Features
Jews and non-Jews share a bloody history in Ukraine. But there are reasons for hope.
By SARA J. BLOOMFIELD (JTA) –The Russian invasion of Ukraine, justified by Vladimir Putin as necessary to “denazify” the country and stop “genocide,” outraged me for its blatant assault on a people, and on truth. But as I thought about his previous misuses of history, I should not have been so surprised.
In 2019, marking the 80th anniversary of the Nazi-Soviet Pact, Putin sought to downplay the significance of this agreement in starting World War II and its secret protocols that divided Poland between Hitler and Stalin — two other masters at re-writing history.
This invasion also brought back the overwhelming sense I had from various visits to Ukraine, best summarized in a familiar adage originally about the Balkans, that Ukraine has had more history than it can consume. As I traveled to big cities and small towns, aspects of its many layers of complicated history were on view everywhere.
In Kiev, I was greeted each morning outside my hotel by an enormous statue of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the revered Cossack leader who commanded a 17th-century uprising to promote Ukrainian independence from Poland. He was also a vicious antisemite responsible for the killing of at least 40,000 Jews. I was appalled that the statue existed and wished that at the very least it might be accompanied by information about the innocent victims of this Ukrainian nationalist. Today, I find myself reflecting on this symbol of an independent Ukraine that also symbolizes its complex past.
As I would drive around the country, I would encounter common themes. You had the impression that one could stop in almost any town or village and ask, “Where were the Jews buried?” Someone would take you to a forest or a piece of land near a farmer’s field to see the mass grave. Over one and a half million Jewish men, women and children were murdered in Ukraine by the Nazis and their local collaborators. Unlike other European Jews, they were not deported to distant killing centers like Auschwitz but shot, one by one, in the places they had lived for centuries.
We now know so much more about “the Holocaust by bullets” because, ironically, of the fall of the Soviet Union and the opening of massive archives as well as the important work of Fr. Patrick Desbois, who identified many of the mass graves and interviewed locals who saw these horrible crimes. On one visit to Ukraine Fr. Desbois and I went to a wooded area, now a mass grave, where we met an elderly woman who shared her memories as a young girl witnessing the killing of her neighbors.
Another stark recollection is walking around towns and seeing on door after door an indentation that once held a mezuzah — the small case that traditionally marks the entrance to Jewish homes. The Jews were long gone, but the unintended marker of where a people had once lived remained, speaking to us across the decades.
I will also never forget that in practically every town and village one would see the same memorial: an angel, her head lowered, her face drenched in sorrow, holding a stalk of wheat in one arm and a dead baby in the other. No explanations required. One only needs the most superficial sense of Ukraine’s history to know the stature mourns Stalin’s deliberate starvation of at least 3.5 million Ukrainians, both Christians and Jews, in 1932-33, now known as the Holodomor.
In summer 2014 I visited in the aftermath of Putin’s annexation of Crimea and the Dignity Revolution that preceded it. The revolution had overthrown Ukraine’s Russian-backed president, Viktor Yanukovych. Makeshift memorials and anti-Russian sentiments were everywhere. I met government officials, public intellectuals, directors of archives, Holocaust scholars, Jewish community leaders and American diplomats. All of them saw this as a moment to write a new chapter in Ukrainian history. One described to me a burned-out bus with this declaration written in the ash: “One day spent fighting here is a life worth living.” The people I met were filled with similar defiance and resilience, although sometimes tinged by understandable anxiety or cynicism. But, overwhelmingly, the word I kept hearing everywhere was “hope.”
Ukraine has suffered from extraordinary external threats such as German Nazism and Soviet Communism and serious internal problems like extreme nationalism and antisemitism. But in recent decades it has begun to face its past, confront important truths, and create a pluralistic democracy. “Hope” hardly feels like the right word for this moment. But given a chance, the Ukrainian people have given us reason to believe that in the long term, freedom and dignity might prevail.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.
Features
Understanding the Differences Between the Three Roulette Classes
Roulette is one of those games that denotes the world of casinos most iconically with its spinning wheel and suspenseful moment when people wait for the ball to land on a number. Not all roulette, however, is the same. There are three classes of roulette: European, American, and French. They have rules and variations that somehow make them stand out and give extremely different gaming experiences. Let’s take a look at some of these differences and understand what makes each roulette class special.
The Classic Choice of the European Roulette
The typical character of European Roulette is the presence of a single zero, thus making it highly favorable among players due to a very low house advantage of 2.7% and, therefore, higher odds of winning. It offers a number of inside and outside bets that can suit different players’ appetites for risk. The reason the players like European Roulette is that it is easy to play, and the odds are quite even.
This game of roulette easily finds its place on most online websites in several variants, from differently themed games to different betting limits to accommodate any type of player. Be it a new starter or a seasoned gamer, European Roulette offers them all a slick and smooth experience with good graphics and interaction that they would want more of.
The Elegance and the Strategy of the French Roulette
French Roulette is often touted as the most sophisticated style of the game. It shares this with European Roulette, which also has a single zero wheel; however, the features are different, with the inclusion of various rules termed “La Partage” and “En Prison.” These rules create such a drastic reduction in the house edge down to as low as 1.35% on even-money bets that it affords the player a number of options for a gaming experience. French Roulette also boasts an assortment of table layouts and special bets that give the game a strategic edge, intriguing experienced players.
Spin Casino roulette games offer a sophisticated, classic European casino atmosphere in the version of French Roulette. The detailed tutorials and user-friendly interface mean that new players will take no time to learn the nuances of this great game, allowing everyone to enjoy the strategic depth of this variation.
The American Roulette, With High Stakes
Another successful variant is American Roulette, most especially in North American casinos. The key difference between American and European roulette lies in the addition of a double zero slot on the wheel. This adds to a 5.26% house edge, thereby giving it a moderate advantage over its European cousin. This also contains an extra layer of unpredictability and fun with the double zero and lures players who like higher stakes and a faster-moving pace of the game.
The realness of the experience means that American Roulette fans will get a true taste of Las Vegas-style casino action. From this brand, high-quality American Roulette games are available for players to try their luck with the double zero in immersive graphics and sound effects that bring the excitement of the casino right to your screen.
Try these roulette variations and enter a whole new world of casino gaming, where each spin holds a new chance at excitement and rewards. Be it for the first-timer or a seasoned player, roulette is a game in which the thrill keeps one sitting on the edge.
Features
Auschwitz Tours from Warsaw: Preserving Memory, Honoring History
Auschwitz is one of the most powerful symbols of the Holocaust and its lessons are as current as ever. As the world prepares for International Holocaust Day the need to remember and educate becomes even more urgent.
At Auschwitz Tours from Warsaw, our mission is to help you connect with this dark chapter in history. We offer guided tours to Auschwitz-Birkenau from Warsaw and Krakow so you can visit the largest Nazi concentration and extermination camp where over a million innocent lives were taken.
Why Auschwitz Tours from Warsaw?
A visit to Auschwitz is an emotional experience and we want you to get the most out of it. Our guides will walk you through the historical context, tell you stories of those who suffered, resisted, and in some cases survived. With respect and sensitivity, we will share the history that can’t be forgotten.
We offer full day tours from both Warsaw and Krakow so you can visit Auschwitz whether you’re coming from Poland’s capital or its cultural hub. Our tours include comfortable round trip transportation so you can focus on the experience without worrying about the logistics.
Extra Educational Content
Apart from the day trips, Auschwitz Tours from Warsaw also provides a lot of educational content about Auschwitz and the Holocaust. Our website is a resource for learning with articles and materials about Auschwitz’s history, World War II, and the long-term impact of the Holocaust.
For those who can’t visit in person, these materials are a window into this dark period of human history so the lessons of the Holocaust are available to everyone.
Honoring the Past on International Holocaust Remembrance Day
International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27th is a global moment of remembrance. It’s a day to remember the 6 million Jews and millions of others murdered by the Nazis during World War II.
It’s not just about the victims of the Nazi regime but about learning from history so we never repeat the mistakes.
January 27th is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945, a day of unimaginable suffering but also of survival. The site itself is closed on this day for commemoration, but it’s a place of great importance for those who want to reflect on what happened here.
Although the gates are closed to visitors on January 26 and 27, it’s a day of personal reflection and remembrance for those who have passed away.
But on January 27th, a special area will be open for those who want to mark this solemn day on the grounds of the Memorial. This is a unique opportunity to reflect and remember in silence, on the very ground where so many lives were lost.
If you can’t visit Auschwitz today, International Holocaust Remembrance Day is still a chance to connect with the stories of survivors and victims. It’s a day to educate ourselves and others, not just about the past but about the present need to face hatred, intolerance, and anti-Semitism in all its forms.
If you’d like to learn more about our tours or explore our educational content, visit us at auschwitztoursfromwarsaw.com. Join us in remembering the past and keeping the message of “Never Again” alive.
Features
The Hurdles Facing Egyptian Intellectuals
By HENRY SREBRNIK In the twentieth century, many middle-class Egyptians adopted a cosmopolitan cultural style. They wanted to move the country toward a more liberal and secular state.
But they always came up against, and were unable to surmount, the strength of a very strong Islamic religious culture. In despair, some, despite their own preferences, ended up preferring autocracy to what they considered a backward and dangerous ideology.
In 1952, a revolution brought the Free Officers movement, led by Gamal Abdel Nasser, to power. It seemed to have brought a secular quasi-socialist regime to power.
But the undercurrents of politicized religion, though banned by Nasser, did not disappear. The Muslim Brotherhood, which had been founded in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna and preached a fundamentalist Islamism guarded exclusively by the sharia, was outlawed. Its most prominent theoretician, Sayyid Ibrahim Qutb, was executed in 1966.
But secular movements fell from favour following Egypt’s defeat by Israel in 1967, and the country was transformed into an autocracy following Nasser’s death three years later. From 1981 until 2011, Egypt was ruled with an iron hand by Hosni Mubarak, until popular unrest forced him to step down during the Arab Spring.
Would this herald a new, democratic chapter in Egypt? Would free elections bring about a rebirth of secular politics? The answer was no.
Mubarak’s ouster cleared the way for the Muslim Brotherhood to participate openly in Egyptian politics, and to that end the group formed the Freedom and Justice Party. In April 2012 the party selected Mohamed Morsi to be its candidate in Egypt’s presidential election. Morsi defeated Ahmed Shafiq, a former prime minister under Mubarak, that June.
Morsi soon issued an edict declaring that his authority as president would not be subject to judicial oversight until a permanent constitution came into effect. Although he defended the edict as a necessary measure to protect Egypt’s transition to democracy, mass demonstrations were held against what many saw as a seizure of dictatorial powers.
Worsening economic conditions, deteriorating public services, and a string of sectarian incidents, including attacks on the country’s Coptic Christian minority, strengthened opposition to Morsi’s rule. Clashes between Morsi’s supporters and critics in late June 2013 culminated in massive anti-Morsi protests around the country.
On July 3 the military under the head of the Egyptian Armed Forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, removed Morsi from power. A figurehead president, Adly Mansour, was installed, but it was clear that Sisi, who retained the title of defence minister, wielded power.
Sisi claimed that the military had carried out the will of the Egyptian people, as expressed in the anti-Morsi protests, and that the Islamist-dominated administration led by Morsi had put the Muslim Brotherhood’s interests before those of the country.
A month later the Egyptian police and armed forces committed what Human Rights Watch deemed “one of the world’s largest killings of demonstrators in a single day in recent history.”
Eleven years on, the murder of over 1,000 supporters of the deposed president, known as the Rabaa Massacre, has gone largely unpunished. The Muslim Brotherhood was formally outlawed that September and Morsi was jailed. Prison conditions were harsh, and he was denied adequate medical attention. He died in 2019.
Sisi officially left the military to run for president and was elected in a clearly fraudulent manner in May 2014. He has been re-elected twice since, in March 2018 and again in December 2023, when he was reported to have won with 89.6 per cent of the vote after several opposition figures were prevented from participating. Under his reign, Egypt has degenerated into a police state even more repressive than the 30-year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak.
Caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place, Egypt’s pro-democracy and civil society movements jettisoned their long-standing commitments to human rights and the rule of law and enthusiastically supported the return of military rule.
One of those civil society leaders, Saad Eddin Ibrahim, was among Egypt’s most influential intellectual figures. He had spent his career insisting that democracy is the solution both to political authoritarianism and to the allures of religious fundamentalism in the Arab world.
Pushing back against the prevailing view that Islamist groups must be marginalized, he argued that they should be included in the democratic process. He even went so far as to advocate, in an article titled “Toward Muslim Democracies,” that “it will be better for us as democrats, for the Islamists, and for Egypt to enlist Islamists under the flag of democracy.”
He encouraged Egyptians to support this vision and put aside common fears about Islamist movements and had been arrested for his views under Mubarak. Yet even he abruptly became an apologist for authoritarian rule.
The “problem” was that the bulk of the Egyptian masses were unwilling to part with their religious traditions or wholly consign them to the realm of the private. Put another way, if most Egyptians were given the choice between being liberal or being Muslim, they would overwhelmingly select the latter.
Faced with that reality, these intellectuals forged authoritarian alliances to forcibly impose their worldview on an otherwise unwilling populace. When Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood were in actual control of the state rather than at its fringes, the liberal secularists chose authoritarian rule. This is the same tragedy found in most of the Arab world.
Henry Srebrnik is a professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island.
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