1/10🧵🚨 Of all the “big names” in the pro-Israel community, only one person had the courage to publicly stand with my novel. Not a Jewish celebrity. Not a pro-Israel leader. It was @MosabHasanYOSEF — the “Son of Hamas. 2/10
And I’ll go further: he’s the one person on the planet I would trust to cover my back in real combat without a second’s hesitation. I consider him a friend and a brother. That says something, doesn’t it?

1/10🧵🚨 Of all the “big names” in the pro-Israel community, only one person had the courage to publicly stand with my novel. Not a Jewish celebrity. Not a pro-Israel leader. It was @MosabHasanYOSEF — the “Son of Hamas. 2/10
And I’ll go further: he’s the one person on the planet I would trust to cover my back in real combat without a second’s hesitation. I consider him a friend and a brother. That says something, doesn’t it?

🚨 Storm in the Shadow: An Israeli Army Novel Rejected 215 Times 🧵 1/18

An open letter about rejection, bias, and why this book must be published.

This October will mark exactly one year since I began sending queries to literary agencies to find representation for my novel Storm in the Shadow. Hundreds upon hundreds of emails resulted in a total of 215 rejections—perhaps more—some of them openly biased and at times aggressive. A novel centered on the IDF—on its recruits and on the history of Israel—was met with hostility and promptly rejected by the literary industry.

This thread is my open letter: what Storm in the Shadow is, why it’s needed, and why I will not stop fighting for it. #StormInTheShadow 2/18
I didn’t give up: I launched a unique beta-reading initiative that drew responses from more than 50 readers around the world. After reading the first two chapters, they were virtually unanimous: they want the novel published and are ready to buy it as soon as it becomes available. Having completed that stage, I’m taking the next bold step and sharing an open letter—what Storm in the Shadow is, why this book is needed, and why I will not stop fighting for it.

📎 Screenshot: agent rejection

Why am I not surprised that a coordinated media offensive against Israel is under way, designed to steer public opinion in a set direction? This has been happening for years, and I’ve repeatedly exposed the bias of major outlets and journalists who pushed a one-sided narrative that couldn’t withstand even cursory scrutiny. Below in the comments I’ll add a few threads as illustrative examples so you can see how it was built. And now it has reached its apex. The question is—what next? What else will Israel be accused of?

Why is Hamas taken out of the frame, with its actions—the horrific crimes of a terrorist organization—rendered invisible to the world? How did the international community fall under the sway of media that, in the main, quote and amplify the statements of Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health—literally Hamas’s mouthpiece? Is terrorism really humanity’s great hope? Think again, look around, and consider what you are actually endorsing. It’s not too late to open your eyes and see where blind trust in the media has led everyone. 🧵

https://twitter.com/mikelivschitz/status/1931020427259752809

1/🧵What’s wrong with this Guardian piece, titled: There’s a word for the EU’s inaction over Gaza: racism

The headline alone speaks for itself and already calls into question any promise of objectivity or constructive critique. I won’t recap the article; I’ll flag what jumps out at once. To begin with, the following lines strip the piece of any claim to grounded analysis. Please read the quotes: 2/
“I am hoping for similar calls for accountability over the EU’s complicity in Israel’s unfolding genocide in Gaza.”

1/🧵Hamas Propaganda: 11 Key Directives

Starting from October 7th, Hamas propaganda flooded all social media and was picked up by leading media outlets. A flood of fake news from Gaza literally swept away reasonable refutations and facts, which typically require time to emerge, unlike the nonstop conveyor belt of disinformation, and shaped a one-sided public opinion aimed at condemning Israel. Exposés of propaganda lies lack the power of Hamas’s fake news machine, and even ironclad evidence cannot, in this information war, tip the scales toward critical thinking and force a look at the truth.

📷 @Israel 2/
To shed light on how Hamas prepared the ground for this propaganda war, we need to look back—specifically to 2014, nine years before the terrible date of October 7, 2023. Hamas’s Ministry of Interior published a directive video in Arabic for Gaza residents—an urgent recommendation on how to behave on social media and when dealing with foreign press. For completeness, I will quote all the points one by one.

1/🧵
Simplifying a complex historical reality leads to many superficial conclusions, which ultimately result in a distorted perception of the truth. When it is said that the Jews were the first on the land of Israel, it refers to the period when they established an organized society there in the 13th century BCE in the form of a tribal confederation. This later evolved into a full-fledged state during the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon in the 10th century BCE — long before the Babylonian exile, Roman occupation, or arrival of other peoples. 2/
The argument that this land was inhabited by others before the Jews conveniently ignores the most critical fact, which speaks for itself: Jewish culture, language, and religion were formed precisely on this land. It was here that the first ethnic, cultural, and religious identity emerged. Archaeological evidence and inscriptions in ancient Egyptian texts confirm that the Jews, as an organized people, had established themselves in Canaan during the Bronze Age. These are compelling proofs that Jewish history has been intertwined with this land for thousands of years.

1/🧵
In the end, every war ends with negotiations. Modern history offers no other outcome. Not a single global power has ever conquered the entire world or established a singular regime that eliminated the need for diplomacy through the illusion of total victory.

One can speculate endlessly about the reasons behind wars. All it takes is feeding an artificially crafted, emotionally charged narrative to an indoctrinated public, and a so-called ideological war—bloody and ruthless—becomes “justified.” It’s as old as civilization itself, and yet humanity continues to choose this path over and over again. 2/
Of course, armed conflicts benefit the states that gain territorial, economic, or strategic advantages—both short-term and long-term. One might think that after the Second World War, the global community would have learned its lesson and chosen a different trajectory. But that illusion didn’t last. We see the same patterns again and again. Different times, different tools, different faces—but the same intentions.

🧵 Francesca Albanese is, in effect, calling for the destruction of Israel as a state — which inevitably leads to the conclusion that her statement constitutes de facto antisemitism through radical delegitimization and outright anti-Zionism. This is one of the clearest and most extreme expressions of antisemitism in public discourse today, and it can absolutely be interpreted as incitement to genocide.

It is important to understand that genocide does not only entail physical annihilation. It also includes the deliberate destruction of the conditions necessary for a people’s existence — such as dismantling their economy, stripping them of sovereignty, and denying their right to self-determination.

“Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”

— United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948), Article II(c) Francesca Albanese has manipulated the term genocide so many times for her own purposes that she failed to notice when she began inciting it herself.

1/🧵

The slogan “Death to the IDF” is now in fashion — yet another example of the demonization of an army without which Israel would have ceased to exist.

I wrote a novel called “Storm in the Shadow”, which lets you peek behind the scenes of the IDF, to see that at the heart of Israel’s army have always stood human values and high moral principles. And if you ever get to read it, you’ll understand that the blood libels directed against the IDF and the State of Israel have no foundation whatsoever.

Oh, right — one small detail: you can’t read it, because no one wants to publish this novel.

Over the past ten months, I’ve received more than 150 rejections from literary agencies in the U.S., and another 65 from the UK. And now the rejections are starting to come in from publishers that do accept unsolicited manuscripts.

Want to know why? Follow the thread. 2/

You may say I’m mistaken or not fully aware of what’s going on — but the facts tell a different story and paint a bleak picture of the literary world.

I looked into it and came across literary agents who make no effort to hide their preferences, and who openly compare Zionism to Nazism and terrorism.

Does this suggest bias? Just look at their profiles — and at the thread below where I lay out the details of my investigation.

1/🧵
Lately, the manipulations around the word “genocide” have become more frequent — and they’re all used in the same context: that what’s happening in Gaza is “genocide,” and Israel is to blame. Let’s start with the fact that there never was, and is not, any genocide in Gaza.

The most telling detail is that these false accusations began spreading almost immediately after Hamas’s barbaric massacre on October 7, where 1,200 innocent Israeli civilians — men, women, and children — were brutally slaughtered. That was a real act of genocide.

But no one wants to talk about that — because antisemitic countries and individuals find it much more convenient to turn everything upside down and dehumanize the victims of October 7, who were literally executed at the Nova music festival or burned alive in their homes in border kibbutzim. 2/
And imagine this: the blood of the murdered Israelis hadn’t even dried yet, and already — on October 8 — pro-Palestinian activists and Gazans launched the term “genocide” into circulation. That was the start of a full-scale campaign to inject this word into the global narrative. It was immediately picked up by major media outlets, so-called “human rights” activists and organizations, and soon after, countries like South Africa.

Where were they all on October 7? Oh, right — they either stayed silent or issued some timid condemnation with a “but” at the end, claiming the massacre must be viewed “in context” — as the result of Israel’s “occupation” and “oppression” of the Palestinians. So, in other words, the victims had it coming.

Really? The worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust — and the world rushed to depersonalize it.

Barely had my critical response to Piers Morgan’s misconceptions cooled off when the Financial Times published a strikingly similar piece — as if copied from the same template, only with even more sweeping accusations against Israel. So, what exactly went wrong with the analysis in this reputable paper?

The article opens straightaway with claims that the IDF opened fire this week on desperate civilians rushing toward food aid. But wouldn’t it be useful to clarify which incident we’re actually talking about here? Perhaps the one initially circulated by media outlets based solely on Hamas sources — and later debunked as an outright fabrication? Or maybe the second one, in which Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported dozens of deaths — a claim that was also discredited, while the IDF’s own statement was taken out of context and misrepresented? In reality, the IDF’s report, as usual in such cases, was transparent and specific.

Here’s the IDF’s official statement:

“Earlier today, during the movement of the crowd along the designated routes toward the aid distribution site—approximately half a kilometer from the site—IDF troops identified several suspects moving toward them, deviating from the designated routes. The troops carried out warning fire, and after the suspects failed to retreat, additional shots were directed near individual suspects who advanced toward the troops.
The IDF is aware of reports regarding casualties, and the details of the incident are being looked into.”

And here’s how major media outlets like CNN, BBC, and Sky News reported the exact same event on the same day — take Sky News, for example:

“24 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire while waiting for aid in Rafah, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. The IDF says shots were fired after individuals approached in a way that ‘posed a threat.’”

Why bother with investigations when Hamas can provide ready-to-publish “breaking news” within 15 minutes of any event — no verification, no editorial oversight needed? And of course, if this narrative conveniently aligns with the editorial stance of the outlet, then what could be more perfect? A gift, really — isn’t it?

Now here’s a pattern that never fails to infuriate me: these days, any article condemning Israel but pretending to be “objective” always includes a token sentence condemning Hamas and a perfunctory reference to October 7th. This formulaic gesture utterly trivializes the immense tragedy suffered by the Jewish people — much like the distorted, casual overuse of the word “genocide.” In my view, it’s revolting. A journalist who uses this technique shows not a shred of genuine compassion, and in doing so, dehumanizes the victims of the massacre — as if brushing it aside to quickly move on to the main course: Israel-blaming.

To be fair, the author of this article doesn’t even bother to feign sympathy for Israel. Instead, the entire narrative is built on emotionally loaded rhetoric with no substantiating evidence to speak of.

Here are just a few phrases from the article that paint the entire piece in a single, accusatory tone:

• “Israeli forces have this week fired on people rushing desperately to collect food aid.”
• “The horrors of Gaza have overshadowed Israel’s assault in the West Bank.”
• “suspected war crime…”
• “more occupation, possibly annexation…”

This is a textbook case of blame-shifting — the kind where the actual perpetrators hide behind civilians, sabotage humanitarian aid, and even attack their own people, yet somehow evade accountability. Not a single word about the hostages Hamas still holds, the looted aid convoys, or the relentless disinformation campaign aimed at misleading the global public.

The article repeatedly emphasizes that Gaza’s civilians shouldn’t be punished for Hamas’s crimes — while accusing Israel of collective punishment across the board.

Let me pause here for a second. Even without dissecting the entire piece — just skimming its surface — I could already feel the raw propagandistic charge it carries. You can only imagine what kind of conclusions a credulous reader might draw after consuming it in full.

The article leans heavily on emotionally charged, legally loaded terminology, tossed around without evidence or precision. Its sources are the usual vague and unverifiable suspects — “Palestinian officials,” “international aid agencies,” “hospital officials in Gaza” — the sort of references everyone seems to invoke these days when they want to shield themselves from scrutiny.

Then there’s the accusation that Israel refuses to let foreign journalists enter the combat zone — as if that, in itself, proves it has something to hide. But let’s be honest: what happens if half of those journalists get killed because Hamas doesn’t care who it shoots at? Who do you think will be blamed for those deaths? There are strict safety protocols in place, and for good reason. War zones are not amusement parks.

“Finally, they should lead the way in formally recognising a Palestinian state, before there is nothing left to recognise.”

Why now?

Why not mention that since 1948, the Palestinian leadership has rejected the two-state solution eight separate times — while Israel repeatedly agreed?

Maybe the real reason is they never wanted a state in the first place. After all, sovereignty comes with inconvenient responsibilities: building an economy, investing in science and trade.

But why bother with that when you can rely on billions in international aid while preserving a unique, inherited refugee status — one that contradicts the very charter of the United Nations, which oddly makes an exception only in their case?

The author accuses Western nations of hypocrisy and double standards, yet fails to mention that Hamas is under no pressure whatsoever to abide by international law — unlike Israel, which is expected to operate under intense global scrutiny and strict legal constraints.

Israel, on the other hand, is held to the strictest of standards and expected to “play by the rules,” even under existential threat.

And here we arrive at a paradox: calls to recognize a “state” entirely controlled by a terrorist organization — one that openly rejects Israel’s existence and seeks its destruction.

To debunk every distorted claim in this piece would require a response three times its length, and I won’t waste time refuting every single line. Instead, let me highlight just a few more critical points.

The article casually states that 54,000 people have died in Gaza since the start of the war — as if that number were an uncontested fact. In reality, those figures come from Gaza’s Ministry of Health, which is controlled by Hamas. Israeli statistics, which distinguish between combatants and civilians, are conveniently ignored.

Also absent is any mention of Hamas’s long-declared strategy of maximizing civilian casualties — something its own leaders have openly admitted.

The entire piece is saturated with emotionally manipulative slogans and accusatory clichés (to the author’s credit, he did put in the effort). All of it masquerades as a pursuit of justice but is clearly designed to lead the reader to one conclusion only.

Of course, a systemic analysis of the conflict’s origins was too much to hope for — because if that had been included, the article would have crumbled under the weight of facts that contradict its central premise.

Ultimately, any rational reader will recognize that this article completely disregards the grim reality on the ground — the profound moral dilemma of confronting a terrorist organization entrenched in an urban environment, where every hospital and school is transformed into a fortified combat post, interconnected by a labyrinth of tunnels.

There is no mention of the fate of the hostages, no accounting of the countless war crimes committed by the terrorist group, no examination of Hamas’s actions or underlying motives.

Instead, the narrative is reduced to a one-dimensional demonization of Israel, presenting the Palestinian side as the sole, blameless victim in this conflict.

So when the article claims that “Israel is destroying the foundations of a Palestinian state,” I can’t help but reframe the headline. Because if you take a step back and look at the full picture — the indoctrination of children, the decades Gaza spent preparing for war, the hundreds of kilometers of tunnels dug right under the noses of international observers, the massacre of October 7th, the taking of hostages, the looting of aid convoys, the systematic rejection of peace, and the explicit promises to destroy Israel — then the truth becomes unmistakably clear:

Hamas is destroying the foundations of a Palestinian state. This is the response I wrote to Piers Morgan — the one I referred to earlier in the post:

https://twitter.com/mikelivschitz/status/1930666216496025858

🧵“Ich hasse Juden!”, “Ich hasse Juden!”, “Ich hasse Juden!” (“I hate Jews! I hate Jews! I hate Jews!”) — this piercing, hate-filled scream from the street woke us up at 3:45 a.m. today. It happened in the heart of Munich, Germany — not in 1933, but in 2025. I don’t remember ever feeling such a deep sense of unease. In the next room, our daughter was asleep — a child who should never have to hear such vile shouting.

Antisemitism has reached an entirely new level, like a hydra raising countless grotesque heads in a predatory snarl. Despite Germany’s legal efforts to combat antisemitism, we see that it’s not enough. Recent studies confirm that Germany, of all places, records the highest number of antisemitic attacks — in the very country where Jews should finally feel safest outside of Israel.

As horrific as it sounds, we might still be able to “accept” isolated cases of antisemitism — we’ve sadly grown used to this disgusting phenomenon — but this is no longer about isolated cases.
“Ich hasse Juden!” — this revolting cry, dripping with venom, echoed in the street for a long time and bounced off the windows of buildings that once bore witness to brutal pogroms.

There has never been a difference between antisemitism and anti-Zionism, because denying the Jewish people their right to a state is antisemitism, plain and simple. Those who believe they have the right to express their hatred toward Jews in “respectable” or “legal” ways are hypocrites. They hide behind talk of “context,” pretending their hatred is justified and carry no responsibility for it. Wake up — this must end.

Our ancestors went through this nightmare before, and six million of them were murdered during the Holocaust. This is why Jews have the right to a country of their own — we should not be eternal outcasts, wandering from land to land and enduring persecution.

The blame lies not only with the leaders of powerful nations who, often unwittingly, amplify false “Palestinian” narratives, but also with major media outlets that willingly spread pro-Hamas propaganda under the guise of truth. People tend to believe whatever they hear first — that’s what shapes their worldview. And even though lies are eventually debunked, it doesn’t matter: the damage is already done, and the truth is no longer of interest. If you repeat a lie every day and blame Jews for every sin, sooner or later, people will believe it.

We are witnessing open antisemitism all over the world — from Harvard to the recent brutal murder of two young staff members from the Israeli embassy in Washington. Across Europe, violence erupts under a “lawful” pretext — “Free Palestine.” That was the very slogan the killer shouted as he executed Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim at point-blank range.

When those insane screams of “Ich hasse Juden!” finally died out in the pre-dawn darkness, we still couldn’t fall asleep — knowing a long and painful fight against prejudice and blind hatred lies ahead. It’s hard to fathom how any rational society could take up the call for a Global Intifada and carry it out as if it were a sentence. What guides the world when it chooses to embrace a terrorist ideology that tramples on every human value? I can’t believe this is the world we live in — but I know we will never give in, and we will never surrender our lives to those who believe they have the right to decide our fate. "So many antisemitic incidents as never before"… … the Research and Information Center RIAS Bavaria had already recorded a year ago. In 2024, this number has almost tripled, from 304 to 846 antisemitic attacks.

Süddeutsche Zeitung

🚨 1/15 🧵

I hadn’t planned to share this project publicly just yet. I’d hoped to one day surprise everyone with the news that a novel I’d been carrying in my mind for the past ten years — based on real events and set in the Israeli army of the late 1990s — was finally finished. I completed it last fall, after two years of intensive work.

Over the past eight months, I’ve queried more than 100 literary agents in the US and over 50 in the UK. Not one expressed interest.

Then I came across this:

“I am NOT a good fit for:
• anything having to do with Nazis, Zionists, or terrorists.”

This is taken directly from a literary agent’s official profile.

After that, things started to fall into place.

Follow the thread. 🧵 2/15

My novel is upmarket military historical fiction. It offers a detailed, realistic look at the training of new recruits in one of the most capable IDF units — the challenges they face and how 18-year-old boys deal with them. The main character goes through every stage of becoming a soldier, transforming along the way and reevaluating everything he thought he knew.

Although military life is central to the novel, at its core this is a story about duty, honor, brotherhood, love, patriotism, and a deep emotional connection to Israel, shaped by memory, sacrifice, and identity.

As far as I know, there’s no other novel that explores the inner world of the IDF with this level of depth.

In the photo below — that’s me during my military service. The Israeli border. Southern Lebanon.

1/6 🧵

Yesterday, a memorial event was held in Beer Ganim in memory of the victims of October 7th.

On that tragic day, Hamas brutally attacked Israel, unleashing a massacre.

Hila Kaylin — the sister of my sister’s husband — was among those murdered at the Nova Music Festival.

Our family lost her that day, and her memory will forever live in our hearts.

Her words, displayed next to her photograph, say it all:

תזכרו לאהוב את החיים,
עם ימי השמש,
עם הימים המעוננים,
עם סופות רעמים,
זה החיים ויש להנות מהם,
תהנו מכל רגע.

Translation:

Remember to love life —
on sunny days,
on cloudy days,
and during storms.
This is life, and we must enjoy it.
Enjoy every moment. 2/6

“Remember to love life —
on sunny days,
on cloudy days,
and during storms.
This is life, and we must enjoy it.
Enjoy every moment.”

— Hila Kaylin

We’re hearing it more and more—especially after October 7th 🧵. People justifying a massacre under the guise of “context.” As if this barbarity was some kind of long-awaited eruption. As if a group of “freedom fighters” merely unleashed decades of “righteous” rage. This narrative, repeated almost verbatim across platforms, tries to reframe October 7th as the natural consequence of 75 years of “oppression.”

They point to 1948 as if it were the beginning of everything—as if the creation of the State of Israel justifies the slaughter of civilians. But let’s not forget: in 1947, the UN proposed a two-state solution. The Jewish leadership accepted it. The Arab leadership rejected it and launched a war instead. That is historical record.

But let’s go back even further. Long before 1948, in the 1930s, there was no “Palestinian people” as the world defines them today. The land was under British Mandate rule, and everyone living there—Jew and Arab alike—was legally classified as Palestinian. The territory wasn’t a country. It was historic Jewish land temporarily administered by the British Empire.

Which brings us to the real question: If there was no Israeli state, no so-called occupation, no displacement—then why were Jews already being hunted, attacked, and murdered?

The answer? Because hatred doesn’t need a reason. And terrorism doesn’t wait for one.
There is no excuse—none—for slaughtering innocent men, women, and children. No narrative, no grievance, no historical revisionism can justify what is, at its core, savagery. To rationalize such brutality is to spit in the face of every human value we claim to uphold.

So let’s be absolutely clear: it didn’t begin in 1948. The Jewish people have been under attack long before modern Israel existed. Back then, just like now, they were forced to defend themselves.

These weren’t isolated incidents. The historical record is filled with them—countless attacks, pogroms, murders. One of the most horrifying was The Tiberias Massacre, which took place on October 2, 1938.

Roughly 70 armed Arabs stormed the Jewish neighborhood of Kiryat Shmuel in Tiberias, murdering 19 people—including 11 children—in cold blood. This wasn’t a clash. It wasn’t a “response.” It was premeditated slaughter, part of the broader Arab Revolt of 1936–1939, which was aimed at halting Jewish immigration and undermining the British Mandate.

The massacre was covered by many newspapers at the time. I’ve chosen to highlight an article from The Palestine Post, dated October 4, 1938. Let me note: this paper operated under strict British censorship, which means some language was likely softened to avoid escalating tensions. Still, the horror is plain to see. The focus is where it belongs—on the victims.

And one more thing: though the Arab Revolt was nominally directed at the British, the authorities—while pretending to be neutral—often adopted policies that skewed unmistakably pro-Arab. This became painfully obvious in 1939, when Britain imposed harsh restrictions on Jewish immigration. That, too, is part of the historical context no one wants to talk about.

So follow the thread 🧵. The full text from The Palestine Post appears below. I’ve also included screenshots of the original article, but reproduced it here for easier reading. 1/

MASSACRE IN TIBERIAS: 19 JEWS KILLED, 3 WOUNDED IN NIGHT ATTACK
Palestinian Jewry in Mourning
About 9 p.m. on Sunday, a large armed gang, after cutting all telephone communications, entered Tiberias. They came in two parties, one from the direction of Safad, through the Kiryat Shmuel quarter, and the other from the South, through the Akiva quarter. Five minutes later, a shrill whistle was heard from the hills around the town, and firing began. It was directed chiefly at the District Offices, the Police Station and the British police billet. Simultaneously fires broke out in the District Offices, a synagogue and six houses in the Akiva quarter. The police turned out at once, and within 25 minutes were reinforced by T.J.F.F. from Samakh. The latter were heavily fired on at a road-block, near the Hot Springs. From about 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. the firing in the town continued. Police and T.J.F.F. reinforced by troops, drove the band from Tiberias at 11 p.m. An immediate curfew was imposed, and the situation is now in hand.
Three houses were chiefly affected by the attack, those of Ben Arieh, Yohannan and Kotin. In Ben Arieh’s house the following were stabbed and burnt to death: Joshua Ben Arieh, Shoshannah his wife, and Arieh his son; while Zarek, his son aged 11 years, was shot dead. Rivka Leimer, Haya Leimer and Ezra Leimer, aged 10, 12 and 8 years respectively, were also in Ben Arieh’s house at the time of the attack and were stabbed and burnt to death. In Yohannan’s house, the following were killed: Rachel Yohannan, aged 28, and five children, Ezra, Miriam, Yocheved, Shmuel and Heftsiba Yohannan, aged 12, 5, 3, 1 and 2 respectively. In Kotin’s house, he himself and his sister were stabbed and burnt to death, but his wife Haya escaped.

1/ November 9, 1938: Kristallnacht 🧵

On the night of November 9 to 10, 1938, synagogues erupted in flames across Germany, Austria, and other territories under the control of the Third Reich. Jewish shops were looted, homes were ransacked, and countless lives were destroyed. Jews were arrested, brutally beaten, subjected to violence, and killed. These events, later known as the “Kristallnacht” or “The Night of Broken Glass”, were an orchestrated pogrom cloaked in Nazi propaganda. Officially, it was presented as a “spontaneous reaction of the people” to the assassination of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath in Paris.

In reality, it was a meticulously planned operation. In just one night, 1,400 synagogues were destroyed, around 7,000 Jewish shops were looted, and hundreds of homes were devastated. Streets littered with broken glass from shattered windows gave the pogrom its cynical name. Meanwhile, many ordinary Germans silently witnessed the violence or participated in the looting. Most of those who disapproved of the events did not dare to help the Jews, their fear of the regime forcing them to remain on the sidelines. 2/ The trigger for the pogrom – the assassination in Paris

The trigger for the pogrom was the assassination attempt by 17-year-old Jewish teenager Herschel Grynszpan on German diplomat Ernst vom Rath on November 7, 1938. Grynszpan’s family, along with 17,000 other Polish Jews, had been forcibly deported from Germany in October 1938 by order of Heinrich Himmler. They were stranded at the German-Polish border, forced to endure inhumane conditions.

Desperate to draw attention to his family’s plight, Grynszpan shot the German diplomat. Vom Rath died on November 9, providing the Nazis with a convenient pretext to unleash a long-planned campaign of terror against the Jews. Nazi propaganda turned vom Rath into a “victim of the Jewish conspiracy”, with his funeral accompanied by loud slogans and accusations voiced at organized rallies.