"Ghamnahme" KHAMENEI RAFSANJANI AHMADINEJAD

 Come on every body, time to watch the good and funny side of the Iranian leadership.

sent by Joe Rossano

The Incredible Story of the Protection of the Bulgarian Jews-Mostly Truth!

sent by Clément Dassa
verified by Aimée Kligman

Summary of the eRumor: The eRumor says that all 50,000 Jews in Bulgaria, whose government sided with the Nazis during World War II, were saved from Nazi death camps. It tells how it happened and also says that one of the most famous immigrants from Bulgaria to Israel was a young graduate of the Bulgarian Military Academy who in Israel changed his name to Moshe Dayan.

The Truth: The story about the salvation of Bulgaria's Jews is true but this particular version of the story has some factual problems. The information about the famous Israeli military leader Moshe Dayan is not correct. He was not from Bulgaria. He was born on a kibbutz in Israel and his parents were immigrants from Ukraine. Also, the book that is referenced in the story is titled Beyond Hitler's grasp: The Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria's Jews and was written by Michael Bar-Zohar (Not Michael Bar Oar). According to Bar-Zohar, the Bulgarian government came along side of Hitler early in the war because King Boris III hoped it would help him reclaim the lost lands of Greece and Romania. Hitler demanded that Bulgaria deport its Jews but a combination of forces in Bulgaria prevented that from happening and, according to Bar-Zohar, the Bulgarian Jews were the only Jewish population under the Nazis to actually increase during World War II. The story of the saving of the Bulgarian Jews is not a new one but there has not been agreement of what the role of King Boris III was. Government documents about the Jews were sealed after World War II by the Communist government. But Bar-Zohar was able to search the now opened archives and to interview Bulgarian survivors. He says that the King did play a role along with politician Dimiter Peshev and the Metropolitan Stefen of the Bulgarian Orthodox church. Their efforts delayed action on deporting Jews from Bulgaria long enough until the war turned against the Nazis. A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet: Beyond Hitler's Grasp A great many Jews know the story of how the Danes rescued 8,000 Jews from the Nazi's by smuggling them to Sweden in fishing boats. Very few Jews, know the story of how all 50,000 Bulgarian Jews were saved. Not a single Bulgarian Jew was deported to the death camps, due to the heroism of many Bulgarians of every walk of life, up to and including the King and the Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. In 1999, Abraham Foxman, the National Director of the Anti Defamation League flew with a delegation to Sophia to meet the Bulgarian Prime Minister. He gave the Prime Minister the first Bulgarian language copy of a remarkable book, "Beyond Hitler's Grasp," written in 1998, by Michael Bar Oar, a professor at Emory University. (A Bulgarian Jew who had migrated to Israel and then to the USA). This book documents the rescue effort in detail. The ADL paid for and shipped 30,000 copies to Bulgaria, so that the population could partake in the joy of learning about this heroic facet of their history. This story is clearly the last great secret of the Holocaust era. The story was buried by the Bulgarian Communists, until their downfall in 1991. All records were sealed, since they didn't wish to glorify the King, or the Church, or the non Communist parliamentarians, who at great personal risk, stood up to the Germans. And the Bulgarian Jewish Community, 45,000 of whom went to Israel after the War, were busy building new lives, and somehow the story remained untold. Bulgaria is a small country and at the outset of the War they had 8 million people. They aligned themselves with the Nazi's in hopes of recapturing Macedonia from Yugoslavia and Thrace from Greece. Both provinces were stripped from them, after W.W.I. In late 1942 the Jews of Selonica were shipped north through Bulgaria, on the way to the death camps, in sealed box cars. The news of this inhumanity was a hot topic of conversation. Then, at the beginning of 1943, the pro Nazi Bulgarian government was informed that all 50,000 Bulgarian Jews would be deported in March. The Jews had been made to wear yellow stars and were highly visible. As the date for the deportation got closer, the agitation got greater. Forty-three ruling party members of Parliament walked out in protest. Newspapers denounced what was about to happen. In addition, the Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Krill, threatened to lie down on the railroad tracks. Finally, King Boris III forbid the deportation. Since Bulgaria was an ally of Germany, and the Germans were stretched militarily, they had to wrestle with the problem of how much pressure they could afford to apply. They decided to pass. Several points are noteworthy. The Bulgarian Jews were relatively unreligious and did not stand apart from the local populace by virtue of garb, or rites. They were relatively poor by comparison to Jews in other countries, and they lived in integrated neighborhoods. Additionally, the Bulgarians had many minorities, Armenians, Turks, Greeks, and Gypsies, in addition to Jews. There was no concept of racism in that culture. The bottom line here is that Bulgarians saw Bulgarian-Jews as Bulgarians, and not as Jews. And, being a small country, like Denmark, where there was a closeness of community, that is often missing in larger countries. So, here was a bright spot that we can point to as example of what should have been. The most famous of those saved was a young graduate of the Bulgarian Military Academy. When he arrived in Israel, he changed his name to Moshe Dayan..... What a great story to pass on to your e-mail list... Don't believe everything you read! Please verify first and then forward. There is nothing worse then sending misinformation.

It Ain't Over till the Ayatollah Says So

It Ain't Over till the Ayatollah Says So For a week now, Iran has commanded the world's attention. Tens of thousands of protesters demonstrated for six days in a row to express their outrage about the results of the election. Protesters from various walks of life marched in the streets of Tehran "to get their votes back". Some had not even voted but still felt the urge to protest and despite threats from the Basij militia they took to the street. They braved the beatings, and on Thursday dressed in black to mourn their comrades who were killed in clashes earlier during the week. Some say tomorrow will bring another dawn and, the opposition will be back on the streets, but will they really show up? The Ayatollah may have put the nail in the coffin. BALLOTS & MISSILES

Review: Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg

A Film by Aviva Kempner

Running time: 92 minutes

2009

I was invited by womeninhollywood.com's Melissa Silverstein to attend a screening of this documentary on June 24th at Manhattan's Magno Screening Room. Since I had already talked about this documentary on the blog, I was curious about Mrs. Goldberg as I had never heard of her, nor did anyone in my Ashkenazim entourage mention her.

Two subway stops from the Empire State Building, and I met my daughter Michèle in the lobby. We were greeted by Melissa on the second floor and continued on to see the film.

We sat at the very first row in the very comfortable screening room which had many empty seats. A very nice elderly gentleman struck up a conversation with us; he was one in the audience who remembered Mrs. Goldberg and was eager to answer questions. He volunteered that he had lived in Spain for thirty years, but left because he found Europe to be extremely antisemitic. Lights down.

Gertrude Berg was born in 1898 to Jewish parents of Eastern European origin; might have been Russia, might have been Poland, but who cares? Hers was an atypical story of an ordinary looking, immigrant Jewish girl, growing up in Harlem with a disapproving father, who seemed to have never succeeded in much of anything.

And yet behind the plump, plain-Jane façade of Gertrude was the soul of the 'yes I can' woman. Rather than get bogged down in the family's failed hotel business, she saw herself as a raconteur (or raconteuse) of stories, which would come alive on the radio and become the sought after program of families in America, transcending religion,-it was unheard of. If she happened to endorse a product on her show, you could be sure that everyone would run out and buy it.

The stories that she would weave would center on the family, their children, their joys and hardships, so that anyone who listened to the radio show could relate to some part of the presentation. The show was appropriately titled 'The Goldbergs', and recounted the trials and tribulations of life of a Jewish family living in New York in the 1930's.

Gertrude married a Jewish British man who would give her unconditional support, as far as her ambitions were concerned. Something that obviously her father had never been able to provide. Gertrude left her beloved New York and moved with her new husband to a Louisiana sugar plantation which gave the couple much prosperity. After the plantation burned down, they were back in New York where Gertrude would continue her career in show business.

Her show moved to television, and "yoo-hoo, Mrs. Goldberg" always opened with Gertrude at her window sill talking about this or that; this was the informal chatroom situation when her neighbors also appeared at their window sills to exchange gossip, recipes, or advice. In 1950, she gets awarded the first Emmy in history for best actress.

The ugliness of the McCarthy era, and the communist witch hunting did not escape her show; her beloved co-star, Philip Loeb, became a target of the "Black List". Despite her efforts not to capitulate, in 1952 Loeb had to leave the show, and committed suicide in 1955. After the cancellation of her show in 1956, she continued to make very high profile TV appearances, and did her first Broadway show, A Majority of One, for which she won a Tony for best actress.

She did not stop at writing or acting; she was prolific in other ways. She authored a cookbook, developed a clothing line, and was the 'Dear Abby' of her day. If you had seen Mrs. Goldberg walking down the street, you most probably would have never guessed she was anything but a kind, benevolent Jewish mother.

There are anectodal interviews with faces you will recognize and some that you won't. They all contribute to completing the mosaic that was Gertrude, and this film pays her due respect.

The movie will open at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema Quad on July 10th.

Singer, cantor Jo Amar passes away, 79

My father loved this singer....

World renowned Moroccan singer Yosef "Jo" Amar passed away in New York on Friday. He was 79 years old.

Israeli singer and pioneer of Mizrahi music Jo Amar.
Photo: Courtesy

Amar was an Israeli icon during the early years of the state, a favorite of the newly arrived Sephardic immigrants.
Amar immigrated to Israel in 1956. He pioneered the fusion of classical Jewish Sephardic and Arabic tunes with Western musical sensibilities, thereby helping give birth to the style labeled Mizrahi music today.
The lyrics usually discussed the personal and social angst and joys of Middle Eastern immigrants who sought to find a place in Israeli society. Amar was also a highly-regarded cantor.
The casket of Amar, who recently joined his children in the United States, was brought to Israel Saturday night. His funeral will take place Sunday afternoon at Yad Rambam, the moshav where he stayed on visits to Israel in recent years.
Amar made aliya in 1956, but later left Israel and divided his time between Europe and the United States. However, he continued to visit Israel to perform.
After the death of his wife Remond, Amar returned to Israel. He was wheelchair-bound after having suffered a stroke in 2000, and two years ago, suffered a second stroke, which worsened the condition of his Parkinson's disease, from which he also suffered at a late age.

Palestinians Are Jews! See New Israeli Video

MJ Rosenberg

Washington Director of Policy Analysis, Israel Policy Forum

POSTED JUNE 25, 2009 - 8:25AM

What are the implications if it can be proven (and it may be) that Palestinians are the Lost Tribes.

view video here

it's running time is 13:36

very provocative indeed!

Shas newspaper: System can't stand successful Moroccans

Looks like the Sephardim are still second class citizens, no matter what the deaf, dumb  and blind in Israel keep telling me.


"You cannot see successful people except yourselves. Haredim, Sephardic people, Moroccans, what have you burn your ego. You have a hard time with that," claimed the front page of Shas newspaper Yom l'Yom.

Discrimination?

Stiffened punishment for Benizri arouses resentment within Sephardic haredi community. 'Why is Olmert still free?' asks front-page article of Shas newspaper, which claims discrimination. Former MK Maya: We are still in exile. They are deathly afraid of us.
                             Within the haredi community, it is widely believed that the fact former minister Abraham Hirchson, who was convicted of embezzling millions of shekels, received a far lesser sentence than his haredi colleague for a more serious offense smacks of the discrimination that started with Arye Deri.
In the biting article, Rabbi Moshe Shapir attacked the legal system and the media in Israel, claiming that they operate on an ethnic, clan basis. "A comparison between the trial of Hirchson, who stole from taboo areas and the trial of the Shas minister who only failed to follow the draconian protocols left over from the Mandate period, does not indicate a great degree of sanity within the Israeli justice system," wrote Shapir, editor of the newspaper's Oneg Shabbat supplement. continued>>

Full Program Announced, Box Office Open for 29th SFJFF!

San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

In This Issue
Hey Hey It's Opening Night!
Centerpiece Film: A MATTER OF SIZE
That's a Wrap! Closing Night at the Castro
Freedom of Expression Award Presentation: Aviva Kempner
Reel Change: Social Justice Film and Action
Manhattan in the Heart of SF: Free Outdoor Screening!

It's official: the 29th SFJFF line-up is available on our website, and the office is abuzz with Festival activity! The Box Office opens today for Jewish Film Forum Members.  Tickets for the general public will be available for purchase beginning Friday, June 26th. You can still join the Jewish Film Forum to qualify for exclusive member discounts. Visit our website to purchase tickets and keep up to date with exciting festival events all summer long! The 29th SFJFF will showcase over 70 films that let you fix the world with Jewish civil rights lawyers and radical pranksters, meet Gertrude Berg, 'The Jewish Lucille Ball' of 1950s TV, come of age with Australian nerdy girls and Uruguayan Bar Mitzvah boys, laugh hysterically with Israeli Sumo wrestlers and enjoy the best in contemporary animation, comedy, drama and more - this year with a fantastic array of new technological resources. Again, if you are a Jewish Film Forum Member, Tickets, all-festival passes and 10-Flix Voucher Packs are available TODAY! June 23, 2009 at www.sfjff.org or 866-558-2453. Not a member? Read on for Festival highlights.  Look for printed catalogs and guides in your neighborhood or your mailbox starting this week, or browse the schedule online now! Hey Hey It's Opening Night! July 23rd Bash & SF Screening Join us for fantastic food, flowing drinks, and the cool jazz sounds of local guitar ace Terrence Brewer at SFJFF's Opening Night Bash, returning to the historic and spacious Swedish American Hall, upstairs from the Café du Nord. Head over to the Castro Theatre for Opening Night film  Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger and meet director Cathy Randall. Thursday, July 23 Party @ 6:00-7:30PM  Swedish American Hall 2174 Market Street, San Francisco Film @ 8:00PM CASTRO THEATRE 429 Castro St. (at Market) San Francisco Tickets $75/$65 for Jewish Film Forum members- includes a reserved seat for film at the Castro.   PLUS: After-Party at all-new Club Trigger! Your Opening Night Bash or Film ticket gets you free entry to this fabulous after-party, featuring red-hot DJ tunes and "blue" drink specials. Club Trigger 2338 Market Street (between 16th St & Noe St) Centerpiece Film: A MATTER OF SIZE  California Premiere! France, Germany, Israel, 2009 92 min., by Erez Tadmor & Sharon Maymon Herzl is a 340-pound chef who lives with his mother, and is immersed in a culture of rigid diet regimes and fitness classes. Just as he and his seriously overweight buddies in the working-class town of Ramle, Israel, seem beaten down by weight-loss failure, Herzl discovers the one place where fat guys can be rock stars: the world of sumo wrestling. An endearing and poignant comic tale, with echoes of The Full Monty, A Matter of Size traces these flawed men's tender and funny path from body shame to body celebration, and from loneliness to love. A touching movie with a plus-size heart. Meet directors Tadmor & Maymon after the SF screening. Tickets $14/$12 Jewish Film Forum Members Wednesday, July 29 @ 7:30 pm CASTRO THEATRE 429 Castro St. (at Market Street) San Francisco Plus: join us for a special Happy Hour sake and a delicious deal on late-night sushi following the SF Centerpiece screening, in partnership with Yelp.com. For details, click here.  Closing Night at the Castro: THE WEDDING SONG France, Tunisia, 2008, 100 min., by Karin Albou In The Wedding Song, director Karin Albou explores Jewish and Arab culture and female sexuality in her bold and exquisite second feature. Join us for pre-film goodies, unique festivities, live music on the Mighty Wurlitzer and an on-stage conversation with Albou. And of course everyone will receive the now famous and fabulous give-away package filled with surprises from Brandvia Alliance Inc, Popchips, Peet's Coffee & Tea, See's Candy and more fun surprises! Thursday, July 30 @ 8:30PM CASTRO THEATRE 429 Castro St. (at Market Street) San Francisco Tickets $25/$22 Jewish Film Forum Members Freedom of Expression Award Documentarian Aviva Kempner The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival Freedom of Expression Award honors the unfettered imagination, which is the cornerstone of a free, just and open society.This year's award goes to filmmaker Aviva Kempner, whochronicles tales of Jewish heroism with tenacity, skill and endless passion. Her documentaries are artfully and painstakingly researched; the results celebrate and illuminate little-known stories of Jews who had heart and chutzpah. Kempner will accept her award following the San Francisco screening of her film, Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg. Tuesday, July 28 @ 6:30PM CASTRO THEATRE 429 Castro St. (at Market Street) San Francisco Tickets $25/$22 Jewish Film Forum Members Reel Change: SOCIAL JUSTICE FILMS AND YOU Jewish Funds for Justice (JFSJ) and SFJFF are proud to present a day of interactive programs on the subject of social justice. Featured activities include a panel with filmmakers and activists to discuss social justice as a Jewish value, taking place at the Castro Theatre immediately following the 2pm San Francisco screening of William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe and preceding The Yes Men Fix the World. SFJFF and JFSJ will also host a reception where attendees can learn about local service opportunities and ways to get more involved in efforts to create social change. Admission to the special panel is free with ticket to either film. Free Outdoor Screening & Festival Kick-Off Party! Woody Allen's MANHATTAN Saturday, July 11 @dusk Union Square, San Francisco This year, SFJFF is partnering with the San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation's Film Night in the Park to present a FREE outdoor screening of a timeless classic. Join us in Union Square for Manhattan, now celebrating its 30th anniversary. After the film, join us for a classy festival kick-off party right down the street at Kuleto's, featuring  customized specials on wine and cocktails, including (you guessed it!) Manhattans. After-Party at Kuleto's 221 Powell Street, San Francisco Post-Film till Midnight

June 12 2009, Anne Frank would have been 80 years old

Sent by Joe Rossano

Anne Frank, was born Annelies Marie Frank on June 12, 1929 in Frankfurt, Germany, to Otto and Edith Hollander Frank. elected for labor due to their youth, Anne and her sister, Margot were transferred to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp near Celle, in northern Germany in late October 1944. Both sisters died of typhus in March 1945, just a few weeks before British troops liberated Bergen-Belsen on April 15, 1945. SS officials also selected Anne's parents for labor. Anne's mother, Edith died in Auschwitz in early January 1945. Only Anne's father, Otto, survived the war. Soviet forces liberated Otto at Auschwitz on January 27, 1945.

Photo of Anne's room

Photo of Anne before the war

Frontal view of Anne's house in Amsterdam

Rear view of Anne's house in Amsterdam

Anne Frank, age twelve, at her school desk. Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 1941.

13-year-old Anne Frank  

       

Anne at her desk

Translated into fifty languages, The Diary of Anne Frank is one of the most well-read books in the world.  Anne Frank's poignant expressions of fear and her gripping descriptions of life in hiding has given the Holocaust a human face and voice, particularly for young readers.  Frank's diary captures the daily desperation the Jewish people endured as the Third Reich implemented the "Final Solution," sending millions of Jews to their deaths in concentration camps throughout Europe.  Anne Frank: The Life of a Young Girl sheds new light who Anne Frank really was—a vivacious and confident girl who became trapped in the living horror of the Holocaust.  This engrossing program personalizes Anne Frank by featuring the candid recollections of those who knew her, as friends and family members describe her outlook on life and her determination to write.They tell the story of an ordinary young girl who used her special talents to capture the depth of the human spirit even amidst grave tragedy.

AP PhotoA copy of Anne Frank's diary housed at the Dutch War Documentation Centre.

Excerpt from Anne Frank's diary, October 10, 1942: "This is a photograph of me as I wish I looked all the time. Then I might still have a chance of getting to Hollywood. But now I am afraid I usually look quite different." Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

This photograph was taken in the centre of Frankfurt am Main on March 10, 1933. It is the last photograph Otto Frank takes before the family leaves Germany.

The Frank Family

"In the Netherlands, after those experiences in Nazi Germany , it was as if our life was restored to us. In those days it was possible for us to start over and to feel free." - Otto Frank

"After May 1940, the good times were few and far between: first there was the war, then the capitulation and then the arrival of the Germans, which is when the trouble started for the Jews." - Anne Frank



Jojo