World Roundup: Dutch Church pulls out of Kristallnacht commemoration

Country: Ukraine

A minute’s silence for the victims of the Ukrainian insurgency in the east of the country was held at a Limmud festival in the western city of Lviv. Among the speakers was Holocaust survivor Kristine Chiger, who hid with her family in the city’s sewer system for 14 months during the Nazi occupation.

Country: Spain

An American professor researching Jewish history in Zamora, Spain has been granted the ‘Medal of Four Sephardi Synagogues’ for his work. Prof. Jesús Jambrina’s findings have helped preservation work in the city’s medieval Jewish quarter, where Jews fled following moorish invasions 800 years ago.

Country: United States

For a Pittsburgh restaurant serving food only from countries at odds with the USA, it seems a new ‘Palestinian menu’ was a step too far. Conflict Kitchen, which also served food from Afghanistan, North Korea, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela, closed after legal threats and uproar from the area’s Jewish community.  

Country: Canada

As embattled Toronto mayor Rob Ford denied he was an anti-Semite, it emerged that the maternal grandmother of his church-going challenger, John Tory, was actually Jewish. The news came as Rob’s brother Doug, another contestant, sought to establish his own credentials by listing all the Jews in his life.

Country: Netherlands

A senior member of the Dutch Protestant Church pulled out of a Kristallnacht commemoration after pro-Israel groups protested about the socialist organisers who mourned the death of a Hamas spiritual leader ten years ago. Other sponsors included groups committed to boycotting Israel.

Country: Austria

Austria’s national railway company has opened an exhibition at the European Parliament about the firm’s complicity in the Holocaust, featuring cattle wagons. Chief executive Christian Kern said: ‘We need our brand to be clean. Showing what happened in the Holocaust is necessary for that.’