On World Radio Day: a journey through time of the German-Polish city of Breslau/Wroclaw
With the “Schlesische Funkstunde”, the German city of Wroclaw made radio history before the Second World War. After the war, Wroclaw, now Polish, remained a haven of culture and civil disobedience. The Jewish community was also revived. From my archive on World Radio Day. On February 13, 1946, United Nations Radio broadcast for the first time. More here.
60 years ago: Rescue of Czech Torah scrolls to London
1564 Torah scrolls from communist Czechoslovakia were brought to the Westminster Synagogue in London on February 4, 1964. There they were restored and given on permanent loan to Jewish communities all over the world. The Westminster Synagogue and the Memorial Scrolls Trust celebrated the 60th anniversary of their arrival with a celebratory service. More here.
Berlin filmmaker Renate Sami has died.
Renate Sami
May 1935 – December 24, 2023
Renate Sami lived through ’68 as well as the leaden Germany of the 1970s. And not only witnessed it: she was involved in left-wing political circles. She was not only a filmmaker, but also an actress and screenwriter and knew her way around a camera. More here.
Guest post by Volker Seitz on the “World Persecution Index” 2024
Christians are persecuted for their faith in many countries. Every year, the “World Persecution Index” lists the 50 countries in which Christians are most at risk. The Index also describes what persecution and discrimination actually look like and how they affect people. Nigeria is once again in the top places. More here.
Today is the Jewish New Year of the Trees.
Tu BiShvat (ט״ו בִּשְׁבָט) is a Jewish holiday occurring on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat. This year, in 2024, Tu BiShvat begins at sunset on January 24 and ends in the evening of January 25. It is also called Rosh HaShanah La’Ilanot (ראש השנה לאילנות), literally “New Year of the Trees”. In contemporary Israel, the day is celebrated as an ecological awareness day, and trees are planted in celebration.
One year ago, the journalist Brigitte Czirr passed on.
Brigitte “Gitti” Czirr
Born 1955 – November 25, 2022
To mark the first anniversary of her death, I am posting three of her radio features with the kind permission of her family.
Encounter: Montana literature, Robbie Robertson and Haida Gwaii
My bus doesn’t leave until 3:45 in the morning. I pass the time with a walk. Buy spontaneously in a second hand bookstore The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, which Liesl in Watchapreague, Virginia, had given me for my birthday last year and then mysteriously disappeared.
As I walk along, the sounds of indigenous music make me ring a front doorbell. Tom opens and after a few sentences invites me in. The next two hours fly by.
Starting today every Saturday: my news selection on Substack.
My news selection of the week on Substack: topics I find important that didn’t necessarily make big headlines.
With news 
from the USA in German 
from Germany in English.
August 9: International Day of the World’s Indigenous People.
Milo Yellow Hair, 73, lives on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. In 1992, he met German Green Party co-founders Petra Kelly and Eva Quistorp at the anti-nuclear conference in Salzburg, Austria. “They and the Austrian chancellor Bruno Kreisky were the first to give us Native Americans a chance to promote our case in Europe,” Yellow Hair says.
How a women’s pants manufacturer promotes other women and rural communities.
Sarah Calhoun manufactures women’s work pants in the US state of Montana called Red Ants Pants. But it’s not just the pants brand that’s famous: Every year at the end of July, the Red Ants Pants Music Festival, also founded by Calhoun, attracts thousands of visitors. Proceeds go to support projects for women’s leadership and rural family farms.