the island was sold to Peter Lind Hayes, vaudeville entertainer and film actor. The tax bills proved too much for Hayes, who purchased the property for $35,000, and he gave the island to the College of New Rochelle, who also couldn’t afford to maintain it. They passed the island on to a school superintendent, who then sold it to Sutton.

Now, Sutton’s toil and labor is ready and awaiting the next lucky buyer. The listing is being handled by Patti Anderson at Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty. “I’m not a big spender, or at least I wasn’t until now,” Sutton sighed. “But here was something that, to be realized, had to be done right.”

Women, beware: Sleeping with a light on or the TV going in your bedroom could make you put on weight.

That’s the finding of new research published in JAMA Internal Medicine. While the study doesn’t prove that sleeping with a light on causes weight gain, it suggests the two may be linked, the researchers said.

“Turning off the light while sleeping may be a useful tool for reducing a possibility of weight gain and becoming overweight or obese,” said lead author Dr. Yong-Moon Mark Park. He is a postdoctoral fellow at the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in ResePark said that exposure to artificial light at night may suppress the sleep hormone melatonin and disrupt the natural sleep-wake cycle.

“It also may disturb day-to-day variations of stress hormones and affect other metabolic processes in ways that contribute to weight gain,” Park added.

Keeping a light on might also result in poorer sleep. Shorter sleep could prompt you to exercise less and eat more, he noted.

For the study, Park’s team relied on self-reported data from nearly 44,000 women, aged 35 to 74. They weren’t shift workers, daytime sleepers or pregnant when the study began.

Women who slept with a light on were 17% more likely to gain 11 pounds or more over five years, the study found. And the level of artificial light seemed to matter, Park said.

“For example, using a small nightlight was not associated with weight gain, whereas women who slept with a light or television on were,” he explained.

The findings didn’t change when researchers accounted for women’s diet and physical activity, which suggests that light during sleep may be important in weight gain and obesity.

Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center in New Haven, Conn., reviewed the findings. He said the link between exposure to artificial light at night and obesity may not indicate that one causes the other.

“As with any study of association, two findings are true — true, but not directly related,” he said.

The key takeaway relates to poor sleep, Katz suggested.

“Sleep deficiency and impairment is a known obesity risk factor, for reasons ranging from mood and reduced restraint, to changes in hormonal balance,” he said.

It’s also possible that reliance on artificial light at night and obesity are both linked to other factors, such as “loneliness, anxiety or some form of social insecurity,” Katz said.

The report was published online June 10.

(HealthDay News)

More information

For more about obesity, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

arch Triangle Park, N.C.