“The past is not easy to forget, and I do not want to forget. The past lives in me. I don’t live in the past.”
– Olga Horak, Author, Artist, Holocaust Survivor
Highlights and Lowlights This Week in Jewish History
At the beginning of each week, JEWDICIOUS brings you a select set of consequential dates in Jewish history. This feature is a joint venture with our Substack partner, DUST AND STARS, where you can sign up for free to receive daily updates on all landmark dates.
🔯 Monday, July 15/Tammuz 9:
1205 - Pope “Innocent” III promulgated a Church doctrine that doomed Jews to perpetual servitude and subjugation because of the belief that Jews had crucified Jesus. This fueled the fires of anti-Semitism throughout the Middle Ages, and it wasn't until 1963, with the Second Vatican Council, that Church doctrine was revised.
🔯 Tuesday, July 16/Tammuz 10:
1874 - Birthday of Joseph Goldberger, American physician and epidemiologist who advocated for scientific and social recognition of the links between poverty and disease. He was nominated four times for the Nobel Prize for his important work on the link between pellagra and poor diet.
🔯 Wednesday, July 17/Tammuz 11:
1945 - The Potsdam Conference began. The three leading Allies represented by General Secretary Joseph Stalin, Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee and President Harry Truman met to negotiate the terms for the end of World War II and to plan the postwar peace. At the end of the conference on Aug, 2 they issued a statement of their aims for the occupation of Germany which included "demilitarization, denazification, democratization, decentralization, dismantling and decartelization."
🔯 Thursday, July 18/Tammuz 12
The Exodus, a ship with 4,500 Holocaust survivors on board, unsuccessfully tried to run the British blockade of pre-State Israel. The British boarded the ship, killing three Jews and wounding over 100 and eventually forced them to return to Germany. This cruelty enraged world public opinion and helped force the British out of Israel.
🔯 Friday, July 19/Tammuz 13
1883 - Birthday of Max Fleischer, brilliant creator of cartoon classics, including Popeye, Betty Boop, and Koko the Clown.
🔯 Saturday, July 20/ Tammuz 14
1949 - Israel and Syria signed an armistice agreement. Syria pulled its forces out of most of the terrain it controlled west of the international border, which became a demilitarized zone.
🔯 Sunday, July 21/Tammuz 15
1743 (5503) - Yahrzeit of Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar of Jerusalem, Torah scholar and mystic known by the title of his biblical commentary, Ohr HaChaim. He was born in Morocco and earned his livelihood as a silversmith. Many stories are told of his holiness and miracles. Eventually he moved to Italy and spent the final few years of his life in Israel. Today, his grave located on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, is a popular place of pilgrimage and prayer.
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