• Home
  • Full Circle Blog
  • Selected Publications
    • Publications Archive
  • In the News

Donna Swarthout

~ Writer, Editor, Berliner

Donna Swarthout

Tag Archives: Rent A Jew

BBC’s ‘Heart and Soul’ Comes to Berlin

14 Sunday Apr 2019

Posted by Donna Swarthout in Article 116 Citizenship, Jewish Identity and Modern Germany

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

A Place They Called Home, Archetyp Cafe, German citizenship, German Jews, Heart and Soul, Rent A Jew

audience

My efforts to find a venue for the Berlin book launch of A Place They Called Home had left me frustrated until I met the team at Archetyp Cafe. Owned by a couple of brothers from a German Jewish family, the cafe became our living room for last month’s lively and intimate Sunday afternoon conversation about the “new Jewish return to Germany.” With coffee, home-made cookies, and wine to celebrate the occasion, we delivered our stories into the hands of a warm, receptive, and standing room only audience.

Besides the friends, colleagues, and other Berliners who attended, we were joined by reporters from the BBC and the Jüdische Allgemeine. The BBC’s ‘Heart and Soul’ in depth radio documentary Jewish and Returning to Germany has just been aired and the Jüdische Allgemeine recently published our first German language coverage, Rückkehr nach Berlin. I couldn’t be more pleased with the favorable coverage of the book, including reviews in the Washington Times and the Los Angeles Review of Books.

Co-authors Yermi Brenner, Maya Shwayder, and Sylvia Finzi (featured below) easily connected with the audience as they each took the spotlight. We all fielded lots of great questions, Eva Schweitzer (publisher) once again sold all the books she brought along, and Brian Crawford took these amazing photos.

With all the excitement of book launches and press interviews behind me, I’ve taken the first steps on a new project to research restored citizenship for Jewish families from Austria, Lithuania, and other points in Eastern Europe.

To keep things interesting, I’ve also become a volunteer with Rent A Jew, an organization that promotes encounters between Jews and non-Jews in Germany to break down stereotypes and misconceptions. Don’t be fooled by the name, the service is free!


Recent Posts

  • Immigration Equity Then and Now
  • German Citizenship – The Next Decade
  • From the Shadows to the Light

Categories

  • Article 116 Citizenship
  • European Jewry
  • Holocaust Memorials
  • Inspiration
  • Jewish Holidays and Rituals
  • Jewish Identity and Modern Germany
  • My German Jewish Family
  • Uncategorized

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Archives

Tags

AfD Alternative for Germany Altwiedermus American Jews Angela Merkel anti-Semitism Archetyp Cafe Article 116 AVIVA-Berlin Bar Mitzvah Berlin Berlin-Brandenburg Berlin Wall Biebesheim Chanukah David Grossman diaspora Diaspora Jews die mishpocha drinking age dual citizenship Frankfurt Jews German bureaucracy German citizenship German exports German Jews Germany Germany Close Up Gleis 17 Gutshof Gatow Hamburg Hessen Jews Holocaust Holocaust Claims Processing Office Israel Jewish community Jewish Community of Berlin Jewish identity Jewish migration Jewish Sabbath Jewish Stammtisch Jews John F. Kennedy School Berlin Judaism Judith Kerr Juedische Gemeinde zu Berlin Juedisches Waisenhaus Kidane Mehret Kindergeld Kreuzberg Liepnitzsee Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe Menorahs Moses Mendelssohn Nazi Forced Labor Camps Neo-Nazis Neue Synagoge Obermayer Awards Ohel Hachidusch Olivia Swarthout Oranienburger Synagogue Passover Pestalozzistrasse Synagogue Reform Judaism refugees Rilke Russian Jews second generation Stiftung Zurückgeben stolpersteine storytelling third generation trade surplus Virginia Woolf Wiesbaden

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Donna Swarthout
    • Join 117 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Donna Swarthout
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...