The Dutch National Holocaust Museum (Dutch: Nationaal Holocaust museum) is the first official museum on the Holocaust in the Netherlands. It is located in an historic building in the Jewish Cultural Quarter of Amsterdam, near a former child care center that played a role in rescuing Jewish children. The museum tells the story of the Holocaust through the lives of individual victimised men, women, and children. There is a floor-to-ceiling display of all the laws limiting and obliterating the rights of Jews in the Netherlands, who since the eighteenth century had been Dutch citizens with equal rights. read more…
On 7 October 2023, the paramilitary wings of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the PFLP, and the DFLP launched a series of coordinated armed incursions into the Gaza envelope of neighboring Israeli territory, the first invasion of Israel since the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. This incursion fell on the day of Simchat Torah, right after the festival of Sukkot, a Sabbath day. The attacks initiated the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, almost exactly 50 years after Operation Badr and the greater Yom Kippur War of 6 October 1973. Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups named the attacks Operation Al-Aqsa Flood (or Deluge), while in Israel they are referred to as Black Saturday or the Simchat Torah Massacre and internationally as the 7 October attack. read more…
A dirndl is a feminine dress which originated in German-speaking areas of the Alps. It is traditionally worn by women and girls in Austria, Bavaria (south-eastern Germany), Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Alpine regions of Italy (South Tyrol). A dirndl consists of a close-fitting bodice with a low neckline, a blouse worn under the bodice, a wide high-waisted skirt and an apron. read more…
The Grindel is a quarter in the Hamburg-Rotherbaum district with its centre at Allende-Platz (formerly: Bornplatz) and the area of Grindelberg to the north, which today belongs to the Harvestehude district. Documentary mentions of the former forest and wetland west of the (later built) Dammtor can be found from the 14th century onwards. The main building of the University of Hamburg is located near the Dammtor train station, not far from the main campus (Von-Melle-Park) with the Hamburg State and University LibraryCarl von Ossietzky, the Audimax and several other teaching buildings. On the other side of Grindelallee, other teaching buildings are grouped around Martin-Luther-King-Platz. The Geomatikum near the Schlump underground station forms the end in the west. read more…
Beit Shemesh is a city located approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of Jerusalem in Israel‘s Jerusalem District, with a population of 154,694 in 2022. The city is named after and located near the remains of ancient Beth Shemesh, a biblical city in the territory of Judah. Its ruins can be found today at the archaeological site of Tel Beit Shemesh. read more…
Balat is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Fatih, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 11,656 (2022). It is in the old city on the European side of Istanbul, on the western shore of the Golden Horn, sandwiched between Fener and Ayvansaray. Historically, it was the center of the Jewish community in Istanbul. read more…
A bagel (Polish: bajgiel; Yiddish: beygl; also spelled beigel) is a bread roll originating in the Jewish communities of Poland. Bagels are traditionally made from yeastedwheat dough that is shaped by hand into a torus or ring, briefly boiled in water, and then baked. The result is a dense, chewy, doughy interior with a browned and sometimes crisp exterior. read more…
