Features
“Judenrein” posits what might happen if a right-wing conspiracy in the United States – and a cooperative president, came together
“Judenrein”
By “Harold Benjamin”
Self-published in 2020, but available on Amazon in either e-book or hard copy format.
Reviewed by BERNIE BELLAN
A while back I received an email from someone named “Harold Benjamin” (which, it turned out, was a pseudonym).
In that email Mr. Benjamin told me that he had written a book titled “Judenrein”.
The title immediately grabbed my attention as I knew it referred to the German term coined by the Nazis meaning “Jew free”. Here’s a brief description of the book’s plot, as given on Amazon:
“Zack Gurevitz has had a checkered past. A Yeshiva boy, turned Green Beret, turned junkie, excommunicated by his one-time faith and now the potential savior of people he doesn’t even like.
“As a white supremacist movement stealthily takes the reins of power in America, it is again the Jews who are made out as scapegoats. Stripped of wealth and citizenship, they are made to live in 21st century ghettos that hark back to a sinister and murky past that many had thought would never return.
“But things are about to get much worse. With the revealing of a planned terror attack that will place the blame firmly at Jewish feet and condemn millions to death, Zack is contacted by Jewish leaders in Detroit, begging for his help.
“Reluctantly he agrees and before long he is mired in a conspiracy that will have far reaching consequences for his country, the Jewish population and even his own sanity.
“As the clock ticks down, can Zack find a way to avert a looming disaster? Who is behind the conspiracy? And can he really trust anyone?”
Earlier this year a four-part television series based on a Phillip Roth novel titled “The Plot Against America” was aired on HBO (and can still be seen either on Shaw or MTS TV. That show speculates about what might have happened had the anti-Semite Charles Lindbergh become president of the United State in 1940.
We are living in turbulent times and, although it is hard to say definitively whether anti-Semitism is now as great a concern for Jews more than any other time since the Holocaust, there have been many indicators of late that it should be, although I’m going to add the proviso that I refuse to accept that’s the case in Winnipeg.
I have deliberately avoided stoking the fears of readers of this paper unnecessarily by printing a large number of the stories that we receive via email almost daily which, if we printed them all, would no doubt lead anyone to conclude that Jews are under fierce attack almost everywhere. Yes, in certain areas of North America, especially where Orthodox Jews live in large numbers in specific neighbourhoods, it is becoming increasingly dangerous for Jews, but I would argue that simply isn’t the case here in Winnipeg – much as certain individuals would love to scare us into thinking anti-Semitism is rampant in this city.
Notwithstanding my reluctance to succumb to the notion that Jews everywhere are under attack, when the author of “Judenrein” asked me whether I might like him to send me a copy of his self-published book, I thought to myself: “Why not? It might be worth taking a look.”
I admit I was somewhat hesitant, however, to plunge into the book – not because I was shying away from the subject matter, but simply because we’ve had quite a few self-published books sent our way and, quite frankly, almost all of them should have been edited by a professional editor.
Now, “Judenrein” certainly falls into the category of books that should have been more carefully edited, but when it comes to a riveting plot – well, I just couldn’t stop reading this book. I don’t know anything about Harold Benjamin beyond what he sent me when I asked him to write a brief autobiographical blurb. Here’s what he wrote:
“Here’s a little bio: Harold Benjamin is the pen name of a 50-something Jewish writer who lives in the American midwest (sic. “midwest” should be capitalized). Most of his professional work involves corporate copywriting. He grew up in the suburbs of New York city (sic. “city” should be capitalized.) and was educated on the east coast (sic. “east coast” should be capitalized.) He’s of Latvian, Polish and Lithuanian descent. All four of his grandparents were born outside of the US, three of them in the 19th century.”
As you can see by my use of the term “sic.”, just within the short blurb that Benjamin sent me, his writing could use some careful editing. If you’re a stickler for grammar, capitalization, also, to a certain extent -syntax as well, “Judenrein” can be a little annoying. (Why don’t self-publishing authors send their books to someone to correct those sorts of mistakes I always wonder after I’ve read a book that should have been thoroughly edited.)
Yet, don’t let my somewhat petty criticism on this point deter you in the least from considering buying this book. It’s a spellbinder of the first order.
I should also mention that last year I was introduced to the writing of Daniel Silva at one of the sessions of the book club this paper sponsors jointly with the Rady JCC. I should be somewhat embarrassed to admit that I hadn’t heard of Daniel Silva prior to that particular meeting of the book club but, wow – I’m hooked on his books now. By the way, in case you’re also wondering who Silva is, he’s probably the world’s foremost spy thriller writer right now – having written 19 novels, with an Israeli spy named Gabriel Allon as his recurrent hero.
To return to “Judenrein” – as explained in the blurb I quoted, the story revolves around a plot to put the Jewish population in America into ghettos – and eventually expel them.
It’s not too hard to imagine a right-wing conspiracy of that sort actually being planned these days, given the level of anti-Semitic discourse so prevalent on the internet. What “Judenrein” successfully posits moreover, is how a conspiracy of that insidious sort could be successfully translated into reality.
And that’s where Harold Benjamin has done some masterful research. Within the framework of his plot, there are several ingredients that come together that lead to the gradual erosion of the civil rights of Jews, and the one that is key is the election of a right-wing president who is all too willing to abandon any notion of civil liberties.
Does that sound familiar? Now, I’m not going to turn this into yet another denunciation of Donald Trump, but “Judenrein” comes along at a time when divisions in America have never been starker and where the president is actively promoting those divisions.
Have Jews been targeted by Trump in the same way that he has targeted Mexicans, for instance, and arguably, anyone else who isn’t white? The president in “Judenrein”, who only goes by the initials “P.K.”, has a more clearly delineated contempt for Jews, but it is in his willingness to serve as the dupe of more intelligent right-wingers – all of whom are in the military, by the way, that his interests and the interests of a small group of very determined military men are aligned.
In point of fact, however, of late, it’s been senior members of the military who have admonished Trump for his expressed desire to use the military to quell civilian disturbances. Yet, one wonders the extent to which lower ranking members of the military would actually be in agreement with what Trump wanted to do – a point which becomes important in “Judenrein” in explaining how, under the right circumstances, right wing members of the military might readily join forces with right wing militias in persecuting Jews and other minority groups.
What happens in “Judenrein” – as the blurb from Amazon notes, is that the hero of this book who, though seriously flawed, rises to superspy status in short order – something, I suppose is a prerequisite for most spy novels these days.
Zack Gurevitz starts off as a drug addicted mess trying to get himself off heroin at a methadone clinic. How someone in that particular state can eventually rise to the level of extraordinary superhero really requires a total suspension of belief but, just as Gabriel Allon in Daniel Silva’s spy novels can overcome any obstacle, Zack Gurevitz manages to escape every nasty predicament in which he finds himself – and, believe me, there are enough close encounters that this book could be turned into an ongoing serial the way the Batman TV show of the 60s would leave you hanging on at the end of every episode.
Is it plausible that a recovering drug addict can be beaten viciously in one chapter, then miraculously recover within a few hours only to escape his captors and turn the tables on them – over and over again?
Of course not – but Benjamin knows how to build suspense and adds enough plot twists to keep the reader’s attention riveted.
Along the way he slips in a female FBI agent by the name of Matthews who, although she doesn’t become Zack’s love interest (disappointingly, for me at least. Come on – what’s a good spy thriller worth if it doesn’t have some gratuitous sex in it?), is eventually persuaded that there is a massive conspiracy afoot and that the FBI has become complicit in enabling it to move forward.
Since the author of this book didn’t actually reveal to me what his true background is, you either have to credit him with having done stellar research about various locations in the U.S. northeast, including certain buildings that do actually exist, along with a detailed knowledge of weaponry or, he himself was involved in employment that would have let him be privy to those details, all of which lend an air of authenticity to the storyline.
One final word about “Judenrein”: Although it’s a self-published book and available only on Amazon, there are already a fair number of reviews about this book on Amazon. To be honest, the reviews might be from friends or family of the author because they’re unanimous in heaping praise on this book – yet some of them offer thoughtful observations about how timely this book is at this point in American history.
When I asked Harold Benjamin how one might be able to buy his book he sent me this link: https://www.amazon.com/Judenrein-Dystopian-Thriller-Harold-Benjamin-ebook/dp/B086BRZDPF/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=judenrein&qid=1588353541&sr=8-4
Features
History of a Holocaust Survivor Turning Eighty
By HENRY SREBRNIK On July 19, I turn 80 years old. This is indeed a milestone, but for me, an even bigger one was just being born. My parents were Holocaust survivors, and I found out just a few months ago that, technically, so am I. My parents were from Czestochowa, Poland, where I was born in 1945. By 1943 most Jews in the city, including their own families, had been murdered by the Nazis, at Treblinka, and after the uprising in the Jewish ghetto, my parents, by now married, became slave labour in a major Nazi munitions plant, the HASAG-Pelcery concentration camp, in the city.
The Russian army liberated Czestochowa January 16-17, 1945, and I was born July 19, six months later. You can do the math. My mother was emaciated and didn’t even know she was pregnant, but another month, and it would have been obvious, and she would have been killed. (I never asked how this happened but found out when listening to her testimony for the Shoah Foundation in 1995. The men and women were housed in different barracks, but one night the Germans were delousing one of the buildings and allowed married couples to sleep together in the other.)
In 1945 the 9th of Av fell on July 19, and the Jewish world had just gone through our worst period in history. I was born in a makeshift hospital at the Jasna Gora, the famed Pauline Catholic monastery in the city. The actual city hospital had been destroyed in the fighting. It is home to the Matka Boska Czestochowska, (“the mother of God”), a very beautiful and large icon of Mary and the baby Jesus. Other women giving birth were surprised and one said, “Ona jest Zydowka” (She’s a Jew). So, though I am a proud Polish Jew, this could only have helped! The doctor who delivered whispered to my mother that he was Jewish but added that he wanted it kept quiet because he wasn’t going to leave Poland. It also took awhile for a mohel to come to the city for me.
The next few years were spent in Pocking-Waldstadt, a DP camp in the American zone in Bavaria, Germany, and then on to Pier 21 in Halifax and Canada. We lived in Montreal, though at home we were to all intents and purposes in Czestochowa, Jewish Poland.
As I was packing up my books in May because we all had to vacate our offices for the summer due to repairs in our building, I came across a book that I had never read – I don’t even recall where I got it — by the Polish historian Lucjan Dobroszycki, Survivors of the Holocaust in Poland: A Portrait Based on Jewish Community Records 1944-1947 (Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1994). Chapter 5 is comprised of “Lists of Jewish Children Who Survived,” in alphabetical order. I am listed on p. 146 (Heniek Srebrnik, 1945). I sent in a form to the Claims Conference in New York informing them. So, at age 80, I’ve become a Holocaust survivor! Compared to that start, the next decades have been easy street! As the Aussies say, “no worries! But the Jewish world has grown darker. Like many others, were I to write a memoir, I’d call it From Hitler to Hamas.
I grew up in Montreal, and have lived in Calgary and Charlottetown, as well as London, England, and four American cities. But I’ve only been to Winnipeg twice, in 1982 and, more dramatically, the weekend of Sept. 7-10, 2001. I presented a paper on “Birobidzhan on the Prairies: Two Decades of Pro-Soviet Jewish Movements in Winnipeg,” to a conference on “Jewish Radicalism in Winnipeg, 1905-1960,” organized by the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada. I left the morning of Sept. 11. An hour into the flight to Toronto we were told all airplanes had to land at the nearest major airport. I spent the next three days in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., with fellow passengers. We mostly watched the television reporting on the 9/11 catastrophe.
Though an academic, I have always written for newspapers, including Jewish ones, in Canada and the United States. Some, like the Jewish Free Press of Calgary, the Jewish Tribune of Toronto, and the previous version of the Canadian Jewish News, no longer exist, which is a shame. Fortunately, the Jewish Post still does.
Henry Srebrnik is a professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island.
Features
Why Prepaid Cards Are the Last Refuge for Online Privacy in 2025
These days, it feels like no matter what you do online, someone’s watching. Shopping, streaming, betting, even signing up for something free—it’s all tracked. Everything you pay for with a normal card leaves a digital trail with your name on it. And in 2025, when we’re deep into a cashless economy, keeping anything private is getting harder by the day.
If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t want every little move tied to your identity, prepaid cards are one of the only real options left. They’re simple, easy to get, and still give you a way to spend online without throwing your info out there. One card in particular, Vanilla Visa, is one of the better picks because of how widely Vanilla Visa is accepted and how little personal info it needs.
Everything’s Online, and Everything’s Tracked
We used to pay for stuff with cash. Walk into a store, hand over some bills, leave. No names, no records. That’s gone now. Most stores won’t even take cash anymore, and the ones that do feel like the exception. The cashless economy is here whether we like it or not.
So what’s the problem? Every time you swipe or tap your card, or pay with your phone, someone’s logging it. Your bank saves the details. The store’s system saves it. And a lot of times, that data gets sold or shared. It can get used to target you with ads, track what you buy, where you go, and when you do it.
It’s not just companies either. Apps collect it. Hackers try to steal it. Some governments keep tabs too. And if you’re using the same card everywhere, it all gets connected pretty fast.
Why Prepaid Cards Still Matter
Prepaid cards are one of the only ways to break that chain. You go to a store, buy one with cash, and that’s it. No bank involved. No name. You just load it up and use it. And because Vanilla Visa is accepted on most major websites, you can use it just like any normal card.
You’re not giving out your real name or tying it to your main account. That means when you pay for something, it’s not showing up on your bank statement. It’s not getting saved under your profile. You’re basically cutting off the trail right there.
Why Vanilla Visa Stands Out
There are a few different prepaid card brands out there, but Vanilla Visa is probably the most popular. You can grab one at grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies—almost anywhere. And once you’ve got it, you can use it on pretty much any site where Vanilla Visa is accepted.
No long setup. No personal info. You don’t need to register it under your name. You just pay, go online, and spend the amount that’s on the card. When it runs out, you toss it and move on. No trace.
This makes it great for anyone who wants to sign up for a site without attaching their real identity. People use it for online gaming, streaming, subscriptions, or just shopping without giving out their main card info.
The Good and the Bad
There are some solid upsides to using a prepaid card:
- You don’t need a bank account
- You don’t give out your name or address
- It’s easy to budget since you can’t spend more than you loaded
- Most major sites take them, especially where Vanilla Visa is accepted
But there are a few downsides too:
- You can’t reload the card. Once it’s empty, it’s done
- You can’t use it to get money out, like at an ATM
- Some cards have small fees or expiration dates, so don’t let them sit too long
- A few sites want a card tied to a name and billing address, which doesn’t work here
- If you lose it or someone steals the number, you’re probably not getting the money back
So yeah, prepaid cards aren’t perfect. But if privacy is the goal, they’re still one of the few things that actually help.
Real Ways People Use Them
Let’s say you’re trying out an online casino. You don’t want your bank seeing it. You don’t want it on your statement. You walk into a Walgreens, buy a Vanilla Visa with a hundred bucks in cash, then use it to make your deposit. Done. The casino sees a card, but not your name.
Or maybe you’re signing up for a new subscription. Could be a video platform, a magazine, whatever. You don’t want it auto-charging your main card every month or sharing your info with advertisers. Use a prepaid card, and it stays off the radar.
Even if you’re just buying something from a site you don’t totally trust, using a card that isn’t tied to your real money is a smart move.
Will These Cards Still Be Around?
That’s the thing people are starting to worry about. Some stores have started asking for ID when you buy higher-value prepaid cards. And there’s talk in some countries about requiring people to register cards before using them.
Governments don’t like anonymous money. Companies definitely don’t. There’s a chance that in the future, prepaid cards will be harder to get or come with new rules.
But for now, they still work. You can still walk into a store with cash and walk out with a prepaid card. And as long as Vanilla Visa is accepted at the places you shop, you’ve got a way to stay private.
Bottom Line
If you’re living in 2025 and trying to protect your privacy online, prepaid cards are one of the last easy options. The cashless economy makes it almost impossible to pay without leaving a record, but prepaid cards break that pattern. They don’t ask for your name. They don’t track your habits. And they don’t leave a trail if you use them right.
They won’t fix everything. They don’t keep you completely invisible. But they give you a level of control that’s hard to find now. In a world that wants to watch your every move, that still counts for something.
Features
Winkler nurse stands with Israel and the Jewish people
By MYRON LOVE Considering the great increase in anti-Semitic incidents in Canada over the past 20 months – and the passivity of government, federally, provincially and municipally, in the face of this what-should-be unacceptable criminal behaviour, many in our Jewish community may feel that we have been abandoned by our fellow citizens.
Polls regularly show that as many as 70% of Canadians support Israel – and there are many who have taken action. One such individual is Nelli Gerzen, a nurse at the Boundary Trails Health Centre (which serves the communities of Winkler and Morden in western Manitoba). Three times in the past 20 months, Gerzen has taken time off work to travel to Israel to support Israelis in their time of need.
I asked her what those around her thought of her trips to Israel. “My mother was worried when I went the first time (November 2023),” Gerzen responded, “but, like me, she has trust in the Lord. My friends and colleagues have gotten used to it.”
She also reports that she is part of a small group of fellow believers that meet online regularly and pray for Israel.
Gerzen is originally from Russia, but grew up in Germany. Her earliest exposure to the history of the Holocaust, she relates, was in Grade 9 – in Germany. “My history teacher in Germany in Grade 9 went into depth with the history of World War II and the Holocaust,” she recalls. “It is normal that all the teachers taught about the Holocaust but she put a lot of effort into teaching specifically this topic. We also got to watch a live interview with a Holocaust survivor.”
What she learned made a strong impression on her. “I have often asked myself what I would do if I were living in that era,” she says. “Would I have been willing to hide Jews in my home? Or risk my life to save others?”
Gerzen came to Canada in 2010 – at the age of 20. She received her nursing training here and has been working at Boundary Trails for the last three years.
“I believe in the G-d of Israel and that the Jews are his Chosen People,” she states. “We are living at a time of skyrocketing anti-Semitism. Many Jews are feeling vulnerable. I felt that I had to do something to help.”
Gerzen’s first trip to Israel was actually in 2014 when she signed onto a youth tour organized by a Christian group, Midnight Call, based in Switzerland. That initial visit left a strong impact. “That first visit changed my life,” she remembers. “I enjoyed having conversations with the Israelis. The bible for me came to life. Every stone seemed to have a story.”
She went on a second Midnight Call Missionaries tour of Israel in 2018. She went back again on her own in the spring of 2023. After October 7, she says, “I couldn’t sit at home. I had to do something.”
Thus, in November 2023, she went back to Israel, this time as a volunteer. She spent two weeks at Petach Tikvah cooking meals for Israelis displaced from the north and the south as well as IDF soldiers. She also spent a day with an Israeli friend delivering food to IDF soldiers stationed near Gaza. She notes that she wasn’t worried so close to the border.
“I trusted in the Lord,” she says. “It was a special feeling being able to help.”
Last November, she found herself at Kiryat Shmona (with whom our Jewish community has close ties), working for two weeks alongside volunteers from all over the world cooking for the IDF.
On one of her earlier visits, she recounts, a missile struck just a few metres from the kitchen where the volunteers were working. There was some damage – forcing closure for a few days while repairs were ongoing, but no injuries.
In January, she was back at Kiryat Shmona for another two weeks cooking for the IDF. She also helped deliver food to Metula on the northern border. This last time, she reports, there was a more upbeat atmosphere, “even though,” she notes, “the wounds are still fresh. It was quieter. There were no more missiles coming in.
“Israelis were really touched by the presence of so many of us volunteers. I only wish more Christians would stand up for Israel.
“It was really moving to hear people’s stories first-hand.”
She recounts the story of one Israeli she met at a Jerusalem market who fought in the Yom Kippur war of 1973, who was the only survivor of the tank he was in.
“This guy lost so much in his life, and he was standing there telling the story and smiling, just trying to live life again,” she says. “The people there are so heartbroken.”
Back home, she has been showing her support for Israel and the Jewish people by attending the weekly rallies on Kenaston in support of the hostages whenever she can.
She is looking forward to playing piano at Shalom Square during Folklorama.
Nelli Gerzen doesn’t know yet when she will be returning to Israel – but it is certain to be soon. “This is my chance to step up for the truth,” she concludes. “I know that supporting Israel is the right thing to do. When I am there, it feels like my heart is on fire.”