A revolution in Egypt has been a long time coming, but its time has come.
Words Matter: How Media Can Build Civility or Destroy It
The media can, as we know, promote fear, hatred, and extremism. Can it also lead us to greater civility and more productive debate?
Now for World War Three…
The Third World War has already started, writes eco-designer J.C. Scott, and it’s all around us — in our air, our water, our land.
Conscience and Courage
Amidst the atrocities of WW II emerged brave souls who helped and sheltered Jews at great risk to their own lives. Following her trip to Germany, Star Weiss felt inspired by these seemingly ordinary people who rose to the aid of fellow humans.
A Poppy for My Father
Dad was asked why he was fighting Japan and he answered something like, “I didn’t sign up to fight you, I signed up to fight Hitler.” On that note, he was given a wry smile and promptly sent from the hut.
An Unlikely Friendship: The German Girl and the Candy Bomber
At Remembrance Day, a story from postwar Berlin that may surprise you, a reminder that small gestures and acts of kindness — a child’s letter, a quick decision, two sticks of gum — can have unexpected, far-reaching results. At this time of year especially, I sometimes wonder how it is possible to get past […]
The Flowers of Sacrifice
Once I saw the hole a bullet made in the human body. He was a Vietnam veteran and he told me I could touch it, stick my finger in the scar-tissued tunnel it left beneath his rib. Forty one years later I still remember my panic…
November 11 – Remembering Those Who Stayed Behind
As a wounded world began the year of 1946, the cloud of destruction and sorrow that had claimed Europe was lifting. Instead of horrific stories and traumatized soldiers, Doris was seeing hopeful faces and happy jubilation everywhere on the streets of England. The excited war brides in particular started Doris thinking about her desperate decision to end her relationship with the man she truly did love. Was it too late?
Alice Herz-Sommer: Music, Yes, Music Saved My Life!
Last week, my good friend Mauro sent me this video clip. To say that this woman is an inspiration would be giving the word understatement a whole new meaning! From NickReedEnt.com Alice Herz-Sommer is 106 years old. As well as being the second oldest person living in London, England – she is more significantly the […]
Why We Should All See a Concentration Camp
As Star Weiss visits the notorious Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Germany, she is visited by many questions: “Would I have risked my family’s safety by speaking out, or trying to help prisoners escape? Or would I have remained on the sidelines, averting my eyes and convincing myself that those nice SS men who played on our town sports teams and added music to our festivals were really just engaged in training activities behind the walls of a well-run prison?”