Werner Teitz

Today is World Cerebral Palsy Day.

(Werner with his Mother.)

Werner Teitz was a bright boy who loved collecting stamps and writing letters to his Parents and Relatives.

At 6 years old in 1931, he was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and was admitted to a Medical Facility in Munich.

Shortly after a rise in Antisemitic violence in 1938, the facility informed Werner’s Parents, Emil and Sophie Teitz, that it would no longer care for Jewish Patients.

While the Family managed to move Werner to a Facility in the Netherlands, the rest of the Family, including their younger Son, Walter, eventually found refuge in England.

They left Werner behind, believing he would be out of harm’s way in the Netherlands.

When their Visas arrived, Emil, Sophie, and Walter immigrated to the United States in April 1940.

US and UK Immigration laws forbade entry to People who were likely to become dependent on Government Support.

Werner likely would not have received Visas for either Country due to his Physical Disability.

Germany invaded the Netherlands just one month later in May 1940.

“I hope that I will be able to go home next year,” Werner wrote in a letter to his Parents in 1942. “I so would like to be at home next year for our dear Walter’s Bar Mitzvah. How is father’s business? Does Mother still knit mittens? Where is Grandmother now? I wait with anticipation on a letter from my Parents … .”

Werner, however, never made it home.

A year after he wrote this letter, Werner was removed from his Facility because he was Jewish and taken to the Westerbork Transit Camp.

 From there, he was deported to the Sobibor Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland, where he was murdered upon arrival in May 1943.

He was 18 years old.

36: Reunification

Today is German Unity Day (German: Tag der Deutschen Einheit.)

It remembers when West Germany united with East Germany in October 1990 – when Communism collapsed in the East.

After Nazi Germany was defeated in May 1945 Germany was split into 4 Occupation Zones (French, British, Soviet and American.)

Berlin, located 100 miles inside the Soviet Occupation Zone, was also split between the French, British, Soviet and Americans.

In 1949 the western French, British and American Occupation Zones joined together to become the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland)  - it was also known as West Germany.

Its Capital was Bonn.

In 1949 the eastern Soviet Occupation Zone of Soviet became the Democratic Republic of Germany (German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik)  - it was also known as East Germany.

Its Capital was East Berlin.

West Germany was a Democracy while East Germany was a Communist Dictatorship.

West Germany joined NATO in 1955 while East Germany joined the Warsaw Pact in 1955.

West Germany used the West German Mark (German: Deutsche Mark) – which was Internationally Traded - while East Germany used the East German Mark (German: Mark der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik) from 1951-July 1990 – which wasn’t Internationally Traded -  and then the West German Mark from July 1990-October 1990.

East Germany closed travel between East Germany and West Germany from 1945-1990 with the Inner-German Border (German: innerdeutsche Grenze) and between East Berlin and West Berlin from 1961-1990 with the Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) and killed or arrested any East Germans trying to flee to freedom.

German Reunification (German: Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) began when the Berlin Wall was unexpected opened (on November 9, 1989) to East German Citizens for the first time in 28 years.

The first Free Elections in East Germany (since before the Nazis took power in 1933 or the Communists took power in 1945) occurred in March 1990 and resulted in Pro-Unification Parties gaining power over the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (German: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands) Communist Party that had been the only allowed Political Party since 1945.

East Germany, which had always been a poor Communist Country full of Rationing and Shortages of Basic Things entered into a Monterrey Union with West Germany in July 1990 to use the stable West German Mark.

East Germany withdrew from the Warsaw Pact in 1990.

East Germany dissolved itself and merged with West Germany on October 3, 1990 under the Declaration of Accession (German: Beitrittserklärung) and the Reunification Treaty (German: Wiedervereinigungsvertrag) between East Germany and West Germany.

East Berlin joined with West Berlin and became Berlin  - the Capital of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Large Construction Projects were made to bring the Former East Berlin and the Former West Berlin into a Unified City and Capital for the first time in 45 years.

The Former East German Federal States also merged with the West German Federal States.

The current Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is not a Successor State of West Germany, but is a continuation of West Germany founded in 1949.

A Reunited Germany continued West Germany’s Seats in the United Nations, NATO,

The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (German: Vertrag über die abschließende Regelung in Bezug auf Deutschland) was signed by the French, the British, the Soviets and the Americans in September 1990 in which each Occupation Force gave up all control over every part of Germany - East Germany and West Germany – back to the German People.

The British, French and Soviets did not initially want to allow for German Reunification, but America worked with each Country and West Germany to get the required approval.

There was little to no Lustration in Reunited Germany after 1990.

Most of the Communist Leaders, Stassi Officers, East German Border Guards, etc.were allowed to either continue in their previous Jobs or were not brought to justice for their Crimes (just like West Germany did with its Nazis from 1949-1990.)

After Reunification eastern Germany faced a Brain Drain with Former East German Doctors, teachers, Highly Skilled Workers and the Young moving to western Germany leaving eastern Germany with High Unemployment and a Lack of Skilled Professions.

The Last Russian Troops left Reunited Germany on August 31, 1994 (after 49 years of Occupation.)

Even after 36 years of German Reunification there is still a distinct difference between weatern and eastern Germany.

It is often referred to as the "Wall in the Head" (German: Mauer im Kopf.)

Ossis (Easterners) are stereotyped as Racist, Poor, and largely influenced by Russian Culture, while Wessis (Westerners) are usually considered Snobbish, Dishonest, Wealthy, and Selfish.

The Reunited German Government spent a total of $2 Trillion US Dollars ($24 Trillion US Dollars in 2026) to bring the Standard of Living of eastern Germany to that of western Germany.

Most of the money came from the Solidarity Surcharge (German:  Solidaritätszuschlag) that was paid by western Germans to support eastern Germans.

Even after 35 years of Reunification there is Ostalgie (Nostalgia for East Germany) by Former East Germans who want the Old Products, TV Shows, Music and Dictatorial Structure that they had in Communist East Germany.

In 2025 40% of Former East Germans continue to identify as East Germans instead of just Germans.

Last Soldier

Today (September 30, 2026) the last American Soldier has left Iraq.

This ends the American Military Presence in Iraq after 23 years (since 2003.)

4,500 Americans died in Iraq.

32,000 Americans were wounded in Iraq.

Remembrance Day

 

Today (September 30th) is National Day of Remembrance for US Indian Residential Schools.

There were 417 American Indian Forced Boarding Schools inside the US (run by the US Federal Government, 37 US States and US Territories, different Protestant Churches and the Catholic Church) from 1819 to 1998 to “beat the Indian out of them.”

There were an unknown number of Indian Forced Assimilation Day Schools across the Country as well.

An estimated 250,000 Students were forced into these Indian Residential Schools inside the US.

There were 50,000 mysterious Children’s deaths at these Residential Schools with the Children simply being buried in Mass Graves or in Unmarked Graves on the School Property with no explanation or justice for their Parents.

There were unknown numbers of Verbal, Physical and Sexual Abuse at both the Residential and Day Schools well into the 1990s.

The US Government only started looking at these Abuse and Mysterious Deaths Claims in 2021 – called the “2021 Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative” - after several Unmarked and Mass Graves were found on Former Indian Boarding Sites in Canada and the United States.

The Federal Government, the State Governments, the Protestant Churches or the Catholic Church – which ran these Residential and Day Schools where these abuses were committed, have ever apologized for their role.

Orange Shirt Day

 

Today (September 30th) is Orange Shirt Day in Canada.

Also known as National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Day in Canada.

It remembers the Indian-Forced Boarding Schools, those Children Abused (Verbally, Physically and Sexually) and those Children who died under Mysterious Circumstances and were buried in either Mass Graves or Unmarked Graves on the School Grounds.

There were 140 Federally and Religiously-Run (Protestant Churches and the Catholic Church) Indian Residential Schools in Canada between 1831 and 1998.

Schools operated in every Province and Territory with the exception of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

150,000 Indigenous Children were separated from their Families and forced to attend these Boarding Schools to “beat the Indian out of them.”

An estimated 30,000 Indigenous Children died under Mysterious Circumstances and were buried in Mass Graves or Unmarked Graves on the School Grounds.

From 2008-2015 the Canadian Government funded the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate the crimes. The findings were that it was Cultural Genocide.

In 1994, the Presbyterian Church of Canada apologized for their Church’s role in the Residential Schools and the abuses committed there.

In 2004, the Canadian Royal Mounted Police apologized for their role in the Residential Schools and the abuses committed there.

In 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized for the Canadian Government’s role in the Residential Schools and the abuses committed there.

In May 2022, Justin Wellby, the Bishop of Canterbury for the Anglican Church, apologized for their Church’s role in the Residential Schools and the abuses committed there.

In July 2022, while visiting Canada, Pope Francis apologized for the Catholic Church’s role in the Residential Schools and the abuses committed at them.

The British Monarch, the British Government and the Canadian Monarch have not apologized for their roles in the Residential Schools or the abuses committed there.

Since 2021, 59 Unmarked and Mass Graves have been discovered at these Residential Schools across Canada with more being discovered as more work is done at the sites.

Former Residential School Students can call 1-866-925-4419 for emotional crisis referral services and information on other health supports from the Government of Canada. Indigenous peoples across Canada can also go to The Hope for Wellness Help Line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for counselling and crisis intervention. Call the toll-free Help Line at 1-855-242-3310 or connect to the online chat.

 

 

85: Dina Pronicheva

Dina Pronicheva

(Dina Pronicheva on the Witness Stand at a Kiev War Crimes Trial of 15 Members of the German Police responsible for crimes in the German-Occupied Kiev on January 24, 1946.)

Dina Pronicheva (Ukrainian: Діна Пронічева or Russian: Дина Проничева) was born Dina Mstislavskya January 7, 1911 in Chernihiv, Czarist Russian Empire (Present Day: Chernihiv, Ukraine) to a Jewish Family.

When she was 5 years old her Family moved to Kyiv.

In 1922 Ukraine was incorporated into the Soviet Union as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Ukrainian: Українська Радянська Соціалістична Республіка or Russian: Украинская Советская Социалистическая Республика.)

In 1932, she married Viktor Pronichev.

She gave birth to a Daughter, Lydia (born in 1938), and a Son, Volodymyr (born in 1940.)

She completed Theatrical and Military Communications School.

When the Germans invaded in June 1941 Dina was working at a Puppet Theater before joining the 37th Army of the Soviet Union to work in the Communications Branch.

In September 1941, with the Germans about to enter Kyiv, Dina was told by her Military Supervisors to stay behind in the City – despite being Jewish and seeing how the Germans forced the Jews of Poland into Ghettos and Shot them.

On September 17, 1941 the Germans entered Kyiv.

After several explosions (set by undercover Soviet NKVD Officers) rocked the City on September 24^th and 25^th the Germans went house to house looking for Jews to kill.

Dina was living with her Mother-In-Law (who was an Orthodox Christian) and showed the Germans all the Christian Icons hanging in their Apartment.

The Germans left and Dina was safe.

On September 28, 1941 a notice (in German, Ukrainian and Russian) was posted telling all Jews in Kyiv to meet at 8 am the next day – with all their Documents and luggage -  so they could be resettled.

The notice also said that any Jews left in Kyiv afterwards would be shot on sight.

On September 29, 1941, Dina left her 2 Children with her Husband (an Orthodox Christian) and walked to the Assembly Point with her Parents and Sister (her Brothers were fighting with the Soviet Red Army elsewhere.)

As they walked outside of Kyiv to Babyn Yar (a Ravine) Dina noticed the German Soldiers and Ukrainian Paramilitary Collaborators using Anti-Tank Obstructions and Truncheons to force the over 33,000 Men, Women and Children into a narrow pathway towards an Undressing Area.

Dina separated from her Parents and Sister, threw her Soviet Internal Passport (that stated she was Jewish - until 1991 Soviet Internal Passports stated if you were Jewish) away and told a Ukrainian Guard that she was Russian and not Jewish and that she had been Rounded-Up by mistake.

The Ukrainian Guard believed her after seeing her Russian Patronymic Name (the Name of her Father with a Female Ending used like a Middle Name) on her Soviet Trade Union Card.

He told her to stand to the side and that “We'll let you go after we've shot all the Jews.”

While waiting, Dina watched as Thousands of Men, Women and Children undressed, were beaten up to the ravine and then shot and fell into the ravine.

She described how Mothers begged to be killed before their Children so they wouldn’t have to watch their Children die, but the Germans and Ukrainian Collaborators played a “game” where they shot the Children first to torture the Mothers before shooting the Mothers.

Babies and Children under 3 years old were simply thrown alive into the ravine where the mass of thousands of dead and dying bodies crushed them to death.

After seeing all the death around her a German Soldier ordered her and the other “Non-Jews” to be killed so there wouldn’t be any Witnesses.

She was forced onto the ledge of the ravine, fell into the ravine the moment the gunshots were heard and managed to hide while the Germans and their Ukrainian Collaborators continued to kill.

While hiding Dina met a 14 year old named Motia who was also hiding.

Motia was later killed by the Germans, but Dina managed to crawl out of the ravine and escape.

After the Massacre (in which 33,771 Men, Women and Children were murdered in just 2 days) Dina hid with a Cousin.

On February 2, 1942 she was arrested by the Gestapo and spent 28 days in the Lukyanovka Prison.

She escaped with the help of a Policeman who was actually a Partisan.

She continued to move from place to place until the Soviet Red Army liberated her area on December 28, 1943.

She learned that her Husband, Viktor, had been arrested by the Germans and shot in February 1942.

She searched many Orphanages and on March 14, 1944 found both her Daughter and her Son.

After the War she worked at the Puppet Theater.

She married Grigory Afanasyev (a Disabled Stage Operator at the Puppet Theater) in 1945.

In January 1946 she was a Witness (the only Survivor of Babyn Yar - out of 29 People) who testified in the Kyiv War Trials held by the Soviets.

With the help of her Testimony 12 of the 15 accused Germans were executed for their crimes at Babyn Yar.

She visited the Babyn Yar Massacre Site every year and was at the 25^th Anniversary Ceremony in 1967 (the Soviets made it illegal to mention that Jews were killed there or anywhere else during the War and so only “Soviet Citizens” could be mentioned.

Dina Pronicheva died of Kidney Disease in 1977 in Kiev, Ukraine SSR, USSR (Present Day: Kyiv, Ukraine.)

85: Babyn Yar

 

85 years ago today (September 29, 1941) the German Nazis and their Collaborators murdered 33,771 Men, Women and Children at Babyn Yar (Бабин Яр in Ukrainian) in Kyiv, Ukraine.

The name Babyn Yar refers to an old Woman (Baba) selling the ravine (Yar) to a Monastery in 1401.

A notice (in German, Ukrainian and Russian) was posted telling all Jews in Kyiv to meet at a certain time and place – with all their Documents and luggage -  so they could be resettled following a series of explosions throughout the city (caused by undercover Soviet NKVD Secret Police.)

The notice also said that any Jews left in Kyiv afterwards would be shot on sight.

 The Germans expected around 6,000 people to show up, but instead over 33,700 came to the meeting point.

The Men, Women and Children were walked several miles to the Babyn Yar Ravine (then outside the city), made to undress and run naked through a column of Ukrainian Para-Military Collaborators to an open pit where the Germans shot them – children under 3 and babies were simply thrown in alive to be buried by the other bodies.

Only 29 people are known to have survived the Massacre (by being shot and wounded then falling into the pit and hiding under the thousands of dead bodies until they could climb out in the darkness.)

Babyn Yar is the single largest Massacre of the Holocaust. 33,771 Men, Women and Children were murdered on September 29-30, 1941.

A total of 150,000 People (Jews, Gypsies, Communists, Soviet Prisoners of War, Catholic Priests, Orthodox Priests and Partisans, etc.) murdered at the same spot until Kyiv was liberated in November 1943.

Paul Blobel (the German who organized and executed the Babyn Yar Massacre as well as other Massacres resulting in the deaths of 1 Million Men, Women and Children) was found guilty by a US Military Court in West Germany and hanged in 1951.

Dennis Haskins

Dennis Haskins died on September 27, 2026 at his home in Burbank, California at the age of 75.

He played Principal Richard Belding in the Teen Sitcom “Good Morning, Miss Bliss” in 1987 and then in  “Saved by the Bell”, which ran from 1989 to 1993 on NBC.

He then went on to star in “Saved by the Bell: The New Class”, which aired from 1993 to 2000.

Oleshky

 

Oleshky is in Russian-Occupied Ukraine (since 2022) and Russia refuses to feed the People living there – letting them starve.

Ukraine used drones to deliver 4 tons of Food to the Civilians there across 100 locations around the City – all while Russia tried to shoot the Drones down despite knowing there was only food in them.

This shows why Ukraine MUST Win the War and why it WILL win this War.

Elizabeth Eckford

Elizabeth Eckford

(Elizabeth Eckford attempts to enter Little Rock Central High on September 4, 1957; Hazel Bryan shouts behind her in September 1957.)

Elizabeth Eckford was born on October 4, 1941 in Little Rock, Arkansas.

She lived in the Jim Crow South.

Jim Crow Laws were Anti-White (mostly against Blacks) Official Laws that were made after the southern US States (Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia) were readmitted into the United States of America after they lost the Civil War.

Jim Crow started in 1877 (following the Compromise of 1877) in which Federal US Troops were removed from the southern States.

Jim Crow Laws determined where Non-White People could live, where they could eat, where they could shop, what they could do for a living, where they could sit, how they were given an education, etc.

Education was a major part of Jim Crow.

White Southerners did not want their Children to be taught by a Non-White Teacher or learn with Non-White Students (because then the truth about things like the American Civil War would come out and make the White Southerners feel bad)

In 1954 the US Supreme Court decided in the case of Brown v. Board of Education that Racial Discrimination in Education (under Jim Crow) violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution.

On September 4, 1957 Elizabeth Eckford was one of 9 Black Students (later known as the Little Rock Nine) that the first to attend the previously All-White Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.

The Group of 9 were supposed to arrive together, with their Parents, and enter through a back door of the School.

Elizabeth didn’t receive those instructions as her Family had no telephone and so she went to the High School by herself.

An angry White Mob of 400 People yelled Swear Words as Elizabeth tried to enter the High School.

In that angry Whitey Mob was 15 year old Hazel Bryan who shouted "Go home, nigger! Go back to Africa!" to Elizabeth.

Will Counts of the “Arkansas Democrat” took several pictures that showed Elizabeth being followed by an angry White Group; this and other photos of the day's startling events were circulated around the US and the world by the Press.

When Elizabeth made it to the front door of the High School the Arkansas National Guard, under orders from Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, refused her entry by blocking her way with their bayonets.

When Elizabeth fled the School the White Mob chased her to a Bus Stop and threatened to lynch her.

Elizabeth was crying when a Reporter, Benjamin Fine, tried to comfort her and told her, "don't let them see you cry."

Soon, she was also protected by a White Woman named Grace Lorch who escorted her onto a city bus and went home.

For the next two weeks, the Little Rock Nine stayed home to study instead of going to the Little Rock Central High School.

 President Dwight D. Eisenhower was reluctant to do anything about the Mob or the rioting.

Eventually, Eisenhower invoked the Insurrection Act of 1807, and the following day, took control of the 10,000 Member Arkansas National Guard from the Governor and sent 1,200 Members of the 101st Airborne Division to accompany the Students to School for protection.

On September 23, 1957, the Little Rock Nine approached Central High again, and Elizabeth Eckford along with the other eight Students, accompanied by City Policemen, were let into the High School through a side door while a Mob of 1,000 Whites surrounded the School again as the Students attempted to enter.

Both Federal Troops and Federalized National Guardsmen were deployed at the school for the entirety of the school year, although they were unable to prevent incidents of violence against the group inside the facility

Elizabeth and the other Students were spat upon, punched, hit with eggs and vegetables and faced with a barrage of slurs and insults all year long.

Elizabeth managed to finish the School Year,

All of Little Rock’s High Schools were closed the following year, so Elizabeth did not graduate from Central High School (known as the “Lost Year.”)

Instead, she took Correspondence and Night courses and earned enough credits for her High School Diploma.

In 1959 Elizabeth moved to St. Louis, Missouri.

Elizabeth attended Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, where she earned a BA in History in 1962.

In 1963, having changed her mind on Integration and feeling guilt for her treatment of Elizabeth Hazel Massery contacted Elizabeth and apologized.

In 1967 Elizabeth then served in the United States Army for five years, first as a Pay Clerk, and then as an Information Specialist.

She also wrote for the Fort McClellan (Alabama) and the Fort Benjamin Harrison (Indiana) Newspapers.

After that, she has worked as a Waitress, History Teacher, Welfare Worker, Unemployment and Employment Interviewer and a Military Reporter.

She was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

In 1997, Elizabeth shared the Father Joseph Biltz Award—presented by the National Conference for Community and Justice—with Hazel Bryan Massery (the White Student in the Photograph who was shouting Swear Words to Elizabeth in 1957.)

In 1997 Elizabth and Hazel went on a “Reconciliation Rally” for the 40^th Anniversary of the Integration of Little Rock Central School and the Infamous Photograph.

The two then went their separate ways.

In 1999, President Bill Clinton awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to Elizabeth and the other Members of the Little Rock Nine.

In 2018 she wrote her Autobiography “The Worst First Day: Bullied While Desegregating Little Rock Central High.”

Elizabeth Eckford is still alive and is 84 years old.

The Best

 (Konoba Vinica Monkovic Tavern outside of Dubrovnik. Croatia.)

The best Pizza I’ve ever had wasn’t when I was in Venice, Italy (it was actually the worst Pizza I’ve ever had) or even in New York City.

It was when I was at a place off the main road in a very small town near Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness in Scotland.

The best Cuban Sandwich I’ve ever had wasn’t when I was in Tampa or in Little Havana in Miami, Florida.

It was when I was at Boston’s Logan Airport waiting to fly to Iceland.

The best Shish-Kabab I’ve ever had wasn’t made by Turks when I was in Germany.

It was at a small Dacha outside of Yaroslavl, Russia in the dead of Winter.

The best Hamburger I’ve ever had wasn’t at a McDonald’s.

It was at a small Family-run Tavern outside of Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Sometimes, you have to go off-the-beaten-path to find the good things in life (food or otherwise.)

Saturday

I hope all you awesome people are having a great Saturday!

And for the non-awesome people: I hope you too are having a great Saturday!

Julia Wallach

Julia Wallach

Julia Wallach was born Julia Kac on June 14, 1925 in Paris, France.

She was the only Daughter of Polish Jewish Immigrants living in France.

Julia was 14 years old when the Germans invaded and occupied Paris in June 1940.

Julia’s Mother, Marie, was arrested during the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup and Julia never saw her again.

The Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup (French:  la rafle du Vel' d'Hiv' and German: Rafle du Vélodrome d’Hiver) took place on July 16-17, 1942 in German-Occupied Paris.

French Nazi Collaborators including 9,000 Paris Policemen, arrested 13,152 Jews including 4,114 Children in Paris and kept them at the Vélodrome d'Hiver (an Indoor Bicycle Racing Track) in Paris before being sent to the Auschwitz Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland.

Only 100 of the 9,038 Adult Jews arrested during the Roundup survived the War.

None of the 4,114 Jewish Children arrested during the Roundup survived the War.

On April 1943 Julia and were Father, Joseph, who were in hiding, were denounced as Jews and arrested.

They were imprisoned at the Drancy Internment Camp outside of Paris.

On June 23, 1943 both were deported to the Auschwitz Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland on Transport Number 55.

Of the 1,008 Men, Women and Children deported from Drancy to Auschwitz on Transport Number 55 with Julia and her Father 518 of them were gassed immediately upon arrival at the Camp.

383 Men and 217 Women were selected for Forced Labor including Julia.

Her Father, Joseph, died (it is not known if he was gassed upon arriving at Auschwitz or from doing Forced Labor there.)

Julia was registered as Prisoner Number: 46645 at Auschwitz.

Julia survived in Auschwitz until she was made to go on a Death March in January 1945 (because the Soviet Red Army was close to liberating the Death Camp.)

She walked in the snow and cold with 58,000 other Prisoners.

Anyone who stopped was shot dead by the Germans.

Julia ended up in the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp 56 miles from Berlin.

As the Soviets again came close to liberating Ravensbrück Julia was sent on another Death March in April 1945 from which she escaped and eventually reached American Soldiers.

She was 19 years old when the War ended in May 1945.

After the War Julia went back to Paris and recovered her Family’s Apartment (which many Survivors in Postwar Europe were not allowed to do.)

On July 27, 1945 Julia married Marcel Wallach, another Holocaust Survivor, and had two Children.

From the 1960s onwards she regularly spoke about the Holocaust and what happed to her.

In  2022 Julia was awarded France’s Légion d’honneur.

Julia Wallach died on September 23, 2026 at the age of 101.

Doris Fedrid

Doris Fedrid

(Doris (center) and her Husband, Fred (far right), pictured in the front row of an English Class offered by the Hebrew Society for the Deaf sometime before 1963.)

Doris Fedrid was June 26, 1927, in Tarnopol, Poland (Present Day: Ternopil, Ukraine.)

She was born to a Jewish Family and was Deaf.

At 7 years old she went to live at a Jewish School for the Deaf in Lwów, Poland (Present-Day: Lviv, Ukraine.)

She described the School in the following way: “It was all lip reading … if they caught us signing, they would hit our hands with wood, or they'd tie our hands behind our back.”

When the Germans invaded her area of Poland in June 1941 (which had been occupied by the Soviets from September 1939 until June 1941) 14 year old Doris and her Family were imprisoned in the Tarnopol Ghetto (Polish: (Polish: getto w Tarnopolu, German: Ghetto Tarnopol.)

18,600 Jewish Men, Women and Children were forced into the Tarnopol Ghetto.

Jews from other, smaller Ghettoes were then sent into the Tarnopol Ghetto where 20,000 were murdered inside the Ghetto and at the Belzec Death Camp (124 miles away.)

Being Deaf, Doris had to work extra hard to understand the German Guards and the ever changing rules in the Ghetto otherwise it meant death.

In June 1943 Doris escaped from the Tarnopol Ghetto and went into hiding and survived the War.

In 1945 she learned that her Parents and Sister, Esther, had also survived.

The Family moved to New York in January 1947.

Doris found a vibrant Deaf Community and began to learn American Sign Language.

She met Fred Fedrid at an American Citizenship Class for Deaf Immigrants and they married.

He was also a Deaf Holocaust Survivor.

Fred died in 1963.

Doris Fedrid died on May 17, 2014.

She was 86 years old.

16,000 Non-Jewish Deaf People were murdered by the Germans under their T4 Program (the Mass Murder of the Mentally and Physically Disabled in Germany and Austria) from 1939-1945.

17,000 Non-Jewish Deaf People were Forcibly Sterilized by the Germans under their T4 Program) in Germany and Austria from 1939-1945.

25,000 Jewish Deaf People were murdered by the Germans during the War simply for being Deaf (being Jewish was secondary.)

An Unknown Number of Jewish Deaf People from across German-Occupied Europe were murdered for simply being Jewish and are included in the 6 Million Jews murdered by the Germans from 1933-1945.

3: NK Flee

 

3 Years ago today (September 24, 2023) 120,000 Armenians were stranded in Nagorno-Karabakh when it was completely occupied by Azerbaijan on September 20, 2023 and were forced to flee from Nagorno-Karabakh to the rest of Armenia due to Anti-Armenian violence by Azerbaijan.

Anti-Armenian Sentiment is widespread in Azerbaijan. A 2022 Poll found that 91% of Azeris perceive Armenians as the “biggest threat to Azerbaijan.”

This is not a modern trend:

From 1918-1920 when Azerbaijan was independent there were organized killings of Armenians in Baku and Shusa. 20,000 Armenians were murdered in Shusa and 30,000 Armenians were murdered in Baku.

February-March 1988 Sumgait Pogrom where 200 Armenians were murdered by the Azeris and an unknown number wounded during Soviet Times.

September 1988 Armenian Expulsion in Shusa where a 61 year old Armenian was killed and 33 Armenians were wounded by the Azeris during Soviet Times.

The January 1990 Baku Pogrom where the Azeris murdered 90 Armenians and wounded 700 Armenians in the Azeri Capital during Soviet Times.

From 1988-1990 250,000 Armenians were deported or forced to flee from Azerbaijan.

The Nagorno-Karabakh War has been going on since 1990 in different stages:

The 1st Nagorno-Karabakh War was from 1992-1994 with an Armenian Victory. 4,000 Armenian Civilians were killed. 500,000 Armenians were displaced from Azeri Territory.

The 2nd Nagorno-Karabakh War was in 2020 with an Azeri Victory. 85 Armenian Civilians were killed. 100,00 Armenians were displaced.

1,960 Russian Peacekeepers were sent to Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020, but were ineffective to stop the violence or to protect Civilians from the Ceasefire Breaches.

Blockade of the Lachin Corridor (connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia) forcing the layoffs of over 11,000 Armenians and extreme scarcity of electricity, water, food, medicines, etc.

The 3rd Nagorno-Karabakh War was in September 2023 with an Azeri Victory. 10 Armenians were killed and 120,000 Armenians were displaced.

The 120,000 Armenian Civilians stuck in Azeri-Controlled Nagorno-Karabakh and fleeing to Armenia in September 2023 had to undergo tight Azeri Military Checkpoints and searches (where many of their household goods were taken from them and many Armenians were arrested and kept by the Azeris

Only a few Armenian Elderly and Disabled stayed in Azeri-Controlled Nagorno-Karabakh (because they couldn’t physically flee.) Azeri Authorities took their Passports and have been monitoring their communications.

A Peace Treaty signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan in August 2025 aimed to end the Nagorno-Karabakh War and to normalize relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Note: Nagorno-Karabakh has had Armenians living there since the 7th Century BC and has many ancient Christian Churches and Monasteries - most of which have been destroyed or defaced by the Azeris. Armenians had always been more than 50% of the population.

Picture: Armenians trying to flee Nagorno-Karabakh - September 2023.

300 Sign Languages

There are 300 different Sign Languages used around the World.

Each Sign Language is unique and not understood by Users of other Sign Languages or even by Users of the Spoken Language.

To illustrate, in terms of syntax, American Sign Language shares more in common with Spoken Japanese than with Spoken English.

A Person who knows American Sign Language doesn’t automatically know and understand Spoken English the same way a Person who knows Spoken English doesn’t automatically know and understand American Sign Language.

They are separate Languages and need to be learned separately.

A Person who knows American Sign Language doesn’t automatically know and understand British Sign Language the same way a Person who knows British Sign Language doesn’t automatically know and understand American Sign Language.

They are separate Languages and need to be learned separately.

Around 1 Million People know American Sign Language in the United States as either their Sole Language or as their Second Language (out of a Population of 330 Million People.)

70 Million People Worldwide know any sort of Sign Language as either their Sole Language or as their Second Language (out of a Population of 8 Billion People.)

430 Million People Worldwide are either Deaf or Hard-Or-Hearing. Most do now use an organized Sign Language, but use their own Homemade or Pidgin Sign Language that only they, their Family and Friends understand.

Mr And Mrs

If I met an Adult when I was a Child and called them Mr. or Mrs........ then I will continue to call them Mr. and Mrs....... even though I've been an Adult myself for many years.

Sign Languages

Today is International Day of Sign Languages.

There are around 466 Million Deaf People around the World (even more are Hard-Of-Hearing.)

 1 in 20 Americans or 1,000,000 people are Deaf (10,000,000 are Hard-Of-Hearing.)

Collectively, these People use over 300 different Sign Languages.

A lot of people do not realize that Sign Languages are natural fully-fledged Languages.

While they may be different structurally to the Spoken Language, they should be given just as much credit and importance.

There is also an International Sign Language. This is used by Deaf People when they are socializing and traveling, as well as when they are in international meetings.

It is a pidgin type of Sign Language, which is not as complicated as Natural Sign Languages.

It should also be noted that Someone who knows American Sign Language does not automatically know Spoken American English and vice versa.

Or Someone who knows American Sing Language cannot automatically understand Someone who uses British Sign Language and vice versa.

Denmark In WW2

Denmark During World War 2

(Picture: During the German Occupation, Danish King Christian X became a strong symbol of national independence. This picture was taken on the King's Birthday in 1940.)

From September 1, 1939 until April 9, 1940 Denmark was Neutral during World War 2.

That changed when on April 9, 1940 Nazi Germany invaded Denmark.

The Invasion was called Operation Weserübung (German: Unternehmen Weserübung or in English: Operation Weser Exercise.)

Nazi Germany wanted to occupy Norway to prevent the British from occupying it and they had to go through Denmark to get to Norway.

After less than 6 hours of fighting in which 39 Danish Soldiers died the Danish Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning surrendered Denmark to the Germans.

The German Occupation (Danish: Besættelsen) of Denmark began.

Unlike his Brother King Haakon VII of Norway, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, King George II of Greece, Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg, King Peter II of Yugoslavia and President Władysław Raczkiewicz of Poland, all of whom went into Exile during the Nazi Occupation of their Countries King Christian X remained in Denmark and on the Throne during the German Occupation of Denmark.

The Germans considered the Danes “Aryans” like themselves and so gave the Danes more control over Domestic Policies then they did anywhere else they Occupied.

Denmark Collaborated with the Nazis from April 9, 1940 until August 23, 1943 under a Policy known as Cooperation (Danish: samarbejdspolitikken.)

Thorvald Stauning remained the Danish Prime Minister from April 9, 1940 until his death on May 3, 1942.

Vilhelm Buhl then became the Danish Prime Minister from May 4, 1942 until November 2, 1942.

Erik Scavenius was the Danish Prime Minister from November 9, 1942 until August 29, 1943.

The Danish Parliament, Courts, Police and Civil Administration continued to operate, but under German Orders.

Danish Resistance Groups from April 1940 until August 1943 were mostly Non-Violent towards the German Occupation Forces focusing on spying and printing Illegal newspapers.

After the German Occupation of Denmark the British Occupied the Danish Faroe Islands (on April 13, 1940 until May 1945.)

The British and Canadians Occupied Danish Iceland (on May 10, 1940) and the Americans Occupied Iceland in July 1941until May 1945.

Iceland became a Republic in 1944 and left the Kingdom of Denmark.

The Americans Occupied Danish Greenland from December 11, 1941 until May 1945.

2,000 Danes joined the Volunteers of Free Corps Denmark (Danish: Frikorps Danmark, German: Freikorps „Danmark“) part of the Waffen-SS.

39,000 Danes joined The National Socialist Workers' Party of Denmark (Danish: Danmarks Nationalsocialistiske Arbejderparti; DNSAP) the Danish Equivalent to the German Nazi Party.

The Danish Government refused to discriminate against its Jewish Citizens (there were 8,000 Jews in Denmark at the time) from April 1940 until August 1943.

On June 21, 1941 (when Nazi Germany invaded its Former Ally the Soviet Union) Denmark arrested 246 Danish Communists including 3 Members of the Danish Parliament.

On August 22, 1941 the Danish Parliament created the “Communist Law” (Danish: Kommunistloven) and banned the Communist Party.

In October 1942, Hitler transmitted a long, flattering Birthday Telegram to King Christian.

The King replied with a simple "Spreche Meinen besten Dank aus. Chr. Rex" ("Giving my best thanks. King Christian") sending the Führer into a state of rage at this deliberate slight, and seriously damaging Danish Relations with Germany. Hitler immediately recalled his Ambassador and expelled the Danish Ambassador from Germany.

It was known as the Telegram Crisis (Danish: Telegramkrisen or German: Telegrammkrise.)

After the German Defeat at Stalingrad in the USSR in February 1943 Danish Resistance against the Germans began to pick-up.

In March 1943 the Germans allowed the Danes to hold a General Election where Voter Turnout was 89.5% (the highest of any Parliamentary Election) with 94% of the Votes for Democratic Parties (2.1% Voted for the National Socialist Workers' Party of Denmark.)

After the Election growing Civil Disobedience and Strikes were held throughout Denmark.

The German Occupation Forces declared Martial Law in Denmark on August 29, 1943.

The Danish Parliament and the Danish Prime Minister were forbidden to meet.

The Germans now controlled every aspect of life throughout Occupied Denmark.

Danish Resistance went from being Non-Violent to Violent against the German Occupation Forces from August 1943 until May 1945.

In September 1943 German Diplomat Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz who worked at the German Embassy in Copenhagen learned that the Gestapo were going to arrest and deport all 8,000 Jews in Denmark on October 1, 1943.

He flew to Stockholm, Sweden (which was Neutral during World War 2) and received permission from the Swedish Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson to allow the Danish Jews entry into Sweden.

On September 28, 1943 Duckwitz informed the Head of the Jewish Community in Denmark, C. B. Henriques, and the Acting Chief Rabbi, Marcus Melchior, about the planned Deportation.

On September 29, 1943 (the day before Rosh Hashannah or Jewish New Year’s) the Church of Denmark (Danish: Folkekirken) issued a Pastoral Letter to all Danish Citizens to help the Jews of Denmark get to safety.

On October 2, 1943 the Swedish Government announced in an Official Statement that Sweden was prepared to accept all Danish Jews (after the Danish Physicist Niels Bohr, whose Mother was Jewish, had fled to Sweden and begged Swedish King Gustaf V to allow the Danish Jews into Seeden.)

7,500 of the Danish Jews went into hiding with the help of the Danish Resistance and Ordinary Danish Citizens.

They were then smuggled on boats over the Øresund Strait from Zealand, Denmark to Sweden (which took around an hour.)

The Danish Fishermen charged on average 1,000 Danish Kroner per Person for the transport, but some charged up to 50,000 Kroner.

The Average Monthly Salary at the time was 500 Danish Korner.

The Danish Resistance paid for half the expense (10 Million Danish Kroner) and the Jews themselves paid the other half (10 Million Danish Kroner.)

Of the 500 Danish Jews who didn’t leave Denmark 464 were arrested by the Germans.

They were sent to the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp in German-Occupied Czechoslovakia (Present Day: the Czech Republic.)

The Danish Red Cross tried to keep track of the Danish Jews in Theresienstadt and even convinced the Germans not to deport them to the Death Camps in German-Occupied Poland.

Of the 464 Danish Jews arrested, 51 died in Theresienstadt.

In April 1945, Folke Bernadotte of the Swedish Red Cross used a Policy called “White Buses” to move 15,000 (8,000 Danish and Norwegian Jews and 7,000 French, Polish, Czech, British and American Jews) from German Concentration Camps (including Theresienstadt) to Sweden.

On September 14, 1944 the Germans arrested 1,960 Danish Policemen for refusing to help the Germans.

8,040 Danish Policemen were able to evade being arrested due to being warned beforehand.

 The 1,960 Policemen who were arrested were deported to the Neuengamme Concentration Camp in Germany then moved to the Buchenwald Concentration Camp in Germany then sent to a Prisoner-Of-War Camp in Mühlberg, German.

131 of these Policemen died during the War.

The British liberated Denmark on May 5,1945.

The easternmost Danish Island of Bornholm was liberated by the Soviets who remained there until April 5, 1946.

380 Danish Resistance Members were killed during the War.

900 Non-Jewish Danish Civilians were killed during the War.

6,000 Non-Jewish Danish Civilians were sent to German Concentration Camps during the War (of whom 600 died.)

Vilhelm Buhl was made the Prime Minister of Denmark again from May 5, 1945 until November 7, 1945.

40,000 Danes were tried for Collaborating with the Germans after the War.

Only 13,500 of those 40,000 where punished in any way after a Trial.

Over 200,000 German Prisoners-Of-War were made to demine the areas of Denmark that the Germans had mined during the War.

Half of them died from the mines.

By the time Nazi Germany was defeated in May 1945 there were 250,000 German Refugees living in Denmark – having fled the Soviets in East Prussia.

The first of these 250,000 Refugees returned to Post-War Allied (British, French, American and Soviet) Occupied Germany in November 1946.

50,000 Danish Women had Sexual Romances with the Germans during the War.

They were called “tyskerpiger” or “Pro-German Girls.”

At least 5,579 “War Babies” (with a German Father and a Danish Mother) were born from 1940-1945.

These “War Babies” were discriminated against by Danish Society after 1945.

On March 21, 1971 Israel’s Yad Vashem made Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz “Righteous Among The Nations.”

On March 21, 1979 Israel’s Yad Vashem made all the Members of the Danish Resistance “Righteous Among the Nations” for their work in saving the 7,500 Jews from Denmark during the War.