Bernie Sanders on Jewish heritage: It impacts me profoundly

[Donkees]

Feb 6, 2020

During a CNN town hall in New Hampshire, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders discussed how his Jewish heritage impacts his vision of the world and politics.

[Donkees]

1. *

[Nanjeanne]

2. This was a powerful moment last night.

[Donkees]

3. Bernie Sanders' ancestral home in Poland grapples with painful history

Słopnice is like much of Poland, once home to the biggest Jewish community in the world. It does not obfuscate its Jewish heritage; nothing remains of it to hide

Wed 24 Feb 2016

Excerpt:

When Bernie Sanders’ father and uncle left in 1921, there was every reason to go. Since the 18th century, the subsistence farming region had been a neglected backwater of Austria-Hungary. Jews lived in cities. But they were not allowed to own farmland; there were only 10 Jewish families in Słopnice.

Eli and his brother left behind another brother, a sister and their mother (Bernie Sanders’ grandmother). She married again – to a man named Schnitzer – and had a child by him. She died in 1934. Eli’s sister stayed in House 215 and married a man named Reibscheid. They had a son, Leopold. No trace has survived of Eli’s remaining brother. The mayor and the historian Król believe he at some point “went to the city” (probably nearby Kraków). There, under German occupation, he would have been confined to the ghetto and would have found it difficult to escape deportation to a labour camp or death camp, such as Auschwitz.

It is also assumed that the Reibsheids and Schnitzers all died at the hands of the Nazis after being moved to a ghetto in nearby Limanow. Król’s local history book records in chilling brevity that the Jews of Słopnice – including “Schnitzer (2 people) and Reibsheid (3)” – were executed at Limanow on 5 November 1942.

Słopnice is like much of Poland, once home to the biggest Jewish community in the world. It does not obfuscate its Jewish heritage; nothing remains of it to hide.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/24/bernie-sanders-poland-family-pride-presidential-run