Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will hold talks in Russia on Jan. 17 after which they will sign a long-awaited comprehensive strategic partnership pact, the Kremlin said on Monday.

The two leaders will discuss options for further expanding ties between Moscow and Tehran, including in the trade and investment, transport and logistics, and humanitarian spheres, the Kremlin said.

Putin and Pezeshkian will also talk about regional and international issues, it added.

Russia has cultivated closer ties with Iran and other countries hostile towards the US, such as North Korea, since the start of the Ukraine war.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in October that Moscow and Tehran intended to sign the strategic partnership pact which would include closer defense cooperation.

The United States accused Tehran in September of delivering close-range ballistic missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine, and imposed sanctions on ships and companies it said were involved in delivering Iranian weapons. Tehran denies providing Moscow with the missiles.

The post Russia, Iran to Sign Strategic Partnership Pact on Jan. 17, Kremlin Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

i24 News — The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany launched a new digital campaign on Monday titled “I Survived Auschwitz: Remember This,” which features 80 survivors of the death camp.

As 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the camp’s liberation, the Claims Conference is taking advantage of the occasion to commemorate the more than 1.1 million who were murdered at Auschwitz. As the Holocaust begins to disappear from living memory, antisemitism and racism in general is on the rise around the world, making such commemorations all the more important.

“The horrors that occurred at Auschwitz were an evil that no human should ever endure, but also an evil that no human should ever forget,” said Claims Conference President Gideon Taylor. “While it is difficult to imagine oneself in a concentration camp, we can all relate to wanting people to remember loved ones we’ve lost, experiences that shaped us and moments that were important to us. It is critical that we educate future generations about Auschwitz. ‘I Survived Auschwitz: Remember This’ does so by connecting the generations with our shared humanity.”

The 80 survivors were asked to name one specific person, moment, or experience they want generations to come to remember.

The new campaign is partially inspired by the experience of survivor Aron Krell, whose brother, Zvi, dies in the Lodz ghetto from starvation. A soccer player who was the second of the family’s three boys, lack of food, hard forced labor, and lack of medical treatment emaciated Zvi. “Please never forget me,” Zvi told Aron before he died.

“I lost not only Zvi, but my brother Moshe and my mother, Esther in the Holocaust,” Krell said. “I survived five concentration camps and ghettos — including Auschwitz. I know many people can’t fathom what I have endured. But you can understand loving a brother like I loved Zvi, can imagine the unbearable pain that comes with losing one, and, hopefully, agree that the lessons of the Holocaust must always be remembered.”

“The mother dying with her child in her arms, leading her child to death, is, for me the most terrible of the images I still see today,” said Judith Hervé-Elkán, a 98-year-old now living in France. She said the image of the mothers making the ultimate sacrifice for their children is what she wants the world to remember.

“So many mothers, not knowing what awaited them, didn’t let go of their children, their babies, their little ones. What is more terrible in the world than to lead your child to death.”

Herta Vyšná, from Slovakia, recalls her aunt and two children, Lenka and Erika, who were taken by Dr. Josef Mengele to the gas chamber. Her mother was forced to undergo abominable experiments before she died, while her father died in Sachsenhausen camp.

“That is how I lost my parents and was orphaned at the age of thirteen,” she said. “I wish for the memory of my family, who was murdered, to be preserved forever and ever.”

A twin who survived Mengele’s experiments, Jona Laks, said he remembered the day “when we were left alone on the death march, I vowed that I would dedicate all my energy, all my time, everything, to telling, documenting, conveying to people and telling what happened. Because it is impossible for such a dark period to disappear from people’s knowledge and not enter history.”

Eva Szepesi, from Germany, talked about her father, mother, and younger brother who were murdered. Szepesi was given fake papers and sent away, before the Nazis caught up to her and sent her to Auschwitz.

“At the time, I didn’t know my mother, Valerie, and my little brother, Tamas, had already been sent to Auschwitz and murdered there,” she remembered. “And when I entered the gate there, they saw me from above. I didn’t think about it then. Thinking of it would have been fatal.”

One of the oldest survivors, 103-year-old Ella Blumenthal, lost 23 members of her family — but she wants the world to remember that she never gave up hope. Her niece, Roma, “begged me to end our suffering by throwing ourselves onto the electrified fence because she said the only way out of Auschwitz was through the chimney,” Blumenthal said. “I convinced her to wait one more day — and then again another day — because I wasn’t ready to die. I wanted to live.”

In addition to those still living, numerous recordings of notable survivors such as Elie Wiesel are included in the campaign.

The Claims Conference is a nonprofit with offices around the world. It works to help survivors receive compensation, with more than $90 billion paid to victims by the German government since 1952. More than $560 million was paid out in 2023 to over 200,000 survivors. In 2024, some $535 million was secured globally in compensation.

“I Survived Auschwitz: Remember This” can be found on the Claims Conference social media channels and online here.

The post Auschwitz Survivors Share Memories to Make Sure World Never Forgets Ahead of 80th Anniversary of Liberation first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

The harrowing images of California’s wildfires have shaken us to our core. Fields, mountains, and residential areas are still burning with raging fires; homes and businesses have been reduced to dust and ashes; and the sky is darkened by heavy smoke and pollution.

“Sometimes, G-d is beyond understanding,” my beloved mentor, Rabbi Adin Even-Israel, once shared with me. Indeed, our finite, human minds will never fully comprehend the infinite G-d. Still, our hearts are shattered with pain.

Yet, within every tragedy, even the most unfathomable ones, there is a lesson to be drawn. And while we cannot reason and understand, we can — and must — learn and respond. So, here are three humble thoughts:

1. Are Fires Good or Bad? 

As the California wildfires have demonstrated, fire can bring havoc and destruction to individuals and communities alike. But fires, such as bonfires and fireplaces in homes, can also bring warmth and comfort.

This also applies to the spiritual fires within ourselves. Sadly, some people spread flames of destruction with the gossip they spread, with the resentment and animosity they inflame, and with the negativity they spew. They forget that deep within lies a soul, a candle of G-d (see Proverbs 20:27), that yearns to shine and light up our world with goodness and kindness.

The choice is ours. Light a fire of hatred — with negative words and actions — and you will have engulfed our world with darkness and devastation. Ignite a fire of unconditional love — with positive words and actions — and you will have repaired our world with grace and a Divine light.

To paraphrase the words of our prayer: “Console us, O L-rd … My heart grieves for those killed; I am in anguish, I am in anguish for those killed. For You, O L-rd, consumed it with our fire (of hatred), and with our fire (of love) You will rebuild it…”

2. The Only Certainty Within Certainty 

Amid the chaos, a powerful reminder emerges: What we may perceive as “certain” — our homes and our physical possessions — are all, in reality, temporary and fleeting.

After all, no one has ever taken their material wealth upon leaving this world. Indeed, after all is said and done, the only true “certainty” that will forever remain is the love that we have given, the kindness that we have shown, the wisdom that we have imparted, and the faith and dedication that we demonstrated in G-d and in fulfilling His everlasting teachings.

What about the rest? Well, everything that came from ashes, will eventually return to ashes (Genesis 3:19). In the words of my beloved Rabbi, Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz of blessed memory: “In the end, we will only own not what we took, but what we gave…”

3. “The House Is On Fire, And Our Children Are Inside” 

My beloved Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of blessed memory, repeatedly shared these stirring words with profound urgency and deep pain. The Rebbe was referring to the rampant flames of immorality, lawlessness, and corruption that constantly threaten our world, while our children are trapped within it. Tragically, only a few seem truly moved to take action.

And so he implored us, time and time again, to rise, to roll up our sleeves, to enter the fray, and to rescue our young ones, and reconnect them with their holy souls, their rich heritage, and their Divine morals and values.

As we continue to watch thousands of people evacuating their homes and running to safety, let us do everything in our power to help them and all of our world’s children, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

To help the thousands affected by the California wildfires, give generously to the wildfire rescue funds, and shake the heavens with your prayers.

To help the millions affected by our world’s wildfires of moral erosion, activate your soul, roll up your sleeves, and lift up a downtrodden spirit, heal a broken relationship, do a Mitzvah, invite people to your home for Shabbat dinners or a weekday lunch, visit the sick, listen to an aching heart, serve your community, and greet everyone with a smile. Make a positive impact in every place, at every moment, and with every interaction.

Our world, and its children of all ages, are waiting for you.

Rabbi Pinchas Allouche is the founding Rabbi of Congregation Beth Tefillah and the founding Dean of Nishmat Adin Hihh School in Scottsdale, Arizona.

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