Photo: The Styr River, Lutsk, just near the synagogue (built in 1626), August 2011 An excerpt from The Righteous 950 words / 5 minute read 1943, in the Lutsk region of Western Ukraine, David Prital tried to find sanctuary from the German extermination campaign of the Jews, their willing collaborators and those…
Photo: 1 November 2015, with Alan Palmer, Oxford 720 words/ 3 ½ minute read One of the early inspirations in Martin’s life and subsequent historical work was his Highgate School History Master, his mentor, his friend, Alan Palmer who sadly died this spring in his 96th year. In 2005, with the 90th anniversary…
Photo: 14 March 2006, with Gerda Klein, Phoenix, Arizona 550 words/ 2 ½ minute read “Shaking my head, I stared at this man who was to me the embodiment of all heroism and liberty. He greeted me. I must tell him from the start, I resolved, so that he has…
Photo: Wendy Higgins with Ben Helfgott, one of the Loughton Boys, and Sir Martin’s book. Maurice Helfgott, Ben’s son, stands behind Wendy. Photo from video. 250 words / 2 minute read A short film, launched on International Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January, shows a reunion and return of some of…
Photo: Soviet War Memorial, 1941-1945, Rivne, Ukraine, August 2011 (figures looking to the west) 800 words / 4 minute read On April 1, in Berlin, Hitler moved his headquarters from the Chancellery building to a bunker system behind the Chancellery, and deep below it. That same day, in Moscow, Stalin asked…
Photo: Jewish refugees from Muslim lands who came to Israel, 1947 to 1957, map from In Ishmael’s House 925 words / 4 ½ minute read A little knowledge never stopped anyone from making assumptions. The assumption becomes accepted, then entrenched. I was reminded of this in an article in The Times…
Photo: “Averell Harriman with Churchill at a naval dockyard establishment in Plymouth, 2 May 1941, shortly after a severe German air raid (hence the steel helmet worn by the dockyard worker).” 685 words – 3 ½ minute read “These two gentleman were apparently longing for Germany to commit some overt…
Photo: Entering Volhynia, Ukraine, August 2011 465 words / 2 minute read My mother was born in Poland. Outside of her home and her close circle of friends, she spoke Polish. She attended a Polish gymnasium. She could recite Pan Tadeusz, the classic epic national poem of Poland by Adam Mickiewicz. …
Photo: Churchill, A Life, Ukrainian edition, Churchill, A Life, Russian edition 335 words / 2 ½ minute read I am reminded of Yertle the Turtle, Dr Seuss’s classic tale of Yertle, a turtle in the swamp of Sala-ma-Sond who decides he wanted to be “ruler of all that I see”. Being somewhat…
Photo: Martin at the Arc de Triomphe, Paris, 5 March 2009. 350 words / 1 ½ minute read Martin and I held hands. Wherever we went. We were in a restaurant in Jerusalem, sitting across from each other, and he reached over to take my hands. As we were leaving…
Photo: Vladek and Anya Spiegelman as depicted by their son Art, from the cover of his book Maus 820 words / 4 minute read An American school district has banned the use of the graphic memoir Maus in schools because it shows nudity. Maus is the story of Vladek Spiegelman…
Photo: Martin at his desk, March 2009, from the film The Rescuers 800 words / 4 minute read From my first days as Churchill’s biographer in 1968 I began to receive letters from people who wanted to tap my imagined expertise. Sometimes I get as many as a dozen such letters…
Photo: The Jewish cemetery in Hordok, Volyn Oblast, Ukraine, photo taken in 2011. 470 words / 2 minute read Russia and Ukraine – there’s history there. And it probably goes back to the beginning, though the 20th Century has been particularly harsh on that relationship. In 2011 Martin and I went…
Photo: Churchill in the 1890s, from Churchill, A Life When asked what aspects of Churchill’s life needed more study, Martin would answer – Churchill’s humanitarian and domestic policies. So on this, the 7th anniversary of Martin’s death, here is some of what he wrote in that vein: 1000 words/5 minute read Areas…
Photo: Taken from a video by Joanne Orezi, from inside the bus, of one of the attackers. 850 words / 4 minute read Another attack on a synagogue in the States during Saturday Shabbat morning services. An attack on a busload of Jews in central London. Radical imams preaching hate, not…
Photo: From The Somme, The Heroism and Horror of War 650 words / 3 minute read In January 2020, I asked whether we would have 20:20 – perfect vision. Then, within the span of two months the world changed. We watched as the streets of Wuhan became empty, thinking – well,…
Photo: HRH The Prince of Wales greets Israeli President Isaac Herzog, 22 November 2021,. Photo © GPO/ Kobi Gideon 320 words / 1 ½ minutes What gift does the President of Israel present to the Prince of Wales on his first visit to the UK as President? What to give…
The list of countries presented by Eichmann to the Wannsee Conference, with the number of Jews whom it was intended to be deported to their deaths. When genocide became mechanised 460 words / 2 minute read On 20 January 1942 thirteen senior Nazi and German officials met at a secluded…
Photo: President Roosevelt addressing Congress to ask that a state of war be declared between the United States and Japan, 8 December 1941. 820 words / 4 minute read On the morning of December 6 – the day on which Hitler was forced to accept that Moscow was not about to…
Photo: Clarissa Eden : From The Times obituary, 16 November 2021 450 words – 2 minute read It was a Friday, the 30th of January, on the 50th anniversary of Winston Churchill’s funeral and I was invited to Parliament for a rededication of the Oscar Nemon statue of Churchill in the Members’ Lobby…