More of this please. Nice to hear something positive.
14 Likes
45 Likes
If Republicans could feel shame, they would already be Democrats.
17 Likes
I don’t think they lack for feeling shame, they just have a very, very destructive way of expressing it.
I was going to say something snarky about the dems here, but this thread doesn’t really need that.
These Jewish Americans are brave, and should be commended for standing against hate and for religious freedom.
11 Likes
22 Likes
28 Likes
Japan?
1 Like
They’ve never had a Jewish population over a few thousand, and many of those have left or moved on; @Israel_B could tell more, though, on Jewish treatment there.
Still, point taken; I should amend the statement to something along the lines of “In post-Diasporic history, the US has been one of a handful of sovereign nations that has had a significant population of Jews, not put legal limitations on Jewish practice, and not expelled, slaughtered or attempted to forcibly convert their population of Jews, and it is feared that those times are coming to an end.” More accurate and nuanced, to be sure.
And, on the topic of Japan, as there’s been a request for “more nice stuff” in relation to helping refugees from persecution by Nazis, I have this to share:
13 Likes
Never expelled Jews nor had any trouble with us. In fact during WW2 Imperial Japan saved the lives of thousands of Jewish refugees. Not just with Sugihara transit visas but also through the actions of the Japan Travel Bureau and even the Imperial Army. The entire Meir Yeshiva was located in Kobe for a while.
12 Likes
I second all the comments, but have one caveat wrt the mention of kapos. Full disclosure - my family got out of Germany in 1933, and I have lived nothing but a cushy, middle-class, privileged life, getting far more than I deserve. So I can’t judge those who go to extreme measures to save themselves when they are in dire circumstances. To the extent that I pray at all (not much) I pray for all those who suffered, and try not to judge too much. I don’t think I would be a hero, and I don’t know what I would do should I be swept up in a conflagration. There were villains in WWII, but I would not classify any camp inmates as such.
2 Likes
Huh. Good for them I guess.
I have to assume the people doing the saving of Jewish refugees weren’t the same people as the brains behind the Tripartite Pact?
2 Likes
In response to that perspective, I’ve commented on it previously:
4 Likes
I linked to the Wiki page for the person responsible upthread.
1 Like
Always glad to hear of Texas Jews doing the neighborly thing! Islam is halachicly monotheistic and there is no issue for a Muslim to pray in a synagogue or vice versa.
As a side note to my fellow yids & yidettes here please lay off with accusations regarding other Jews whose politics you disagree with. Aside from the halachic issues let’s not embarrass ourselves in front of the non Jews.
1 Like
It’s not simple but short answer is that Imperial Japan viewed international alliances as separate from domestic policy within its own territory.
Officially the Empire was against racism in any form and when the Reich asked Japan to do something about the tens of thousands of Jews in Japanese territory, Japan replied “mind your own business”.
When a few thousand Jewish refugees showed up at the northern border between Manchuko & Russia, the Russians didn’t want to let them cross over. Lieutenant General Kiichiro Higuchi personally took responsibility for them and ensured they were resettled or given further passage.
7 Likes
Well, except for against Koreans, Filipinos, and Chinese, of course. They did have a rather long history by that point of opposing white supremacy especially on the international stage, but they also were busy creating an empire of their own and subjugating their neighbors pretty harshly. Remember that much of Japanese territory at that time was not originally Japanese. But maybe that’s what you meant by it not being simple.
12 Likes
I’m hesitant to reply in detail to what appears to me to be the oversimplified White People view as it would go too far off topic. Nonetheless what I wrote was factual and if you feel the need to challenge any wording please split the thread.
Not sure if I’m remembering correctly, but I seem to recall my grandmother calling this “a shander vor die goyim.” Or something like that. Is there a yiddishist in the house?
That’s the correct Yiddish but I used English on purpose for clarity
awesome totally classy !
