Just Following Orders?

The truth is that people who pull triggers are ultimately responsible, whether they're following orders or not. An army of people making individual moral choices may be inefficient, but an army of people ignoring their morality is horrifying - Joel Stein This is a cropped photo of Germany's Einsatzgruppen (death squad) murdering Jewish civilians in …

The Roman Ghetto

Dushan and Chioma were at Lungotevere de’ Cenci, 00186 Roma, the meeting point for the Ghetto and Jewish Museum walking tour. The tour was about three hours long. They had arranged it through the hotel. Initially, they had planned to explore the Ghetto on their own but Alfredo, the attendant at the concierge suggested the …

A Secret, the Past & Declarations

"You have something you want to tell me?" "Yes. It's something which I've never told anyone about." She stared at him, wondering what it could be. "Tell me what it is." "I'm Jewish." "You're Jewish?" "Yes. My father's parents were deported from Bratislava to Sered and from there to Auschwitz. They survived. My mother's parents …

The Interview, Buenos Aires & Plans for Uruguay

He stared at her. Did she have any idea of how beautiful and sexy she looked in that dress? She was making it really hard for him not to want to scoop her up in his arms and take her up to his hotel room and make love to her. "What's the matter?" she asked. …

Lara and Mr. Hoffmann

"What's that number on your arm, Mr. Hoffmann?" Lara asked. It was a Saturday afternoon and she was at his flat. She liked visiting him. He was such a nice, kind person. He was different from everyone else. He was friendly to her even though she was colored. He had a foreign accent. He wasn't …

The Unlikely Spy

There were other reasons, too. Seventy-five percent of Jews survived in France. And so many non-Jews risked their lives to save ours. Wasn't that our duty to defend our country too? It was our duty, absolutely - Marthe Cohn Born a French Jew in Metz, France on 13 April 1920, Marthe Hoffnung never once imagined …