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This Holocaust survivor and longtime Mets fan threw out the first pitch at Thursday’s game
(New York Jewish Week) — As a child, Holocaust survivor Leo Ullman attended baseball games at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn with his aunt, who believed it would help him become more American.
Yesterday, Ullman, a longtime New York Mets fan and prolific memorabilia collector, made an appearance at Citi Field. But this time, he was on the mound.
Ullman, 83, threw out the first pitch at the Mets game against the Philadelphia Phillies Thursday afternoon before a crowd of more than 38,000 fans. The event was organized by the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County. (Ullman’s first pitch comes just weeks after another survivor, Helen Kahan, threw out the first pitch at a New York Yankees game in Tampa.)
Yesterday was unforgettable. Thank you @Newsday for capturing it so beautifully. Sands Point Holocaust survivor Leo Ullman throws out first pitch for the @mets on behalf of @hmtcli. #lgm pic.twitter.com/KEVHHK1ntU
— Dana Arschin (@DanaArschin) June 2, 2023
“It wasn’t a perfect strike, but at least it got to the catcher,” Ullman said after the game. He had been practicing his throw for weeks and had watched videos of failed first pitches.
At 83, Ullman is likely among the youngest Holocaust survivors. He was born in the Netherlands in 1939 and when the Nazis invaded, his parents put him into hiding with a policeman’s family in Amsterdam, where he hid for two and a half years before being reunited with his parents with the help of the Dutch Resistance.
“I think it’s important for people to know that they have to fight hatred in every way they can, including antisemitism,” he said yesterday. “And it’s very, very important to not be a bystander, but to confront hatred when you see it.”
The Ullmans immigrated to Long Island in 1947. Ullman still lives in Sands Point today.
Ullman would go on to serve in the Marines, attend Harvard and Columbia, and become a successful lawyer. He has been involved with various Holocaust organizations, including the U.S. National Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Anne Frank Center USA. He has also competed in more than 145 triathlons.
But ever since he was a child, Ullman’s primary love has been baseball. When his Brooklyn Dodgers left New York, Ullman was heartbroken — until the Mets were born in 1962.
In 1995, when Ullman traveled to Madison, Wisconsin for the birth of his grandson, he went to a card show near the hospital and bought 12 Nolan Ryan baseball cards for one dollar each. That moment would become the start of a collection that eventually grew to 15,000 pieces — or, as MLB.com put it, “the largest collection of Nolan Ryan merchandise on the planet.” Ryan played four seasons as a Met at the start of his career in the late 1960s.
Ullman donated his collection — which was valued at $1.2 million — to Stockton University in New Jersey last year.
At Citi Field on Thursday, Ullman was surrounded by family, dressed from head to toe in regalia for the team he has loved since its inception.
“It’s very thrilling to be out there at this beautiful stadium with all the people,” he said.
Ullman wasn’t the only person to throw out a ceremonial first pitch on Thursday afternoon. Jewish indie rocker Ira Kaplan, of the band Yo La Tengo — who for years played a series of Hanukkah-themed shows on each night of the holiday — also threw a ceremonial pitch before the game. (His throw was more of a strike.)
Kaplan is a lifelong Mets fan, and the band was named after a nugget from the team’s history: During their first season, in 1962, the team’s center fielder Richie Ashburn kept colliding with the shortstop Elio Chacon while trying to catch fly balls. Ashburn began calling “Yo la tengo!” (“I got it!” in Spanish) to remedy the situation.
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UK Man in Court Charged With Arson at Former London Synagogue
Orthodox Jews stand by a police cordon, after a man was arrested following a stabbing incident in the Golders Green area, which is home to a large Jewish population, in London, Britain, April 29, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A British man charged over an arson attack at a former synagogue in east London last week was in contact with someone using an Iraqi phone number shortly before the fire, prosecutors told a London court on Tuesday.
Moses Edwards, 45, appeared in the dock at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and was remanded in custody until a further hearing next month. He gave no indication of any plea.
The fire at the former East London Central Synagogue was caused by wine bottles filled with an accelerant, which exploded damaging the outside of the building, prosecutors said.
The incident followed a series of arson attacks on Jewish targets in previous weeks, with police saying they were investigating possible Iran links to some of the fires.
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Israeli Para-Athlete Wins Gold at European Taekwondo Championships, Beats Opponent From Azerbaijan
Asaf Yasur, center, posing with his gold medal during the awards ceremony at the 2026 European Taekwondo Championships in Munich, Germany. Photo: Facebook/Israel Taekwondo Federation
Israeli Paralympic athlete Asaf Yasur took home the gold medal in the 2026 European Senior Taekwondo Championships being held this week in Munich, Germany.
The 24-year-old competed in the men’s under-58kg weight category, and on the first day of the championships he beat Azerbaijan’s Sabir Zeynalov 2-1 in the finals after being victorious over Turkish athlete Hamza Tehrani 2-1 in the semifinal. Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah,” played in the arena during the medal ceremony, as Yasur stood on the podium with his gold medal.
The Jerusalem native had both of his hands amputated when he was 13 years old following an electrocution accident. Earlier this year, Yasur won gold at the 2026 US Open Paralympic Taekwondo Championship. He previously took home gold medals at the 2024 Paris Paralympics — where he made his Paralympics debut – the 2024 European Championships, and the 2023 World Para Taekwondo Championships. He also won the 2021 and 2023 World Para Taekwondo Championships and silver at the 2023 European Para Championships.
The European Taekwondo Union organizes the European Senior Taekwondo Championships, which is held every two years. This year marks the fourth time the championship is taking place in Germany, after previous being held in Bonn in 2006, Stuttgart in 1984, and Munich in 1978.
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China and US Agree on Opposing Hormuz Tolls, State Department Says
Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, Musandam, Oman, May 8, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Stringer
Senior US and Chinese officials agree that no country can be allowed to exact shipping tolls in the Strait of Hormuz, the State Department told Reuters on Tuesday, in a sign that the two countries are trying to find common ground on efforts to pressure Iran to give up control of the vital waterway.
The statement by the State Department comes ahead of a high-stakes summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week, where Iran‘s chokehold on the strait will be on the agenda.
Iran‘s near-complete closure of the vital trade artery since the joint Israeli-US airstrikes on the country on Feb. 28 has sent shockwaves through global energy markets.
The State Department said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the issue in an April phone call.
“They agreed that no country or organization can be allowed to charge tolls to pass through international waterways like the Strait of Hormuz,” department spokesman Tommy Pigott told Reuters in response to questions about the call. The State Department has not previously provided a readout of the call in a break from its usual practice.
China’s embassy did not dispute the US account of the discussion, saying it hoped all sides can work together to resume normal traffic through the strait, which before the war handled one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply.
“Keeping the area safe and stable and ensuring unimpeded passage serves the common interest of the international community,” embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told Reuters.
Tehran has demanded a right to collect tolls on shipping traffic as a precondition for ending the war. The US has imposed a naval blockade on Iran, and Trump has floated the possibility of imposing its own fees on traffic or working with Iran to collect tolls. After domestic and international pushback, the White House has since said Trump wants to see the Strait of Hormuz open up for traffic without any limitations.
Chinese officials so far have avoided direct mention of tolls, even while condemning the US blockade.
‘NORMAL AND SAFE PASSAGE’
Two sources briefed on the Wang-Rubio exchange said Rubio had raised the prospect of Chinese vessels paying tolls, which they said appeared aimed at encouraging Beijing to apply more pressure on Tehran to bring the conflict to an end.
China maintains ties with Iran and remains a major consumer of its oil exports. Trump has been leaning on China to use its influence to push Tehran to make a deal with Washington.
In a subsequent meeting with Iran‘s foreign minister, Wang said the international community shared a “common concern about restoring normal and safe passage through the strait” while reiterating that China supports Iran in “safeguarding its national sovereignty and security.”
China vetoed a US-backed resolution in the United Nations last month encouraging states to work together to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, arguing it was biased against Iran. That prompted US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, to argue that Beijing was tolerating Iran holding the global economy at gunpoint.
Washington together with Bahrain has drawn up another UN resolution demanding Iran halt attacks and mining in the strait, but diplomats say this is also likely to meet with Chinese and Russian vetoes if it comes to a vote.
That resolution also calls for an end to “efforts to exact illegal tolls” in the strait.
China has ordered its companies not to comply with US sanctions against Chinese oil refineries over purchases of Iranian crude, measures intended to isolate and pressure Tehran.