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Actress in New Series ‘Tattooist of Auschwitz’ Was ‘Heartbroken’ to Discover She Doesn’t Have Jewish Roots
Melanie Lynskey at Elton John AIDS Foundation’s 32nd Annual Academy Awards Viewing Party in Los Angeles, California, on March 10, 2024. Photo: Faye’s Vision/Cover Images via Reuters Connect
Actress Melanie Lynskey thought her whole life that she was Jewish because of her Jewish-sounding last name and was disappointed to learn recently that she only has Irish roots, she admitted on Thursday.
“My name is Irish, as it turns out. I’m only Irish,” the New Zealand native, 46, said during her guest appearance on the British talk show This Morning. She then added that she was “so heartbroken” to discover she’s not Jewish. “I believed it my whole life,” she said.
Lynskey — whose credits include Yellowjackets, Ever After and Coyote Ugly — now stars in the six-part series The Tattooist Of Auschwitz, which will stream next month on Peacock. The miniseries, based on Heather Morris’ best-selling novel of the same name, is inspired by the real-life love story of Lali Sokolov and Gita Furman, who met while prisoners in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp during the Holocaust. Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, was taken to Auschwitz in 1942 and was forced to become one ff the camp’s tattooists, who inked identification numbers on to the arms of prisoners. He met Furman, who was also Slovakian, while tattooing her arm.
The miniseries goes back and forth between Sokolov’s time in the Auschwitz concentration camp and him being an elderly widower in his 80s, recounting his life story and memories to Morris. The author met Sokolov in 2003 and the Holocaust survivor died in 2006.
Lynskey plays Morris, who is also from New Zealand, and Harvey Keitel plays an elderly Sokolov. Jonah Hauer-King and Polish actress Anna Prochniak star in the leading roles of the two lovers. The series is directed by Israeli filmmaker Tali Shalom-Ezer and its score is composed by Oscar winner Hans Zimmer and Kara Talve.
During her appearance on This Morning, Lynskey also talked about starring in the series and said she had not read The Tattooist Of Auschwitz before joining the project. “I had read the book after I had read the screenplays [and] the screenplays were wonderful,” she said. “The story is so compelling. It’s an almost unbelievable story and beautifully written.”
Morris, who was also a guest on the morning show, said that when writing The Tattooist Of Auschwitz, she felt a pressure to share Sokolov’s story with the world. “I owed to him and nobody else,” she explained, adding: “I’ve written Lali’s story. His memory. And when the facts doesn’t always meet up with what he was telling me, I went with his memory.”
The Tattooist Of Auschwitz begins streaming on Peacock on May 2. Watch the trailer below.
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Washington Warns UK, France Against Recognizing Palestinian Statehood
Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy leaves Downing Street, following the results of the election, in London, Britain, July 5, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Toby Melville
i24 News – The United States has warned the UK and France not to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state at a UN conference scheduled for June 17 in New York, the Middle East Eye reported Tuesday.
France and Saudi Arabia will co-host this conference on the two-state solution, with Paris reportedly preparing to unilaterally recognize Palestine. France is also pressuring London to follow this path, according to sources from the British Foreign Office.
French media reports indicate that French authorities believe they have the agreement of the British government. Meanwhile, Arab states are encouraging this move, measuring the success of the conference by the recognitions obtained.
This initiative deeply divides Western allies. If France and the UK were to carry out this recognition, they would become the first G7 nations to take this step, causing a “political earthquake” according to observers, given their historical ties with Israel. The Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer threatened last week to annex parts of the West Bank if this recognition took place, according to a report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
In the United Kingdom, Foreign Secretary David Lammy publicly opposes unilateral recognition, stating that London would only recognize a Palestinian state when we know that it is going to happen and that it is in view.
However, pressure is mounting within the Labour Party. MP Uma Kumaran, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said that the government was elected on a platform that promised to recognize Palestine as a step towards a just and lasting peace. Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, believes that there is no legitimate reason for the United States to interfere in a sovereign decision of recognition, while highlighting the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump on this issue.
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Police, Shin Bet Thwart Suspected Iranian Attempt Perpetrate Terror Attack
A small number of Jewish worshipers pray during the priestly blessing, a traditional prayer which usually attracts thousands of worshipers at the Western Wall on the holiday of Passover during 2020, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 12, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Ronen Zvulun.
i24 News – The Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police thwarted another Iranian attempt to recruit Israelis, according to a statement on Tuesday, arresting a resident of East Jerusalem for allegedly carrying out missions for the Islamic Republic.
Iranian agents recruited the suspect, who in turn recruited members of his family. He is a resident of the Isawiya neighborhood in his 30s, and is accused of maintaining contact with a hostile foreign entity to harm the state by carrying out a terrorist attack against Jews.
The suspect had already begun perpetrating acts of sabotage and espionage, including collecting intelligence about areas in Jerusalem, including the Western Wall and Mahane Yehuda Market. He also hung signs, burned Israeli army uniforms, and more in exchange for payment totaling thousands of shekels.
He was also charged with planning a terror attack in central Israel, including setting fire to a forest, and was told to transfer weapons to terrorist elements in the West Bank.
The suspect’s sought the help of family members, including his mother. A search at his home revealed sums of cash, a spray can used in some of his activities, airsoft guns, suspected illegal drugs, and more.
His indictment is expected to be filed by the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office.
The statement said that the case is yet another example of Iranian efforts to recruit Israelis. “We will continue to coordinate efforts to thwart terrorism and terrorist elements, including those operating outside Israel, while attempting to mobilize local elements in order to protect the citizens of the State of Israel,” the Shin Bet and Police said.
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Pro-Russian, Anti-Israeli Hackers Pose Biggest Cybercrime Threats in Germany
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt holds a chart showing the development of antisemitic crime, during a press conference on Figures for Politically Motivated Crime in the Country, in Berlin, Germany, May 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Cybercrime in Germany rose to a record level last year, driven by hacker attacks from pro-Russian and anti-Israeli groups, the BKA Federal Crime Office reported on Tuesday as the government said it would boost countermeasures to combat it.
“Cybercrime is an increasing threat to our security,” said Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt. “It is getting more aggressive but our counter-strategies are also becoming more professional,” he said.
Some 131,391 cases of cybercrime took place in Germany last year and a further 201,877 cases were committed from abroad or an unknown location, a BKA report said.
The actors behind the hacker attacks on German targets were primarily either pro-Russian or anti-Israeli, said the BKA, adding targets were mostly public and federal institutions.
Ransomware, when criminals copy and encrypt data, is one of the main threats, said the BKA, with 950 companies and institutes reporting cases in 2024.
German digital association Bitkom said damage caused by cyberattacks here totaled 178.6 billion euros ($203.87 billion) last year, some 30.4 billion euros more than in the previous year.
Dobrindt said the government planned to extend the legal capabilities authorities could use to combat cybercrime and set higher security standards for companies.
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