I have a worrisome sensation in my gut, a bad feeling of deja vu. In plain English, that means "been there, done that."
On March 12, 1938, Hitler pressured his native Austria into unification with Germany. I was a nine-year-old Jewish child living with my family in Wr. Neustadt when the Nazis took over Austria. My feelings today, as an elderly woman, are the same as when I was a nine-year-old child - feelings of helplessness and of impending doom.
Hitler had been in power in adjoining Germany since 1933. Most people soon realized Hitler's hatred of the Jews, especially after reading his book Mein Kampf. However, very few people realized the psychopathic extent of his hatred of the Jews.
On the day that Hitler took control of Austria, I overheard my parents' whispered conversation, not meant for the ears of a nine-year-old: "This is the end of everything. We must get out of here at all cost, or it will be the end of us."
Through a series of actual miracles, we escaped the fate of six million other Jews. My parents managed to find places for my brother, my sister and myself on a Kindertransport to Sweden. After we arrived safely in Sweden, my parents escaped "illegally" over the Italian border. Miraculously, we were all united in the United States three years after the war ended. As a seventeen-year-old, I was proud to become a citizen of the United States.
Because of my childhood experiences, I have had an almost irrational feeling of owing a debt for my parents and siblings having been saved. The rest of my family were exterminated.
By profession, I am a designer and craftsman of Judaica and jewelry in Israel. One might ask why did I abandon this work which I love? Very simple. I felt I had to do this in order to protect the future of all Jewish children. That is why the English name of our organization is Women for Israel's Tomorrow. Part of my present full-time work as Co-Leader of Women in Green stems from my determination not to let our children experience what the Jews went through at the time of Hitler and the Nazis.
Are President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and his Jihadists less dangerous than Hitler and his Nazi followers? I think they are even more dangerous. As passionate as the Germans were in their hatred of Jews, it is a step further in fanaticism to be willing to blow oneself up in order to kill Jews. Iranian leaders have even said that they are willing to lose half of their own country in order to wipe Israel off the map.
In this connection, please do not forget that Israel is considered by the Arabs to be only the "Little Satan." The final plan is to destroy the "Great Satan," America.
Something that has alarmed me personally is the controversy surrounding America's first Muslim congressman, Keith Ellison, a Democrat from Minnesota. This controversy was, no doubt, generated by Keith Ellison himself. Was his widely publicized statement that he intended to be sworn in as a Congressman with his hand on the Koran just a publicity stunt? As a lawyer and a lawmaker, he must have known that no one takes the oath of office in Congress with their hand on any religious book.
Be honest with yourselves, fellow Americans. Aren't you getting a mite uncomfortable, or even alarmed, about the subtle encroachment of Islam throughout the United States?
On March 12, 1938, Hitler pressured his native Austria into unification with Germany. I was a nine-year-old Jewish child living with my family in Wr. Neustadt when the Nazis took over Austria. My feelings today, as an elderly woman, are the same as when I was a nine-year-old child - feelings of helplessness and of impending doom.
Hitler had been in power in adjoining Germany since 1933. Most people soon realized Hitler's hatred of the Jews, especially after reading his book Mein Kampf. However, very few people realized the psychopathic extent of his hatred of the Jews.
On the day that Hitler took control of Austria, I overheard my parents' whispered conversation, not meant for the ears of a nine-year-old: "This is the end of everything. We must get out of here at all cost, or it will be the end of us."
Through a series of actual miracles, we escaped the fate of six million other Jews. My parents managed to find places for my brother, my sister and myself on a Kindertransport to Sweden. After we arrived safely in Sweden, my parents escaped "illegally" over the Italian border. Miraculously, we were all united in the United States three years after the war ended. As a seventeen-year-old, I was proud to become a citizen of the United States.
Because of my childhood experiences, I have had an almost irrational feeling of owing a debt for my parents and siblings having been saved. The rest of my family were exterminated.
By profession, I am a designer and craftsman of Judaica and jewelry in Israel. One might ask why did I abandon this work which I love? Very simple. I felt I had to do this in order to protect the future of all Jewish children. That is why the English name of our organization is Women for Israel's Tomorrow. Part of my present full-time work as Co-Leader of Women in Green stems from my determination not to let our children experience what the Jews went through at the time of Hitler and the Nazis.
Are President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and his Jihadists less dangerous than Hitler and his Nazi followers? I think they are even more dangerous. As passionate as the Germans were in their hatred of Jews, it is a step further in fanaticism to be willing to blow oneself up in order to kill Jews. Iranian leaders have even said that they are willing to lose half of their own country in order to wipe Israel off the map.
In this connection, please do not forget that Israel is considered by the Arabs to be only the "Little Satan." The final plan is to destroy the "Great Satan," America.
Something that has alarmed me personally is the controversy surrounding America's first Muslim congressman, Keith Ellison, a Democrat from Minnesota. This controversy was, no doubt, generated by Keith Ellison himself. Was his widely publicized statement that he intended to be sworn in as a Congressman with his hand on the Koran just a publicity stunt? As a lawyer and a lawmaker, he must have known that no one takes the oath of office in Congress with their hand on any religious book.
Be honest with yourselves, fellow Americans. Aren't you getting a mite uncomfortable, or even alarmed, about the subtle encroachment of Islam throughout the United States?
