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German zoo gets $26 million from widow of animal-loving Holocaust survivor
(JTA) — The zoo in Cologne, Germany, has gotten its first check from the $26 million gift promised by the widow of a Holocaust survivor who credited the city’s residents for saving him during the war.
Elizabeth Reichert willed the funds to the Cologne Zoological Garden in 2017 in honor of her husband Arnulf, who died in 1998. Both Reicherts were born in Cologne and met during World War II, when Elizabeth was part of the local anti-Nazi resistance network and Arnulf, a German Jew, was in hiding with the network’s help.
“They only survived the war in Germany thanks to the help of courageous people from Cologne, who offered hiding places to the Jew Arnulf Reichert,” the zoo said in a statement in German this week.
Though they moved to Israel and, after five years, America after the war, Arnulf and Elizabeth maintained affection to the city for the rest of their lives.
“We were born in Cologne and we remember forever Cologne,” Reichert said in 2017.
In the United States, they settled in New Jersey, where the couple started and ran a successful pet wholesale business. They never had children. Reichert chose the zoo out of all institutions in Cologne because of her and Arnulf’s love of animals.
“Arnulf wanted to give the money someplace where it would do good,” Elizabeth Reichert said in 2017 when she announced the planned gift. “When you think about leaving money, memories play a major role.”
Reichert died in February 2021, at the age of 96, and it was not until recently that her estate was settled and funds could be disbursed. The zoo reported that it had received the first payment from the trust, of more than $700,000 dollars, and said it expected annual disbursals to top $1 million in the future. The gift, a zoo official said in 2017, was unusual in Germany where large philanthropic gifts are rare and would be used to improve the zoo for animals and visitors alike.
The zoo said it is planning to name its South American section after Arnulf Reichert.
Athletes run past sea lions at the Cologne zoo during the Zoolauf, where children and adults can run past animals, June 24, 2022. (Roberto Pfeil/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Reichert had been giving a monthly donation of over $7,000 since announcing the gift. But her giving to the zoo goes all the way back to 1954, when she and Arnulf donated a soft-shelled turtle they brought from the Jordan River to Germany by boat on a nine-day journey, feeding it cold cuts of meat along the way.
Cologne’s zoo is not the first in Europe to be associated with Holocaust survivors. Zookeepers in Warsaw sheltered 300 Jews from the Nazis inside the zoo, in a dramatic story that was the subject of a novel and then a 2017 movie adaptation starring Jessica Chastain.
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The post German zoo gets $26 million from widow of animal-loving Holocaust survivor appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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China, Saudi Arabia Agree to Strengthen Coordination on Regional, Global Matters
Flags of China and Saudi Arabia are seen in this picture, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, December 7, 2022. REUTERS/Mohammed Benmansour
China and Saudi Arabia agreed to have closer communication and coordination on regional and international issues, with Beijing lauding Riyadh’s role in Middle East diplomacy, statements following a meeting between the nations’ foreign ministers on Sunday showed.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is on a three-nation tour in the Middle East that began in the United Arab Emirates and is expected to end in Jordan. He met with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud in Riyadh on Sunday.
A joint statement published by China’s official news agency Xinhua did not elaborate on what issues the countries will strengthen coordination on, but mentioned China’s support for Saudi Arabia and Iran developing and enhancing their relations.
“(China) appreciates Saudi Arabia’s leading role and efforts to achieve regional and international security and stability,” the statement released on Monday said.
The statement also reiterated both countries’ support for a “comprehensive and just settlement” of the Palestinian issue and the formation of an independent state for Palestinians.
At a high-level meeting, Wang told his Saudi counterpart that China has always regarded Saudi Arabia as a “priority for Middle East diplomacy” and an important partner in global diplomacy, a Chinese foreign ministry statement on Monday said.
He also encouraged more cooperation in energy and investments, as well as in the fields of new energy and green transformation.
The countries have agreed to mutually exempt visas for diplomatic and special passport holders from both sides, according to the joint statement.
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Report: Iran Considers Removing Hezbollah Leader Naim Qassem
Lebanon’s Hezbollah Chief Naim Qassem gives a televised speech from an unknown location, July 30, 2025, in this screen grab from video. Photo: Al Manar TV/REUTERS TV/via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran is reportedly dissatisfied with the performance of Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem and is preparing to reorganize the group’s leadership, potentially removing him from his position, according to a report by Emirati outlet Erem News citing senior Lebanese diplomatic sources.
The report claims Tehran views Qassem as “unsuitable to lead Hezbollah at this critical stage,” arguing that he has failed to meet the leadership standards set by his predecessor, longtime Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.
Iranian officials are said to believe Qassem lacks sufficient political acumen and hold him responsible for the deterioration in relations between Hezbollah and the Lebanese state.
According to Erem News, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to oversee preparations for restructuring Hezbollah’s internal leadership during an upcoming visit to Beirut.
The visit is intended to assess the organization’s internal climate through direct meetings with senior Hezbollah figures and influential operatives.
“The Iranian minister seeks to monitor the general climate within Hezbollah and convey an accurate picture of the internal situation to decision-makers in Tehran,” the report said, adding that the findings would be used to inform “crucial decisions regarding anticipated changes at the head of the organization, most notably the fate of Naim Qassem.”
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Iran’s Foreign Minister to Visit Russia and Belarus, Foreign Ministry Says
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks during a meeting with foreign ambassadors in Tehran, Iran, July 12, 2025. Photo: Hamid Forootan/Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iran‘s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, will visit Russia and Belarus in the next two to three days, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Sunday.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Turkmenistan on Friday.