City notes: Arab-Jewish delegation returns from Poland

Arab-Jewish youth delegation in timely return from Poland.

By TAMARA ZIEVE
City notes (photo credit: Wikicommons)
City notes
(photo credit: Wikicommons)
NORTH
A delegation of 67 Arab and Jewish youths from the Northern District returned from an educational trip to Poland on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day this week.
“Nothing compares to the journeys of Hebrew- and Arabic-speaking youth to the Holocaust sites of extermination in Poland, to understand and internalize the meaning of the image of the little boy, shaking and scared in the ghetto, raising his little hands and looking with horror and fear at the face of the Nazi soldier,” the Local website quoted Education Ministry Northern District director Dr.
Orna Simhon as saying. She said the experience also allows one to connect to “the chilling statement” of the artist and author Nahum Gutman: “A child who observes is a whole person, understanding and sensitive.”
The youths who participated in the trip came from different areas in the North. The trip covered the usual facets of the educational program for youth delegations to Poland. The preparation process for the trip was headed by Joseph Kitov, the administration manager of society and youth in the North, alongside a team of supervisors and instructors, according to the Local website. The course was intensive and included a meeting at the Ghetto Fighters’ House as well as educational and social work as a delegation, in groups and independently.
Two wounded in Galilee brawl An 18-year-old man was seriously wounded and a 40-year-old man moderately wounded during a fight that broke out in the Galilee village of Nujeidat last weekend. Both men were evacuated to the hospital.
Police opened an investigation into the incident.
Man, 22, in hospital after Baka al-Gharbiya stabbing A fight broke out in the Arab village of Baka al- Gharbiya, leaving a 22-year-old with stab wounds and in severe condition.
Relatives immediately brought him to a local clinic, and Magen David Adom paramedics then transferred him to the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera. The cause of the incident remained unclear but was under investigation.CENTER
Holocaust survivor recounts pogrom testimony to soldiers Romanian-born Holocaust survivor Zvi Goldner spoke to several hundred IAF soldiers last week about his experiences in the Iasi pogrom in June 1941, which has become known as one of the most violent in Jewish history. The testimony was delivered at the Massua Institute for Holocaust Studies in Tel Yitzhak, established with the goal of evoking discourse about the Holocaust in contemporary society and culture.
Goldner recounted memories of his 16-year-old self, and how he was presented with an opportunity to save himself from death when the Germans pulled his family out of their apartment as they rounded up the Jews.
Goldner told the audience that false information had triggered the pogrom, and how airplanes flew low over the city and dropped bombs. There were no injuries or damage, but anti-Semitic groups began spreading false rumors that one of the planes, which was shot down, was operated by a local Jew.
“This was a lie,” Goldner said, but one that swiftly led to a violent mob-like outburst, encouraged by the police and German officers and led by those same anti-Semitic organizations. Jews were rounded up and beaten, humiliated and cursed.
Goldner found himself in the middle of a line of Jewish men being led down the stairs of his building, near a few steps that ascended to the attic. Out of sight of the soldiers at the front and end of the line, Goldner managed to escape. “That’s how I was saved.” Later that day, however, he and his brother were taken by police and held for a night with a multitude of other Jews. The Goldner brothers were released the next morning but many others were not as lucky; thousands were crammed into sealed freight trains which traveled for eight days back and forth across the country. Many died of suffocation, thirst and starvation. The precise total of deaths in the pogrom is not known but the Jewish community puts it at 20,000.
Motorcyclist and passenger die in crash, police report A motorcyclist and passenger were killed on Sunday evening after crashing into a safety barrier on route 79 between Shfaram and Hamovil Junction, MDA reported. The deceased were both men in their 20’s.
According to police, the motorcycle burst into flames that were put out quickly by firefighters who arrived on the scene.
Two drown at Tel Aviv beaches A man’s body was discovered by rescue divers five meters underwater off Bograshov beach in Tel Aviv on Sunday afternoon. The man was pronounced dead shortly after being brought to shore.
A ZAKA Search and Rescue Unit operation involving several divers and search boats was launched on Saturday evening after shouts for help were heard coming from the sea, and continued on Sunday morning until the missing body was found.
In a separate incident a 16-year-old girl died Sunday after being taken to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital in serious condition over the weekend, after being swept away by the current along with her friend at the Dolphinarium beach. Surfers rescued the two and brought them to shore on their boards. MDA paramedics performed CPR on the girl and transported her to the hospital, where she died a day later. Her friend suffered from shock.
These incidents come only a little more than a week after three brothers drowned off the Ashkelon coast.
ZAKA unit chief officer Haim Otmazgin said, “We appeal again to the Israeli public to follow the safety rules and not to enter the sea without a lifeguard present.”
Victory for popular club in attempt to shutter it over drugs Young party animals received good news this week when the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court ruled that popular nightclub The Block will remain open, following a hearing on the issue of drug dealing at the joint.
The hearing was held at the request of the Central District Police to permanently close down the venue, due to their allegations that drugs were being dealt at the club. The court ruled that there was no evidence that The Block’s owner, directors or employees were in any way involved with drug trade at the club.
SOUTH
Education Ministry head visits Eilat, educators call for increased investmentEducation Ministry director-general Dalit Stauber visited Eilat last week and met with leaders of the city’s education system, toured the Etzion Gever School and held a meeting with all of Eilat’s school principals.
Stauber met with Eilat Mayor Meir Yitzhak Halevi and the ministry’s Southern District head Amira Haim, among others.
The mayor told Stauber that due to Eilat’s unique characteristics, including distance, climate and resources, the city requires unique budgetary allocations. He noted that Eilat’s annual education budget is not proportional and would not be acceptable to any other authority.
Halevi thus requested that a special regulation for Eilat, addressing the city’s unique character – which was passed in 2006 – be properly implemented. “Through this regulation it will be possible to channel resources which will benefit the education system,” he stressed.
Other areas addressed were matriculation exams and problems with recruiting and retaining teachers, particularly focusing on teacher benefits. Halevi entreated Stauber to push the issue within the Education Committee to aid the recruitment of teachers to the city.
Stauber praised Eilat’s educational achievements, saying that despite its hardships, its outstanding investment in the field makes it a “winning city.” Following her visit she posted on Facebook a call to teachers of all subjects and ages, urging them to work in Eilat. She assured them they would receive economic incentives and the opportunity to teach in a quality system serving diverse and challenging populations. “Eilat is not just for recreation, sea and holiday,” she emphasized.
“Eilat can combine and implement a professional and Zionist educational mission.”
Ashkelon: Man allegedly kills mom’s caretaker, calls police A 60-year-old security guard allegedly shot and killed his mother’s caretaker in Ashkelon on Thursday night and then he called police to report the act. Police arrested the man, who police say admitted to killing the 45-year-old migrant worker from Moldova, because of what he termed her “inappropriate” treatment of his mother.
Upon arriving at the scene, MDA paramedics pronounced the woman dead. The suspect’s mother and girlfriend were present at the time of the shooting, according to police.
Boy, 7, crushed to death by steel door in Rahat A seven-year-old boy was crushed by a steel door and killed in the Negev town of Rahat on Sunday. MDA paramedics pronounced the boy dead on the scene. Police were investigating the circumstances of the incident.