This article is part of our morning briefing. Click here to get it delivered to your inbox each weekday. How one newspaper column saved lives, reunited families and changed the course of Jewish history
We usually report the news, but other times we ourselves become part of history. That’s what happened during and after the Holocaust when our Seeking Relatives column helped thousands of Jews scattered across the globe by pogroms, war and forced migration find each other. It’s largely been a story told in the background. Until now. In the summer of 2022, contributing reporter Andrew Silverstein stumbled upon thousands of letters that fueled the Seeking Relatives column in the archives of Yad Vashem, and spent the past year piecing together their stories. Aided by our archivist, Chana Pollack, Andrew poured through the pleas for help and met the children and grandchildren of people the column helped save. Andrew also unearthed a previously unknown story about his own family — and that of Jared Kushner, whose great-grandfather Naum Kushner placed an ad in Seeking Relatives in 1946. |
Erika Mendl, now and then, and the letter written on her behalf to the Forward. (Photo by Matthew Litman; letter courtesy of Yad Vashem; 1946 photos by The New York Sun via the Library of Congress) |
Related…
Donate to support our archives: We aim to create a searchable digital database of Seeking Relatives columns and the letters behind them. If you’d like to support that effort, click here to make a tax-deductible donation. |
Mexico City’s Fahrünnisa Bellak, who is not Jewish, calls her work “a labor of love.” (Courtesy) |
One jalapeno cheddar with schmear | Inside Mexico City’s hand-rolled bagel boom: During the early days of the pandemic, a Scottish-American baker hatched an idea to make bagels for homesick foreigners and donate the proceeds to people who were out of work. Her bagel store is one of several shops that have opened in recent years as part of a bagel renaissance in Mexico City. Sam Lin-Sommer, our editorial fellow and former resident of Mexico City, has the details. Read the story ➤
Related: Claudia Sheinbaum is on track to become Mexico’s first Jewish and woman president. The former engineering professor contributed to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which would go on to win the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. |
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, center, is interviewed by Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt, left, and Rabbi Aaron Alexander at Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, D.C., on Yom Kippur. (Courtesy) |
Plus… - The largest Conservative synagogue in Washington, D.C., has a tradition of its rabbis interviewing a notable member of the community on Yom Kippur afternoon between services. On Monday, Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman of the U.S., was the guest.
- We broke the news that the Canadian Parliament gave a standing ovation on Friday to a 98-year-old immigrant from Ukraine who fought in a Third Reich military formation accused of war crimes. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized on Monday, calling the incident “deeply embarrassing.”
- With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the U.S. last week, American Jews came out in force to protest his changes to Israel’s judicial system. “I think this may be the turning point,” one protester told our editor-in-chief, Jodi Rudoren, on Friday in front of the U.N.
- Standing up for Israel’s democracy means standing up for Palestinians, argues Michael Bien, a civil rights attorney, in a new opinion essay.
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WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY |
Elon Musk, right, met last week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara. (Courtesy) |
? One hundred Jewish leaders are calling on Apple and Google to remove X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, from their app stores — effectively making it impossible to use on the majority of cellphones. The group, which blames Elon Musk for enabling antisemitism on the site, is also calling on companies like Disney to stop advertising on X. (XOutHate) ? A mysterious explosion rocked an Iranian city Monday night. Some thought it was an earthquake, while others speculated it was part of an Israeli operation at a nearby underground ballistic missile base. (Times of Israel) ? A French tycoon, who is in jail for fraud and abducting a rival, reportedly admitted to buying luxury gifts for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, and giving them one million euros. Netanyahu denied the claims. (Haaretz) ? Israeli officials are working to convince U.S. leaders that a peace deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia could strengthen the United States well beyond the Middle East. One of Netanyahu’s aides called it a “reverse 9/11.” (Semafor) ?? Vilnius, the present-day capital of Lithuania, is celebrating its 700th anniversary this year. But this weekend marked a darker anniversary, 80 years since the final liquidation of the Vilna Ghetto. (JTA) ? In Ocean Grove, N.J. — known as “God’s Square Mile at the Jersey Shore” — Jewish and LGBTQ+ residents are fighting against the closure of a local beach on Sunday mornings, which they say is part of a “radical” Christian agenda of the church organization that owns the neighborhood. (Haaretz) ? The Library of Congress’ vast collection of Hebrew manuscripts dating back centuries has been published online for the first time. (Jewish Insider)
? Scientists want to rename the Hitler beetle because it’s been driven to near-extinction by neo-Nazis collecting it. “It’s an innocent insect,” an anthropologist said. “Why not end this illegal trade by changing its name?” (Washington Post) |
Left to right: Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Arthur Laurents on opening night of West Side Story, on Sept. 26, 1957. (Paramount) |
On this day in history (1957): The original Broadway production of West Side Story opened. The classic musical, with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Arthur Laurents — a trio of Jewish showbiz whizzes guided by choreographer Jerome Robbins — was nominated for six Tony awards, and won two. Related…
In honor of National Pancake Day, check out the secret Jewish history of the beloved breakfast treat. |
Yom Kippur is over, but two cantors from Temple Israel of West Bloomfield, Michigan, want you to know that the festival of Sukkot is right around the corner. (It begins Friday at sunset to be precise.) In this video released Monday night, they changed the lyrics to a popular song from Maroon 5 and, well, take a look for yourself to see the result. — Thanks to Lauren Markoe and Talya Zax for contributing to today’s newsletter, and to Beth Harpaz for editing it. You can reach the “Forwarding” team at editorial@forward.com.
Hope you have a fabulous day. |
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