The Great Synagogue (Czech: Velká Synagoga) in Plzeň (Pilsen), Czech Republic is the second largest synagogue in Europe. A Viennesearchitect Max Fleischer drew up the original plans for the synagogue in Gothic style with granitebuttresses and twin 65-meter towers. The cornerstone was laid on 2 December 1888 and that was about as far as it got. City councillors rejected the plan in a clear case of tower envy as they felt that the grand erection would compete with the nearby Cathedral of St. Bartholomew. read more…
Rēzekne is a city in the Rēzekne River valley in Latgale region of eastern Latvia. It is called The Heart of Latgale. Built on seven hills, Rēzekne is situated 242 kilometres (150 miles) east of Riga, and 63 kilometres (39 miles) west of the Latvian-Russian border, at the intersection of the Moscow – Ventspils and Warsaw – Saint Petersburg Railways. It has a population of 31,216 (2016) making it the 7th largest city in Latvia. Rēzekne was rebuilt after the war with an emphasis on industrial development. Rēzekne had the 5th highest industrial output in the Latvian SSR, including a dairy processor (Rēzeknes Piena konservu kombināts), a lumber mill, and an electric-instrument factory (Rebir). During this time, many Russians moved to the city, making up a large part of the population (48.5% in 2007). read more…
Tukums is a town in the Courland region of Latvia. Three regions of Latvia meet in the vicinity of Tukums – Vidzeme, Zemgale and Courland. The historical center of Tukums developed between trade routes leading from the mouth of the Daugava River to Prussia. The oldest part is today’s Talsi Street that originated at the river named Zvirgzdupite where there used to be a castle mound with a wooden castle. Since 1253 Tukums was ruled by the Livonian Order. read more…
Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises was an Austrian Schooleconomist, historian, logician, and sociologist. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the societal contributions of classical liberalism. He is best known for his work on praxeology studies comparing communism and capitalism. He is considered one of the most influential economic and political thinkers of the 20th century. Mises emigrated from Austria to the United States in 1940. Since the mid-20th century, libertarian movements have been strongly influenced by Mises’s writings. Mises’ student Friedrich Hayek viewed Mises as one of the major figures in the revival of classical liberalism in the post-war era. Hayek’s work “The Transmission of the Ideals of Freedom” (1951) pays high tribute to the influence of Mises in the 20th century libertarian movement. Mises’s Private Seminar was a leading group of economists. Many of its alumni, including Friedrich Hayek and Oskar Morgenstern, emigrated from Austria to the United States and Great Britain. Mises has been described as having approximately seventy close students in Austria. read more…
Ventspils is a city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It is situated on the Venta River and the Baltic Sea, and has an ice-free port. The city’s name literally means “castle on the Venta”, referring to the Livonian Order’s castle built alongside the Venta River. read more…
Borscht Belt, or Jewish Alps, is a colloquial term for the mostly defunct summer resorts of the Catskill Mountains in parts of Sullivan, Orange and Ulster counties in Upstate New York, United States. A source interviewed by Time magazine stated that the visits to the area by Jewish families was already underway “as early as the 1890s … Tannersville … was ‘a great resort of our Israelite brethren’…from the 1920s on [there were] hundreds of hotels”. A 2019 review of the history is more specific: “in its heyday, as many as 500 resorts catered to guests of various incomes”. These resorts, but also the bungalow colonies, were a popular vacation spot for New York CityJews from the 1920s through the 1960s. By the late 1950s, many began closing, with most gone by the 1970s, but some major resorts continued to operate, a few into the 1990s. Grossinger’s Catskill Resort Hotel closed in 1986 and the Concord Resort Hotel struggled to stay open until 1998. read more…