Fifteen years ago, Don Heathfield and his wife, Ann Foley, took their two sons out to an Indian restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to celebrate their son Tim’s 20th birthday. They returned home and continued the celebrations – only to be disturbed by loud knocking at the door. The visitors, dressed in black, snapped handcuffs on … Read more
It has been said that the Weimar Republic of post-World War I Germany died twice. It was first murdered, and then committed suicide. This incisive comment refers to the moral, political, and economic decay of German society during the Great Depression – as well as to the politicians of various right-wing parties in Germany who … Read more
Goodbye to Russia: A Personal Reckoning from the Ruins of War By Sarah Rainsford, published by Bloomsbury 2024, pp.357 7 October 2023 has become a day of remembrance. On the anniversary on that day in a few weeks, some Russians will also remember Anna Politkovskaya – ‘a journalist who did not lie’. She was gunned … Read more
Orphans of the Holocaust: Ottó Komoly’s Diary, Budapest 1944 By Thomas Komoly Published by Austin Macauley (London 2024) pp.205 In the northern Negev of Israel, there is a moshav, Yad Natan which reclaims the Hebrew name of one of the unsung heroes of wartime Budapest, Ottó Komoly (Natan Ze’ev Kohn) whose diplomatic initiatives amongst the … Read more
Sky Warriors: British Airborne Forces in the Second World War Saul David, published by William Collins 2024, pp. 552 The Traitor of Arnhem: WWII’S Greatest Betrayal and the Moment that Changed History Forever Robert Verkaik, published by Headline Welbeck 2024 pp.400 Eighty years ago, thousands of Allied paratroopers jumped out of aircraft and gliders into … Read more
When Pinchas Rutenberg, one of the giants of the Zionist movement, died in 1942, his friend, the writer Moshe Smilansky described him as “a great engineer with the soul of a poet.” Nevertheless, Rutenberg is missing from the public consciousness, even among those who treasure Jewish history. He stipulated in his will that no funds should … Read more
From Red Terror to Terrorist State: Russia’s Intelligence Services and their Fight for World Domination by Yuri Felshtinsky and Vladimir Popov, Gibson Square 2023, “Russia is a strange country in which illegitimate power is best seized through lawful elections.” This comment from the Russian secret service historian Yuri Felshtinsky and former KGB lieutenant-colonel Vladimir Popov, pierces the veneer … Read more
In the aftermath of the French Revolution and the rise of European nationalism in the 19th century, Jews began to understand themselves in terms of more than a religion – a people with a history, a culture, a literature, and a plethora of languages. With the rise of antisemitism, many considered a territorial solution to the … Read more
Seventy years ago, in June 1953, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were electrocuted at Sing-Sing prison in New York — 15 minutes before Shabbat began out of respect for Jewish tradition. It is an anniversary that Jewish organisations in the Diaspora have chosen to ignore — and one that they may not wish to be reminded … Read more
Review of Goodbye Eastern Europe: An Intimate History of a Divided Land By Jacob Mikanowski, published by Oneworld, London 2023, pp.380 ‘The twentieth century will be the century of the Jews and revolutions’ — so wrote the Hungarian painter, Béla Zombory-Moldaván on hearing about the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian … Read more