Gates of Brass~A Timeless Film Everyone Should See

In 1984, four Canadians took a film crew to Moscow and Leningrad to obtain secret interviews with Jews who had been denied the right to immigrate to Israel. When the KGB became aware of their intentions, they confiscated the film footage and interrogated the filmmakers. Unknown to the KGB, the Rawlings/Allen film team made two copies of the film, and three months later, through a complex network of cooperation, they were able to get the footage out of the Soviet Union.

The resulting 54-minute documentary, Gates of Brass, had it's Canadian premiere in Ottawa in October 1985. The film provides footage of the Russian revolution, World War II and the Six Day War, as well as dramatic recreations of scenes of oppression, and interviews with a number of Refuseniks (those Russian and Ukrainian Jews refused visas to Israel by the Soviet authorities), some of whom now reside in Israel, and with with the (then),recently released Anatoly Shcharansky, who for the previous nine years had been considered the symbol of Jews not allowed to leave the Soviet Union.

Gates of Brass was shown by Canadian producers Jay and Meridel Rawlings in fifty cities on an international tour. In a written statement about Gates of Brass, Meridel Rawlings stated: "To our knowledge, this is the first time that footage of this nature has reached the West. Having visited the Soviet Union three times...we were inspired to make a film giving a voice to these unfortunate people who are trapped inside of the Soviet Union.

At the time, the Rawlings hoped the film would serve to educate the general public that it was not just the Jews that were victims in the Soviet Union, but in fact, all people seeking basic human rights and religious freedom.

This film, produced by World Vistas / Israel Vision, won the First Production Award from the Canadian Film and Television Association. The Jewish Community worldwide used this film to educate and stir people into action. Consequently Jewish activists and Christian supporters joined together (often after viewing the film) and went into the streets and marched in front of Soviet Embassies worldwide crying out "Let My People Go".

We must never forget that the Lord has answered the daily "Amida" prayers of centuries of faithful Jewish people crying out for the "ingathering of the exiles". The pleas of the suffering Refuseniks were also heard from within the Soviet Union, and slowly, the Iron Curtain began to crumble.

Christians prayed and gave generously for flights and buses to bring them home. As Jews and Christians found a way to agree to a common purpose, then miracles took place. Over 1,000,000 former Soviet Jews were released home to Israel between 1991 and 2005.

Jerusalem Vistas/Israel Vision is Very Proud of their Award Winning Film...Gates of Brass

The Farhud: Roots of the Arab-Nazi Alliance in the Holocaust

On the 1st of June 1941, thousands of armed Iraqi Muslims were on the rampage, with swords, knives and guns. The two days of violence that followed have become known as the Farhud (Arabic for "violent dispossession"). It was the end of a Jewish community that had existed for 2,600 years~from the time of Babylon. There are reports of up to 200 killed, and thousands wounded, but some say the number much higher. The Israeli-based Babylonian Heritage Museum says about another 600 unidentified victims were buried in a mass grave.

Mass Grave for Over 600 Farhoud Victims

"On the first night of Shavuot we would stay up all night studying Torah in the synagogue. As we set out we heard screams of, 'Allah Allah!' and shots. We went onto the roof to see what's happening, and saw fires, people were on the roofs in the ghetto screaming, begging God to help them. The violence continued through the night. A red hand sign, or hamsa, had been painted on Jewish homes, to mark them out."

Over the next years,  80% of Iraqi Jewry (110,000 Jews) emigrated from the country~most to Israel. 

In this interesting report by Eric Stakelbeck, author and investigative journalist Edwin Black talks about his book, "The Farhud: Roots of the Arab-Nazi Alliance in the Holocaust". They discuss the pogrom in Bagdad and the Arab-Nazi alliance. If you are interested in the truth about the middle east, please take the time to watch.

* There are some commercials in the clip as it was taken from You Tube

Kristallnacht~72 Years

During the evenings of November 9th and 10th, 1938, thousands of synagogues and Jewish businesses and homes were damaged or destroyed.

The Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem is holding a ceremony and symposium to mark 72 years since the Kristallnacht pogrom. The pogrom was named for the broken glass that resulted when the Nazis unleashed a series of riots against the Jews in Germany and Austria.

German and Austrian ambassadors will participate in the symposium. The program is in Hebrew with translation into English available, and includes lectures on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial, as well as Holocaust Survivor Artists from Central Europe. There will also be memorial ceremonies held at  noon and at 5:30pm. Rabbi Mordechai Neugroschel will speak in the Yad Vashem Synagogue. He is is a well known lecturer and educator in Eretz Israel. He speeches in Hebrew and English reach a wide range of Israeli audiences.

Over the years the organizers of Yad Vashem have created one of the most complete centers for Holocaust information. I hope to post more on this amazing institution at a later date.

They now have a website where you can learn about the Shoah, and even search the database for names of Shoah victims.

Do visit their on line section dedicated to the  Kristallnacht Exhibition called It Came From Within.  You will find pictures and stories of the people who lived and died during those terrible nights. 

The sad truth is that the evil of antisemitism is rising around the world once again. Israel and the Jewish people are being blamed for all the ills of the world. 

While Christians are being slaughtered in every Muslim country in the Middle East, the mainstream Media  either ignores the atrocities, refuses to name the perpetrators or promotes the view that this would not be happening if Israel would only give up their country. I listen to BBC and their biased reports bear no resemblance to what is happening here in Israel. They maintain a policy that is completely  against Israel and consistently invite only those who share their antisemitic views. I don't know which is more disturbing, the fact that they are funded by public taxes or that they are heard around the world!

Sadly, even those in Germany have once again joined in the hatred towards Israel and the Jews. There was an article in the New York Times pointing out that the keynote address this year for the commemoration of the Kristallnacht pogrom at Paulskirche (a former church in Frankfurt that is a symbol of German democracy), will be delivered by Alfred Grosser, who was born in the city 85 years ago. Last year, he published a book called “From Auschwitz to Jerusalem,” in which he suggested that Germany was not critical enough of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians because of the legacy of the Holocaust. A "Pro Palestinian" Jew, he rails against Israel. It should be noted that he lives in France, where his family fled in 1933. 

Today there are many, many Jews both in Israel and abroad who jump on the podium to vilify Israel. Just as there were Jewish Kapos in the concentration camps, these people bring shame to themselves.

The violence today has nothing to do with land--it is totally about the evil rise of Islam and their bid to conquer the world to establish a new Caliphate. Read and be informed.

We must stand up and say Never Again to those who would deprive us of the freedoms that so many have died for. As we remember the horror of Kristallnacht and what it brought to the world we must ask ourselves; "If Israel falls...who is next?"