Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By simmons on July 23, 2015

This article is about the Mandate instrument passed by the League of Nations granting Britain a mandate over the territories of the Ottoman Empire, that today are the State of Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Jordan. For a history of the period, see Mandatory Palestine and Emirate of Transjordan. League of Nations - Mandate for Palestine and Transjordan Memorandum

British Command Paper 1785, December 1922, containing the Mandate for Palestine and the Transjordan memorandum

The British Mandate for Palestine, shortly Mandate for Palestine, or the Palestine Mandate was a League of Nations mandate for the territory that had formerly constituted the Ottoman Empire sanjaks of Nablus, Acre, the Southern part of the Vilayet of Syria, the Southern portion of the Beirut Vilayet, and the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem, prior to the Armistice of Mudros.

The draft of the Mandate for Palestine was formally confirmed by the Council of the League of Nations on 24 July 1922, supplemented via the 16 September 1922 Trans-Jordan memorandum[2][3] and then came into effect on 29 September 1923[2] following the ratification of the Treaty of Lausanne.[4][5] The mandate ended at midnight on 14 May 1948. The Palestine Mandate legalized the temporary rule of Palestine by Great Britain.

The document was based on the principles contained in Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations and the San Remo Resolution of 25 April 1920, by the principal Allied and associated powers after the First World War. The objective of the League of Nations Mandate system was to administer parts of the defunct Ottoman Empire, which had been in control of the Middle East since the 16th century, "until such time as they are able to stand alone."[6] The approximate northern border with the French Mandate was agreed upon in the PauletNewcombe Agreement of 23 December 1920.[7]

Transjordan had been a no man's land following the July 1920 Battle of Maysalun.[8] During this period, the British chose to avoid any definite connection with Palestine[9] until a March 1921 conference at which it was agreed that Abdullah bin Hussein would administer the territory under the auspices of the Palestine Mandate. The Trans-Jordan Memorandum annulled the articles regarding the Jewish National Home in the territory east of the Jordan. It also established a separate "Administration of Trans-Jordan" for the application of the Mandate, under the general supervision of Great Britain. On 18 April 1946, Transjordan was formally separated from the Palestine Mandate,[10] with Abdullah remaining the king.

When the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in the First World War in April 1915, it threatened Britain's communications with India via the Suez Canal, besides other strategic interests of the allies. The conquest of Palestine became part of British strategies aimed at establishing a land bridge between the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf. This would enable rapid deployment of troops to the Gulf, then the forward line of defence for British interests in India, and protect against invasion from the north by Russia. A land bridge was also an alternative to the Suez Canal.[11]

In response to French initiatives, the United Kingdom established the de Bunsen Committee in 1915 to consider the nature of British objectives in Turkey and Asia in the event of a successful conclusion of the war. The committee considered various scenarios and provided guidelines for negotiations with France, Italy, and Russia regarding the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. The Committee recommended in favour of the creation of a decentralised and federal Ottoman state in Asia.[12]

At the same time, the British and French also opened overseas fronts with the Gallipoli (1915) and Mesopotamian campaigns. In Gallipoli, the Turks successfully repelled the British, French and Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs).

From 1915, Zionist leader and anglophile Ze'ev Jabotinsky was pressing the British to agree to the formation of a Zionist volunteer corps that would serve under the aegis of the British army. The British eventually agreed to set up the Zion Mule Corps, which assisted in the failed invasion of Gallipoli. After Lloyd George was made prime minister during the war, the British waged the Sinai and Palestine Campaign under General Allenby. This time the British agreed to a "Jewish Legion", which participated in the invasion. Russian Jews regarded the German army as a liberator and the creation of the Legion was designed to encourage them to participate in the war on Britain's side.

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Posted By simmons on July 23, 2015

Story highlights Hamas tunnels are the battleground of the future, Israel fears Israel is testing a secret new tunnel detection system

They knew that Palestinian militants had been digging tunnels for years, but they didn't expect anything so elaborate.

The tunnel's walls, floors, and ceiling were made of concrete, and the tunnel was wired for electricity and communication.

It was wide enough and tall enough to move quickly; a person could run with weapons, or even ride a motorcycle.

"This tunnel is perfectly safe to be inside, which means that it is a very good building procedure," Israel Defense Forces Capt. Daniel Elbo says. And he would know -- Israeli military engineers briefed him after they checked it out.

During the 2014 Gaza war, Hamas militants launched surprise attacks from tunnels that crossed under Israel's security fence and into Israel.

Identifying and destroying the tunnels became a major goal of the war for the IDF, which found many tunnels that were more than a mile long and 60 feet deep. By war's end, the IDF had destroyed 32 tunnels.

Now, along the Gaza border, the Israeli military is testing a new tunnel detection system a year after the end of the Gaza war.

Israel's intelligence officials say Hamas is building new tunnels, and finding them has become a top priority for the IDF.

"Just like a game of hide-and-seek," says Maj. Nir Peled. "We manage to find one tunnel, so we know that Hamas are digging the next tunnel in a different way, in a different depth."

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Israel battles Hamas in tunnel 'hide and seek' - CNN.com

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Posted By simmons on July 23, 2015

"Denying historical facts, especially on such an important subject as the Holocaust, is just not acceptable. Nor is it acceptable to call for the elimination of any State or people. I would like to see this fundamental principle respected both in rhetoric and in practice by all the members of the international community".

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Rejecting any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event, either in full or in part, the General Assembly adopted a resolution (A/RES/60/7) by consensus condemning "without reserve" all manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence against persons or communities based on ethnic origin or religious belief, whenever they occur.

The resolution declared that the United Nations would designate 27 January -- the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp -- as an annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, and urged Member States to develop educational programmes to instill the memory of the tragedy in future generations to prevent genocide from occurring again. It requested the United Nations Secretary-General to establish an outreach programme on the "Holocaust and the United Nations", as well as institute measures to mobilize civil society for Holocaust remembrance and education, in order to help prevent future acts of genocide.

The Holocaust was a turning point in history, which prompted the world to say "never again". The significance of resolution A/RES/60/7 is that it calls for a remembrance of past crimes with an eye towards preventing them in the future.

Source: Press Release GA/10413 of 1 November 2005

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The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme

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Posted By admin on July 22, 2015

Proving That Anti-Semitism Had Nothing to Do With His Conviction and Proving That His Defenders Have Used Frauds and Hoaxes for 100 Years

by Bradford L. Huie

MARY PHAGAN was just thirteen years old. She was a sweatshop laborer for Atlanta, Georgias National Pencil Company. Exactly 100 years ago today Saturday, April 26, 1913 little Mary (pictured) was looking forward to the festivities of Confederate Memorial Day. She dressed gaily and planned to attend the parade. She had just come to collect her $1.20 pay from National Pencil Company superintendent Leo M. Frank at his office when she was attacked by an assailant who struck her down, ripped her undergarments, likely attempted to sexually abuse her, and then strangled her to death. Her body was dumped in the factory basement.

Leo M. Frank

Leo Frank, who was the head of Atlantas Bnai Brith, a Jewish fraternal order, was eventually convicted of the murder and sentenced to hang. After a concerted and lavishly financed campaign by the American Jewish community, Franks death sentence was commuted to life in prison by an outgoing governor. But he was snatched from his prison cell and hung by a lynching party consisting, in large part, of leading citizens outraged by the commutation order and none of the lynchers were ever prosecuted or even indicted for their crime. One result of Franks trial and death was the founding of the still-powerful Anti-Defamation League.

Today Leo Franks innocence, and his status as a victim of anti-Semitism, are almost taken for granted. But are these current attitudes based on the facts of the case, or are they based on a propaganda campaign that began 100 years ago? Lets look at the facts.

It has been proved beyond any shadow of doubt that either Leo Frank or National Pencil Company sweeper Jim Conley was the killer of Mary Phagan. Every other person who was in the building at the time has been fully accounted for. Those who believe Frank to be innocent say, without exception, that Jim Conley must have been the killer.

Jim Conley

On the 100th anniversary of the inexpressibly tragic death of this sweet and lovely girl, let us examine 100 reasons why the jury that tried him believed (and why we ought to believe, once we see the evidence) that Leo Max Frank strangled Mary Phagan to death 100 reasons proving that Franks supporters have used multiple frauds and hoaxes and have tampered with the evidence on a massive scale 100 reasons proving that the main idea that Franks modern defenders put forth, that Leo Frank was a victim of anti-Semitism, is the greatest hoax of all.

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100 Reasons Leo Frank Is Guilty National Vanguard

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Posted By admin on July 22, 2015

Dead Sea,Arabic Al-Bar al-Mayyit, Hebrew Yam HaMela, also known as Salt Sea, Dead Sea Kavram/Shutterstock.comlandlocked salt lake between Israel and Jordan, which lies some 1,300 feet (400 metres) below sea levelthe lowest elevation and the lowest body of water on the surface of the Earth. Its eastern shore belongs to Jordan, and the southern half of its western shore belongs to Israel. The northern half of the western shore lies within the Palestinian West Bank and has been under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

The Dead Sea lies between the hills of Judaea to the west and the Transjordanian plateaus to the east. The Jordan River flows from the north into the Dead Sea, which is 50 miles (80 km) long and attains a width of 11 miles (18 km). Its surface area is about 394 square miles (1,020 square km). The peninsula of Al-Lisn (Arabic: The Tongue) divides the lake on its eastern side into two unequal basins: the northern basin encompasses about three-fourths of the lakes total surface area and reaches a depth of 1,300 feet (400 metres); the southern basin is smaller and shallower (less than 10 feet [3 metres] on average). During biblical times and up to the 8th century ce, only the area around the northern basin was inhabited, and the lake was about 115 feet (35 metres) below its level of the late 20th century. It rose to its highest level (1,275 feet [389 metres] below sea level) in 1896 but receded again after 1935.

The name Dead Sea can be traced back at least to the Hellenistic epoch (323 to 30 bce). The Dead Sea figures in biblical accounts dating to the time of Abraham (progenitor of the Hebrews) and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (the two cities along the lake, according to the Hebrew bible, that were destroyed by fire from heaven because of their wickedness). The desolate wilderness beside the lake offered refuge to David (king of Israel) and later to Herod I (the Great; king of Judaea), who at the time of the siege of Jerusalem by the Parthians in 40 bce barricaded himself in a fortress at Masada. Masada was the scene of a two-year siege that culminated in the mass suicide of its Jewish Zealot defenders and the occupation of the fortress by the Romans in 73 ce. The Jewish sect that left the biblical manuscripts known as the Dead Sea Scrolls took shelter in caves northwest of the lake.

The Dead Sea occupies part of a graben (a downfaulted block of the Earths crust) between transform faults along a tectonic plate boundary that runs from the Red SeaGulf of Suez spreading centre to a convergent plate boundary in the Taurus Mountains. The eastern fault, along the edge of the Moab Plateau, is more readily visible from the lake than is the western fault, which marks the gentler Judaean upfold.

In the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods (about 200 to 65 million years ago), before the creation of the graben, an extended Mediterranean Sea covered Syria and Palestine. During the Miocene Epoch (23 to 5.3 million years ago), as the Arabian tectonic plate collided with the Eurasian plate to the north, upheaval of the seabed produced the upfolded structures of the Transjordanian highlands and the central range of Palestine, causing the fractures that allowed the Dead Sea graben to drop. At that time, the Dead Sea was probably about the size that it is today. During the Pleistocene Epoch (2,600,000 to 11,700 years ago), it rose to an elevation of about 700 feet (200 metres) above its modern level, forming a vast inland sea that stretched some 200 miles (320 km) from the ula Valley area in the north to 40 miles (64 km) beyond its present southern limits. The Dead Sea did not spill over into the Gulf of Aqaba because it was blocked by a 100-foot (30-metre) rise in the highest part of Wadi Al-Arabah, a seasonal watercourse that flows in a valley to the east of the central Negev highlands.

Beginning about 2.5 million years ago, heavy streamflow into the lake deposited thick sediments of shale, clay, sandstone, rock salt, and gypsum. Later, strata of clay, marl, soft chalk, and gypsum were dropped upon layers of sand and gravel. With the water evaporating faster than it was replenished by precipitation over the last 10,000 years, the lake gradually shrank to its present form. In so doing, it bared deposits that cover the Dead Sea valley to a thickness of about 1 to 4 miles (2 to 6 km).

The peninsula of Al-Lisn and Mount Sedom (historically Mount Sodom) resulted from movements of the Earths crust. Mount Sedoms steep cliffs rise up from the southwestern shore. Al-Lisn is formed of strata of clay, marl, soft chalk, and gypsum interbedded with sand and gravel. Both Al-Lisn and beds made of similar material on the western side of the Dead Sea valley dip to the east. It is assumed that the uplifting of Mount Sedom and Al-Lisn formed a southern escarpment for the Dead Sea. Later the sea broke through the western half of this escarpment to flood what is now the shallow southern end of the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea lies in a desert. Rainfall is scanty and irregular. Al-Lisn averages about 2.5 inches (65 mm) of rain a year, the industrial site of Sedom (near historical Sodom) only about 2 inches (50 mm). Owing to the lakes low elevation and sheltered location, winter temperatures are mild, averaging 63 F (17 C) in January at the southern end at Sedom and 58 F (14 C) at the northern end; freezing temperatures are unheard of. Summer is very hot, averaging 93 F (34 C) in August at Sedom, with a recorded maximum of 124 F (51 C). Evaporation of the lakes watersestimated at about 55 inches (1,400 mm) a yearoften creates a thick mist above the lake. On the rivers the atmospheric humidity varies from 45 percent in May to 62 percent in October. Lake and land breezes, which are relatively common, blow off the lake in all directions in the daytime and then reverse direction to blow toward the centre of the lake at night.

The inflow from the Jordan River, whose high waters occur in winter and spring, averages 19 billion cubic feet (540 million cubic metres) per year. Four modest but perennial streams descend from Jordan on the east through deep gorges: the wadis Al-Uaym, Zarq Mn, Al-Mawjib, and Al-as. Down numerous other wadis, streams flow spasmodically and briefly from the neighbouring heights as well as from the depression of Wadi Al-Arabah. Thermal sulfur springs also feed the rivers. Evaporation in summer and the intake of water, especially in winter and spring, cause seasonal variations in the level of the lake of from 12 to 24 inches (30 to 60 cm).

The waters of the Dead Sea are extremely saline, and the concentration of salt increases toward the bottom. In effect, two different masses of water exist in the lake. Down to a depth of 130 feet (40 metres), the temperature varies from 66 to 98 F (19 to 37 C), the salinity is slightly less than 300 parts per thousand, and the water is especially rich in sulfates and in bicarbonates. Beneath a zone of transition located between 130 and 330 feet (40 and 100 metres), the water has a uniform temperature of about 72 F (22 C) and a higher degree of salinity (approximately 332 parts per thousand); it contains hydrogen sulfide and strong concentrations of magnesium, potassium, chlorine, and bromine. The deep water is saturated with sodium chloride, which precipitates to the bottom. The deep water is fossilized (i.e., being very salty and dense, it remains permanently on the bottom); the near-surface water dates from a few centuries after biblical times.

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Posted By richards on July 22, 2015

The Old New Synagogue (Czech: Staronov synagoga; German: Altneu-Synagoge) situated in Josefov, Prague, is Europe's oldest active synagogue. (The Scolanova Synagogue in Italy, also 13th century, was converted to a church by 1380 but was restored to synagogue use in 2006.) It is also the oldest surviving medieval synagogue of twin-nave design.[1]

Completed in 1270 in gothic style, it was one of Prague's first gothic buildings.[2] A still older Prague synagogue, known as the Old Synagogue, was demolished in 1867 and replaced by the Spanish Synagogue.

The synagogue was originally called the New or Great Synagogue and later, when newer synagogues were built in the 16th century, it became known as the Old-New Synagogue.[1] Another explanation derives the name from the Hebrew (al tnay), which means "on condition" and sounds identical to the Yiddish "alt-nay," or old-new. According to legend angels have brought stones from the Temple in Jerusalem to build the Synagogue in Prague "on condition" that they are to be returned, when the Messiah comes, i.e., when the Temple in Jerusalem is rebuilt and the stones are needed.

Nine steps lead from the street into a vestibule, from which a door opens into a double-nave with six vaulted bays. This double-nave system was most likely adapted from plans of monasteries and chapels by the synagogue's Christian architects.[3] The molding on the tympanum of the synagogues entryway has a design that incorporates twelve vines and twelve bunches of grapes, said to represent twelve tribes of Israel.[4] Two large pillars aligned east to west in the middle of the room each support the interior corner of four bays. The bays have two narrow Gothic windows on the sides, for a total of twelve, again representing the twelve tribes. The narrow windows are probably responsible for many older descriptions of the building as being dark; it is now brightly lit with several electric chandeliers.

The vaulting on the six bays has five ribs instead of the typical four or six. It has been suggested that this was an attempt to avoid associations with the Christian cross. Many scholars dispute this theory, pointing to synagogues that have quadripartite ribs, and Christian buildings that have the unusual five rib design.[5]

The bimah from which Torah scrolls are read is located between the two pillars. The base of the bimah repeats the twelve vine motif found on the tympanum.[4] The Aron Kodesh where the Torah scrolls are stored is located in the middle of the customary eastern wall. There are five steps leading up to the Ark and two round stained glass windows on either side above it. A lectern in front of the ark has a square well a few inches below the main floor for the service leader to stand in.

The twelve lancet windows in the synagogue, which directed light towards the bimah, apparently led members to compare the structure with Solomon's Temple.[4]

The synagogue follows orthodox custom, with separate seating for men and women during prayer services. Women sit in an outer room with small windows looking into the main sanctuary. The framework of the roof, the gable, and the party wall date from the Middle Ages.

An unusual feature found in the nave of this synagogue is a large red flag near the west pillar. In the centre of the flag is a Star of David and in the centre of the star is a hat in the style typically worn by Jews of the 15th century. Both the hat and star are stitched in gold. Also stitched in gold is the text of Shema Yisrael. Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor awarded the Jewish community their own banner in recognition for their services in the defence of Prague during the Thirty Years War. The banner now on display is a modern reproduction.

It is said that the body of Golem (created by Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel) lies in the attic where the genizah of Prague's community is kept.[6] A legend is told of a Nazi agent during World War II broaching the genizah, but who perished instead.[7] In the event, the Gestapo apparently did not enter the attic during the war, and the building was spared during the Nazis' destruction of synagogues.[6] The lowest three meters from the stairs leading to the attic from the outside have been removed and the attic is not open to the general public.

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Posted By richards on July 22, 2015

She broke free from the iron-tight grip of her ultra-conservative Hasidic community only to kill herself after years of struggling with that decision.

Tortured soul Faigy Mayer, who leaped to her death from a trendy Manhattan roof bar Monday night, was shunned by her parents for choosing to live in the secular world, relatives and friends told The Post.

The tragic woman, 30, posted touching old family photos on Facebook just six minutes before she climbed over the ledge of the 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar in the Flatiron District at 6:45 p.m. and jumped.

My family refuses to allow me to have my baby pictures so finding these pics were cool! the woman wrote above the snapshots.

Photo: Facebook

The question was laden with symbolism. Jewish people pray in that direction, toward Jerusalem.

After the bartender pointed, Mayer walked over to a 4/-foot brick wall along the roof and put one leg over it, then the other, the source said.

The bartender ran to her and grabbed her hand, but she pulled loose and jumped, the source said.

Photo: Facebook

In 2009, she appeared in a National Geographic documentary called Inside Hasidism admitting that her loss of faith was a long time coming.

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Posted By richards on July 22, 2015

Does the Jewish Hasidic community have blood on their hands? Pictured Faigy Mayer via facebook.

In new developments a source has told our outlet that Faigy Mayers suicide at 230 Fifth avenue comes after ongoing trauma and haranguing at the hands of the Ultra Orthodox Hasidic Jewish faith that she had so desperately sought to detach herself from. Yet it would be the womans bid to live a secular life that would be her undoing as she came in turn to be punished .

Faigy Mayer funeral: I didnt want to be a mom with 20 kids

Faigy Mayer depression: Struggled being rejected from family

Why did Faigy Mayer leap to her death? Patrons continued drinking.

Upon having made the difficult decision to leave the religious group, Mayer found herself being tormented by the group who upon learning of her decision set out to have her very own family ostracize her and make her into a pariah for daring to live a secular existence.

An existence that many in the ultra fundamentalist group fear they have little choice but to repudiate and to punish those who dare to leave the group for fear that others might also be tempted to discard the fundamentalist group.

Told our source: She was shunned and ostracized

Reprimanded is a light word.

Adding: Thats what happens when you leave ultra orthodoxy,

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Posted By richards on July 22, 2015

The Khazars (Turkish: Hazarlar, Tatar: Xzrlr, Hebrew: (Kuzarim),[7]Arabic: (khazar), Russian: , Persian: , Greek: , Latin: Gazari[8][9]/Cosri[10]/Gasani[11][12]) were a semi-nomadic Turkic people who created what for its duration was the most powerful polity to emerge from the breakup of the western Turkish steppe empire, known as the Khazar Khanate or Khazaria.[13] Astride a major artery of commerce between northern Europe and southwestern Asia, Khazaria became one of the foremost trading emporia of the medieval world, commanding the western marches of the Silk Road and played a key commercial role as a crossroad between China, the Middle East, and Kievan Rus'.[14][15] For some three centuries (c. 650965) the Khazars dominated the vast area extending from the Volga-Don steppes to the eastern Crimea and the northern Caucasus.[16]

Khazaria long served as a buffer state between the Byzantine empire and both the nomads of the northern steppes and the Umayyad empire, after serving as Byzantium's proxy against the Sasanian Persian empire. The alliance was dropped around 900. Byzantium began to encourage the Alans to attack Khazaria and weaken its hold on Crimea and the Caucasus, while seeking to obtain an entente with the rising Rus' power to the north, which it aspired to convert to Christianity.[17] Between 965 and 969, the Kievan Rus ruler Sviatoslav I of Kiev conquered the capital Atil and destroyed the Khazar state.

Beginning in the 8th century, Khazar royalty and notable segments of the aristocracy converted to Judaism; the populace appears to have been multi-confessionala mosaic of pagan, Tengrist, Jewish, Christian and Muslim worshippersand polyethnic.[18] Khazar origins for, or suggestions Khazars were absorbed by many peoples, have been made regarding the Slavic Judaising Subbotniks, the Bukharan Jews, the Muslim Kumyks, Kazakhs, the Cossacks of the Don region, the Turkic-speaking Krymchaks and their Crimean neighbours the Karaites to the Moldavian Csngs, the Mountain Jews and others.[19][20][21] A modern theory, that the core of Ashkenazi Jewry emerged from a hypothetical Khazarian Jewish diaspora, is now viewed with scepticism by most scholars,[22] but occasionally supported by others.[23] This Khazarian hypothesis is sometimes associated with antisemitism[24] and anti-Zionism.[25]

Gyula Nmeth, following Zoltn Gombocz, derived Xazar from a hypothetical *Qasar reflecting a Turkic root qaz- ("to ramble, to roam") being an hypothetical velar variant of Common Turkic kez-.[26] With the publication of the fragmentary Tes and Terkhin inscriptions of the Uyur empire (744-840) where the form 'Qasar' is attested, though uncertainty remains whether this represents a personal or tribal name, gradually other hypotheses emerged. Louis Bazin derived it from Turkic qas- ("tyrannize, oppress, terrorize") on the basis of its phonetic similarity to the Uyur tribal name, Qasar.[27]Andrs Rna-Tas connects it with Kesar, the Pahlavi transcription of the Roman title Caesar.[28]

D.M.Dunlop tried to link the Chinese term for "Khazars" to one of the tribal names of the Uyur Toquz Ouz, namely the Gs.[29][30] The objections are that Uyur Gesa/Qasar was not a tribal name but rather the surname of the chief of the Sikari tribe of the Toquz Ouz, and that in Middle Chinese the ethnonym "Khazars", always prefaced with the word Tju signifying 'Trk' (Tju Ks b:; Tju Hs:), is transcribed with characters different from those used to render the Qa- in the Uyur word 'Qasar'.[31][32][33]

After their conversion it is reported that they adopted the Hebrew script,[34] and it is likely that, though speaking a Trkic language, the Khazar chancellery under Judaism probably corresponded in Hebrew.[35] In Expositio in Matthaeum Evangelistam, Gazari, presumably Khazars, are referred to as the Hunnic people living in the lands of Gog and Magog and said to be circumcised and omnem Judaismum observat observing all the laws of Judaism.

Determining the origins and nature of the Khazars is closely bound with theories of their languages, but it is a matter of intricate difficulty since no indigenous records in the Khazar language survive, and the state itself was polyglot and polyethnic.[36] Whereas the royal or ruling elite probably spoke an eastern variety of Shaz Turkic, the subject tribes appear to have spoken varieties of Lir Turkic, such as Ouric, a language variously identified with Bularic, Chuvash, and Hungarian (the latter based upon the assertion of the Persian historian al-Iakhr that the Khazar language was different from any other known tongue).[37][38] One method for tracing their origins consists in analysis of the possible etymologies behind the ethnonym Khazar itself.

The tribes[39] that were to comprise the Khazar empire were not an ethnic union, but a congeries of steppe nomads and peoples who came to be subordinated, and subscribed to a core Trkic leadership.[40] Many Trkic groups, such as the Ouric peoples, including araurs, Ours, Onours, and Bulars who earlier formed part of the Til () confederation, are attested quite early, having been driven West by the Sabirs, who in turn fled the Asian Avars, and began to flow into the Volga-Caspian-Pontic zone from as early as the 4th century CE and are recorded by Priscus to reside in the Western Eurasian steppelands as early as 463.[41][42] They appear to stem from Mongolia and South Siberia in the aftermath of the fall of the Hunnic/Xingn nomadic polities. A variegated tribal federation led by these Trks, probably comprising a complex assortment of Iranian,[43]proto-Mongolic, Uralic, and Palaeo-Siberian clans, vanquished the Rouran Khaganate of the hegemonic central Asian Avars in 552 and swept westwards, taking in their train other steppe nomads and peoples from Sogdiana.[44]

The ruling family of this confederation may have hailed from the shn () clan of the West Trkic tribes,[45] though Constantine Zuckerman regards shn and their pivotal role in the formation of the Khazars with scepticism.[46] Golden notes that Chinese and Arabic reports are almost identical, making the connection a strong one, and conjectures that their leader may have been Ypshku (Chinese:), who lost power or was killed around 651.[47] Moving west, the confederation reached the land of the Akat(z)ir,[48] who had been important allies of Byzantium in fighting off Attila's army.

An embryonic state of Khazaria began to form sometime after 630,[49] when it emerged from the breakdown of the larger Gktrk Qaanate. Gktrk armies had penetrated the Volga by 549, ejecting the Avars, who were then forced to flee to the sanctuary of the Hungarian plain. The shn clan whose tribal name was 'Trk' (the strong one) appear on the scene by 552, when they overthrew the Rourans and established the Gktrk Qaanate.[50] By 568, these Gktrks were probing for an alliance with Byzantium to attack Persia. An internecine war broke out between the senior eastern Gktrks and the junior West Turkic Qaanate some decades later, when on the death of Taspar Qaan, a succession dispute led to a dynastic crisis between Taspar's chosen heir, the Apa Qaan, and the ruler appointed by the tribal high council, shn Sht (), the Ishbara Qaan.

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Posted By simmons on July 22, 2015

The haunting words of George Santayana reminds us that the lessons of history are invaluable in determining the course of the future: "Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it."

The Holocaust was the systematic annihilation of six million Jews by the Nazis during World War 2. In 1933 nine million Jews lived in the 21 countries of Europe that would be military occupied by Germany during the war. By 1945 two out of every three European Jews had been killed. 1.5 million children were murdered. This figure includes more than 1.2 million Jewish children, tens of thousands of Gypsy children and thousands of handicapped children.

The Holocaust survivor Abel Herzberg has said: "There were not six million Jews murdered; there was one murder, six million times."

The Holocaust is a history of enduring horror and sorrow. It seems as though there is no spark of human concern, no act of humanity, to lighten that dark history. Read the story of Rivka Yosselevska, the story of the children of Bullenhuser Damm or the story the children of Izieu.

You find gripping and horrifying stories of Adolf Hitler and his most ruthless henchmen - men often seen as the very personifications of evil, like Rudolf Hoess, the SS Commandant of Auschwitz, the Nazi butcher Amon Goeth at Plaszow and Josef Mengele, The Angel Of Death. You may read about Hitler's wife, Eva Braun, or Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, Chief of the German Military Intelligence who was a dedicated anti-Nazi and held Hitler in utter contempt. He tried to put a stop to the crimes of war and genocide committed by the Nazis.

Yet there were acts of courage and kindness during the Holocaust - stories to bear witness to goodness, love and compassion. Let me mention Men Of Courage, Father Kolbe, Wilm Hosenfeld and the story of Albert Goering, the younger brother of the notorious Nazi Hermann Goering.

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The Holocaust, Crimes, Heroes and Villains

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month | Comments Off on The Holocaust, Crimes, Heroes and Villains
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