Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover

Today is the first time I remember that I saw a picture of Hafez al-Assad. I was struck by how much this evil dictator looked like a mild-mannered accountant... Weird.

Pierre van Paassen

This was a fascinating man who actually predicted the Holocaust. A Protestant Dutchman who immigrated to Canada at age 16, he was very pro-Jewish. Here is an excerpt from his memoirs relating to a trip he took to Warsaw in 1927, where he talks about how the Poles were all too eager to rid themselves of the Jews:

For five days I walked around the Warsaw ghetto, climbed the stairs of tenement houses, spoke to men, women and children; everywhere the same story: they were all poverty-stricken, all the Jews in the sixty or seventy city blocks, which made up the ghetto; three hundred thousand pauperized Jews. It was the same all over Poland, in the towns and villages, masses of ruined middle class people. The misery of the three million Polish Jews beggared all description. And why was this? Why this ruination and squalor? Was all this accidental or unavoidable? 

So long as Poland was under the Tsar, Jews constituted a class of traders, merchants, cattle dealers, shop and tavern keepers, teachers and foresters; in short they were the middle-men. With the glorious resurrection of the Polish state, the Poles became the masters and started to build a middle class of their own, entirely composed of non-Jewish
citizens. The new middle class was built, unavoidably -- I was quite frankly told in official places and government circles -- on the systematic and calculated ruination of the Jewish population. There was no alternative. It was a question of life and death for the new Poland to destroy the old middle class or get rid of it. There were three million Jews too many in the country. Ultimately they would have to perish or be evacuated, go elsewhere, anywhere. The Polish authorities did not care where they went. In Poland they were unwanted.

Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's "Obnoxious Order" To Expel Jews

As a General in the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant ordered that all Jews be expelled from the Department of Tennessee. President Lincoln canceled the order before it could be implemented.

Later in life, Grant tried to make up for the misjudgment, protesting against oppression of Jews in Russia, and becoming the first sitting US President to attend a synagogue dedication and service:


https://www.jhsgw.org/history/presidential-visit

The Last Jew of...

Interior of Kabul's sparse synagogue

There are a few stories like this I've noticed, so I though I'd collect the ones I could find in one place:

• The Last Jew in Asmara, Eritrea
• The Last Jew in Afghanistan (Kabul)
• Escape of the Last Jews in Syria (2015)
• As of 2011 there were seven Jews left in Iraq. (Warning: Daily Mail has inappropriate ads)

Perhaps the following anecdote (from Wikipedia) is symbolic of the quality of the US State Department's understanding of Russia, considering they couldn't even translate a one-word motto correctly:

Symbolic reset On 6 March 2009 in Geneva, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented Sergei Lavrov with a red button with the Russian text "перегрузка". It was intended that this would be the Russian word for "reset". Clinton explained that she wanted to reset relations between Russia and the United States. However, Lavrov explained to Clinton that "перегрузка" actually means "overcharge". The two pressed the button anyway. Clinton explained that the American side meant it; they wanted a new era of better ties.

Incidentally, a simple Google Translate of "перегрузка" yields the definition "overload" and various other synonyms, not reset.

Famous. Last. Words.

From a National Geographic article of March 6, 2014:

Geography may also serve as a constraint. Maria Lipman, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center, says that "geographically speaking" the [Crimean] peninsula has some interesting challenges. For example, in the north "it has a narrow strip of land that connects it to Ukraine. The peninsula itself is very dry, with almost no source of fresh water," and thus relies on mainland Ukraine for water. "Crimea cannot simply be severed from Ukraine."

 (Emphasis added.)

Postscript: 12 days later, on March 18, Russia annexed Crimea, severing it from Ukraine....

pwned

Советский Союз все еще жив!

Apparently, some people in Russia would like to see the reconstitution of the Soviet Union... or rather, recognition that it was never legally dissolved. In 2014, 33-year-old Dmitry Tretyakov filed a petition with the Russian Supreme Court seeking recognition that the USSR is still a legal entity and has never been dissolved. The Court refused to consider the question, saying it did not affect the rights and freedoms or legitimate interests of the applicant....

Google-Translated to English

No, Not That Socrates...

While looking up Socrates recently as I was writing, all of a sudden I had a flashback to an educational video game console I had as a kid. Thanks to the magic of Wikipedia, I was able to track it down again!

It was called VTech Socrates, and was released in 1988. It featured a wireless (infrared) keyboard and a console that connected to the TV. According to Wikipedia it was quite expensive when it came out, selling for about $130.

I had many, many hours of enjoyment from this and I remember learning math-type stuff from the games. Hey, thanks mom and dad! :-)

Supercentenarians

As of right now there are two living people in the world left who are verified to have been born in the 19th century. The link will be valid only while they're alive, after which some committed Wikipedian will no doubt update the entry within minutes.

Sioux Indians refuse to accept $1 billion on principle

In 1876, the US government seized the Black Hills of South Dakota from the Sioux Native American tribe, in violation of an 1868 treaty. (The famous "Custer's Last Stand" was a battle in a bid to take the land by force. The US lost the battle but won the war.)

In 1920, Congress authorized the Sioux to seek redress by suing the government (which may not be sued except by consent of Congress). The case worked its way through the court system for an incredible 60 years, until damages with full retroactive interest were awarded in 1980. The money has sat in a Bureau of Indian Affairs bank account since then, collecting interest. In 2011 it was worth an estimated one billion dollars. The Sioux refuse to take the money, as that would legally terminate their claim to the Black Hills, which they consider priceless!

Story here on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Sioux_Nation_of_Indians

Chief Rain-in-the-Face, a Lakota Sioux war chief who fought against General Custer.

Wikipedia search leaves something to be desired...

Parliamentary Shenanigans

It is uncouth to put your hands in your pockets during parliamentary debate in the UK. This is from a transcript of the House of Commons, 12/19/1994:

Mr. Robathan: Has my right hon. Friend seen a report- [Interruption.] I am sorry, Madam Speaker, I cannot hear what is being shrieked at me by Opposition Members

Madam Speaker: I can hear very well. Other hon. Members are suggesting that the hon. Gentleman removes his hands from his pockets when he stands to ask a question.

Mr. Robathan: Thank you for your assistance, Madam Speaker. Should I require any advice on deportment or sartorial elegance I shall come to you because you are an example to us all, but I will not take advice from the scruffy yobbos on the Labour Benches.

Madam Speaker: I have no pockets in which to put my hands. That is why my deportment is so good.

Rabbi Dr. Bernard Illowy

An Orthodox Rabbi, Ph.D and talmid of the Chasam Sofer who knew 7 languages and fought for religious observance in America in the middle of the 19th century. Awesome.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Illowy
http://www.jewish-history.com/Illoway/biography.html

Bruno Kreisky

Bruno Kreisky, former Chancellor of Austria, was the epitome of a self-hating Jew (see here).

He hated the Israeli right and used to call Menachem Begin a terrorist. Ironically, he had a penniless brother, Shaul Kreisky, who lived in Israel and was a huge admirer of Begin.

Don't steal trees for Christmas!

Unbelievably long-lived creature

A whale killed in the 2000s with a 19th-century harpoon stuck in it?
Check it out!

Fight Ebola

This past month's Zman Magazine featured a story on this fearsome disease. Right now Google is offering a 2-to-1 matching donation to help Ebola victims. Your $10 can turn into a $30 donation.

Campaign: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2014/11/doubling-down-on-ebola-donations.html

In case you want halachic backup for donating to this charity, please see here: http://www.dinonline.org/2013/05/14/donating-to-non-jewish-charities/

Maltese

This unique language is the only Semitic language to be written in the Latin alphabet. Another thing that makes it so unique is that its vocabulary is a combination of Italian and Arabic! (Along with some English and French thrown in.) Maltese language

Welcome - Samuel Oppenheimer

The purpose of this blog is to post random interesting information I come across in the course of my research and fact-checking. The first post is about a 17th-century German Jewish banker and diplomat who went to great lengths to help his fellow Jews, established many synagogues and yeshivos, and stopped dissemination of an anti-Semitic tract. After his death the government in Vienna denied payment to his heirs of all its debts to him. Wikipedia Entry