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Kosher Food Returns to Polish Town of Auschwitz for First Time Since Holocaust
People with Israeli flags attend the International March of the Living at the former Auschwitz Nazi German death camp, in Brzezinka near Oswiecim, Poland, May 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
The Auschwitz Jewish Center (AJC) will begin offering kosher meals to visitors of the Polish town of Oświęcim (Auschwitz) starting next week, a move that will mark the first time kosher food will be available to purchase in the once-flourishing Jewish community and home to the infamous Nazi concentration camp since the Holocaust.
AJC’s offering of kosher food, plus the new addition of Jewish prayer services to its program, will start on April 23 — just in time for Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah), which begins that night, and the 2025 International March of the Living pilgrimage. Tens of thousands of Jews from around the world participate in the annual walk from Auschwitz I to Auschwitz II-Birkenau, the Nazis’ largest death camp where 1 million Jews were murdered during World War II. This year’s march will take place in late April and run through early May.
AJC will offer shelf-stable, packaged kosher meals for purchase, for a small fee, beginning mere days after the conclusion of the Jewish holiday of Passover. Visitors who want to reserve meals, participate in tours, or attend prayer services can contact the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation, which maintains the Auschwitz Jewish Center.
Before the Holocaust, more than half of the population of Oświęcim was Jewish and the city had over 30 synagogues, as well as kosher butchers, bakeries, and restaurants, according to the AJC. Today, the Auschwitz Jewish Center houses the last remaining synagogue in Oświęcim from the pre-Holocaust era. The center is a museum and an educational center dedicated to fighting hatred and bigotry by teaching lessons about the Holocaust from the very site of the most notorious Nazi concentration camp. Since its restoration and reopening in 2000, the center has seen more than 800,000 visitors.
“Opening the town’s first post-war kosher concession is a powerful reminder of the resilience of Jewish life in this city,” said Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation Director General Jack Simony in a released statement. “Our responsibility is to honor the legacy of the Jewish community that once thrived here and provide a space where visitors can learn about the past and experience a piece of that living history. This concession is more than just a place to eat — it symbolizes continuity, resilience, and hope for future generations.”
“As more and more visitors come to Auschwitz to learn about the Holocaust, many also choose to visit the Auschwitz Jewish Center,” added Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation Chairman Simon Bergson. “Opening the city’s first post-war kosher concession was a natural step, ensuring that Kosher-observant visitors could pray or reflect in our synagogue while also enjoying a kosher meal.”
The Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation also provides direct humanitarian aid to victims and survivors of mass atrocities and genocides, including Ukrainian refugees and those affected by the Hamas-led deadly massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Only one Jewish person reportedly lives in Oświęcim, 34-year-old Hila Weisz-Gut, and she works at the Auschwitz Jewish Center.
The post Kosher Food Returns to Polish Town of Auschwitz for First Time Since Holocaust first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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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.