Romania -- Radauti synagogue restoration moving forward

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Edgar Hauster posts on his blog that the renovation of the synagogue in Radauti is moving ahead -- the restoration of the facade is nearing completion.... he has posted a picture of the exterior of the building, taken a few days ago. According to Hauster, the work is being carried out with funding from the Federation of Romanian Jewish Communities, as well as from the town itself.

Radauti synagogue restored. Photo: Edgar Hauster, http://hauster.blogspot.com/

Romania -- Dorin Fraenkel 1945-2011

September 2009. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I was shocked and deeply saddened to learn today of the sudden death of Dorin Fraenkel, in Radauti. Dorin, who was 66, apparently suffered a heart attack on Wednesday. The writer Edgar Hauster spent a couple of days with him this past week and says there was no indication that he was unwell.

Dorin was a kind and charming man, and the repository of a wealth of knowledge about Radauti, its Jews and its Jewish history. He helped many people delve into family history and Jewish genealogy and knew the ins and outs of dusty research.....I met him in 2009, when I traveled to Radauti with three of my cousins -- he took us to the town archives and pored over old record books to find information about our ancestors.

It is only now, after the news of his death, that I have found out that he was a accomplished musician, who wrote music and played the piano; according to YouTube he uploaded this piece not long after our visit to Radauti. May his soul be bound up in the bond of life.

The Elevated Expressway from Taichung to Puli Township

On the way from Taichung to Sun Moon Lake, we stop-by Puli Township. I would like to share some photos along the way...
We can't capture a nice photo because it was a cloudy at Taichung that day...

The Expressway is Clean and Nice

Our car went through 3 tunnels (for the whole journey) which are longer than the Perak Tunnel of NSE. 

Approaching the tunnel

I was attracted by the scenery all the way from Taichung. Especially these type of Protruded Mountains...all of these cause by the Taiwan 921 Earthquake. The stretch of protruded mountains continue almost fews Kilometer along the way...

Protruded mountains cause by the 921 Earthquake

Arca (Betel nut tree 槟榔树) are everywhere along the Expressway

Before we reach the Puli Township, we passed by the Elevated Expressway which was about 20-30 storey high! Amazing!!

Approaching another tunnel

High Elevated Expressway

High Elevated Expressway

Oh! That's Incredible! Isn't it?!

According to our driver, it's because to protect the environment. That was Great! And all these are re-built after the Earthquake.

About an hour on the Expressway, we finally reached Puli Township...

And so were our next destination - Zhong Tai Temple (中台禪寺) at Puli....

Related post :-
*  My Taiwan Trip on May, 2011

Poland -- Home of WW2-era Warsaw Zoo director who sheltered Jews to become a museum

by Ruth Ellen Gruber




The two-story home where the Warsaw Zoo’s director Jan Żabiński and his wife Antonina sheltered about 300 Jews and others from the Nazis during World War II is to become a small museum dedicated to the couple and their heroism.

According to a report on Polish radio, the museum will be opened in the fall.

The Zabinskis were recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among Nations in 1965.

Zabinski was allowed to enter the Warsaw Ghetto as a municipal official. There he connected with people he knew and, according to testimony on the Yad Vashem web site, helped get Jews "over to Aryan side, provided them with indispensable personal documents, looked for accommodations, and when necessary hid them at his villa or on the zoo’s grounds.”

With the Zabinskis' help, many Jews found temporary shelter in the zoo’s abandoned animal cells, until, the web site puts it,  "they were able to relocate to permanent places of refuge elsewhere." In addition, the couple, aided by their son, sheltered nearly a dozen Jews in their two-story private home on the zoo's grounds.

According to the Polish radio report, when Nazis officials visited, Antonina Zabinska would play a certain piece of music on the family piano to warn Jews in the house that they should hide.




The Yad Vashem web site  describes Zabinski as an active member of the  Polish underground Armia Krajowa (Home Army), who 

participated in the Polish uprising in Warsaw of August and September 1944. Upon its suppression, he was taken as a prisoner to Germany. His wife continued his work, looking after the needs of some of the Jews left behind in the ruins of the city. Jan wrote in his own testimony explaining his motives: “I do not belong to any party, and no party program was my guide during the occupation... I am a Pole – a democrat. My deeds were and are a consequence of a certain psychological composition, a result of progressive-humanistic upbringing, which I received at home as well as in Kreczmar High School. Many times I wished to analyze the causes for dislike for Jews and I could not find any, besides artificially formed ones.”

The Zabinskis' story was recounted in the 2007 book by Diane Ackerman, "The Zookeeper's Wife."

Publishers Weekly wrote:

Using Antonina's diaries, other contemporary sources and her own research in Poland, Ackerman takes us into the Warsaw ghetto and the 1943 Jewish uprising and also describes the Poles' revolt against the Nazi occupiers in 1944. She introduces us to such varied figures as Lutz Heck, the duplicitous head of the Berlin zoo; Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, spiritual head of the ghetto; and the leaders of Zegota, the Polish organization that rescued Jews. Ackerman reveals other rescuers, like Dr. Mada Walter, who helped many Jews pass, giving lessons on how to appear Aryan and not attract notice. Ackerman's writing is viscerally evocative, as in her description of the effects of the German bombing of the zoo area: ...the sky broke open and whistling fire hurtled down, cages exploded, moats rained upward, iron bars squealed as they wrenched apart.

Ukraine -- Jewish Travel Web Site and Tours, etc

Fortresslike 16th century synagogue building in Sharhorod, Ukraine. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

People are always asking me for advice on "traveling Jewish" in Ukraine -- arranging trips and tours, finding places, accommodation, information, etc.

A new (or newish) web site and organization, "JUkraine" may now be the answer.

I just came across the web site -- jukraine.com -- and it looks at if it will be very helpful.

I hope so! Ukraine is a huge country, rich with fascinating Jewish heritage sites and also home (in some places) to active Jewish communities. To date, my chapter on Ukraine in Jewish Heritage Travel is one of the only Jewish guides to the country -- but it only minimally scratches the surface.

Poland -- Politics and Shake-ups at the Jewish History Museum in Warsaw.....

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

The Forward runs a fascinating piece about the shake-up at the top of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw that saw the forced resignation of longtime director Jerzy Halbersztadt, one of the creators of the institution.

The museum -- nearly 20 years in development -- is now scheduled to open in 2013. Its building is largely complete, but work is still going on regarding the exhibits and installations. The Forward notes that Halberszadt's departure under pressure "is provoking concern about the future of the ambitious project, which aims to preserve a legacy of 1,000 years of Jewish life in Poland."

Photo: Handhouse Studio

Jerzy Halbersztadt, the museum’s project director since its conception in 1996, announced his resignation at an April 22 press conference after months of indecision by Poland’s Ministry of Culture about renewing his five-year contract. Halbersztadt’s contract had lapsed five months earlier.

Since Halbersztadt’s announcement, the museum has been run by his former deputy, Agnieszka Rudzińska, while the institution’s trustees search for a successor.

Halbersztadt’s unexpected departure came about as a result of repeated clashes with the Ministry of Culture over what he regarded as inadequate funding for the museum’s day-to-day operations. But in a March statement to the press, Culture and National Heritage Minister Bogdan Zdrojewski said that Halbersztadt was unable to cooperate with others and that he believed it was time for the project to have a new director.

Halbersztadt told the Forward that after his most recent contract lapsed, “They reduced my authority as director. I was unable to make any strategic financial decisions and even a [lost my] right to contract staff.”

Read more: http://forward.com/articles/138075/#ixzz1NNOS0vpM

Master Of Mushroom (菇神) Restaurant at Taichung, Taiwan

The Master Of Mushroom Restaurant (N24.20089 E120.79925) is located along the XieZhong Street which is about 2km away from the Xinshe Castle. This was the restaurant we had our lunch after the photography session.

Master Of Mushroom Restaurant

The Trademark before we step into the restaurant - 菇神

Once we stepped in, the was a corner selling all types of mushrooms and souvenirs on the left...

Mushroom and some cans food...

I believe the Giant Mushroom was also one of their trademark.

The restaurant had 3 sessions of dining area and divided into 2 storey. The photos below was the lower level of dining area.

The main counter of the lower level

Both dining area of the lower floor have different of setup. As you can see from the tables and chairs...
And we chose the upper level for better scenic view from the restaurant.

One of the Unique table at the upper lever

The dining area at upper level of the restaurant

The scenery was Marvellous! It was a different Dining Experience at the Master Of Mushroom Restaurant! We were busy taking photos of the surrounding before the food serve...

The scenery view from the window

The protruded area of the mountain was due to the Taiwan 921 Earthquake.

There were many mountains in Taiwan have the same scenario and some of them protruded much more than this!

The two small plates of special appetizer for us before the food serve...

The Appetizers

The Manager came to our table to explain the proper way to enjoy our Organic Mushroom lunch, she told us the procedure and the time to cook for various of mushrooms...
That moment, our table was full of fruits and mushrooms...once the soup was boiled, we had to put half of the fruits (the 2 plates below) into it...

Then wait for 3 minutes to continue 30% of each type of mushrooms (below) for 20 seconds...

Types of mushrooms...

I like the colour of this mushroom very much!

The main bowl of soup where everyone waiting for it!

Beside the fruits & mushrooms we put in, there were others ingredients cook together in the big bowl of soup...
Once the bell rang! That was our First taste of the Organic Mushroom soup!

It was YUMMY! This was my first Organic Mushroom meal! Awesome!
The Manager did told us not to take too much rice, but we Can't resist the pork gravy with some minced pork which for mixing with rice. The taste was so nice!

The pork gravy and the rice below...

Then we continued the formula circles and together with the pork below...

The meal was So Delicious! Especially the Special Recipe of the soup. I will strongly recommend to all my friends to try it if you happen to the Xinshe District.

We spend more than 1 hour and slowly enjoyed the foods and with the cooling environment before we proceed to our next destination. We were Overloaded!
The Damage : TWD300.00 for each person included drink. Reasonable!!

Related post :-
*  My Taiwan Trip on May, 2011

Location map of Master Of Mushroom Restaurant at Taichung, Taiwan

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Poland -- Krakow's Night of the Synagogues program

Here's the program (in Polish) for the Night of the Synagogues in Krakow, June 4:

For more information, click HERE

Xinshe Castle (新社古堡) at Taichung - Taiwan (Part 2)

Continue from Part 1.

The park is not very big but it was not small though...in case you are lost, please refer to the signage below...:)

Signage in the park

We came to the restaurant after some walk, and I was attracted by the building architecture! It was really Nice!

六角亭 Restaurant in the park

I guess this is the unique letter box of the building! (Above) I just can't stop snapping around the restaurant!

In the main dining area...

In the main dining area...

And the Unique ceiling design of the 六角亭 Restaurant

There were 2 dining session in the restaurant. The other session at the first floor which was a Alfresco area, but I didn't take any photos because of customers privacy...

Beside the restaurant, it was the public washroom. And we were surprised with the flowers decoration! If I don't really take note the signage, I cannot believe it was a washroom!

Path to the public washroom in the park

We continued our walk at the right of the park...it was the Artificial Waterfall. There was a pathway where we can walk thru the waterfall at the top level...well, this place is remarkable for its picturesque scenery!

The Waterfall in Xinshe Castle Park

The Full view of the Waterfall

Slow shuttle effect of the water...

We spend almost 2 hours in the park for photography. Actually, there were not much attraction in the park beside taking photos. There are many disappointed statements by the locals on the internet, but it was a great session for us! :)

The Unique tower in the park. Basins at the bottom...

Related post :-
*  My Taiwan Trip on May, 2011

Location map of Xinshe Castle at Taichung, Taiwan

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