ABC Wednesday, R of Rescue, Resistance to Repression

With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC.We started round 10 of the fascinating meme of ABC. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar . This week we are looking for words beginning with R.


One of the most remarkable stories I heard in Jerusalem, was the rescue of a great part of the Jewish population in Denmark during World War II.


 On October 1st 1943 Nazi leader Adolf Hitler ordered Danish Jews to be arrested and deported. The Danish resistance movement with the assistance of many ordinary Danish citizens  evacuated about 8,000 Danish Jews in fishing boats  and other small craft to nearby neutral Sweden during ten nights. You can read this on the memorial stone.
The Danish King was very brave. When the Jewish Danes were forced to wear the yellow star of David, he also wore a yellow star and many others did so. This confused the Nazis.

 Wikipedia says:
"The rescue allowed the vast majority of Denmark's Jewish population to avoid capture by the Nazis and is considered to be one of the largest actions of collective resistance to repression in the countries occupied by Nazi Germany. As a result of the rescue and Danish intercession on behalf of the 5% of Danish Jews who were deported to Theresienstadt transit camp in Bohemia, over 99% of Denmark's Jewish population survived the Holocaust."
The top photo shows a statue representing a Danish ship. 

Click on photos if you want to see and read what it says on the memorial  stone.

Traditions, Thought for the day

 HAPPY MOTHER''S DAY to all mothers who read my blog!

 Tomorrow we celebrate Mother's Day. Like in the UK we celebrate it on the second Sunday in May.
My daughter in Australia sent me a card from Oxfam saying that my present was a gift to the midwives in Laos. This is part of a world-changing program called Oxfam Unwrapped. I am very happy with this gift!! The fact that my children became good mothers, who also care for the rest of the world and think of such a gift, makes me proud of them and happy.
 She wrote on it:"From one mother to another mother for many other mothers."

 Wikipedia says:"UK holds the prestige of being the first country in the world to dedicate a special day for mothers It started when the Roman and British Empire converted to Christianity."

ABC Wednesday, Q for Quarter in the Old City

With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC.We started round 10 of the fascinating meme of ABC. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar . This week we are looking for words beginning with Q.

The Q is an extremely difficult letter, especially for somebody who wants to dedicate her posts to Israel for the next few weeks, but I found the word Quarter. The Old City of Jerusalem is divided into four quarters: The Jewish Quarter, the Armenian Quarter,the Christian Quarter and the Muslim Quarter. Dina and I went mostly to the Christian Quarter, as there was no time to visit the others. We entered the Christian Quarter through the New Gate and saw many churches , the largest of them is the Holy Sepulchre, the smallest a Greek chapel, where Dina and I were welcomed by a Greek nun.(See my post of 24th April)
I'll show three of the seven gates used to enter the Old City. There is an eighth gate, which is sealed. This is the Golden Gate and will be opened when, according to the Christians, the Messiah will enter the city.

Sky Watch, Commemoration of the Dead

"They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them".

The National Monument is a 1956 World War II monument on Dam Square in Amsterdam. A ceremony is held at the monument every year on 4 May to commemorate the casualties of World War II and subsequent armed conflicts.

A semicircular wall surrounds the back side of the monument. The wall contains eleven urns with soil from World War II execution grounds and war cemeteries in each of the Dutch provinces. Three years later, a twelfth urn was added with soil from the Dutch East Indies, present-day Indonesia.

Sky Watch is hosted each week by the Sky Watch team of Sandy,and Sylvia. And this week as every week, we remember Klaus and know that he joins us in spirit! .
It's always a pleasure to participate, and see all the other skies around the world. If you want to see other skies please click on the logo in the side bar.

ABC Wednesday, P for Prayer Shawl

  This Prayer Shawl of David Ben David survived the fire caused by the Nazis, burning all synagogues in Czechoslovakia, and the sea after the ship which took David Ben David to Israel, was bombed. Later, when David was defending the kibbutz Gush Etzion against the Arabs, it survived the sword.
This Prayer Shawl is a sign of hope and revival.

With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar . This week we are looking for words beginning with P.

Our World Tuesday, Dutch Traditions, Queen's Day

Today the Queen celebrates her birthday, although her real birthday is on 31st January. She had chosen this day, because it was her mother's birthday and 31st January is not a day fit for outdoor activities. Queen Beatrix always visits two towns on Queen's Day. Today was a very special day, as the Royal Family was not complete. The Queen's second son is in a hospital in London due to the serious ski accident he was involved in at the beginning of this year.
She is an admirable lady, for she joined the festivities as ever and spoke with many people. In the end she thanked everybody saying that she was grateful for the day, but that it was sad that some members of her family couldn't be here.
Here in my village we had a market, but I stayed at home watching the TV. I had a friend visiting. She brought delicious cakes with orange coloured icing on top, so we had a nice cup of coffee.

Welcome to Our World Tuesday! This meme continues in memory of the work of Klaus Peter, whose "that's My World" brought people together from around the world every Monday to share the wonders therein--big and small.Please click on our new logo for "Our World Tuesday" in the sidebar.

Sorry for the poor quality of the photos

Monday Doorways, Israel, Old City

In one of the narrow alleys we saw that this door was open. A sign told us, however, that there was no entry on top of the stairs, because it was private. What does an open door mean to you? For me it is like an invitation to come in and have a chat, or even better to have a cup of coffee.


Inspired by a post by Eric Tenin of a Parisian doorway, «Louis» began posting on Mondays photos he had taken of doorways in Paris.To participate click on
Monday Doorways.

Sky Watch, Israel,

I added this song of Pete Seeger which was sung today by a great Norwegian crowd in front of the court of law where the lawsuit against Anders Breivik is going on, as a protest to his ideas.Anders Breivik hates this song. He says that children are brainwashed with it.

En himmel full av stjerner.
Blått hav så langt du ser.
En jord der blomster gror.
Kan du ønske mer ?
Sammen skal vi leve
hver søster og hver bror.
Små barn av regnbuen
og en frodig jord.

One blue sky above us
One ocean lapping all our shore
One earth so green and round
Who could ask for more
And because I love you
I'll give it one more try
To show my rainbow race
It's too soon to die.


Sky Watch is hosted each week by the Sky Watch team of Sandy,and Sylvia. And this week as every week, we remember Klaus and know that he joins us in spirit! .
It's always a pleasure to participate, and see all the other skies around the world. If you want to see other skies please click on the logo in the side bar.

One day we walked in a woody area outside Jerusalem. It is a beautiful, hilly place. In the distance we could see Hadassah Medical Center high on the hills.Then a little bit further we had a good view of Jerusalem. The sky was clouded with here and there some blue, but we had no rain.

To see more details you can click on the photos!

ABC Wednesday, O for Old City in Jerusalem

There are eight gates giving access to the Old City. Seven of them are open to people and even cars. The eighth is called the Golden Gate and is sealed. It will only open on Judgement Day.
It was wonderful to walk in those narrow winding streets and seeing them full of life like 2000 years ago.

The Old City is probably the most interesting part of Jerusalem and the most important site in Israel.
The walls around the Old City are over 400 years old.The Turkish ruler Suleiman The Magnificent was responsible for most of what remains today of the walls, which were constructed during 1538 and 1541. Other parts date back to the Crusaders and even further back to King Herod. The walls represent layer upon layer of history.

With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar or Here. This week we are looking for words beginning with O.

Weekend Reflections, Sky Watch, Israel

We made a trip with our group to visit a birds sanctuary at Agamon Hula. It was raining. We were sitting in a kind of railway wagon drawn by a very big tractor. The benches were placed lengthwise. We saw a large number of cranes, which visit this area every year. The rain, the cranes and the water made a wonderful reflection.

 Sky Watch is hosted each week by the Sky Watch team of Sandy,and Sylvia. And this week as every week, we remember Klaus and know that he joins us in spirit! .
It's always a pleasure to participate, and see all the other skies around the world. If you want to see other skies please click on the logo in the side bar.

 Weekend Reflections was started on 27 September 2009, by  James. You can join this meme at some time during the weekend. Just post your photo and go to  James to tell him that you are on, or click on the logo in the sidebar.This meme is created for any type of reflection.