Naomi Litvin

Blog soup turns poisonous

2010-07-28T22:19:00.000-07:00

Eager to prove myself and succumbing to flattery, I became a blogger with David Horowitz' NewsRealBlog. The entire story is not that complicated. I knew David Swindle from Twitter and was following him because he is an editor for David Horowitz. One day I received an email from Swindle, with an offer.

These exchanges between Swindle and me took place between May 27, 2010 and July 27, 2010.

May 27, 2010

Swindle: Email if you're interested in doing posts on Israel/Anti-Semitism issues for NewsRealBlog.

May 28, 2010

Naomi: Wonderful to connect with you on Twitter! Thanks for inquiring, yes, I would be honored to write some original material on Israel/Anti-Semitism for NRB. Please let me know the protocol...

Swindle: Hi Naomi, Yes, wonderful to connect with you too...I suggest posts on issues related to Israel and anti-Semitism because those seem to be issues you're especially engaged with but I wouldn't necessarily limit you to those subjects. (I've also been wanting to get more coverage defending Israel and challenging/explaining anti-Semitism.) So if you want to get out your perspective on these issues from a platform larger than your blog and twitter account then we might be a good fit for you.

Regarding compensation, right now my freelance budget is full, however if your posts were especially good and got higher-than-normal traffic then I'd consider promoting you to a paid contributor if space opens up...

I was thrilled, excited! I notified all my relatives and friends. I sent David Appletree from @JIDF a direct message telling him I had some news. I told David Appletree that I would be blogging for NewsRealBlog. Without hesitation he replied to me that Horowitz was a fraud. I was stunned. Of course, I wanted to believe David, and I should have. (I found out later, that David had blogged about Horowitz being inept back in March of 2009.) David from the JIDF had been advising me, and helping me for a whole year. I was ready to strike out on my own and at the time my ego took control, wanting this success to a serious extent. Even though I had my own blog going pretty well, I needed more traffic. My book sales had stalled. I was unwilling to heed David's advice. I wanted recognition and was convinced this was right. Honestly, my motivation was financial, as I hoped to make some income which my mother, a Holocaust survivor needed desperately, in order for us to stay in her home. I was so wrong.

Later, on the JIDF site, I was to read Horowitz' 2008 tax return and discover how much money he and his cohorts brought in in 2008 and the huge salaries that he and his family were on. As you will see, I was shocked to find out that they did not intend to pay me. In the end, I was not to make a penny from this endeavor. But let's get back to the sequence of events.

I sent my first article to Swindle and got this response. Wow, I was getting great feedback!

May 29, 2010

Swindle: This is excellent. I adore your prose style. You have a great voice... The only thing that I would suggest for future posts is to generally shoot for as current as possible. Try and jump on discussions, debates, and news items from the last week. But I'll bend on this because the subject you're writing about wasn't widely reported, it's related to the recent video of David Horowitz and Genocide Girl, and it's so well-written.

Naomi: ...I am trying to take this all in! Thank you for the stunning compliment! I need to send you a book. Do you want one? Just need your postal address, if so.
Thank you for this amazing chance to be a 'voice.' ...

I offered Swindle a book, so that he would include my book, We Never Lost Hope: A Holocasut Memoir and Love Story on the NewsRealBlog book club, which he accepted and then did include on the site.

May 30, 2010

Swindle: Yes, please do send your book. Here's the address for the Freedom Center...

I'm eager to see more posts from you. As I said your prose style really struck me as engaging and that's something we don't get enough of. I'm really more interested in interesting, lively, creative voices than just wonks who can hammer out the boilerplate conservative position on an issue.

More compliments on my writing came from Swindle.

Swindle: Scheduled for the post to close out the day and also so it will go out in tomorrow morning's email blast! I'm LOVING your writing!!!!!!!!!!

I offered to interview Swindle for my column, Conversations With Naomi. During the interview process, I discovered how he had gone from being a 'leftie' to a Horowitz disciple. In his own words he described himself as a Horowitzian Conservative and stated that his central political influence is David Horowitz. He offered plenty of documentation on his conversion to the Horowitz way of thinking. I was surprised to find that he had been raised as a born-again Christian. We cross-posted Conversations With Naomi: David Swindle on both my site and his.

One day soon after this I was doing my typical Fly On The Wall schtick when I saw Debbie Schlussel's article
from August 20, 2009, entitled Et Tu, Front Page Mag?: Site That Preaches Against Jihad Whitewashes Jihadi Comrade Robert Novak; More Right-Wing Whitewashing

I became alarmed. My spine began to tingle. I admire Debbie Schlussel very much. Besides being from Detroit, my old stomping grounds, the area I grew up in, Debbie's grandparents are Shoa survivors (so is my mother). I don't have to meet her to know the menschette that she is. She is fearless and intellectually honest. Her writing is totally original. She is not just a rehasher of news, like Scamella Geller. People that hate her actually fear her, because they don't have the guts to admit that they may be what she is writing about. She is a role model to me. So what if she is direct and to the point? That's part of her appeal, and what makes her great. That and the fact that she is an attorney, has worked undercover in a den of Muslims and survives threats, stalking, and living near Dearbornistan.

So I wrote to Swindle:

June 05, 2010

Naomi: Have you seen this? And can you translate it to me? Schlussel slices up FrontPageMag... in regards to this (FrontPageMag's Robert Novak obituary.)

By the way, as far as I am concerned all 'agreements' are off and as you will see further down in this story, Swindle's behavior toward me has made it impossible to honor his request to not release the following email. (This is not exactly Wikileaks but I do expect some repercussions.)

June 05, 2010

Swindle: The contents of this email are for your eyes only. I don't want anything I'm about to say forwarded to anyone else or posted online. (Not that you would, but me saying that should give you an idea of the seriousness.) (*Naomi: Ha! You have underestimated me, that was one of your mistakes.)

You're concerned because Debbie Schlussel is friends with your friend David who runs the JIDF. Am I right? And now you see that she's taken some rather brutal shots at David Horowitz and your new friends at the Freedom Center. And you're curious as to an explanation. (*Naomi: You'd better believe I was.)

Last year FPM ran an obituary of Robert Novak written by Jacob Laksin and published by Jamie Glazov. The obituary did not rake Novak over the coals for his blindness on the issues of Israel and Islamofascist terrorism. David was unaware of the obituary -- newsflash to many people: he does not read every single article at FPM or every blog post at NRB. When he did become aware of it after several people complained he assigned John Perazzo to write a piece about Novak's moral blindness which we ran a week later. (*Naomi: I say, too little too late.)

To a sane person this would not be an issue. But you see, Debbie isn't exactly sane. She took this as an opportunity to engage in one of her favorite past times: attacking conservatives in the harshest terms for no reason other than to make a name for herself and satisfy whatever spiritual/emotional emptiness lurks within her soul. She has a long history of doing this. In the past year she's also attacked -- completely unjustly -- Sean Hannity and Steven Crowder... (*Naomi: How dare Swindle psychoanalyze Debbie, when he has no idea what he is talking about? And readers: note Debbie exposed Hannity's fake charity scam and Crowder's false videos)

So basically we've adopted a policy of ignoring her. (I've had some interactions with her too and she's been very, very rude to me about all this.) In choosing one's political allies there's a question more important than "what do they believe?" There's also the question, "Are they sane?" So it doesn't really matter that she's "on our side" when it comes to Israel and Jihad. She does more harm than good.

I wrote back to Swindle, with what I now regret to say could be interpreted as an appeasing email. I am sincerely sorry that I did, and to be intellectual honest about the situation I must disclose my confusion at this point. Remember, reader, that Swindle was shmoozing me big-time. I kept asking myself, "How do professional writers juggle their alliances?"

Naomi to Swindle: As far as who are my friends, well, I'm not exactly sure on that, and have had some reaction to my new association with NRB from relatives and friends. But please let me clarify that my life is totally separate and different from what may appear on twitter. I have been on a political and ideological journey since writing my book, somewhat similar to yours... I want to be a free-lance writer, independent of undue influence, think for myself, and associate with intelligent and sane people. I hope to continue our new found discourse, friendship.

O.K., I admit I fell off the wagon. I was a little drunk with the future possibilities. It was a big slip. I am human, after all. With that said, my spine was still tingling when soon after I became witness to some high drama on Twitter between @daveswindle and @JIDF. Soon after, it started getting ugly.

July 6, 2010

I received a series of tweets from Swindle to me, some of them were manipulative:

@nlitvin He was mad at me because I would not fire/discipline @jennqpublic because of her anti-DS retweets.

@nlitvin Will u still blog for me and be part of my publication? Will u still be a friend even if JIDF thinks I'm an anti-Semite?

@nlitvin That's very hurtful that you would end a friendship and alliance over that. I take that personally.

@nlitvin Why can't I help but think this has something to do with you choosing loyalty to someone else on Twitter?

@nlitvin :-(

I admit that I deleted my tweets replying back to Swindle. So what? That just makes me smarter than him. This was getting too strange, even for me. I was realizing that I needed to pull out from NewsRealBlog. There was more bothering me than the 'debate' between Appletree and Swindle. I also didn't like the tone of some of the extreme right wingers on NRB. I had commented on one guy's lunatic rantings and images on anti-abortion that sounded absolutely dangerous to me. That opened a Pandora's box. He commented back and then started following me on Intense Comments. Yikes, what had I gotten myself into here?

More on that day:

Swindle: You can disagree with David Horowitz's decision not to delete/pull an FPM lead story that was written without his knowledge. That's fine. But are you still going to be an ally of mine and one of my writers who I help build up and promote? (I'm trying to build up my team of bloggers to defend American and Israel and I want you on it.) Are even if not, are you going to remain a friend? I like you -- you have a good soul (and those are in short supply) -- and am eager to read your book...

July 07, 2010

Swindle: What'd I do?

Now you're not following me any more... I thought we were still friends. But we can't be because JIDF doesn't approve of me because Horowitz didn't pull an article and because Jenn Q. Public retweeted two tweets and I wouldn't discipline her or force her to apologize to him?

Can we talk? I've got your number from the card you left in my copy of the book you sent me. You can call me, too. I really don't understand how you don't like the tone of my bloggers but you do like the very aggressive tone of JIDF and Schlussel... That doesn't make sense to me.

Then more:

Swindle: Doesn't this kind of prove my point? http://twitpic.com/23axcg

He thinks that anyone that crosses him is "undermining his work" which is therefore helping out the Islamic Nazis, ergo to not support him is to hurt Israel. He says that I'm behaving like an anti-Semite. How? By pointing out what's abundantly clear to anyone who's observed his behavior on twitter? Do you see how this devalues the concept of anti-Semitism to such an absurd degree? ANYONE who in any way undermines his work in his mind is an anti-Semite.

How is this productive in defending Israel to create and stir up this kind of twitter drama? Look, it's clear that he won't let you be friends with me. So I'm just going to back away from all this. Whatever makes you happy, Naomi. But you can always give me a call.. Best of luck to you in your writing career.

I wrote back to Swindle:

Naomi: First, no one is my 'boss.' Second: it was clear to me last night that you were stirring it all up and I felt like a pawn. I am really sick about this. None of it is about being happy, that's for sure. I'll call you when things cool down.

Then he wrote:

Swindle: Stirring it up? Stirring what up? A pawn? A pawn in what? I'm not playing some game here.

It's simple, just as I expected: he's making you choose between being his friend and being mine. I'm not forcing you to make that choice. He is. What does that say about him?

June 17, 2010

Swindle: JIDF picked a fight with me ... I don't have time for that kind of childishness. Israel is under assault and a second Holocaust is being planned. I stopped following him and blocked him. So just a warning that he might give you some gruff about blogging for NRB. But I'd sincerely like you to continue.

June 17, 2010

I tried to tell Swindle to deal directly with Appletree.

Naomi: Would you please consider speaking to him directly on the phone?

Swindle: He and I did connect. But then he decided to pick a fight with me because Jenn Q Public retweeted two tweets critical of Debbie Schlussel. The whole thing just seems really childish and immature. It's like he just wanted some drama to amuse himself. We're not in junior high any more and the defense of Israel isn't a game.

June 20, 2010

Swindle: I blocked JIDF because after trying to reason with him he remained insulting and unreasonable. I'm very busy and I do not have time for the kind of junior high drama that he and Debbie Schlussel are engaging in. I'm interested in defending Israel and fighting anti-Semitism, not playing his games. JIDF is mad at me because I did not abuse my authority as editor to try and strong arm Jenn Q. Public into apologizing to him and Debbie for retweeting two tweets. Because of that he refuses to be involved with NRB and he now spends his time trashing me, NRB, David Horowitz, and Robert Spencer. How is that good for Israel and the Jewish people? How is this an effective use of our time? It's not, thus, I've chosen to disengage from him. Sorry, but John Hawkins and Jenn Q. Public carry a lot more weight with me than him and Debbie Schlussel. John is a big supporter of NRB and a partner with us. Jenn is one of my editors and a longtime blogger for us. I've never gotten a single link from either JIDF or Debbie. (*Naomi: That's because JIDF and Debbie Schlussel are too intelligent to link to the NRB insanity.) I don't really understand why you'd want to stand with Debbie. She has this game of violently attacking fellow conservatives as though they were leftists, calling the employers of bloggers who are critical of her, threatening people with legal action, and using disgusting rhetoric (calling women she doesn't like "fat hookers" and calling people anti-Semites who clearly aren't.) (*Naomi: I stand with Debbie because of her integrity.)

David Horowitz was not aware of the Robert Novak article until after it ran -- and he doesn't agree with it. (Maybe Debbie doesn't know this because she doesn't really write for publications anymore it seems like, but Editors-In-Chief generally don't read every single article that their publications publish.) The response from reasonable people was to email to him saying, "Hey, this article doesn't talk about Novak's anti-Semitism." He responded by assigning John Perazzo to write a FULL ARTICLE about the subject. The response from unreasonable people is to write an article attacking David Horowitz and attacking FrontPageMagazine and saying that no one should read us. How is that good for Israel and the Jewish people to try and delegitimize FrontPage Magazine and the Freedom Center? (*Naomi: It wouldn't have killed Horowitz to pull that Novak/Laskin article down. It is just silly ego that keeps him from pulling it.)

But I'm not concerned about Debbie or JIDF, I'm concerned about you. Are you still going to write for us? I like you a lot and don't care if you want to be friends with JIDF and Schlussel. Because I'm a bit perplexed by this tweet: @JIDF I do feel a bit like a pawn, like a 'token' Jewess. Still I think @daveswindle is a nice boy.... You are aware that you're not the only Jew or the only female Jew writing for NRB aren't you? How are you a token? (*Naomi: Your concern about me is not believable. How much is Horowitz paying you and April?)

Naomi: ...After reading Calvin, anti-abortionist on NRB, I started questioning whether I could handle being a blogger on your site. Then my mom got sick and that always skewed my perspective. She is better now.

I am a staunch conservative on Israel, but do not want to be associated with insane anti-abortionists that also have fetus avatars, post surgical tools images, and such maniacal thinking. It feels like they have a strong platform on NRB, I'm not sure I want to be on a team with them.

The whole twitter drama, yes, it got carried away and I am sorry. I need to take a step back from the whole insanity. Raw emotion on twitter, NOT GOOD! I have been evolving this last year, since I published my book - as a blogger. But I want to be my own person. My objective is to sell books and advocate for Israel. I have my own blog and if blogging for others doesn't translate into book sales or paid blogs, then I'm wondering, what's the point? At what point would I be paid for blogging for NRB?

Swindle: Hey Naomi,

1. If you don't want to get into fights with the socially conservative bloggers on the site then don't get into them. The thing about NRB is we have the whole spectrum of conservatism. We've got pro-life people, pro-choice people, pro-gay marriage people, anti-gay marriage people. I mean you want to know why that whole abortion debate happened? Because David Horowitz saw Calvin's headline and was like, "I don't want our people using that kind of rhetoric." (*Naomi: Why, did he actually read an article on NRB?) Well, the problem is that that kind of rhetoric is mainstream within the conservative movement. It's not out of line to say abortion is murder. So instead I challenged Calvin in debate and discussion on the issue. But if you don't want to be on a team with social conservatives then you're basically saying that you don't want to be a part of the Conservative Movement. (*Naomi: I didn't say that. I just don't want to be defined by NewsRealBlog.) I don't agree with the social cons on things like abortion and gay marriage. But I do agree with them on foreign policy and economics -- and that's what matters. When the Left and the Islamists are beaten then maybe there won't need to be this libertarian-social conservative alliance like there is now. But that day isn't here yet.

2. What does David want me to budge on? I'm not going to discipline Jenn Q. Public for her retweets. She didn't do anything wrong and I'm not responsible for what she does on Twitter. This whole practice of going to somebody's boss because you don't like what they're doing online -- which he seemed to have learned from Debbie -- is really repugnant. He's the one asking me to do something; I've made no requests of him. (*Naomi: I'd really like to speak with your supervisor.)

3. You could be paid for blogging for NRB when your posts are solid and ready to go right away and when your posts start consistently generating higher-than-usual traffic. I have a limited freelance budget and need to invest it in people who will help really grow and build the publication. If someone writes a post and it gets 200 or 300 page views then that's not really worth $20 (which is what we typically pay for our paid featured posts) If someone keeps getting 2000 page views a post then they probably are worth $20 a post. We also do flat rate agreements where perhaps I'd agree to $50 a week in exchange for a minimum of 2 featured posts and at least 2 shorter twog posts. It all depends on the value that you bring to the publication. And I measure that value in traffic.
So what do you want to do? (*Naomi: Gee, 20 bucks? How much is Horowitz and Spencer making? $500,000 per year each?)

Naomi: I know, I didn't need to pick a fight with Calvin! What was I thinking? (*Naomi: That was sarcasm)... I need to back out of this conflict! Maybe I could generate that kind of traffic at some point but wow, don't think I am there yet... What do you mean, "What do I want to do?"

Swindle: You can try and back out of the conflict. I got dragged into it. I intentionally avoid saying anything but David had to confront me on it. I'd be surprised if he lets you slink away from it. I think he'll probably force you to choose between being a friend of his and being a friend of mine and an NRB contributor. I could be wrong, though. Anyone is capable of generating that kind of traffic if they pick their topics well, package their posts effectively, and promote their posts at the right places. It's not who you are it's what you do... What I meant by "What do you want to do?" is "You still want to write for NRB, right?"

I made my decision, and finally directly asked to be taken off NewsRealBlog.

July 26, 2010

Naomi: Dear David, Can you please remove the five posts that I did for NewsRealBlog?
I don't want to be a blogger for your site and prefer that those posts come down.
Thank you.

Swindle: Have I somehow insulted or disrespected you?

Naomi: It's not about you and me, it's about Novak, Condell, Geller and some of the other bloggers that I don't want to be associated with.

I see that you have denied me to delete them myself, so I am asking you, please just take them down.

Swindle: You'd rather be associated with someone kind like Debbie Schlussel who called a kind soul like Lisa Graas a "dumbass" last night? That's who you'd rather be associated with? This is the person you admire? (*Naomi: Yes, Debbie Schlussel is one of my idols.)

I don't really understand your reasoning here. Because NRB and FPM has in some way supported individuals who have deviated from pro-Israel orthodoxy you don't want your posts appearing here anymore. Could I have a list of the "true" supporters of Israel and anti-Jihad warriors so I know who I'm allowed to publish, link to, or say nice things about? Is there ANYONE on that list apart from JIDF and Debbie Schlusssel? Because I bet any name you could give me has somehow violated their code of conduct by saying something nice about someone who isn't a pure saint when it comes to Israel.

I'm willing to take your posts down, Naomi. I'm just wishing you could stop and think about all this for yourself instead of just marching in lockstep behind JIDF and Debbie.

Ronald Reagan said it best: an 80% friend is not a 20% enemy. We cannot defeat Israel's enemies if we hold people to a ludicrous standard where they can never make a mistake or never hold a bad idea (*Naomi: The dude is quoting Ronald Reagan to me? ugh.)

So we're not friends or allies any more, right?

Naomi: I don't understand why you don't think I have a mind of my own. Besides having my own book and my own blog, where I can publish whatever I want and moderate the comments, I can think on my own and make my own decisions. I have told you initially, when I first got involved with NRB, that I was concerned about the Novak/Laksin article. Then when I got into it with Calvin and realized what type of radical right wing pro-abortion people you have there, I started to become alarmed. I never liked Pamela Geller, she ignored me when I tweeted her a couple of times re: bit.ly. It didn't have anything to do with Debbie Schlussel. In fact, Debbie doesn't even follow me on twitter.

As time went on and I have become more educated as to the dollars that Horowitz collects for his 'non-profit' and the salaries that he, Spencer get, I became more alarmed. You are on salary, I understand why you may do what you do.

You are wrong to judge me as blindly following other people's orders. This conversation is over.

I let another day pass and he still did not remove my blogs and profile from NewsRealBlog. That was the last straw.

June 27, 2010

On Twitter:

Naomi: Have you taken care of the business that we discussed on email?

Swindle: What business was that? As I recall you put the conversation on hold so I did not do

anything yet.

Swindle: (second tweet) If we have anything more to discuss then you can always email me.

Then back to email:

Swindle: I'm sorry that you don't like what you see when I hold up a mirror.

1. Can you show me one blog post you've done in which you've publicly disagreed with JIDF and Schlussel? Then it might seem as though you're thinking for yourself instead of just following their lead.

2. Calvin is not a "radical right wing pro-abortion" person. His view that abortion is murder and should be a crime is held by a third of the country. In fact I think Schlussel even has that position, though I could be wrong.

3. You're alarmed that the heads of conservative organizations and their senior people are often well compensated? The DHFC isn't particularly different than any other left or right-wing organization in this regard. Do you know how much the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute pay their people? Do JIDF and Schlussel -- who you probably got the questionable figures from -- know?

I just want to understand just why you don't want your posts that you donated to us to appear on the site. And I find it interesting that this request comes hot on the heels of JIDF publishing an attack on NRB, David Horowitz, me and Pat Condell. So it seems that you don't want your work appearing on a blog that also features the work of people who are not perfect on Israel or who have ever made a mistake in publishing an article. Is that the case? You don't want to ever write for a publication that has in any way supported a person who's not a saint on Israel? (*Naomi: I donated articles to NRB? I don't think so! They were NOT donations, that is a lie.)

Naomi: 1) It's none of your business, 2) I have no clue on that issue, 3) Tax forms linked to on JIDF site don't lie, 4) I do not owe you explanations.

If you do not remove my work and my profile from the NewsRealBlog site within two hours, and you continue to contact me, I am going to pursue my legal options.

Swindle: Threatening people with "legal options" is a Debbie Schlussel move. Your posts are no longer on the site. Have a nice life.

I will have a nice life, because I refuse to compromise on my alliances. I might make a mistake sometimes, but don't let that fool you, readers, and don't ever underestimate me. I absolutely don't feel like I have sacrificed anything to stand with David Appletree and Debbie Schlussel. It is just the right thing to do. No one is going to bully me or manipulate me into turning against the people that I trust, the real supporters and defenders of Israel and the Jewish people.Thanks for the memories, NewsRealBlog.

* added notes I added to quoted conversations

Conversation With Veteran Ken Jones on military suicides leads to discovery: plot to use 'veterans' magazine for viral online anti-Israel/Jewish hatred

2010-07-22T21:38:00.001-07:00

The other night I watched NBC Nightly News and was terribly shocked by Brian Williams' story about military suicides. I thought about my Twitter friend Ken Jones, known as @akvet who is a fellow author. He has free ebooks for our troops and veterans. His Twitter bio says: Life After Combat and When Our Troops Come Home. He boldly and honestly speaks of his own experiences and trauma and is a dedicated warrior in the fight to help our veterans transition to civilian life.

I couldn't stop thinking about the military suicides and therefore sent Ken a tweet asking him about the situation. Here is part of our conversation...

Naomi: I wanted to ask you about the news of suicide rates of GIs and what is being done about it?

Ken: Hi Naomi. What's being done about suicides among our troops? There's the macro-level, "We share your concern" stuff. My experience is that it's the troops taking care of each other that is keeping the losses down to the current levels. Am I giving you the kind of info you are asking about?

Naomi: "Keeping the losses down..." Oh, no! such a terrible, tragic level of GI suicides! Yes, your input is very important.

Ken: You're right Naomi, the suicides now are tragic. Without community interventions the rates are going to go much higher.

Naomi: Why are we not hearing about this after each death? Why are they just giving a 'news bite' here and there?

Ken: Individual suicides are newsworthy, right? If it bleeds it leads.

Naomi: But I don't see them. Do you? I don't see the reporting of individual GI suicides in the local or world news.

Ken: Probably not. Suicides are local events. The composite numbers will make the news from time to time. June was bad.

Naomi: Are the suicides happening in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as when they return to USA?

Ken: Yes, the suicides occur both on deployment and back here in the world.The suicides are intertwined with PTSD, alcohol and substance abuse, the need for adrenalin rushes, lots of stuff. If you really want to see the toll suicides are taking among our troops, set a up a Google Alert for "military suicides."

Naomi: During the month of January 2010 more soldiers committed suicide (24) than were killed by enemy fire. I don't know what the answers are or what to do about the military suicides but I will start reporting them daily.

Ken: Yes, the infinite emptiness of beyond looks compelling when suicide becomes an option.

Of course, I immediately went to Google and set up a daily alert for "military suicides." Not long afterward, I received my first daily alert. This is where the story completely diverts into a twisted and horrible scenario. Google sent me to Veterans Today. I discovered a plot so diabolical that it sickened me. That plot is using a title for an online magazine that infers that the magazine either represents veterans today and/or has something to offer them. The only thing I saw for veterans was one link to the VA.

As I was perusing their site, my eyes landed on smarmy articles blasting Israel, calling Zionism racism, blasphemy against Jonathan Pollard and Rabbi Meir Kahane. The outright hatred from four different bloggers: Gordon Duff, Eric Watree, Jeff Gates, and Michael Leon is shocking. Jeff Gates has a post about Zionist dominance in the Obama administration saying, "His political career is a product of a Westside Chicago Ashkenazi network with roots that trace directly back to organized crime of the 1920s." (I purposely do not provide the links back to these cowards as I do not want to promote them.)

The idea that they would use our veterans as a front for anti-Israel rhetoric and blatant hatred against the Jewish people is simply disgusting. Of course, I consulted with David Appletree of the Jewish Internet Defense Force to confirm my findings that the Veterans Today Magazine is anti-Israel. David is the go-to guy for all questions and answers regarding online matters regarding antisemitism and such. After the recent shocking news from JIDF of anti-jihad blogsites of Geller, Horowitz, and Spencer supporting Pat Condell, the Jew hater, once again, I have consulted with the JIDF for vetting and fact checking on important matters.

Please use the comment feature below to give me some ideas on where I should go next with this story, and if you'd like to get involved!

In order to return to the original theme of this post, which highlights the plight of our dear soldiers, I am posting this video.

Assimilation: then and now

2010-07-18T19:59:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, assimilation was what I wanted. It was also what my mother wanted for us. But I think that the reasons were different from today. Our reason was fear. My mother is an Auschwitz survivor and she didn't want us to suffer the same fate as she and her family suffered. In fact, she purposely did not teach us any of the five languages besides English that she can speak. She didn't want us to have any trace of a foreign accent. We were warned to "fit in." I didn't want to look Jewish, and wished for straighter hair and a smaller nose. Eventually I grew up and realized that being Jewish is so much a part of me that it cannot be 'assimilated.'

Now days, assimilation is the boogeyman in the actual survival of Israel. There is plenty of debate as to whether Reform Judaism has led to mass assimilation and also the current controversy of Jews immigrating to Israel and the right of return.The so-called 'progressive Jew' doesn't understand why, if they are marrying a gentile, that the gentile should be forced into an Orthodox conversion. A big part of the reasoning behind the requirement for Orthodox conversion lies in the motive of the person desiring to be converted. Is it just because they want to marry a Jew? Is it because they have decided that they want to be an Israeli? The reason must be so deep that they would go through the deeper process of Orthodox conversion. It has to be a sincere desire to be Jewish, not a 'cultural' acclimation.

The question of mixed marriages and the effect on assimilation, both in America and in Israel, is not a new debate, in fact my paternal grandfather, Baruch Litvin, wrote a book entitled Jewish Identity - Modern Responsa and Opinions on the Registration of Children of Mixed Marriages. It dealt with David Ben-Gurion's Query to Leader of the World Jewry, 5725 (1965). My Zeide said in the dedication:

"Dedicated to the tens of thousand of our Jewish brethren -- refugees from the countries of persecution -- who have returned to the Homeland of Israel with the "Ingathering of the Exiles" and are now rehabilitating in the Restoration of living Jewry."

So, as we continue to debate the topic, and watch what is going on in Israel, let's remember that assimilation didn't help the Jews in Europe prior to and during World War II. Let's take a step back, and not water ourselves down, while we feed the insatiable instant gratification that threatens our very existence.

We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story the book on Kindle

We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story the book

Conversations With Naomi: David Appletree # 4

2010-07-16T17:46:00.000-07:00

Conversations With Naomi: David Appletree # 1

Conversations With Naomi: David Appletree # 2

Conversations With Naomi: David Appletree # 3

It would be an understatement if I said that David Appletree, the founder and leader of the Jewish Internet Defense Force is charismatic and popular. David has 55,000 followers on Twitter and among many other successes, is well known for taking down Islamic and skinhead terror sites on Facebook and Youtube. He is magnificent in his unwavering defense of Israel and the Jewish people from Islamic Jihad, Jew hatred, Christians trying to convert Jews, and the demonizers of Israel and their fake pro-Israel supporters.

I proudly present my fourth interview with David Appletree, who I've had the pleasure of knowing for one year.

Naomi: Welcome David, it is great to have you back as a guest on my site. I'd like to immediately have you address the very recent double story of: a) Kill a Jew Day on Facebook and what it actually means, and b) the fact that some bloggers are so disreputable as to not give credit to the JIDF campaign to take down the Kill a Jew Day pages on Facebook.

David: Thank you. I'm glad to be back. The "Kill a Jew Day" material on Facebook is nothing new. There's thousands of groups that promote violence and murder of Jews. Facebook doesn't proactively do anything about it. Yes, there were some bloggers who learned about our campaign, but didn't cite us as the source. It's unfortunate when that happens because we have an extremely comprehensive approach in these matters, and we update our readers. My feelings are expressed in that Twitpic you linked to.

Naomi: What have you sacrificed by devoting yourself to the JIDF? Can you imagine yourself doing something different? What would that be?

David: I've sacrificed a lot of time, energy, and money. My passion for these issues supersedes a lot of other things, and I can never really get away from the work as much as I'd like to at times. It's endless. I oftentimes debate internally whether it might be better to plead ignorance and be uncaring about the issues. Sometimes I try to "break away," but I can never do it for very long. I believe one has to follow their heart and passions in life. I'm also someone who has to do their own thing, their own way, so if I ever end up doing something different, it must be something that I myself have envisioned.

Naomi: What is the real danger of the left wing 'progressive' type Jews that are enmeshed with supporting groups like New Israel Fund, whose grantees are deligitimizers and demonizers of Israel?

David: I don't like to speak in generalizations about Jews--no matter what "type" they happen to be currently, as people do change their views over time (sometimes for the best, sometimes for the worst). I believe there's hope for all Jews no matter how backwards some might appear to be currently. Not everyone who supports NIF is terrible, but many of them refuse to face the facts about the organization. I'm not sure of the "danger" involved. However, some of these types have gone out of their way to try to put the lives of Jews at risk, and thus, some of them are helping the enemies of the Jewish people. They are legitimizing Israel's enemies, while delegitimizing the Jewish state. But it's important to note that it's not just NIF and J-Street who do this. AIPAC, the ADL, and others have also helped to legitimize Holocaust deniers and Islamic terrorists set upon the destruction of Israel. While diversity of views among Jews is great, I feel there should be some things we should all be united about. These things include the danger of Holocaust denial, Land concessions, the idea of a "Palestinian" state, and the blaming of the lack of peace in the middle east on our enemies (as opposed to blaming religious Jewish "settlers.")

Naomi: What do you think of today's so-called Jewish leaders, whose organizations look like bureaucratic and inefficient dinosaurs? Care to make suggestions or predictions on that front?

David: Unless they want to pay me to consult with them, I have no suggestions for them. Let them keep doing what they are doing while their donors continue to die out and as they seem more and more out of touch. Let them become more irrelevant and useless. No other organizations represent me. That is part of the reason why I created the JIDF---to have at least something Jewish in which I connect with on every level and so I could respond immediately and effectively to various problems which other Jewish organizations can't be bothered to even address.

Naomi: What drives your detractors in their enmity against you? I am speaking of the attacks on twitter and various blogs.

David: I think about this a lot. This effort is genuine, pure, and honest, yet many who should be on our side have been flat-out malicious against me. As you know, some have even tried to put me in harm's way by working against me, directly with Hamas sympathizers.

There's a lot at the root of it. Sometimes I say 'controversial' things. Some Christians get offended when I speak out against missionary activity. Some Jews get offended when I speak out against various organizations which I feel have failed us. Many are jealous of my effort. Some are upset because they cannot change me, or my effort. They want me to tone it down. They want me to focus on one thing, but not focus on the other. They want me to be diplomatic (proving that they themselves aren't, as I'm actually a very diplomatic guy among people who should be our friends.) Many wish I wouldn't speak out against the hatred and violence promoted in Islam, but I cannot neglect the things that I have learned, which I feel must be exposed.

There's also the problem that many people are lonely. This can be toxic when combined with my personalized and individualized approach of trying to respond to everyone, especially when they demand a lot of my time. I manage an online movement that reaches over 240,000 people who are a part of various JIDF online properties. Beyond that, I upset even more of our enemies who harass and threaten me. I'm always cleaning up spam as well as antisemitic and jihadist comments on the various JIDF properties. I'm replying to emails, Tweets, and comments everywhere, at all times. I'm also dealing with various media inquiries, trying to sell ads and my consultation services, dealing with clients, and trying to raise a little money, and I simply don't have time for personal drama with people who are supposed to be on our side. There's simply too much work to be done, and even though I seem available at all times to everyone, I'm really not. It's a juggling act, a ton of work, and I guess sometimes I'm too short or blunt with people. I also have no time for people who flip flop on their views. For example, if you suddenly seemed to have a change of heart and expressed the idea that you are now all right with antisemitic material online, I'd probably be shocked and not want you to have much to do with me or this effort anymore. When it comes to true friends of this effort, I need people on my side with solid views which do not shift. In the past when I've called people out on shifty views, that has also caused them to go ballistic, but I really have no respect for flip floppers on important issues, especially as Ariel Sharon's traitorous flip flop on Gush Katif is one of the main things which brought this effort to life.

All that said, I think it's a combination of jealously, people resenting it when I don't have time for them, or when I do things my way, or they get upset because of my solid stands on things which most people cannot change.

Naomi: Do you think loyalty is a learned trait, or inherent in a person's make-up? How do you judge your followers' loyalty to the JIDF?

David: I've always had a difficult time trusting people. Loyalty and trust are earned, over time. While some make false claims about me taking issue with those who "disagree" with me, I don't mind if people wish to question me, or the JIDF. But there's a line though. I can tell when people are just being hostile vs. trying to get me to view something from a different perspective. I don't have much respect for those who are hostile to me for no good reason, or who make up lies about me. I'd prefer if my friends stay away from those types. There have been people who should be on our side, in general, who have attacked me left and right, who have spread lies about me, and who have even tried to put my safety and security at risk. True friends and supporters who are loyal trust me when I say that certain people have been extremely hostile to me, and to my effort and they stay away from these toxic elements.

Naomi: Can you give an example of a time when you were wrong on an issue, and how you handled any fall-out?

David: I've been wrong on many fronts, many times, and have made peace with many people thereafter. Early on, I was a lot more reactive than I am even today. My main problem is that I lack patience and will lash out at people when I think they are wrong. Then it becomes more about my lashing out than it is about them being wrong. In the end, I feel bad about lashing out and then more carefully reassess whatever it is they were getting at. If people who have a problem with me are legitimately good people with good intentions, I feel I'm always able to work things out with them. If they are the scum of the earth, who want to cause problems and drama, I find that no matter what I do, I cannot get to better terms with them. I've tried to go out of my way to help some people who have gone out of their way to hurt me, and they still cannot make peace. It just goes to show that we should not be helping people who are inherently hostile to us.

At the end of the day, I'm someone who yearns for peace in every way, especially among fellow Jews.

Naomi: Can you please address the concept of the virtual Jewish community online and what it means to you?

David: There are many Jews who feel or who have felt completely alienated by the Jewish establishment or by their Jewish communities. I'm one of those people. Those things didn't do it for me whatsoever, so I have sought and created my own Jewish online community called the JIDF. Considering the amount of time I spend involved with it, it means a lot to me.

Naomi: Is there any organization out there that you unequivocally support?

David: The Jewish Internet Defense Force.

Naomi: Who do you respect in Israeli political circles, if anyone?

David: I'd respect the everyday observant Jew on the street in Israel with no political aspirations, but who has basic morality and common sense. In the end, I'm not sure we can trust any of these career politicians. Sure, when various members of the Israeli government call me, I'm respectful, in a general sense, but that does not mean I respect or support all their political ideas and opinions. I respect anyone with true, honest, and good intentions, but I have a difficult time respecting anyone who wishes to give Jewish Land to Islamic terrorist enemies, and most in Israeli and other Jewish political circles lend credence to that idiotic idea.

Naomi: What to you think of these 'right wing' blogging aggregates, such as NewsRealBlog, and the ensuing 'blog soup' that to me, confuses all the issues?

David: I'm not a fan of NewsRealBlog or the guy behind it, Dave Swindle. I'm not even sure David Horowitz reads that blog, or his FrontPageMag (despite his name being on them). Those involved with NewsRealBlog have attacked me, and they have attacked Debbie Schlussel.They don't seem to be team players at all.

Naomi: Do you think David Horowitz should take down the article on FrontPageMag that Laksin wrote glorifying Robert Novak?

David: Absolutely, but again, I don't think Horowitz even reads that site. He just has his name on it, and makes money from it.

Naomi: What are your plans for the near future?

David: I hope to get out for a quick run in a minute. Beyond that, I hope to continue growing this JIDF effort in big ways

Naomi: What can your supporters do to help you in your quest?

David: There's many ways to support us. I'm always tweeting things like:

Plz RT! Volunteer! Get Involved! Support Israel & Fight Jew Hatred & Terrorism Online! http://is.gd/cHqjt #israel #tcot #jcot

Every day, we take on antisemites, jihadists, extreme leftists, and other hypocrites/frauds. Support JIDF: http://is.gd/bAQUL

Plz RT! Stay informed! Sign up for the JIDF Daily Email Alert, here! http://is.gd/d2Ab4 #tcot #jcot #israel #jews #Judaism #jewish #torah

Interested in JIDF Advertising or Media Consultation services? Contact: david@thejidf.org - #tcot #jcot #israel

Plz RT! Buying something through Amazon? Support the JIDF by purchasing it through our Amazon Associates store: http://is.gd/cKIq2

Plz RT! Stay informed! Sign up for the JIDF Daily Email Alert, here! http://is.gd/d2Ab4 #tcot #jcot #israel #jews #Judaism #jewish #torah

Anyone can share or Tweet these things, often, help get the word out, etc. Or, they can also DO any of these things to help the effort!

Thank you, once again, for this opportunity, Naomi. It's always an honor and a pleasure to know you, and work with you.

Naomi: Thank you David, for taking the time out from your busy schedule to answer these questions. I appreciate your honesty and integrity, not only here on my blog, but in all that you do.

To read my previous three interviews with David, please click on the links at the beginning of this article. I'd like to invite you to participate in commenting on this article in the comments section below and also on any of the other articles.

Invictus

2010-07-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

I am dedicating this poem to David Appletree, defender of the truth

Invictus

by William Ernest Hendley by (1849–1903)

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

free kindle for pc download from amazon

We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story - now on Kindle

2010-07-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

Now on Kindle! $9.99

Free on Amazon- download Kindle for PC

You may search inside my book on Amazon

Buy the book and and also support the JIDF:
Jewish Internet Defense Force (Amazon Associates)

also:

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Buy the book in person in Berkeley, CA:
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Conversations With Naomi: Pamela Siegel Zarte

2010-07-12T05:30:00.000-07:00

It is a pleasure to introduce my friend, Pamela Siegel Zarte, whose Twitter bio states: "Jewish vegetarian, aspiring chef and backyard naturalist, crazy about my family." In getting to know Pam I have seen a deeper part of her Jewish soul that is evidenced by her tweets and emails.

Naomi: Can you please explain the dichotomy of your religious views with your political belief? What is a considerate visionary? How do you feel about Israel?

Pam: I don't think there is a dichotomy between my religious and political views.I guess I'm just in the minority on this. Didn't most Jews, religious or not, used to be Democrats working for 'social justice?' Maybe I was left behind. I am striving for increased religious observance and consider myself a progressive liberal. I keep some of my political beliefs quiet at my synagogue. The rabbis do wonder why I'm a vegetarian. This is 'liberal' behavior to them (wasn't Hitler a vegetarian?) What I eat is not a political statement. It is a personal choice. I keep kosher at home and rarely eat out anymore. I am not yet Shomer Shabbos, but getting there in small steps. I attend as many Torah classes as I can.

I am totally supportive of Israel. Isn't Jordan where 'Palestine' should be? If in Israel, I would probably be voting right of center.

Why is it that sympathy for Muslim terrorism is a passion for SOME in the American left? However, I am not a one issue voter. Israeli security was not much different when Bush was in the White House.

I am in favor of a single payer health care system. When it comes to 'hot-button' social issues, my general feeling is, "If you don't approve of it, don't do it." I do realize that part of my job as a Jew in this world is to love my fellow Jew (ahavath Yisrael). This would, I guess include suggesting ways to increase their observance. This would be hard for me. Open mindedness does conflict with some Torah teachings. I'll deal with it when I have to.

I took a personality test on line, the results of which indicated I am a 'considerate visionary.' The test said I am trusting, slow to judge, and empathetic (considerate). It also said I am imaginative and see the world as the better place it could be (visionary). It could just be a way of saying I am an easy mark! I do think that this is fairly accurate, although I am at times cynical. I try to look at and understand all sides of an issue.

Naomi: You have said: "So many of tea partiers and conservatives say their opposition is not racially based, merely political." You pointed someone out to me on Twitter recently, that really illustrates this statement. Can you please expound on this subject?

Pam: I have a suspicion that racism is at the root of some criticism of Obama (especially the knee jerk reactionary criticism.) People say they are not racist, that they just politically disagree with him.

Wondering if Obama was really born in Hawaii is just a way of saying, "He's not one of us." Whenever there is a chance people accuse him of 'reverse racism.'

This recent news about Black Panthers and Black Muslim Bakeries has elicited some more overt racism. Words like "barbaric, tyrannical, thug, inhuman, evil" can be racially charged. (The worst thing I ever said about 'W' was that he looked like Alfred E. Newman.)

I found out from the example you cited that all it takes is a little poking to demonstrate my theory.

Naomi: Are you a confrontational person? How do you deal with outright racism or Jew-hatred when you see it on twitter?

Pam: I run away from confrontation. It is a little easier on Twitter to confront someone, because they cannot yell or interrupt. It also is easier for me on Twitter because you have time to compose your response. I haven't confronted that many people on twitter yet, I'm working on it.

Naomi: How has tragedy in your family contributed to your evolution?

Pam: My father (OBM) died in 2004 from a brain tumor. He was at an advanced age, but one is never old enough. My sister (OBM) was diagnosed with stage 3-4 colorectal cancer less than a month after our father died. She died twenty-two months later. I helped take care of them both. My sister died at the home my mother and I share. I don't think I can say much more, I am crying just writing these words. I believe in G-d, otherwise I would not be able to get up in the morning.

Naomi: How did growing up in a small town impact you as far as being against racism?

Pam: There were very few black people in the town I grew up in. I don't remember any Asians or Hispanics either. My parents talked about equality. I wasn't even aware of racist words until I used one in front of my father and he corrected me. I had heard the word on the playground and I thought it was a word for a cute little animal. History was my favorite subject in school and I had good history teachers. The enormity of the holocaust was like a cloud over my head. I connected antisemitism and racism and any other form of hate.

Naomi: What is it about doing crafts that seems to be calling you back?

Pam: I want to create things and have control over them! I love the creative process. You get in a 'zone.' It is a form of meditation for me.

Naomi: What encouragement can you give to me in believing that Moshiach is really coming?

Pam: One of my rabbis said that Judaism is the only religion to have been formed with so many witnesses. I cannot find the number just now, but I believe there were 600,000 to 2,000,000 Jews at Sinai who heard the voice of G-d. I love reading Jewish books about so-called coincidences. There are no coincidences. Moshiach is coming (may it be soon.)

Naomi: How did you discover Twitter and the Jewish Internet Defense Force? How has your perception of Islam changed since?

Pam: I started on Twitter last summer because my brother wanted us to use it to keep in touch while he was on vacation with his family. I still at that time had a very old cell phone that didn't do much except make calls. My brother has tweeted about six times in the year. He follows two people and I'm one of them.I loved it. It became a personalized window on the world.

I think I discovered @JIDF during the shorty awards. At first I thought that the anti-Islam rhetoric was racist. I've come to appreciate David Appletree's point of view and his efforts. I realize that David is honest, that there probably is no 'moderate' Islam. I am not easily influenced. My respect for his work was solidified several weeks ago when David tweeted that people needed to be less trusting, that they shouldn't even believe everything he wrote, that he might make a mistake. I appreciate exploration and awareness of oneself.

Naomi: What can you say to other Jews that are apathetic to the JIDF cause and actually seem to wish him harm by their actions?

Pam: I do not understand arguing against one's self interest. Yet it happens all the time. This is another example of when ahavath Yisrael should be remembered. Love your fellow Jew. I think one can disagree without making threats or putting someone in harms way.

Naomi: What are you searching for in Judaism, or what have you found in your search in Judaism?

Pam: The knowledge that I have a purpose in this life, that I might guess what that might be, but that I may never know. Orthodoxy has given me a structure that I appreciate. Action is the most important aspect of Judaism. Do something and then you may come to understand it. Study, light Shabbos candles, give charity, eat kosher food, become Shomer Shabbos, etc.

Naomi: When you start your blog will you reveal more about yourself? Will you write about your sister?

Pam: I'm a woman of mystery! It would be fun to start a blog. I would feel as if my sister and I were doing it together.

Naomi: What is growing in your garden?

Pam: Geraniums, spider plant, rain lilies, and lemons. The yard is full of desert friendly shrubs and trees. We have deer, Javalinas, rabbits and pack rats who like to eat the plants. Most everything we grow is too large to destroy or hanging up in a basket. I would love to grow herbs and vegetables, but you might as well just toss dollar bills out to the critters.

Naomi: Please share a favorite recipe?

Pam: My signature dish is pasta Putanesca. Make your favorite pasta (I like penne.) Meanwhile in a large pan add a tablespoon of olive oil, saute onion, garlic, celery (and anchovies if you like) until onion is softened.Add one large can crushed tomatoes. Simmer for a few minutes, sprinkle some red pepper flakes to taste and then toss with pasta, kalamata olives, capers, flat leaf Italian parsley. Top with Parmesan cheese. You can also add a can of tuna, if you like. Yummy!

Naomi: Please discuss 'one burning issue" that the readers might want to discuss in the comments below, so we can keep the dialogue going.

Pam: Who do we follow/unfollow on Twitter and why? I follow a wide range of people,from the left and the right. I follow rabbis, some of what I call 'talking heads' from TV news and commentary, lots of food tweeters, breaking news services, my congresswoman, and a few people who live in Israel. I never know whether to just unfollow someone or to block them. I mostly unfollow if the tweets have really offensive language or say awful things about women, race, or religion. I don't think that because I'm following someone, that I 'support' them. Do other people do it this way?

A fellow from the NewJersey Tea Party started following me a few months ago. I followed him back. Once in a while I send him some sarcastic and I hope funny message about how much I disagree with him. He seems like a good sport.

Naomi: Thank you Pam! You are a good sport and so much fun on Twitter. I highly recommend that everyone follow you and also please comment on Pam's burning issue below in the comments:

Pam: Who do we follow/unfollow on Twitter and why?

We Never Lost Hope on Kindle plus Free Kindle For PC Download

2010-07-10T16:15:00.000-07:00

Now on Kindle! $9.99
WE NEVER LOST HOPE

A HOLOCAUST MEMOIR AND LOVE STORY
by Naomi Litvin, Foreword by Sir Martin Gilbert

Free Amazon Kindle for PC

click link above

or buy a Kindle --->

Search inside and buy the book

We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story

Fly On The Wall Recommends Some Books

2010-07-04T21:37:00.000-07:00

In Our Hearts We Were Giants; The Remarkable Story of the Lilliput Troupe: A Dwarf Family's Survival of the Holocaust

by Yehuda Koren, Eilat Negev

Carroll & Graf, Publishers:

"In this remarkable, never-before-told account of the Ovitz family, seven of whose ten members were dwarfs, readers bear witness to the best and worst of humanity and to the terrible irony of the Ovitz's fate: being burdened with dwarfism helped them to endure the Holocaust. Through dogged research and interviews with the youngest Ovitz daughter, Perla, the troupe's last surviving member, and other relatives, Israeli authors Yehuda Koren and Eilat Negev weave the tale of a beloved and successful family of performers who were famous entertainers in Central Europe until the Nazis deported them to Auschwitz in May 1944. Descending into the hell of the concentration camp from the transport train, the Ovitz's--known widely as the Lilliput Troupe--separated from other Jewish victims. When Josef Mengele was notified of their arrival, they were assigned better quarters and provided more nutritious food than other inmates. The authors chronicle Mengele's experiments upon the Ovitz's and the creepy fondness he developed for these small people, even the songs he composed and sang to this family of singers, dancers, and klezmorim. Perla explains the irony of their survival in the hell that was Auschwitz: "If I ever wondered why I was born a dwarf, my answer would have to be that my handicap ... was God's only way to keep me alive." Finally liberated by Russian troops, the family returned to their deserted village in Transylvania and eventually found their way to a new home in Israel. They resumed their careers, overcame their handicaps, and became wealthy and successful performers. A unique book that is a powerful testament to the human spirit, In Our Hearts We Were Giants is a triumphant tale that no reader will forget."

I have read both Tough Jews, and The Avengers, by Rich Cohen and enjoyed the books immensely. I met Rich last year in New York City at the Jewish Book Council's Meet the Author Event in June, 2009.

TOUGH JEWS: Fathers, Sons, and Gangster Dreams

by Rich Cohen

(from Random House)

"In an L.A. delicatessen, a group of Brooklyn natives gets together to discuss basketball, boxing, the weather back east, and the Jewish gangsters of yesteryear. Meyer Lansky. Bugsy Siegel. Louis Lepke, the self-effacing mastermind of Murder, Inc. Red Levine, the Orthodox hit man who refused to kill on the Sabbath. Abe "Kid Twist" Reles, who looked like a mama's boy but once buried a rival alive. These are just some of the vibrant, vicious characters Rich Cohen's father reminisced about and the author evokes so pungently in Tough Jews.

Tracing a generation of Jewish gangsters from the candy stores of Brownsville to the clubhouses of the Lower East Side--and, occasionally, to suites at the Waldorf--Cohen creates a densely anecdotal and gruesomely funny history of muscle, moxie, and money. Filled with fixers and schlammers, the squeal of tires and the rattle of gunfire, his book shatters stereotypes as deftly as its subjects once shattered kneecaps."

THE AVENGERS

(From Publishers Weekly)

"Rich Cohen, author of the acclaimed Tough Jews, again narrates a little-known episode of Jewish history, this time altering what we thought we knew about the Holocaust.

Abba Kovner, Vitka Kempner, Ruzka Korczak-comrades, lovers, friends. In the Lithuanian ghetto of Vilna, they were the heart of a breathtakingly courageous underground movement, and when the ghetto was liquidated, they fled to the forests and joined other partisans in continued sabotage and resistance. Riveting, poignant and uplifting, The Avengers is a powerful exploration of resistance and revenge, of courage and dedication, and an inside look at some of the intrepid individuals who fought against the Holocaust and the nazi occupation of Europe."

I read Erin Einhorn's book before I met her in New York City at the Jewish Book Council's Meet the Author Event in June, 2009. Erin's book was amazing and I especially admired her for moving to Poland to confront the people that occupied her family's home.

The Pages In Between: A Holocaust Legacy of Two Families, One Home

by Erin Einhorn

"Einhorn went to Poland to learn the facts of her Jewish mother’s childhood because her mother always refused to tell her what had happened. It’s the story of how a Polish Christian woman saved her mother’s life, how she lived with a foster family in Sweden, and her transatlantic trip to the U.S. with a father she hardly knew. Einhorn located the son of the woman who saved her mother, Wieslaw Skowronski. He told her that Erin’s grandfather had promised the Skowronskis their house in exchange for hiding his daughter, obligating the author to search through a massive collection of archives. In this memoir, Einhorn examines the significance of family and how memory sometimes clouds the truth. An important and haunting work." --George Cohen

MAUS

By Art Spiegelman

Maus was such a personal journey for me. Just getting through it was a challenge, as I read through to page 99, put a book mark in the book, and didn't pick it back up for several years. I identified with and felt Art Spiegelman's pain in every cartoon that he drew. This man, this artist, is a genius. What he feels from being the son of Holocaust survivors is depicted in this epic, incredible work of art.

"Maus is a powerful memoir about Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe, and about his son, a cartoonist who tries to come to terms with his father,his story, and history. Moving from the gates of Auschwitz to the sidewalks of Queenes, this is the ultimate survivors's tale--and that, too, of the children ho somehow survive even the survivors. The Jews are portrayed as mice, the Nazis as cats, but put aside all your preconceptions. This is a new kind of literature."

The Dent Atlas of The Holocaust [Kindle Edition]

By Sir Martin Gilbert

Sir Martin Gilbert advised and mentored me during my quest to publish my family's World War II and Holocaust memoir, We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story.
Martin took the time out from his own important projects to read my manuscript and then encouraged and mentored me in getting the book published. When I asked him if he'd like to write a foreword, he did not hesitate, and honored me with his addition to my book. I have included two maps from his great work, that directly impact my family's story. It is my pleasure to offer a look at one of his great works here, on my site.

"The harrowing history of the Nazi attempt to annihilate the Jews of Europe during the Second World War is illustrated in this series of 320 highly detailed maps. This atlas traces each phase of the Holocaust, beginning with the anti-Semitic violence of prewar Germany and leading to the German conquest of countries in which the Jews had lived for centuries. Presented in chronological order, the maps document in compelling detail the story of the Holocaust, from the spread of the early random killings of Jews and their systematic mass expulsion from thousands of towns and villages to the establishment of ghettos and the setting up of the death camps. Also shown on the maps are more than two hundred acts of resistance and revolt, as well as areas of Jewish partisan activity and other avenues of escape and rescue.

The Routledge Atlas of The Holocaust by Sir Martin Gilbert

CHILDREN OF THE HOLOCAUST

By Helen Epstein

My copy of Children Of The Holocaust, is signed by author Helen Epstein. It is a prized possession of mine and represents a watershed time in my life.

"Here is the first book ever written for the general public that tells the sometimes tragic, sometimes triumphant story of the sons and daughters born to survivors of Hitler's concentration camps."

"Helen Epstein, herself born to survivors of Auschwitz and Terezin, vividly relates her own private quest to come to terms with her parents' past--a past that, despite their efforts to protect her, had become her own..."

Rabbi Meir Kahane: His Life and Thought - Volume One 1932 -1975 by Libby Kahane

Read about Rabbi Meir Kahane from his wife Libby Kahane's point of view. It is intriguing for me to learn about Kahane from a woman's viewpoint. I haven't finished this yet, as I savor and love every page. Interesting to learn that Kahane wrote articles under pseudonyms and worked undercover for the FBI under deep cover investigating the John Birch Society. "When the chips are down, you know who's going to fight for the Jew? Only the Jew. And it's about time we understood this." (1971) -- Rabbi Meir Kahane.

"Jewish survial and redemption are proof eternal and ultimate that the world is not overned by logic, by sanity, or by man. It is controlled and decreed by G-d." (1975) -- Rabbi Meir Kahane.

Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype

by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

I absolutely adored this book when I read it many years ago. I just began reading it again.

"Within every woman there lives a powerful force, filled good intincts, passionate creativity, and ageless knowing. She is the Wild Woman, who represents the instinctual nature of women. But she is an endangered species..."

Foreword: We are all filled with a longing for the wild. There are a few culturally sanctioned antidotes for this yearning. We were taught to feel shame for such a desire. We grew our hair long and used it to hide our feelings. But the shadow of Wild Woman still lurks behind us during our days and in our nights. No matter where we are, the shadow that trots behind us is definitely four-footed." -- Clarissa Pinkola Estes, PH.D

Letters to Auntie Fori : The 5,000-Year History of the Jewish People and Their Faith
by Sir Martin Gilbert

A super entertaining analysis of the 5,000 year history of the Jewish people told in stunning letters from Martin Gilbert to his dear friend, a Hungarian Jewess who was a citizen of India.

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus

I read this book and saw the movie simultaneously. I was mesmerized by both. If I could pick a director for my screen adaptation of We Never Lost Hope, it would Vadim Perelman, the director of House of Sand and Fog.

This tells a tragic tale from the viewpoints of the two main adversaries, Behrani and Kathy. To both of them, the house represents something more than just a place to live.

We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story

Fly On The Wall: More About Me

2010-06-30T20:51:00.000-07:00

Confessions of a Fly On The Wall:

When I'm with people I do more listening than talking.

I like it when I need a haircut so badly that I can wear a ponytail.

I like to put on red lipstick and look in the mirror.

I enjoy putting a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle together, by myself.

I like Meyers Dark Rum with orange juice and a lot of ice.

I like younger men. I also like older men.

I get along fine with women and have some very close female friends.

I don't like to be told what to do, where to do it, or be excluded from a public arena.

I like that I own my own blog, have control over moderating comments, and can write whatever I want.

I'm on twitter and have a widget at the bottom right of this page. You can get a taste of my tweets there.

Check out my author profile on Amazon where you can watch my book trailer, on bottom right.

You can find me and some music I like on blip where I am a DJ.

Naomi

We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story

Mezuzah as Metaphor

2010-06-13T23:59:00.000-07:00

I sit here next to Mom’s bed in the hospital. She is quieter today, sleeping more. Today is more peaceful than yesterday. Yesterday was a fitful, terrible day. The nurses and various medical personnel are buzzing around. Today, she sleeps through the chatter and chaos.

There are some books scattered around in this small, but private room. And I’m watching Nurse Jackie on my brother’s laptop. It’s a good show but the humor falls short with me, considering these circumstances.

And then suddenly I noticed that my brother Joe left his prayer book, the Siddur. I pick it up and look for something inspirational, something to get me through this day. I see the “Blessing For Fragrances.” That won’t work, as the hospital’s fragrances are not what the Blessing seems to be intended for.

Then I see “Blessing over Mezuzah.” Now we’re talking! The lightening bolt strikes! We need a mezuzah for the doorpost of this room. Evil spirits, bad boogie looming. I’ve heard of mezuzah’s for cars, why not a hospital room?

So I called Joe to find a kosher mezuzah. He says “No, we can’t hang a mezuzah on a temporary dwelling.” Curses, foiled again.

But this got me thinking about mezuzahs. A mezuzah is a talisman that protects a Jewish household from evil and is compulsory in Jewish households. No Jewish home is complete without mezuzahs, on every door post, except for the bathroom. The scroll inside must be kosher. It contains a hand written scroll in Hebrew.

Now my mind segways. Israel needs a giant mezuzah to protect itself and all the Jews in the world from the ravages of anti-Semitism and the satanic curse to drive her into the sea.

I realize that Israel is our mezuzah! Just as we place our faith in the household mezuzahs, we must place our faith and our allegiance to the state of Israel , to know how to protect us during this dangerous and fateful time period, where the destruction of the Jewish people lurks like a salivating wolf.

Yes, Israel IS our mezuzah. A metaphor of hope for protection. If only we, the Jewish people can rally behind her, and let her do her job.

We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story

Middle Eastern Misogyny On Twitter?

2010-06-09T15:32:00.000-07:00

I like to be a fly on the wall on Twitter. I see things. I save things. I report things. And sometimes, yes, I can't help myself; I can be a smart aleck. Especially fun for me is to follow the Jihad Chicks and their Islamic Idols.

Last night I noticed that an Islamic dude named @TI3GIB, or Mohammed Busaidi, on his Twitter profile states, "I put the fun in fundamentalist Islam..."

Busaidi sent Jillian York a tweet with a link to "a good read," which I say is actually a shocking testimonial by King Hussein of Jordan's grandfather.

@TI3GIB (to) @jilliancyork "Probably because you're the most invested subscriber to 'the cause'. You can decide what has value & what doesn't. Felt this did. http://is.gd /cGL3f "

In ''As the Arabs see the Jews" by His Majesty King Abdullah, from the The American Magazine, November, 1947 King Abdullah blathers on with, "for nearly 2,000 years Palestine has been almost 100 per cent Arab," in his attempt to make a case for an Arabic Israel.

I'm having a little online war with the American female that I teasingly call Jihad Jillian. And she warned me today to "be careful." She also pointed out that I got my Arabs mixed up. I had Mohammed Busaidi confused with another Islamic 'boss' named @hamoudiassaf, or Hamoudi Al-Assaf, a Syrian 'businessman' who I also noticed last night saying stuff like:

@EDLDoverFerry "I am not an Islamist you dork. I do not believe in Religious movements. This is about wiping Israel from the face of the planet."

Well, excuse me for getting those Islamic misogynists mixed up. They are all starting to sound alike with their inbred Islamic misogynistic behavior. Mohammed Busaidi, in an unsolicited tweet to me, told me that I am boring, and threatened to hit me in the eye.

"Listen lady. I'll knob you in the eye if you don't stop boring everyone. No one will be friends with you if you go on like this." - Mohammed Busaidi

Is this a joke or is it another example of Islamic men belittling the female voice? Maybe they 'knob' their women in the eye for being boring in Oman, but violence against women is illegal in most countries. Oh, I guess not in the 'Islamo-World.

I have previous blogs where I addressed similar issues on what I have seen on Twitter.

Next thing I know, I suddenly see that York warned me today on Twitter to "be careful."

"More slander, Naomi? Be careful." - Jillian York

Unimpressed I tweeted back:

"As Twitter is a public forum, ya tweet allegiance to Hamas/Hezbollah, how can it be slander for me to RT (retweet) it? get a clue, silly peeps." - Naomi Litvin

I am not saying that York is a physical threat. What I am saying is that in her pseudo-intellectual stupor, she is an ideological threat to other naive American women, by holding herself up as a university bred role model with her anti-Israel rhetoric. I am pointing out that many educated feminists are tied up in knots by multiculturalism and find it very hard to pass judgment on non-Western cultures. If York is so entranced with Middle Eastern culture, why doesn't she concentrate on helping oppressed Muslim women, instead of helping to further the causes of Muslim men?

Please scoot over @FeministHawk and make room in the nest for one more American woman that wants to speak out against Islamic misogyny and expose faux feminism! Let the games begin.

Follow me on twitter

www.naomilitvin.com

D-Day 2010

2010-06-06T10:50:00.000-07:00

Nathan Litvin, a Jewish American GI from Mount Clemens, Michigan, above on left, at Utah Beach, after D-Day, 1944 in Normandy.

Sir Martin Gilbert stated on the back cover of his book, D-Day--

"The Allied landings in 1944 had all the prospects for disaster. Churchill thought he would be woken up to be told of massive casualties. Eisenhower prepared a somber broadcast announcing that the enterprise had failed

The specter of failure was always present. After a failed landing the Nazi regime would have regained the ascendant. New, terrifying bombs and rockets were ready to be launched. Long-distance submarines were in the final stage of development. The last million Jews of Europe were listed for deportation and death.

Failure at Normandy could have given Hitler the chance of continuing to rule western Europe, particularly if the United States, bloodied and defeated in Normandy, had decided -- after two and a half years of focusing on Europe -- to turn all its energies to the ever-growing demands of the Pacific, leaving Europe to its own devices. Had that happened, I doubt if I would have been alive to write this book, or free to express my opinions without fear of arrest."

Nathan Litvin was my father. I remember my father as a hero, a brave Jewish American GI. He met my mother, an Auschwitz survivor, in Munich, Germany after liberation. He loved her with a passion that I admit, I have looked for and never found for myself. That's o.k. though, because I have my father, my hero, in my heart. He's been gone seventeen years, but especially on D-Day, he is very much alive and with me.

An excellent book and a fascinating read is D-Day, by Sir Martin Gilbert.

Martin Gilbert has kindly contributed one of the maps from D-Day and a foreword to my book We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story.

Posted on NewRealBlog

Naomi Litvin: Gaza Flotilla: Not exactly the St. Louis

2010-05-31T19:50:00.000-07:00

MS St. Louis surrounded by smaller vessels, Havana, Cuba, June 1939

We are still sorting out what happened with the Gaza Flotilla. My brother called me just a few minutes ago telling me that the LA Times, and all the leftist news sources are blaming Israel for the fiasco. He was at shule this morning, when a verbal argument broke out between the lefties and the real pro-Israel Jews. I was up late last night glued to Twitter, trying to get all the latest news.

It has brought to mind, another ship, in another not so distant time, of a shipload of 900 + German Jewish refugees fleeing from Hitler's machine. The tragedy of the SS St. Louis, the 'voyage of the damned' in 1939, of course is a completely different story.

The people aboard the illegal Gaza Flotilla were clearly free people traveling with an evil mission in mind. But they were invited to disembark passengers and 'supplies' at the Israeli port of Ashdod to hot coffee and sandwiches prepared for them by Israeli IDF and the offer of redistribution of supplies, after inspection, to Gaza residents.

The doomed German Jews on the St. Louis were threatened and turned away from Cuba by President Frederico Laredo Bru as they were refused entry. They couldn't gain entry to the USA either and were turned away by President Roosevelt.They were turned back to certain horrors and death in Europe.

I, for one, am not fooled by this insane publicity stunt by these deranged Gaza flotilla ship of fools.

Naomi Litvin - Deja Vu: Relocate All The Jews To Israel?

2010-05-30T11:54:00.000-07:00

I have an itch that I need to scratch about a dirty little secret, recently slipped into the main stream media by Hezbollah, which spoke of relocating all the Jews to Israel in order to kill us.

I first heard about this subject and posted to my blog on April 3, 2010 the Exclusive Shocker: Anti-Jewish Email From South African Racist Published Here. It was about an email and its tail (yes, tail vs. trail) that had been forwarded to me by a Twitter follower. Contained within this missive was the concept of relocating all Jews to Israel. The shocker for me, was that the rants were delivered not by Islamic jidhadists, but by South Africans, cloaked in double-speak and the usual scapegoat-ism blaming the Jews for all the world's ills.

Then, on May 10, 2010, David Horowitz spoke at University of California San Diego. David dealt with a Hamas student supporter who spoke up and mentioned UCSD's Hitler Youth Week and their fund raising. She began with a 'thank you for coming here," a disingenuous greeting. I watched the youtube video of David and the student, and when he brought up that Hezbollah has said, "All the Jews should gather in Israel so that we won't have to hunt them down," I almost fell out of my chair.

This was a Deja Vu. I noticed the spine-tingling Twilight Zone shivers that often come to me as an early warning system. Where had I actually heard this 'relocate all the Jews to Israel' before? And why was it buried so deep, within my psyche and why did it hurt so much?

Calling for the genocide of the Jewish people is certainly not a new concept. For example, preceding and during
World War II they demoralized us, dejewified the cities, and murdered those of us and others who were too young, old, or not up to their 'standards.' They enslaved us, as been done many times in history, and worked us for their war machines and to build up their national corporations until we were not useful any more. All the while their diabolic, wholesale slaughter war machines gassed, incinerated, and buried us alive.

Our enemies best be careful today, because they if try to nuke us they will take their own families down in the fray.

Yes, I had heard this whole shtick and felt it in my Jewish DNA. Thousands of years of Jewish killing fields have been conveyed to us from childhood. They include all the Yiddishkeit stories passed down by our Zeides and Babas (the ones that hadn't been killed.) Stories told with tears and celebrated with our precious Jewish holidays.

This blast from the past, the demon-seed theory of sending all Jews to Israel and calling for the destruction of the Jewish State, is coupled with the rest of the rampant runaway train of online antisemitism by Islamic jihadists. Their allies, accomplices, and collaborators who are recruiting and joining jihad are trying to wear us down.

Just be assured that there are those of us who have learned the lessons of the past.

Naomi Litvin is a free-lance writer living in Northern California. We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story is Naomi's her first book and includes a foreword and maps by Sir Martin Gilbert.

Naomi Litvin: Islamic Jihadist boss dictates marching orders to naive American women on Twitter

2010-05-28T07:13:00.000-07:00

It has come to my attention that certain American women, who consider themselves 'intellectuals,' are taking their marching orders on Twitter, from an idolized Islamic jihadist boss. I am working on proving that they are actually more organized than they appear. I am dogging them, and will continue to report updates here and on my twitter.

Ali Abunimah, known on Twitter as @avinunu, is a dangerous pro-Libyan American Palestinian who sometimes cloaks his Jew-Hatred in double-speak and goes around lecturing about the evils of Israel. He also likens Jews to Nazis with his hateful and dishonest anti-Israel propaganda. His tweets are deftly violent. At the very least, his hatred is palpable.

In the meantime, I am pleased to report that I see his American female disciples are running scared, deleting blogs and tweets; and even redoing conference tweets with quotation marks, after my criticism that they are American 'role models' that support Hezbolah and Hamas.

Their attempts to restructure their voices is laughable, as their loving devotion to Ali Abunimah is so obsequious and transparent, even a novice reader on twitter can see it. Here is one example:

@jilliancyork "I love when someone emails me to ask about a one-state solution. I always direct them to @avinunu's book."

That one seems to have a hypnotic devotion to all things Middle-Eastern Arabic, including media sources.Today, May 26, 2010, she scorns 'white reporters' here:

@jilliancyork"...And why is everyone on CNN white? We're not *really* the majority, yet so overrepresented."

And then she remarks about Al Jazeera:

@jilliancyork ..."@AJEnglish is my main source. American MSM=painfully idiotic."

Another one of them, @dissidentmuse who has a cushy teaching position in an American University in a theater department, with power over young minds, has arrogantly assumed that her pseudonym will protect her from exposure. She has redone her blog site and blocked me from 'seeing' her. With everything online being public, and google's cache readily available, that is actually hilarious.

Check out a few of her slanted tweets.
Today, May 26, 2010, @dissidentmuse touts Hezbollah news:

"Hezbollah chief vows to destroy Israel's navy in event of any attack on Lebanon or siege of its coast."

A few days ago, she had this to say, defending the building of a gigantic mosque near the 911 site in New York City:

@dissidentmuse ..."Not all Muslims are radicals, so to deny them the right to worship where and how they please is a violation of civil rights."

All of this is from my own perspective and I do not represent anyone else's opinion.

Also, please check out the true story of my family's Holocaust and World War II journey, which illustrates where my viewpoint originates. You can search inside my book on Amazon.

We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story~ Kirkus Discoveries Review

2010-05-27T13:45:00.000-07:00

Five relatives narrate their harrowing World War II experiences in this family chronicle. It could be said that rather than writing this affecting and effective book, Litvin sculpted it. Her breezy but vital narrative provides the shape and overall historical context for her family’s story, but her relatives are the ones doing the real work. Using the first-person accounts of her parents, an aunt, an uncle and a friend of the family, the author offers a nuanced and multifaceted look at the plight of Jews in mid-20th century Eastern Europe. From a small Angora farm in Satu-Mare, Romania, to the horrifying grounds of Auschwitz and finally, to a new life in America, the five distinct voices of Edith, Hilda, and Mendi Festinger, Nate Litvin and Kurt Meyers provide a powerful and intimate journey through one of mankind’s darkest hours. Litvin does well not to mute her sources with an authoritative filter. The book’s undeniable authenticity comes from the life events retold by each narrator—while most historical texts offer one individual’s take, We Never Lost Hope presents five survivors working through their memories. Litvin augmented the book with photographs, news articles and other ephemera (telegrams, maps, etc.) that support the sense of intimacy and reality. Since some accounts can occasionally run long, it may have been helpful for Litvin to provide more editorial insight and direction. Still, the book is a soaring testament to the strength and adaptability of five remarkable people. A wonderfully executed, powerful family chronicle.

Litvin, Naomi WE NEVER LOST HOPE: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story BookSurge (228 pp.) $16.99 paperback December 18, 2008 ISBN: 978-1-4392-0421-4 Kirkus Discoveries, Nielsen Business Media, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003

We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story

Naomi Litvin: Oops! Facebook does it again: censors another Jewish activist on a Jewish holiday

2010-05-20T15:21:00.000-07:00

Shavuos is a sad holiday for my family. On this holy holiday in 1944, the Hungarians and the Nazis, with the assistance of the Hungarian Jewish collaborator Rudolph Kastner, deported hundreds of thousands of Jews; along with my mother and her sister Hilda and her brother Mendi. After six weeks in a stifling ghetto, they suffered in the cattle cars and arrived in Auschwitz where the rest of her family was dragged away to be murdered. But this posting today is not an obituary. This posting is a beginning.

In 2009, on Yom Kipper, we all witnessed Facebook's burglary of all of the intellectual property that David Appletree, JIDF's founder, had compiled on Facebook for two years. David was in NYC during 911, lived one mile from the devastation of the World Trade Center and was forever impacted. He went forward to start the Jewish Internet Defense Force, a wildly popular and important force in the fight against online semitism and the struggle, in general, for the survival of the Jewish people and a Jewish Israel.

I have made my choice. I have chosen The Jewish Internet Defense Force over Facebook. Actually, the censorship of my Facebook page, and their deactivation of me was an overt act against me, by them, on Shavuos 2010. Whether they censored and deactivated my page because of: a) my association with David Appletree and the JIDF, or b) if it was complaints by Hamas and Hezbollah supporters from Twitter, or c) if it was in retaliation for my consumer complaint # PIU 330571 filed with the California Attorney General Jerry Brown's office in Sacramento for their allowing Holocaust denial, jihadist material, and other antisemitic material on their site, I can only speculate. They deactivated my account without warning or reasons. I had gone to my Facebook page and just couldn't find it. After, I simply found the message that I had been 'deactivated.'

As David Appletree has stated: "This is nothing new for Facebook as they have repeatedly censored material which which might "insult" Islam. They also recently censored a JIDF group with nearly 5,000 fans without providing any warnings, or explanations.

Mostly, my intention was to use Facebook to promote my book, We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story, which is my family's holocaust and World War II memoir. In case some of my enemies might think this is an exploitation of the Holocaust; no - it's just the truth. And it was, and still is, a vehicle to help my mom, a fragile lady, live out her last years in her own home.

It's been a year since I published the book. A wild year, personally for me, as what started out one way, morphed into another. I met the Jewish Internet Defense Force along the way, pulled my head 'out of the sand,' and with David Appletree's help, have awakened myself to an awarenenss and a purpose. That is to help to save a Jewish Israel, which by the way I always wanted to do.

We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story

Naomi Litvin: Gadhafi on dissolving Switzerland, his sons, Israel, and the African refugees: His interview with Der Spiegel

2010-05-04T17:01:00.000-07:00

Recently the Arab Israeli representatives to the Knesset shocked the world by being picked up in Muammar Gadhafi's private jet and whisked off to the 'undeclared enemy' country of Libya. Once there, of course, they couldn't get their passports stamped, since Israelis are banned from entering Libya. But they enjoyed a gala dinner and schmooze which included Libya's ambassador to Jordan, who joined them from Amman. They all pow-wowed inside a giant Bedouin tent. On their return to Israel, the Arab Israeli's encountered some tzuris.

In related news, I have reached 2,000 names on my anti-.ly URL shortener awareness list which draws attention to the infiltration of Libyan sharia law into the world wide web. Coincidentally, in a rare media interview, Gadhafi waxes eloquently about his views on various topics. I am directly quoting the interview from Der Spiegel below.

05/03/2010
SPIEGEL Interview with Libyan Leader Moammar Gadhafi

SPIEGEL: Mr. Gadhafi, for years you repeatedly got into shouting matches with the Western world before making your peace with arch-enemy America four years ago. Now you have declared a holy war on tiny Switzerland, of all countries. Why?

Gadhafi: Switzerland is one country among many; sometimes you have trouble with one country, sometimes with another. We never had difficulties with Switzerland before. We used to appreciate it as a holiday destination. We used to appreciate its companies and its watches. But then Switzerland began to treat us badly. For example, the minaret issue and the publishing of nasty portrayals of the Prophet. It was necessary to draw a line with the Swiss. That is what I did in my speech in Benghazi to mark the Prophet's birthday.

SPIEGEL: And now Swiss national Max Göldi, who has absolutely nothing to do with this, has to pay for your anger against Switzerland? A man whose visa allegedly expired, who has not been able to leave Libya for nearly two years and has been in prison for months. Why are you doing nothing for him?

Gadhafi: Only the courts can decide on this.

SPIEGEL: Do you mean to tell us that you don't have the power to pardon him?

Gadhafi: This is a matter for the legal system. But I'm talking now about Switzerland. Switzerland is a state that stands outside the international community. It is not bound by any EU regulations. It is good that it joined the United Nations in 2002, but the whole time before that it was not a member. Why? It wanted to stand above international law. And that has made Switzerland into a mafia.

SPIEGEL: Whatever you may now say about Switzerland, previously it didn't bother you in the least. You did business with the country -- your company Tamoil Suisse has dozens of filling stations in Switzerland.

Gadhafi: Money is laundered on a grand scale in Switzerland. Anyone who robs a bank later invests the money in Switzerland. Anyone who evades taxes goes to Switzerland. Anyone who wants to deposit money in secret accounts goes to Switzerland. And a large number of owners of such secret accounts have died under mysterious circumstances.

SPIEGEL: Excuse me?

Gadhafi: Yes, Switzerland is behind it all.

SPIEGEL: Don't Libyans also have secret accounts in Switzerland?

Gadhafi: Yes, there are also Libyans who have such accounts, and many of them have also died in unexplained ways. All around the world, the families of these people are going to sue Switzerland. And one more thing: Switzerland is the only country that allows euthanasia. Why does only Switzerland do that?

SPIEGEL: Medical euthanasia is also legal in the Netherlands. And, it cannot go unmentioned that Libya has previously had citizens killed abroad who were said to be disloyal.

Gadhafi: But we are talking now about Switzerland. It is possible that among the Libyans who you are asking about -- and who died abroad -- there were also some who died because they had secret accounts in Switzerland.

SPIEGEL: And you are seriously maintaining that Switzerland as a state ordered the killing of these people?

Gadhafi: The investigations will show this. And this brings me back once again to the phenomenon of assisted suicide. A large number of people have been deliberately eliminated under this pretext. Switzerland maintains that these individuals expressed the desire to take their lives. But in reality it was done to get at their money. More than 7,000 people have died like this. I am thus calling for Switzerland to be dissolved as a state. The French part should go to France, the Italian part to Italy and the German part to Germany. Even Ayman al-Zawahiri …

SPIEGEL: … Osama bin Laden's deputy …

Gadhafi: … took al-Qaida's money to Switzerland, where it is still located. Switzerland finances terrorism.

SPIEGEL: Once again: Even if all of this were as you say -- why did this never bother you before?

Gadhafi: We had already noticed that money is laundered in Switzerland and people die in unexplained ways. But recently Switzerland has given itself away.

SPIEGEL: Doesn't your anger with Switzerland in reality stem from the fact that your son Hannibal was arrested by police in Geneva in July 2008 and accused of beating up two people in his employment?

Gadhafi: The thing with Hannibal has been nothing but a source of enjoyment for Switzerland. This is a gang that doesn't care about law and order. The way they treated Hannibal proves that Switzerland respects no laws. A man employed by my son brought accusations against him so that he could remain in Switzerland. They can lock him up -- but please do so within the law. The police acted like a gang. They were dressed in plain clothes and they broke down the door, put my son in chains and brought his wife to a hospital. They left his daughter, who is one or two years old, alone back at the hotel. Then they put him handcuffed in a cold storage room, and at times in a bathroom -- exactly the way al-Qaida treats its victims. An act of terrorism.

SPIEGEL: According to the Swiss authorities, something entirely different happened in Geneva. They say that your son beat up two people there.

Gadhafi: No, no. Nothing like that happened. Switzerland has not said that to me nor to anyone else. I'm hearing this now for the first time.

SPIEGEL: But similar things have also happened elsewhere. Your sons have also run into trouble with the police in London, Paris and Germany. What do you say to them when something like this happens?

Gadhafi: These are cases of youthful exuberance. In France, for example, my son allegedly drove through a red light. That is normal and nothing out of the ordinary.

SPIEGEL: Allow us to ask once again: Are you really hearing today for the first time that your son allegedly severely beat two people?

Gadhafi: Yes, I'm hearing this now for the first time. All I heard was that the employee complained that Hannibal and his family had mistreated him. I oppose such behavior, whether it is in Switzerland, in Libya or elsewhere. What I am protesting against is the way action is being taken against him.

SPIEGEL: While we are talking about your sons -- which of the seven is closest to you?

Gadhafi: I love all of my sons equally. The question of which of them I prefer doesn't even arise.

SPIEGEL: In Europe it was presumed for a long time that your second-born, Saif al-Islam, would be your successor.

Gadhafi: I am not a king; I don't need a successor to the throne. (Laughs.) In Libya the people rule.

SPIEGEL: Your son told us that, as a matter of principle, the office of revolutionary leader cannot be inherited.

Gadhafi: That is correct.

SPIEGEL: Saif al-Islam has negotiated in a number of hostage-taking situations and is respected abroad. Even if he doesn't become your successor, what plans do you have for him?

Gadhafi: He has studied and is well-read; he is a man of the world and has reached an age where he requires no more help from me.

SPIEGEL: He has criticized you on occasion, for example, in the case of the Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who spent eight years in prison because they allegedly deliberately infected Libyan children with HIV. Saif al-Islam admitted that the women had been tortured.

Gadhafi: The investigations have produced other results. I still believe that there was a conspiracy to kill the Libyan children.

SPIEGEL: You have recently been to Europe on a number of occasions. Who do you see as your closest friend among the European heads of state and government?

Gadhafi: My closest friend in Europe is Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, but a few others are also close to me.

SPIEGEL: What do you think of German Chancellor Angela Merkel?

Gadhafi: She is a strong personality. More like a man than a woman. But I have never had a conversation with her.

SPIEGEL: Merkel's predecessor Gerhard Schröder visited you in Libya. Would you accept an invitation to Germany?

Gadhafi: Of course I would accept such an invitation.

SPIEGEL: In recent years, thousands of people have drowned as they tried to flee from Africa across the Mediterranean to Europe. What can you do to help end this tragedy?

Gadhafi: The European Union should annually pay Libya €5 billion ($6.6 billion) via a special fund to combat illegal immigration. We have a precisely calculated plan to solve this problem.

SPIEGEL: What kind of plan is this?

Gadhafi: We will organize housing and employment projects in the refugees' African countries of origin so they remain there. We will do the same for those who are already in Libya, give them a place to live and create jobs for them. Furthermore, we are bolstering our border security on land and water with modern radar equipment and vehicles.

SPIEGEL: Thanks to its oil revenues, Libya is currently more financially sound than some EU countries. How much does your country actually earn every year from oil?

Gadhafi: I don't know exactly. (Turns to an aide.) But it could be around $50 billion.

SPIEGEL: Why don't you raise this amount yourself?

Gadhafi: We are not going to pay for Europe! After all, these are things that benefit Europe.

SPIEGEL: How are your relations with the US?

Gadhafi: Outstanding.

SPIEGEL: What exactly prompted you to make your surprising turnaround with the Americans?

Gadhafi: The big problem between us was Lockerbie …

SPIEGEL: The bomb attack on an American Boeing 747, which a former agent of the Libyan intelligence service was found guilty of carrying out.

Gadhafi: … but we have solved this.

SPIEGEL: That was back under former US President George W. Bush.

Gadhafi: And then came President Obama.

SPIEGEL: What do you think of Obama? Many Arabs say that he has already failed with his Middle East policies.

Gadhafi: When we speak here of 'failure,' it is not Obama's failure, but rather due to internal American crises. Obama has made no mistakes. In fact, he has achieved a great victory with his health reform, he is sticking to the withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, and he opposes weapons of mass destruction.

SPIEGEL: If you were to advise Obama: How should he proceed with Iran?

Gadhafi: He is taking a very reasonable approach. He is using diplomacy, is not threatening to use violence, military nor terror, as the others did -- Reagan, for instance.

SPIEGEL: And how do you view Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?

Gadhafi: He is cooperative, a revolutionary, but not aggressive. And he believes that he is right. Why are the Israelis not kept in check by the West? Why do these campaigns always only focus on Syria, Iraq and Iran? Why is Israel omitted when everyone of course knows that Israel has nuclear weapons? If Obama wants to be successful, he has to start by controlling the Israelis and eliminating Israeli weapons of mass destruction, and then he will also be successful in Iran and throughout the entire region.

SPIEGEL: Ahmadinejad says that Israel should be wiped off the map. You on the other hand have spoken for years in favor of a state in which Israelis and Palestinians would live together.

Gadhafi: I don't think that Ahmadinejad means the violent destruction of Israel when he says this. I think he is thinking of a new democratic state structure to replace the current state of Israel -- on the territory of what is geographically Palestine. No one is talking about throwing Jews into the sea.

SPIEGEL: You always supported German unity, even at the height of the Cold War, and in the end you proved to be correct. But you have been proved wrong in some of your other predictions, for example, that there will never be "an Islamic nuclear bomb." What gives you such a sense of confidence in your frequent predictions?

Gadhafi: I look at the facts and calculate the consequences -- and when it came to Germany, it was the same as everywhere in the world: Two and two make four. There is no other answer.

SPIEGEL: Where do you get your facts? Do you watch television? Do you read books?

Gadhafi: I get most of them from the Internet. I constantly sit at my computer. I read in Arabic, but now it is of course also possible to immediately get translations from English.

SPIEGEL: And, based on these facts, what do you predict for the Middle East?

Gadhafi: Either the Dimona nuclear facility in Israel will be removed, and a democratic state for everyone will emerge with no differences between Palestinians and Israelis, or war and strife will continue. Then Israel will be the loser and will disappear like a grain of sand in the sea.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Gadhafi, thank you for this interview.

Interview conducted by Volkhard Windfuhr and Bernhard Zand

Tamara Olaniyan Book Review: We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story

2010-04-26T20:54:00.000-07:00

I consider myself to be somewhat of a mild history buff, always on the lookout for a good read. I’m always looking for ways to understand and get a better 'over'standing of the issues that affected mankind throughout the years. I purchased your book solely to get more knowledge about what happened during the Jewish Holocaust. What I read, in turn was a beautifully woven story of love between two people in the midst of one of the most horrific human events in world history. I’ve seen and read about the Holocaust, seen pictures, and even attended lectures and listened to survivors of the Holocaust speak about their lives in concentration camps. We Never Lost Hope was a reading that gave me the opportunity to make this dark period more 'real' to me by the narratives given by the family members of their lives before, during, and after the Holocaust. Each family member was able to give his/her story about their lives in a version that is seldom seen in history books. I felt like I was at a lecture given by a survivor but this time, it was on paper. The difference being I have not only the memories etched into my mind but now the written word that I can reread and take with me. I cried reading the book, never imagining a story that I read about so many times would become so real to me. The narratives of your family make it personal because it is a horrible reminder how under the worst conditions genocide can destroy us but a testament on the strength of the human will for the most basic things: survival and love. My son is nine now and I plan to pass this book to him on his 12th birthday. Thanks for writing such a beautiful book.
salutations,
tamara
follow Tamara on Twitter

We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story

Ben Hecht Interview of Jack Kerouac

2010-04-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

Perfidy by Ben Hecht

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Naomi Litvin's bio

2010-04-17T00:53:00.000-07:00

Naomi Litvin, a free-lance writer living in Northern California, grew up in Michigan. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Administration of Justice, Magna cum Laude from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. Naomi is a participant in the Jewish Book Council's Meet The Author Program for 2009 - 2010. She is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor and an American Jewish GI who landed at Normandy. We Never Lost Hope is Naomi's family's story and her first book.

We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story

Naomi is available for book talks

contact Naomi naomilitvin@yahoo.com

We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story: Yad Vashem: Perfidy?

2010-04-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

I couldn't believe my eyes. Was I really reading that Yad Vashem has decided to exonerate and honor Rudolph Kastner? The same Rudolph Kastner that sold his soul to the devil in Hungary in 1944? The same Kastner who saved the lives of the wealthy Jews in Satu-Mare, but left my family to the hell of Auschwitz? Perfidy

What is this, another sell-out of another large Jewish institution? Once again, the Jewish traitors, our brothers and sisters right in our midst believe that there is no hope for Jewish Survival, so they join the enemy.

History is repeating itself. Shame on you, Yad Vashem!
The 1955 Kasztner libel case: The verdict of Judge Benjamin Halevi
Refuting Anna Porter's defense of Rudolf Kastner in Kasztner’s Train

We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story

Naomi Litvin: Note To Elliot Jager regarding Perfidy by Ben Hecht and Kastner Affair

2010-04-16T07:53:00.000-07:00

Elliot Jager is the Managing Editor of Jewish Ideas Daily. He is the former Editorial Page Editor of The Jerusalem Post. Elliot holds a BA in Judaic Studies, an MA in International Relations and a PhD in political science.

TO: Elliot Jager
FROM: Naomi Litvin
RE: Perfidy

Dear Elliot,
Do you still think it is time to move on from the Kastner Affair?
I read Perfidy this past year and it rocked my world. My mother, was living in Satu-Mare, Hungary in 1944. Rabbi Teitlebaum was my grandfather's 'hero' but didn't help his Jewish community escape. Yes, the rabbi made it out on the Kastner Train. I like your article from 2007, but don't agree that it is time to move on. I think history is repeating itself with current politics and left wing Jews in America supporting and collaborating with the enemy, as did Kastner with Eichmann in Hungary in 1944.

I am including your article from 2007 on my site for my readers.

Thanks!
Naomi Litvin
www.naomilitvin.com
Author: We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story
foreword by Sir Martin Gilbert

Here is the Elliot Jager article on Perfidy in it's entirety:

From the Jager File
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Perfidy revisited

YadVashem says it's time to end
the vilification of Rudolf Kastner.
Is it?

ONCE IN a very great while you read a book that forever changes your perspective. For me that book was Ben Hecht's Perfidy, which I devoured sometime in 1974 or '75 after it appeared on a recommended reading list issued by the Jewish Defense League, of which I was a member.

Perfidy means treachery; the deliberate breaking of faith. In 1961, when Hecht published his aptly titled exposé about events in the Holocaust, Hitler's war against the Jews was a repressed memory in the American Jewish consciousness.

Perfidy sold well enough to go into a second edition, though by the time I procured a copy it had gone out of print and was rumored to have been blacklisted.

PERFIDY IS a devastating account of how, toward the end of the Shoah, the Jews of Hungary were betrayed by Rudolf Kastner, deputy head of the Relief and Rescue Committee, an ideological affiliate of Mapai (precursor of today's Labor Party).

Hecht tells how after the Nazi invasion of Hungary in March 1944, Kastner brazenly collaborated with Dieter Wisliceny, a top aide to Gestapo Jewish Section chief Adolf Eichmann, to save the lives of cronies and family. Eichmann allowed Kastner to organize a rescue train which brought 1,685 of these people to safety in Switzerland, in return - so goes Hecht's damning accusation - for keeping the rest of Hungarian Jewry in the dark about the fate that awaited them. He thus facilitated the Nazi genocide.

Hecht charges that Kastner, despite his connections with the SS, didn't lift a finger to help Hanna Szenes, the Palestinian Jewish heroine who had parachuted into Nazi-occupied Hungary on a rescue mission.

Perhaps most damning of all: After the war, Kastner testified on behalf of SS officer Kurt Becher (a Nazi he'd been dealing with), though Becher had taken part in the genocide of Hungarian Jewry. With all this under his belt, Hecht wrote, Kastner eventually wound up in Israel vying for a spot on the Mapai Party's Knesset list.

HECHT REVEALED additional treachery that purportedly reached beyond Holocaust-era Hungary, and thus transformed everyone else's Zionist heroes - David Ben-Gurion, Chaim Weizmann, Moshe Sharett - into villains for me.

For, according to Hecht, the entire Mapai leadership was part of an enormous betrayal: They failed to alert the Jews of the Yishuv to the enormity of the genocide taking place in Hitler's Europe. Had they done so, goes the argument, there would have been an uprising of Palestinian Jews demanding that the gates of Eretz Israel be opened and that the Allies do something to save their doomed brethren. Instead of raising the alarm, the Mapai leaders, who dominated the quasi-governmental Jewish Agency, pursued an accommodationist policy toward the British Mandate authorities.

That wasn't all. In the Joel Brand Affair, Mapai chieftains collaborated with the British in torpedoing the Hungarian Jews' very last chance of avoiding the gas chambers. For in April 1944, Eichmann allowed Relief and Rescue Committee member Joel Brand to leave Occupied Europe with a stunning proposal: The Nazis would trade a million Jews for 10,000 trucks to be used only against the Soviets on the eastern front. Rather than facilitate the mission, Hecht wrote, Mapai leaders conspired with the British to have Brand detained.

As if all this weren't enough, the Mapainiks betrayed Irgun and Lehi fighters to the British both during and after the war, culminating, in their relentless duplicity, in the sinking of the Altalena and the attempted murder of Menachem Begin.

IT ALL TIED obscenely together. From the vantage point of the mid-1970s (when I first read Perfidy), the villains were of a type - quisling Jewish establishment leaders, the same kind of people who were telling JDL activists not to confront black and Puerto Rican hoodlums in the urban badlands of New York City; not to harass Soviet diplomats in an effort to pressure the Kremlin into freeing Soviet Jewry, and not to demand that money raised by the Jewish federations be earmarked for Jewish causes.

No wonder Rabbi Meir Kahane wanted us to read Perfidy, and no wonder we were enraged.

ALL THESE recollections welled up again last week as I read an Associated Press dispatch which reported that Yad Vashem had received "Kastner's private archive" from his family in the hope that it would clear his name, once and for all, and end his "vilification" by proving that Kastner was a hero and not the villain portrayed by Hecht and others.

"There was no man in the history of the Holocaust who saved more Jews and was subjected to more injustice than Israel Kastner," Yosef (Tommy) Lapid, chairman of Yad Vashem's board of directors, told the AP. "Kastner's backers," the AP reported, claimed his actions were on a par with those of Oskar Schindler. Robert Rozett, Yad Vashem's top librarian, asserted that Kastner was indeed a rescuer - not a collaborator.

Was it time for me to reevaluate, to face the possibility that Hecht might have been mistaken in his interpretation of the Kastner case? And if Hecht was mistaken about Kastner, was he also wrong in his portrayal of Mapai's motives?

HECHT BASED Perfidy largely on a libel case brought, contrary to Kastner's wishes, by Israel's attorney-general Haim Cohn against right-wing gadfly Malkiel Grunwald.

In the summer of 1952, Grunwald disseminated a mimeographed newsletter accusing Kastner of collaborating with the Nazis. When "Pamphlet 51" was released, Kastner was working as a spokesman for the Ministry of Industry and Trade - hence Cohn's (and the governing Mapai's) determination to quash the charges.

The trial opened in January 1954 and quickly transformed itself from a libel case against the hapless Grunwald into an indictment of Kastner and the entire Mapai apparatus.

Shmuel Tamir, a leader of the Herut Party, Mapai's bitter foe and precursor to today's Likud, represented Grunwald before Jerusalem District Court judge Binyamin Halevi.

The case lasted 10 months. The court heard 60 witnesses, saw hundreds of documents submitted in evidence and generated 3,000 pages of testimonies.

On June 22, 1955, Halevi delivered his verdict which took all day to read: Kastner had collaborated in facilitating the Nazi destruction of Hungarian Jewry; and his "rescue train" was a "gift" for services rendered - 388 of those on board were family and friends from his home town of Cluj.

Judge Halevi: "Kastner sold his soul to the devil."

IN JANUARY 1958, however, the Israeli Supreme Court, in a split decision, overturned Halevi's decision. In an opinion written by Justice Shimon Agranat, the high court said the task before it was not to give Kastner "a clean bill of health" but to examine whether Grunwald had proved his contentions beyond reasonable doubt.

Hecht summarized: "All five Supreme Court judges upheld Judge Halevi's verdict on the 'criminal and perjurious manner' in which Kastner after the war had saved Nazi war criminal Becher - 'without justification.' Two of the judges further upheld Judge Halevi's findings that Kastner had collaborated with the Nazis during the war. Three did not."

KASTNER - WHO had been working as night editor for the Hungarian-language daily Uj Kelet - never lived to see the lower court decision overruled. At 12:10 a.m. on March 3, 1957, Ze'ev Eckstein, Yosef Menkes and Dan Shemer ambushed him as he was parking his car outside his Tel Aviv home at 6, Sderot Emanuel.

He succumbed to his wounds on March 16, leaving a wife and 11-year-old daughter. Two thousand people attended his funeral.

The three attackers were convicted, served time and were released by 1963. Eckstein, the shooter, was said to have been a paid informer of the Shin Bet.

OVER THE years the case continued to make ripples, with books, plays and documentaries - none definitive.
In 1981, for instance, "documents" were reportedly discovered which were said to "prove" that Kastner had saved the lives of 200,000 Jews - and that Kurt Becher had collaborated with Kastner, not the other way around. In 1982, Israel TV broadcast a fair-minded documentary about the affair. Several plays were written about the trial; one by Motti Lerner was even performed in West Germany in 1985. Another, in 1987, was by the virulently anti-Israel British playwright Jim Allen, who claimed "The Zionists" were "Hitler's favorite Jews."

Paradoxically, there was something - albeit with crucial variations - that the Jabotinsky Right, the anti-Zionist Left and the mad hatters at Natorei Karta could all agree on: Kastner had been a villain, and his behavior emblematic of what could be expected from Mapainiks.

At the same time, I never came across a reputable Holocaust history that embraced Hecht's line about Kastner's dealings with the Nazis - whether Raul Hilberg's classic The Destruction of the European Jews (1985), Saul Friedlander's just-released and widely acclaimed The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945, or anything in between. Friedlander, for instance, writes that it is simply impossible to know why Kastner testified on the Nazi Becher's behalf.

AND THAT'S where things more or less stood when the Kastner "archive" - which Yad Vashem hopes will end his vilification - was delivered to the Holocaust museum on July 22.

In an interview at Yad Vashem, librarian Rozett told me that the "Kastner archives" amount to just several boxes, and that the material contains no smoking gun - or, in terms of what I was looking for, no unsmoking gun that would demonstrate Kastner's pure intentions.

Nevertheless, Rozett argued, "Ben Hecht's book is not a work of history" and his
interpretations are simply wrong.

Take the train that brought 1,685 people to safety. Rozett: "They were a group chosen by Hungarian [Jewish] leaders, Kastner, members of the Jewish council, [and] leaders of Orthodox Jewry." Everybody put on people from their own camp. In fact, the train carried Joel Teitelbaum, the Satmar rebbe, as well as leading Betar activists.

Sure, Kastner packed as many friends and family on board as possible, but so what? He didn't do it as part of a plot, Rozett affirmed.

Understanding the context is everything if you want to evaluate Kastner's behavior, he emphasized. For instance, the impetus for Kastner's dealings with the Nazis in the first place was the fact that Dieter Wisliceny, Eichmann's envoy, had arrived in Budapest with a letter of introduction from Rabbi Michael Dov Ber Weissmandel. The Slovakian Orthodox leader had been bribing the Nazis with money to stop deportations.

WITH GERMANY'S defeat just over the horizon, it became commonplace for Third Reich figures to pursue authorized and freelance negotiations: about a separate peace, to enrich themselves or to prepare alibis.

According to Rozett, the May 1944 Joel Brand affair is now understood to have been part of a far more complex gambit than Hecht described. What most people forget about Brand is that he was accompanied by Bandi Grosz - a double, triple or even quadruple agent. D-Day was just weeks away, and the real purpose was to offer the US and Britain a separate peace with Nazi Germany, leaving the Soviets out in the cold.

In this version, Brand's trucks-for-Jews mission was - unbeknownst to him - just a cover story. "So we have," said Rozett, "this [attempt at] driving a wedge between the Allies and Germany" at a pivotal point in the war. It was the British commitment not to allow the Nazis to divide the Allies at this pivotal juncture that killed the Brand mission.

"And the Mapai leaders didn't cry out because the official position of everybody is that this deal was not workable, but that the Germans needed to be strung along. Hecht's view is predicated on the idea that the Jews had a certain amount of serious power. [In fact,] they had very little power."

In The Seventh Million, popular left-wing journalist Tom Segev also addresses the trucks-for-Jews affair: "The matter had gone from the Jewish Agency executive in Jerusalem to the desks of Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin. None of them wanted the deal, each one for his own reason, and for one common reason: They did not know what to do with a million Jews. Eichmann ordered the trains to roll to Auschwitz."

In Jews for Sale, Yad Vashem's Yehuda Bauer argues, contrary to Hecht, that Chaim Weizmann and Moshe Sharett wanted the British to allow Brand to return to Hungary in order to buy time with Eichmann. They also pleaded for radio warnings to the doomed Jews, and for the bombing of the rail lines leading to Auschwitz.

But the British weren't interested; incredibly, London suspected, writes Bauer, that the trucks-for-Jews proposal "was a major German-Zionist plot to introduce a million Jews into Palestine."

IN A telephone interview, I asked Tommy Lapid, who was in Hungary during the Kastner period (though not involved in the rescue train), why he is convinced that Kastner should be remembered as a hero, not a villain. While Lapid is not a follower of Jabotinsky, neither is he a Mapainik, so his views carry some weight.

Lapid recalled that he first met Kastner in Israel, and that they worked alongside one other at the Uj Kelet Hungarian daily.

"I saw Kastner in the office the week he was killed," Lapid recalled. He was personally sympathetic to Kastner, whom he remembered as an extraordinarily intelligent man.

Why, I asked, did he testify for the Nazi Becher after the war? Because, said Lapid, Kastner promised Becher: If you help me save Jews, I will do my best to save your neck after the war.
He didn't need to keep his word, Lapid argued; who would know the difference? The fact that Kastner did honor his promise proved his ultimate decency.

Yes, he lied in Halevi's court about not having testified in Becher's favor - because in 1950s Israel it would have been impossible to publicly justify his actions. No one would want to listen.

Lapid feels strongly that anyone who didn't personally experience the Shoah - and he was thinking especially of Kastner trial judge Binyamin Halevi - was in no position to evaluate Kastner's actions.

Kastner had immense "sacred hutzpa," Lapid told me. It gave him the strength to deal face-to-face with Eichmann in an effort to save Jews - only to have the surreal nature of those negotiations dissected years later, in the comfort of a Jerusalem courtroom.

Even though during the war Kastner reached the safety of Switzerland, he nevertheless chose to return to Germany and Hungary, Lapid reminded me. And even with Becher's promised personal protection, who but a hero who wanted to save Jewish lives would put himself in harm's way at the height of the Allied offensive against Germany, with bombs exploding all over the place?

But why, I challenged, didn't Kastner warn the Jews of Hungary of the fate that awaited them? There was no point, said Lapid. "A revolt by Hungarian Jewish women and children would have resulted in an immediate massacre. (The men had already been taken for forced labor.) The object was to buy time in any way possible."

Finally, what about the insinuation that the Shin Bet killed Kastner to keep him silent and Mapai in power? "Absolute nonsense," declared Lapid, if for no other reason than because the then head of the Shin Bet was Amos Manor, a close personal friend of Kastner's from Hungary.

HAVING REVISITED these issues, I'm still in no position to determine whether - or to what extent - Hecht may have been wrong in his interpretation of Labor-Zionist behavior during the Holocaust. But I am left with the sense that their contradictory conclusions notwithstanding, neither the historians, nor Hecht, nor the folks at Yad Vashem, who are intent on clearing Kastner's name, are out to deceive.

Today, I see no value in willing ourselves to remain embittered, perhaps in perpetuity, over Zionist ideological divisions during the Mandate and the Shoah era. It's time to move on.

The true villains of the Shoah, let us never forget, were first the Nazis and their enablers, then those who barred the gates of refuge, and those who rioted to keep them barred.

(The above article is reprinted in it's entirety from Elliot Jager's blog)

We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story

Perfidy

Naomi Litvin: EXCLUSIVE SHOCKER: anti-Jewish email from South African racist published here

2010-04-03T16:48:00.000-07:00

Spring cleaning of my Outlook mail has produced an extreme piece of nauseating racist and anti-Semitic garbage. So much so, that I let this trail of emails languish in the box since December 2009, not knowing what to do with it. Now, I have decided that it needs to be seen.

The fellow that is behind this crud is Jan Lambrecht, from Johannesburg, South Africa, with correspondence with his cronies. He wants to put the "Jewish issue to bed" and says "the Jewish question is an ongoing and never-ending complete nuisance..." He starts out praising certain things about Jews, but you'll see further into it, his rant includes, "...clever, rich, argumentative, difficult, and understands why the Germans became angry with the Jews." In the end, he states his belief that all Jews should be 'relocated' to Israel.

I am not pretending to know a thing about South African affairs and politics. All I know is what I read, and how I feel after I read it. So go ahead and read this, and please comment back on how you feel. And then get the sage out, because you will need a good smudging after you read it.

----- Original Message -----

From: Jan Lamprecht
To: JoAn Wilcox ; 'Frederick Prinsloo' ; Gairk
Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 1:15 AM
Subject: Attention: How the heck did this happen?

Hi Guys,
Who approved this comment for this story?
http://www.africancrisis.co.za/Article.php?ID=66823&M=2&

Personally, the Jews are peeing me off at the moment, but I want to remove ALL Jewish issues from the damned site.
Why was this approved?

Cheers,
Jan

From: Frederick Prinsloo [mailto:frederick.prinsloo@bigpond.com]
Sent: 23 December 2009 05:29 AM
To: Jan Lamprecht
Cc: Gairk (AFC); JoAn Wilcox
Subject: Re: Attention: How the heck did this happen?
Importance: High

Hi Jan

It is quite probable that I allowed it through. I researched the things that he was claiming, and I found that what he wrote has fact:

Marx - Jew
Lenin - Jew
Trotsky - Jew
Yakov Sverdlov - Jew
Grigori Zinoviev - Jew
Karl Radek - Jew
Maxim Litvinov - Jew
Lev Kamenev - Jew
Moisei Uritsky - Jew

And the majority of the russian revolutionary top tiers.
Then I thought this is interesting...but what about South Africa ?

Denis Goldberg - Jew
Lionel Bernstein - Jew
Bob Hepple - Jew
Arthur Goldreich - Jew
Harold Wolpe - Jew
James Kantor - Jew
Kasrilis - Jew
Albie Sachs - Jew

And the list goes on and on
I even researched this much deeper, such as the American Communist parties etc...
I was quite shocked at the extent of jewish involvement in communism...

In light of this, I made the choice that in declining the post, would I be undermining fact? The post is well backed by fact, and it was related to the article, and so I could not delete it.

Just a question Jan, so do we COMPLETELY deny comments about Jews, even if they are fact and relevant to the article?

From: "Jan Lamprecht"; pbs@iafrica.com;debbieh@tds.netdebbieh
Date: December 23, 2009 2:50:41 AM CST
To: "'Frederick Prinsloo'"; frederick.prinsloo@bigpond.com;
Cc: "'Gairk $AFC$'"; flatrsa-gairk@yahoo.co.uk>, "'JoAn Wilcox'"; jwscorpio@rocketmail.com
Subject: RE: Attention: How the heck did this happen? About the Jews... The Raw Facts about Jews

Hi Frederick,
Listen, I’m going to say this again. I know very well about Jews and where they are. I’ve worked with many Jews over the years and they tell me *LOTS* that I don’t even discuss. I am going to challenge you on another point. You say Jews are Communists right… YES, you’ll find Jews everywhere in communism. But then, go among the Jews and then do this piece of research. Go and search SOUTH AFRICAN COMPANIES OWNED BY JEWS. Go and do research. And I am going to tell you that you will find a much, much, much longer list of Jews. Jews own almost every major company in South Africa . Do you hear me? If I speak to Jews and I hear who owns what – FIRSTHAND – I can tell you the list of CAPITALIST JEWS is about 100 times longer, maybe 1,000 times longer than the list below.

Then, go into SCIENCE, and see how many JEWS you will find there. Einstein was a Jew. Just the names will be clues. Look into science… and dig. You’ll find stacks of Jews.

What you will find is this: Jews DO HAVE A HIGH IQ and Jews by nature are academically inclined. Jews run off in 1,000 different directions at once. But the MAJORITY of Jews are NOT COMMUNIST. The Communist Jews are a handful.

Ronnie Kasrils, is a piece of communist garbage… JEWISH right? Well, Ronnie Kasrils IS NOT RECOGNISED AS A JEW. Jews in South Africa are OPPOSED TO RONNIE KASRILS – Openly – go and read the Jewish media. Go and look. I’ve seen Jewish publications. Ronnie Kasrils is not even regarded as a Jew by Jews because he’s an Athiest and remember, “Jew” is a religion, so if you’re an atheist you can’t be a Jew.

Now, I have had close Jewish friends, and I will tell you this. Those Jewish friends of mine would tell me who in their family owns what and knows what. And I’m going to tell you, the Jews literally OWN SOUTH AFRICA . But the Jews are not communists. They are capitalists who will strike a deal with ANYONE. This is where the problem lies. The Jews will walk in there and strikes a deal with ANYONE. The Jews go for anything that they see as promising and furthering their own interests. So some become communists, most become capitalists – since they like education and learning. The problem is that because they are well educated and they focus their talent on intellectual things – THEY RISE TO THE TOP.

Go and do a study of how many Jews are in Govt, Law, Medicine, Science – in the WORLD as a proportion of their population of 12 million – and you will be shocked to the core.

The Jews get up there, they network, they do things, and they’re out to further their own interests. Not all Jews support Israel . Go and see, SHOCKINGLY – and to me this is a complete DISGRACE: How many Jews voted for and supported the ANC… How many Jews voted for Obama. Truly, it’s disgraceful. And to be frank with you, I’m sick to death of discussing this issue with my Liberal Jewish friends. I am so annoyed by this aspect of them. But I can quite see why they do it. The Jews look after their own skins and they go wherever the wind blows. If the wind blows left the Jews will all run off to the left. If the wind blows right, the Jews all run off to the right. They’re a funny, intellectual type of geeky people who seek money as their security. I doubt you will find many Jews in the ARMY anywhere, except in Israel .

Frederick, I welcome you publishing what you discovered, but I’d like you to do a full study. Do a FULL STUDY and then publish ALL the facts in a balanced way. If you want to do a study and a proper article on this matter for once and for all, and I’ll proof read it, then lets do it. I will acknowledge Jews all over communism. But go and see how many Jews are in the white house, the world bank, EVERY BANK IN FACT. Banking and Medicine are probably 2 of the areas almost totally dominated by Jews. Every 2nd doctor and specialist in South Africa is a Jew.

The Jews I have the most respect for are the Israeli Jews because:-
(a) They actually stand up and fight instead of being CHAMELEONS like the rest. The Jews of South Africa are mostly Chameleons. They’ll change colour as it suits them.
(b) Most of all, I personally, like and take pride in CONSERVATIVE JEWS. I have conservative Jewish friends, and they are firm, and know where they’re going. Take Yoel Lerner for example, ex South African Jew who wrote that fabulous article about Afrikaners and about small nations standing together. I know Yoel, and he is one of my conservative Jewish friends. Now my conservative Jewish friends are DIFFERENT. They have FIRM VALUES. Very firm. And they stand their ground and I like them. In fact, one of my conservative Jewish friends say: All Jews should return to Israel – it will be the best for them all. And, I think it will be good too. I support the idea of all Jews returning to Israel , and I 100% support the reason for Israel to exist – EVEN THOUGH THAT IS NOT WHAT IS WRITTEN IN THE SCRIPTURES. The Scriptures say that Israel will rise again WHEN THE MESSIAH COMES – which never happened. So technically, Israel should not exist.

Frederick, one Jewish friend of mine in the 1980s rattled off the list of prominent Jews in South Africa , and the list was as long as my arm. This was during Apartheid. All sorts of people I did not even think of – Reeve Foreman. Remember her? Stinking rich and Jewish. The list goes on and on.

In recent weeks, I was told the following massive chains in South Africa are owned by Jews: Builder’s Warehouse, Dischem, etc. You will know Pick ‘n Pay… is Jewish. Go through the list of major companies in South Africa and YOU WILL BE SHOCKED. The Jews own more than you can believe. They did it under Apartheid and they do it now.

BUT, for the record, since ANC rule, more Jews have fled from South Africa than ever before. I knew a Jew who owned a clothing factory who relocated to Australia . Vast numbers of Jews have left. The Jewish population of South Africa has dropped CONSIDERABLY since ANC rule.

If we are going to publish things about Jews, then let’s not publish 20% or 10% of the story. Let’s publish THE FULL STORY. Get all the facts – and you’ll see that for every 1 Jew who became a communist, 100 others, if not 10,000 others became CAPITALISTS or entered some other area. Jews do rise to the top because they work hard.

Karl Marx was a Jewish liar who invented an idea which was intended to make him the dictator of Germany . That’s what Karl Marx tried to do. When he could not take over Germany , he tried to take over other countries in Europe .

Now I’ve been among Jews. I’ve been in a synagogue and I’ve been to talks by Jews and where the entire audience was Jewish except for ME. I’ve watched Jews, and Jews can argue. Their speciality is endless intellectual debates. They debate and argue endlessly among themselves.

I wish I could get a list of companies in this country where the majority of shareholders are Jewish – and you will fall on your back.

The Jews AS A MATTER OF COURSE, LIKE TO GO TO THE TOP. The Jews, if they have a problem, go straight to the President of South Africa. They don’t muck around. The Jews talk directly to Mbeki and Zuma. I know this. It happens. I know people who were there. But then… get this… the Jews chat to the President of the country, ask him to speak to them… they question him directly… and, this is too funny, he stands there and lies into their faces… and MANY OF THEM BUY IT!!!!

The Jews are DIFFERENT, they’re really a bunch of geeks. That’s Jews in a nutshell, and they ALL walk around with BIG IDEAS. All of them. Some of them, make it. Many of them don’t – but trust me, they have enormous ideas. I know this. I’ve spoken to them. They’re different. And, they’re very successful. Money is their thing. They go after the money for security and power. And they network closely with each other.

Furthermore, the Rabbis are very clever. I must tell you, the Jewish Rabbis are truly clever men, and those Rabbis keep the people together. Judaism is a very clever religion. Jews for example convert others and bring them into the fold. Its rare for a Jew to become a Christian but common for Christians to become Jews – and by the way, many AFRIKANERS become Jews. Some even change their names during the process. Yes…

Yes, those other people are RIGHT, LOTS OF JEWS IN COMMUNISM – AT THE TOP. You won’t find them at the bottom or middle. You’ll find lots at the TOP. But that does not mean most Jews are communists. Not by a long shot. Most Jews are CAPITALISTS – but they’re capitalists WHO WILL DEAL WITH ANYONE. Why? Because these Jews make a business of being different AND GETTING DIFFERENT TREATMENT. The Jews are good at playing this game. The Jews know that in this world, there are no rules and that you can negotiate EVERYTHING… and they do. They’ve got the balls to do it. And they do.

Most Jews don’t become stinking rich and many are poor, but even among the poor, you’ll find seriously big ideas. I know Jews who will NEVER SUCCEED, but that does not stop them from talking as if they could own the world. Most by far as involved in commerce, and you should see how stingy they are and save money. I can tell you stories. They will not buy clothes, etc – in order to save money, but they might have R1 million sitting in a bank a/c. Money is their thing… security is their thing. Jews are always a minority everywhere and they also feel threatened. So in SA where the blacks are the majority, the Jews naturally tend to go with the blacks. Jews are a community and stick together, and those clever rabbis manipulate them and manoevre them (its all part of the religion) and keep them together – even though they argue INCESSANTLY with each other.

One Israeli General once said this to his troops (because Jews can’t be commanded – they are difficult and argumentative as I say). He said to his troops: “I am not going to order you to dig fox holes. But I will tell you this. If you don’t dig them you will die. The choice is yours”.

That sums up Jews. Frederick , go and do some research on what the Jews OWN – and they may be secretive so they don’t openly advertise it – and you will be completely SHOCKED. They own the world. Well, if they don’t own the world, they pretty much own South Africa .

But I am sick to DEATH of communism being called a Jewish conspiracy because communism is such a tiny part of what the Jews do. A handful of Jewish assholes became communists. Those who run around talking about Zionism and Jewish Communism should go out there, and study ALL that Jews get up to… and present it in a balanced fashion and you’ll see for yourself.

For us whites in Africa , the Jews have largely stabbed us in the back and sided with the blacks even though the Blacks have the Jews on their list of people to annihilate. Personally, I like the idea of Jews relocating to Israel . I think the Jews should return to their homeland and be a nation by themselves instead of having colonies all over the world. I think it will get rid of a lot of HATRED and ANGER towards Jews. And I must say, I personally find the Liberal Jews truly annoying. Their bending over towards our enemies is a serious issue. They undermine those who would otherwise stand.

The Jews I like the most, by far are the rising numbers of CONSERVATIVE JEWS. I like them the most. I would call them “Friend” in a heartbeat. But the Liberal Jews, like Helen Zille, who was anti-apartheid and wears it like a badge – I am sick of them. They are helping our enemies. And that’s why I say they’re chameleons. They don’t regard themselves as “white”. The Liberal Jews of South Africa make me so cross. They whine about the ANC but they played a MASSIVE ROLE in helping the ANC – and these were capitalist Jews. Even the super-capitalists, the Oppenheimers… look at what they did: They kiss the ANC’s ass, help them to come here, MEANWHILE, oppenheimer moves most of his cash out of South Africa …. Why, because deep down even Oppenheimer does not trust the ANC!!!!! But publicly, he is all for the ANC! And while Oppenheimer is moving his cash out, downsizing his business, etc… where are WE LEFT? We’re left here to take it in the neck from the ANC. The Jews have other options which we don’t have, and so they can play games that don’t matter too much to them, whereas we are in a different position. And that to me is extremely annoying. The Jews are undermining what Afrikaners are doing.

Now in America , it seems to me we will see a recurrence of the same pattern. The MAJORITY of the Jews of America will stand by, weaken the Right Wing and play their role in leading America to the left to its destruction – because the Jews will just guard their wealth, move it out, strike new deals, etc – but the average man in the street will take it in the neck. The Jews operate on a different level to the rest of us. They operate “up there” almost all the time, and we’re “down here”. So that makes for a serious problem.

I can understand why the Germans became angry with the Jews. I can see why, despite my own efforts, some of my Jewish friends annoy me intensely. They think and operate differently. Read: RICH DAD POOR DAD where the Japanese American tells you: The Rich operate differently to the Poor. The Rich know that all rules are malleable. The Jews know this. The Jews negotiate and manipulate and manoevre to get the best deal FOR THEM. It might not be the best deal FOR YOU AND ME. But it’s the best deal FOR THEM. And that’s their game.

I think that is how it is that Jews end up being hated in so many countries because they are SUCCESSFUL at getting their own deal so often, and perhaps to the detriment of the locals. Hatred of Jews is nothing new. But this method of operation – how the Jews survive – is a thing that goes back 2,000 years to when the Romans threw them out of Palestine, and since then, they’ve evolved this way of living. But I do believe, even in the time of Jesus, Jews were a difficult and argumentative people. But there is also creativity that comes out of this, and that’s why the Jews dominate our religion and thinking. The Jews, through their irritating intellectual manner (I have a similar irritating, argumentative nature myself), actually come up with ideas before the rest of us.

So Jews do good, but they also have a way of bringing hatred upon themselves at the same time. Personally, I wish the problem would be solved – for them and for us.

I believe in nationalism, and I think the Jews must return to Israel . I’d like us to be friends with Israel . I would not mind Jews among us, if only they would stand by us. But I think in SA, the Jews have made it clear, they want to be allied to the BLACKS. In which case, the rest of us whites must know that the Jews=ANC. I think this thing should be sorted out and made clear. On whose side do they want to be, because to me, if they want to be on the ANC’s side, then I know they’re the enemy. And then the Jews like Helen Zille should not be running around looking for Afrikaner votes, etc. Then they must stuff off and get the votes of the blacks in Soweto . But the reality is, that more Afrikaners (by far) vote for Helen Zille than blacks do – for which she is probably not even grateful – the b*tch who runs around saying how great it was to stand against Apartheid. I’ll bet you more Afrikaners vote for her than any other group.

Personally, I think a lot of South African Jews are also cowards which is why they side with the ANC. To have to side with the rest of us whites would require balls and they have none. And I think of one of my friends when I say that. One of my friends falls into this category. You can no doubt tell that I’m very annoyed – and I am, because of some recent events which I regard as betrayal. I can’t stand it when people you believe are your friends can’t stand by you. I stand by them, but when there’s a whiff in the breeze then suddenly your “friend” changes sides. That, I can’t stand. In my books, you’re either a friend or an enemy – make up your mind which one you are and I will treat you accordingly. I have no time for games. Are you friend or foe? Hurry up and choose. J

Actually, you raise interesting issues Frederick. Do some research on Jewish ownership in SA. It can’t be much of a secret. Then let’s write a piece which we can refer to.

With regard to why you approved those comments. Ok, I see your reasoning. But I do want to put this Jewish issue to bed. I think I must write a piece on AC about this, a big piece, and we post it and we refer to it whenever the Jewish question comes up. The Jewish question is an ongoing and never-ending complete nuisance to me. The Jews I truly feel close to are conservative Jews – of which there are far too few, but I wish we could see more going that way.

Cheers,
Jan

We Never Lost Hope: A Holocaust Memoir and Love Story