Special Envoy Hannah Rosenthal (on the right) and her sister Debbie Zemel with the stumbling block in memory of their father
MANNHEIM PRESENTS HANNAH ROSENTHAL WITH STOLPERSTEIN: On July 9th, the city of Mannheim recognized the memory of Franz Rosenthal, the last Rabbi of Mannheim before the Holocaust by presenting his daughter, Hannah Rosenthal, with a brass Stolperstein. Hannah Rosenthal is the U.S. Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism as appointed by the President, and was joined at the ceremony by her sister, Debbie Zemel. The special event was hosted by the Jewish Community Center of Mannheim. Mayor Dr. Ulrike Freundlieb spoke of the importance of preserving Mr. Rosenthal’s memory and his legacy in Mannheim before presenting his daughters with the Stolperstein, which will be placed a few blocks from community center at the location of the prewar synagogue. The event was attended by Mannheimers and members of the Jewish community from all over the world through Centropa, an oral history program preserving the stories of elderly Jews. In her closing remarks, Ms. Rosenthal said that her father always hoped that she and her sister would return to Mannheim, and now, with the Stolperstein, her father’s memory has been sufficiently preserved in the city he loved so much.
Ed Serotta (left) with Hesse’s Minister for Culture Nicola Beer
Preserving Jewish History through Multimedia Dialogue: American, Israeli, German and other European teachers came to Frankfurt on July 13th as part of a study trip organized by Centropa, an organization that uses advanced technologies to preserve Jewish memory around the world. Hesse Culture Minister Nicola Beer opened the event. A representative of Frankfurt’s University Library then gave an overview of Frankfurt’s Jewish history, which was followed by a discussion with the teachers, some of whom had relatives who were able to emigrate to the United States or Palestine before WWII. Each year, Centropa – under the leadership of American journalist Ed Serotta – brings together educators from dozens of countries for a hands-on approach to Jewish history through travel, seminars, and personal interviews with members of the Jewish community who have experienced history first-hand.
MEET THE CHAMPIONS: In preparations of the London Olympics, decathletes met in Mörfelden-Walldorf on July 14. Among others, German (Jan Felix Knobel) and American decathletes (Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee) met in Hessen to show that they are ready for the Olympic games. Men participated in 110m hurdles, discus and pole vault. Women competed in 100m hurdles, javelin and longjump. Although the U.S. decathletes finished last (due to the rainy weather), the event that was hosted by LG Mörfelden-Walldorf and SKV Walldorf sport clubs was a great show of German-American friendship. More than 500 decathlon fans cheered for the athletes. All local and regional media, as well as some national media including the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung and ARD’s Saturday Sportsschau reported about the event. PAO Jeffrey Hill represented the Consulate at the event. On behalf of PA-Frankfurt, intern Alina Tishchenko produced a video on the competition.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHfSeevQ9xI&feature=plcp).
Trey Hardee, Ashton Eaton and organizer Hermann Holzfuß have fun at the press conference after the event
atishchenko 