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Makkabi Berlin, soccer club founded by Holocaust survivors, is about to make Jewish history in Germany
(JTA) — When Makkabi Berlin takes the field on Sunday, the German soccer club founded by Holocaust survivors will make history.
Makkabi will be the first Jewish club to compete in the German Cup, an annual season-long tournament featuring 64 of the country’s best teams — from the amateur level to the Bundesliga, Germany’s top league which features some of the world’s best players.
When the competition was created in 1935, Jews were prohibited from participating.
“I’ve been there from the first day. I never imagined that we — as a Jewish team — would ever be playing a cup game against a Bundesliga team,” club co-founder Marian Wajselfisz told the Associated Press. “So for us, and for me personally, it’s a huge joy.”
Makkabi Berlin was founded in 1970 as the successor to Bar Kochba Berlin, Germany’s first Jewish sports club, which was created in 1898 and named for the famous Jewish military leader. At its peak, it had more than 40,000 members who played in a variety of sports, before the Nazis rose to power.
Today, Makkabi Berlin has 550 members who hail from a variety of backgrounds. The soccer club features players from 15 different countries and includes Jews, Christians and Muslims. But the team’s crest is still a Star of David.
“This is something we’re extremely proud of,” Makkabi board member Michael Koblenz told the AP. “We’re here, and whoever is ready to play for us, and is also open to playing for a club with Jewish origins and some sort of Jewish culture, we’re absolutely happy to integrate people into our teams.”
The club was recently promoted to the fifth tier of German soccer, NOFV-Oberliga Nord, after winning the Berlin league last summer. Makkabi qualified for the German Cup by winning the Berlin Cup in June, a first for the team.
Their opponent on Sunday, Wolfsburg, plays in the Bundesliga and is owned by Volkswagen. Makkabi’s high-profile matchup means the game will played in a bigger stadium and will be televised — a rarity for the club’s games.
“The popularity, visibility and success of Jewish sports clubs symbolizes the growth of established Jewish life in Germany and the world,” said the World Jewish Congress.
The WJC hosted a panel discussion on Friday with representatives of Makkabi and Wolfsburg, “to honor and discuss the critical role of Jewish sporting clubs in Europe before the Holocaust and the impact of their resurgence in the modern-era,” according to a press release. The warmup shirts the two clubs will wear on Sunday will also feature the WJC’s logo.
The World Jewish Congress held a panel to discuss the legacy of Jewish sports clubs in Europe, Aug. 11, 2023. From left to right: Israel Hayom reporter and historian Adi Rubenstein, VfL Wolfsburg head of club media Thorsten Grunow, Makkabi Berlin manager Roy Frydling, Makkabi Berlin board member Michael Koblenz and WJC senior advisor on sporting issues Daniel Loercher. (Shahar Azran/WJC)
“This week’s match shows us Jewish clubs around the world will always tell a story that is bigger than sport,” Israel Hayom reporter and historian Adi Rubenstein said at the event.
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The post Makkabi Berlin, soccer club founded by Holocaust survivors, is about to make Jewish history in Germany appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.