DAILY ALERT

In-Depth Issues:

Iran Unveils Advanced Centrifuges - Nasser Karimi (AP-Washington Post)
    Iran unveiled a third generation of domestically-built centrifuges Friday as the Islamic Republic accelerates its uranium enrichment program.
    The new machines are capable of much faster enrichment than those now being used in Iran's nuclear facilities.

German Shipyard Building Subs for Israel Sold to UAE Group - Yaakov Katz (Jerusalem Post)
    The Blohm + Voss Shipyards in Germany, which is currently building two new Dolphin-class submarines for Israel, has been sold to a business group from the United Arab Emirates.
    An Israeli official explained that sensitive Israeli technology is not installed on the ships until they arrive in Israel.

For Some Survivors, Holocaust Lives On - Aron Heller (AP)
    As Israel on Sunday night began its annual 24 hours of remembrance of the Nazi genocide, at the Shaar Menashe Mental Health Center in northern Israel, it's as though the Holocaust never ended.
    Even today, 65 years after the end of World War II, there are sometimes screams of "The Nazis are coming!"
    Most survivors in Israel went on to live productive lives, and their ranks include politicians, authors and Nobel Prize laureates.
    But at Shaar Menashe, most of the patients are introverted and unresponsive. Some have lived in mental institutions since their liberation.

Obama Marks Holocaust Remembrance Day (AFP)
    President Obama on Sunday marked Holocaust Remembrance Day, saying the world must honor victims of Nazi horror by renewing a commitment to prevent genocide and anti-Semitism.
    "We must never tolerate the hateful stereotypes and prejudice against the Jewish people that tragically continues to this day," Obama said in a written statement.
    "The memories of the victims serve as a constant reminder to honor their legacy by renewing our commitment to prevent genocide, and to confront anti-Semitism and prejudice in all of its forms."

Study: Anti-Semitism in Europe Hit New High in 2009 - Cnaan Liphshiz (Ha'aretz)
    The worldwide increase in anti-Semitic attacks following Israel's 2009 incursion into Gaza hit the UK and France the hardest, according to the Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism at Tel Aviv University.
    In 2009, the UK saw 374 manifestations of violence against Jews compared to 112 in 2008. France was second, with 195 violent attacks compared to 50 in 2008.
    The total number of anti-Semitic incidents was 1,129 in 2009, compared to 559 in 2008.
    The institute recorded 566 incidents of vandalism targeting Jewish property. There were 41 instances of armed assaults against Jews because of their religion, and 34 arson attacks.

Video: Anti-Israel Demonstration at H&M in Paris - Tom Gross (Mideast Media Analysis)
    This anti-Israel demonstration last month against the fashion chain H&M, which opened a store in west Jerusalem, claims the chain opened a store "in East Jerusalem on land stolen from the Palestinians."
    The lies contained in the ugly chants amount to virtual incitement on the streets of Paris to murder Israelis.
    See also Swedish Consumer Group Rejects Israel Boycott Call (The Local-Sweden)
    The Swedish Cooperative Union has ruled out calls to stop selling goods from Israel in Coop stores, after resolutions urging a ban on Israeli products were approved at Saturday's annual meeting in Gothenburg of the consumer cooperative society for western Sweden.

Observations:

The Torchlighters: The Voice of the Survivors (Yad Vashem)

At the memorial ceremony at Yad Vashem for Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day, six torches are lit, representing the six million murdered Jews. The torchlighters in 2010 were:

• Eliezer Ayalon and his family were incarcerated in the Radom ghetto in Poland in April 1941. Eliezer had work and residence in a German clothing warehouse outside the ghetto. In August 1942, the ghetto was sealed. Though anyone with a work permit could have left, Eliezer refused to part from his family. His family members spent two hours begging him to save himself. Finally, his mother said: "If there is anyone in the family with a chance to stay alive - it's you. This was meant to be. May you have a sweet life." She accompanied him to the gate with a cup of honey. Eliezer's mother, father, sister and two brothers were all murdered at Treblinka.
• Hannah Gofrit was born in Biala Rawska, Poland, where in 1942 the town's Jews were deported to Treblinka. A neighbor obtained forged documents for Hannah and her mother, and for two years the women hid in the Warsaw apartment of the Skowronek family (later recognized as Righteous Gentiles). They were forbidden to look out the window or wear shoes, for fear of their discovery. Hannah and her mother were saved during a Gestapo raid when one of the daughters hid them in the attic.
• Sara (Kati) Israeli was born in Pestszenterzsebet, Hungary (today Budapest) and in May 1944, her family were forced to live in the town's ghetto. In June they were transported to Monor, a concentration camp whose inmates were sent to Auschwitz. However, the family was put on a truck back to a camp in Budapest. Many years later, Sara found out that her family was supposed to have been put on a train to Switzerland, similar to the so-called Kastner train, but the plan was never carried out.
• Leo Luster and his parents were deported from Vienna to Theresienstadt in 1942. In September 1944, Leo and his father were deported to Auschwitz where his father was killed. At the Blechhammer camp in 1945, Leo and a friend dared to flee to the nearby woods. Hearing the sound of approaching vehicles, Leo noticed a red star. He emerged from the trees, pointed to himself and yelled, "Jew, Jew!" A Russian officer stepped out of the car and answered in Yiddish, "I too am Jewish."
• Baruch Shub was born in Vilnius, Lithuania. In June 1941, the Germans conquered Vilnius and began murdering Jews in Ponary. Baruch found work at a German garage in Radoszkovice. On 11 March 1942, the Jews were ordered to gather in the town square. From his hiding place in the garage, Baruch saw a huge line of people, including children, moving slowly towards a barn. The sound of shooting could be heard. At night, the barn caught fire and a thick stench filled the skies. His older sister Zipporah was among the 840 Jews murdered there that day. He arrived in pre-state Israel in October 1945, served as an airplane technician during the War of Independence, and became Chief Flight Engineer of El Al Israel Airlines.
• Jakob Zim was born in Sosnowiec, Poland. He was with his younger brother, Nathan, at Auschwitz when the Red Army approached. The prisoners were taken on a death march, with Jakob and Nathan trudging over snow-covered fields, one brother supporting the other. The brothers made it to Buchenwald, where they were liberated.