Something for which to be thankful

It' a regular work day everywhere else but in the US, however, this is a story of goodness, hope and thankfulness: Holocaust survivor reunited with her Polish rescuer after 60 years
Nov. 27, 2008

An Israeli woman was reunited yesterday for the first time in 60 years with the woman who hid her and her family during the Holocaust.

Rozia (Seifert) Rothshild and her family lived in an underground bunker, while Wiktoria (Jaworska) Sozanska's Catholic family brought them food and disposed of their waste every day. Sozanska, who risked her own life, along with her widowed mother and five siblings, kept the Jewish family hidden from the Nazis between 1942 and 1944.

They met again at JFK Airport, thanks to the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous.

"I cannot fully express how grateful I am to Wiktoria and her mother Anna. They opened their home and their hearts to me, risking their own lives in order to save me," Rothshild said. "Their bravery is what has allowed me to live and build a wonderful family of my own, with three children and four grandchildren. I am so thankful to them and the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous for making this extraordinary reunion possible."

Rozia Seifert was one of 5,000 Jews from Turka, Poland rounded up to be transported to a ghetto. Wiktoria Jaworska, then a young woman, looked at furniture the Seifart family was selling before their move, but when she learned that the girl would be taken away to the ghetto, she told the family: "We will take care of you. You will come with us."

In the middle of the night, Sozanka's brother Mikolaj Jaworska came to the Seifart home in a hay cart and snuck Rozia, her brother Lucien, her father Mendel and disabled aunt Fanya away, past the eyes of the Germans on patrol.

The Germans raided Turka in the summer of 1944, when the Soviet army began to approach. Sozanka and her mother moved the Seifarts into the woods, where they lived for two weeks until the area was liberated.

After the war, Rozia Seifert met her Israeli husband and immigrated with him, changing her name to Shoshana - the Hebrew version of her name. Wiktoria Sozanka, now in her 80s, lives in Wroclaw, Poland.

"In the many years we have worked with survivors and their rescuers, I remain awestruck by the heroism of the thousands of rescuers who risked their lives to save others. By holding true to their values, these individuals saved Jews from certain death," said JFR Executive Vice President Stanlee Stahl. "We owe a great debt of gratitude to these men and women, and through our work, hope to improve their lives and preserve their stories."

The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous was created in 1986 to provide financial assistance to non-Jews who risked their lives and often the lives of their families to rescue Jews during the Holocaust. Today the JFR supports more than 1,200 aged rescuers in 26 countries. The Foundation preserves the legacy of the rescuers through its internationally lauded Holocaust education program for middle and high school teachers and Holocaust center personnel.

Thank God for happy endings. Happy Thanksgiving!

Breaking News: Olmert close to indictment

Nov. 26, 2008

Israel's Attorney General has informed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert he is charging him for using his position to take money and benefits. Shula Zaken, the prime minister's aide, was also notified of a pending indictment.

The prime minister is suspected of double billing more than one non-profit organization for trips that he made abroad to raise money for them, collecting $110,000, police say.

Olmert "rejects the allegations." Olmert has said he will not run for re-election, but he also has refused to step before the elections. He has resigned as head of the center-left Kadima party, and as been replaced by Tzipi Livni, foreign minister.

Hamas: Israel, US weaker since election day

Ever wonder what the terrorist groups think of Obama's election?
Nov. 25, 2008

A military wing of Hamas has concluded that without George W. Bush as president of the U.S., the "weak" Israeli government will continue to tolerate daily missile, mortar and rocket strikes on the Jewish state as long as casualties remain low, the World Tribune reported.

"Our decision to accept the calm was based on operational need, the damaging Israeli attacks and our view that [U.S.] President [George] Bush was strong," a Hamas source said. "None of these things is relevant today. We are stronger, and the Israelis and Americans are weaker."

"We drafted what would be Israeli options to any missile attacks, and concluded that the Olmert government was too weak to order a major operation against us," the source said.

One could take this an indication that Hamas thinks of the incoming U.S. president is weak. Hamas and all the other terrorist organizations, especially those in Iraq.

And then a hero comes along

Assad awards convicted murderer, terrorist Syria's highest medal
Nov. 25, 2008

Syrian President Bashar Assad on Monday awarded Samir Kuntar the country's highest medal for spending nearly three decades in an Israeli jail.

Kuntar has the dubious distinction of being the longest-held Lebanese prisoner in Israel. He was imprisoned in 1979 after he was convicted of an atrocious attack - killing a man in front of his 4-year-old daughter, and then killing the girl, crushing her skull with his rifle butt.

Here is the story of Kuntar's in Smadar Haran's own agonizing words (full article here):

It had been a peaceful Sabbath day. My husband, Danny, and I had picnicked with our little girls, Einat, 4, and Yael, 2, on the beach not far from our home in Nahariya, a city on the northern coast of Israel, about six miles south of the Lebanese border. Around midnight, we were asleep in our apartment when four terrorists, sent by Abu Abbas from Lebanon, landed in a rubber boat on the beach two blocks away. Gunfire and exploding grenades awakened us as the terrorists burst into our building. They had already killed a police officer. As they charged up to the floor above ours, I opened the door to our apartment. In the moment before the hall light went off, they turned and saw me. As they moved on, our neighbor from the upper floor came running down the stairs. I grabbed her and pushed her inside our apartment and slammed the door.

Outside, we could hear the men storming about. Desperately, we sought to hide. Danny helped our neighbor climb into a crawl space above our bedroom; I went in behind her with Yael in my arms. Then Danny grabbed Einat and was dashing out the front door to take refuge in an underground shelter when the terrorists came crashing into our flat. They held Danny and Einat while they searched for me and Yael, knowing there were more people in the apartment. I will never forget the joy and the hatred in their voices as they swaggered about hunting for us, firing their guns and throwing grenades. I knew that if Yael cried out, the terrorists would toss a grenade into the crawl space and we would be killed. So I kept my hand over her mouth, hoping she could breathe. As I lay there, I remembered my mother telling me how she had hidden from the Nazis during the Holocaust. "This is just like what happened to my mother," I thought.

As police began to arrive, the terrorists took Danny and Einat down to the beach. There, according to eyewitnesses, one of them shot Danny in front of Einat so that his death would be the last sight she would ever see. Then he smashed my little girl's skull in against a rock with his rifle butt. That terrorist was Samir Kuntar.

By the time we were rescued from the crawl space, hours later, Yael, too, was dead. In trying to save all our lives, I had smothered her.

Kuntar and four Hizballah terrorists were freed in July in exchange for the bodies of Ehud Goldwasswer and Eldad Regev, two Israeli soldiers captured by Hizballah in 2006. Fair exchange, hey?

Kuntar praised Syria saying that "when I was arrested 30 years ago, she was firmly struggling against Israel and, when I visit today, she still is."

"Soon Assad will fly the Syrian flag over the Golan Heights," he declared.

And Israel is seriously talking "peace" with Syria??

Quiz: Can you guess who this is?

Nov. 25, 2008

If nothing else has scared you yet, this little guessing game could do the job!

(http://www.chicagogop.com/blog/598-Who-am-I-598.html)

Hizballah missile stock 'tripled'

Missiles could reach well past Jerusalem to Beer Sheva
Nov. 25, 2008

Hizballah, the Shiite terrorist group based in Lebanon that fired thousands of missiles into Israel during the 2006 conflict, has tripled it weapons supply since then, not to mentioned enhanced its quality as well as quantity. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the Knesset that some of the 42,000 missiles could reach southern cities of Ashkelon, Beersheba and Dimona, more than 125 miles from the border.

According to intelligence estimates, the organization has 14,000 rockets before the last war.

Barak said that because Hizballah is now an elected part of Lebanon's national unity government earlier, Israel would take wider action against the country in future conflicts. Previously, the army tried to target Hizballah strongholds, but even those are dispersed among civilian centers.

"The integration of Hizballah into the Lebanese state exposes Lebanon and its infrastructure to in-depth attacks in the event of a new conflict," he said.

Someone NOT suffering from Bush Derangement Syndrome

Israeli Prime Minister says Bush will go down in history for preserving the security of many
Nov. 25, 2008

While the American media and left is foaming at the mouth with Bush derangement syndrome, at least one world leader is sad to see him go. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said shalom to US President George W. Bush. The two leaders did their best to get a peace plan while both in office but for several reasons it never happened.

Olmert praised Bush for his efforts in Iraq and for his courage in preventing terrorism in the US since 9/11, something that is beleived to have caused the Republicans the White House and congress. Middle Easterners see the developments in Iraq more clearly and more positively than Americans. And heck, we are closer to the action. But here are Olmert's words from DC on Monday:

I'm delighted to have this opportunity to express again the deep gratitude we all have to you, personally, as a human being, as a friend, as a courageous leader who has helped Israel so much over the period since you were President of the United States of America.

I will never forget that you have removed one of the most threatening strategic dangers from Israel on the east side, in Iraq. And this is a great achievement that makes life much better for many people in our part of the world, particularly for us and for our neighbors, as well.

You have set forth in motion the Annapolis process, which I was very proud to take part in. It continues with your guidance and support and inspiration. And this is very important, because as you say, a two-state solution is the only possible way to resolve the conflict in the Middle East.

So, Mr. President, on behalf of the people of Israel, I want to thank you. The importance of your leadership is greatly appreciated in our country. And I'm sure that when the history books will be written, the contributions that you made to the safety and security of many people will be greatly appreciated.