March 12, 2022

Two Ukrainians whose family hid someone during the Holocaust say they've found refuge in Israel...

Two Ukrainians whose family hid someone during the Holocaust say they've found refuge in Israel because the survivor's granddaughter took them in

Two Ukrainian women who've fled their country amid turmoil brought on by the Russian invasion have found refuge in Israel.

Their grandmother — Maria Blishchik — hid a Jewish girl named Fanya Bass in Ukraine during World War II from Nazis, saving her life and ensuring that her family lineage would not end, The Jewish Press reported.

Today, Fanya's granddaughter Sharon Bass welcomed Lasia Orshoko and Alona Chugai, Blishchik's granddaughters. She took them in when they arrived on Sunday at the Ben Guion International Airport, according to the Jewish Press.

Sharon said she visited the gravesite where her grandmother's body lies to pray that she would be able to take in the two Ukrainian refugees, the Jewish Press reported.

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https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1502723429283336196

March 8, 2022

Michigan state House candidate posts, calling feminism 'a Jewish program to degrade white men'

Michigan state House candidate has shared antisemitic posts, including one calling feminism ‘a Jewish program to degrade white men’

Robert Regan, the Republican nominee for a safely conservative state House seat in Michigan, has frequently re-posted antisemitic content and shared his own extreme views on Jews.

Regan is in a good position to win a May 3 special election for a vacant seat representing Kent County, Michigan’s 74th state district, after winning a crowded Republican primary last week by a narrow margin of 81 votes (according to unofficial tallies). Michigan’s Republican Party congratulated Regan on Wednesday for winning the primary.

In May 2021, Regan’s personal Facebook page shared two posts, still visible on his page as of Monday, in which he expressed antisemitic opinions. In one, he shared an image of a quote branded by the logo of Smoloko News, a now-defunct antisemitic website. The quote described “feminism” as “a Jewish program to degrade and subjugate white men.”

In January of last year, Regan shared a link to an antisemitic “family history” of the Rothschilds, the Jewish banking family often at the center of conspiracy theories about Jews and world banking domination. Two months later, he shared a meme made by a QAnon influencer that called “(((Them)))” the “real virus” in a post calling public health measures to combat COVID-19 “nonsense.” The triple parentheses, or echo symbol, is used online by antisemites to identify Jews.

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March 3, 2022

A Ukrainian synagogue turns into a bomb shelter

As air raid sirens blared in the small Ukrainian city of Uman, about 125 miles south of the capital Kyiv, families crowded into a makeshift bomb shelter underneath a central synagogue.

Before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine last week, the basement of the temple was used as a bathhouse for Jewish worshippers to do their ritual washing -- or mivkeh -- before prayers.

But now, the Synagogue of the Breslover Hasidim is opening its doors to all locals looking for shelter from the threat of Russian troops. Uman was hit by missile attacks on the first day of the invasion, but has not seen any major fighting yet. Still, the city is on edge, and remaining residents are preparing for the worst.

"We invite all the people, all Ukrainians, all Hasidic people, doesn't matter who," said Irina Rybnitskaya, a lawyer for the US-owned foundation that runs the synagogue. "We prepare this place especially for them, in order to hide (when) there is (an) alarm."

The temporary hideout is lined with wooden benches and has been stocked with mattresses, blankets and hot drinks. The residents have arrived carrying their valuables and bags of clothing, in case they have to camp out for days -- or longer -- in the shelter.

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