Manilow brings 1920s Jewish/Gentile band back to life

We bring you plans to resurrect a Jewish/Gentile band from 1920s Germany and all sorts of other crazy ideas from around the world

Spain

A Spanish town called ‘Kill Jews’ is considering a name change. The 60 resident families of Castrillo Matajudios are meeting to discuss a suggestion to revert to the town’s original name of Castrillo Mota de Judios, which translates as ‘Castrillo Jews Hill.’ The name was changed during the Spanish Inquisition.

South Africa

South Africa’s chief rabbi has asked the country’s Jewish community not to shelter Rabbi Eliezer Berland, who fled Israel accused of sexual offences against women and under-aged girls. Berland, 77, of the Breslov Chasidic movement, is on the run throughout Africa, having planned to start an offshoot of his yeshiva.

Cuba

Only a few days into a hunger strike, imprisoned American Jewish contractor Alan Gross has ended his protest after his mother told him to eat something. Gross, 64, in jail for illegally connecting the island’s Jewish community to the internet, called an end to the action ahead of Pesach after his mum waded in.

Germany

A Jewish/Gentile boy band in 1920s Germany is being resurrected by Barry Manilow in his musical ‘Harmony.’ The legendary crooner will tell the tale of the Comedian Harmonists (pictured), a German sextet which comprised half Jews, including a former rabbi, and half gentiles, but their rise was cut short by Hitler’s own.

Czech Republic

Czech chief rabbi Chaim Cigan has emerged as one of the hottest new authors on the country’s literature scene after penning a bestselling sci-fi novel and trying to hide his identity. His book, ‘Atschul’s Method,’ mixes politics, prison and secret police with the Middle Ages, Moses and Jewish history.

Argentina

Buenos Aires officials have said they will build an outdoor monument to Holocaust victims after President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner met survivors and local Jewish leaders. The monument will be constructed in Shoah Plaza, a public square, in front of the King Fahd Islamic Cultural Center and mosque.