David Lee Preston

This arm held me, fed me, taught me to play chess, to ride a bike, drive a car. This arm played the mandolin, molded clay, planted trees, fixed motors, unplugged drains, built porches. 1985 photo of my father's Auschwitz tattoo and his Buchenwald jacket @nickkelsh @PhillyInquirer

A while ago, I watched the infamous 47-minute video documenting the atrocities of October 7th — the one not made publicly available, to protect the privacy of the victims. The worst part of this video is not what it displays, but who is displaying it: the perpetrators themselves. Gleefully. Sadistically. Unabashedly. Most of the footage was filmed by Hamas terrorists on their GoPro bodycams, some also by ordinary Gazan civilians on their cellphones. Even the Nazis tried to cover up their atrocities, but Hamas brags about theirs for the entire world to see. The killers are euphoric throughout the massacre, and their relentless, ecstatic cries of "Allahu Akbar" (punctuated by the occasional "Kill the Jew!") are simply nauseating. Some images are seared into my memory forever. I will never forget the two boys in their underwear — one with his eye socket hanging out of his face — asking his brother whether he thinks they're going to die, while the Hamas monster who had just thrown a grenade in their saferoom helps himself to a drink from their fridge, taking a casual break from the slaughter. Neither will I ever forget the terrorists playing football with a severed head. Or the Thai migrant worker whose head is viciously hacked off with a garden hoe — another "Zionist colonizer" getting what he deserved, right?quillette.substack.com/p/what-did-you… Or the throngs of Gazans crowding around pickup trucks loaded with the mutilated corpses of Jewish women, filming and spitting on the bodies. Or the woman in Kibbutz Mefalsim, crouching and begging in vain for mercy. There is some evidence of sexual violence in the video — the charred corpse of a young woman with her legs splayed and her genitals exposed — but not much. Apparently even Hamas draws a line somewhere: they are not as proud of raping Jewish women as they are of murdering them. Or, more likely, they simply didn't want to embarrass the delicate sensibilities of their legions of useful idiots in the West. But yes — there was rape. Not "rape" in scare quotes, as the apologists would have it, but sadistic, murderous sexual violence, documented in a new damning new report by The Civil Commission, an independent Israeli women's rights NGO. (video summary here: youtube.com/watch?v=K7fJuz…) Across its 180 pages, the report describes "a recurring pattern of rape and gang rape; sexual torture; mutilation; targeted shooting to the face, head and genital area; forced nudity; binding and restraint; genital burning; objects inserted into intimate areas; post-mortem sexual humiliation; and execution during or after sexual assault." And it was premeditated and organized. The terrorists crossing into Israel carried printed Arabic-to-Hebrew phrasebooks with handy expressions like "take off your pants," "lie down," "spread your legs," and "don't make trouble." I wonder why they expected to need those particular phrases? I know one thing: no civilized country on earth would tolerate the existence of an organization like Hamas on its border after October 7th. Not one. This includes every self-righteous Westerner currently lecturing Israel from thousands of kilometres away, without an inch of skin in the game. dailymail.com/news/article-1…

Fultz & Simmons over Tatum & Brown Failed to get value for Jahlil Okafor Traded Shamet for Tobias Let Butler walk for Tobias Signed Tobias for 5yrs/180mil Brought in Al Horford to start alongside Ben/Embiid Traded Mikal Bridges for Zhaire Smith Lost 2nd round pick for tampering to get PJ Tucker and Danuel House Wasted Harden days with a 40 yr old PJ Tucker and Tobias Harris Cut Isaiah Joe for 40 yr old Dedmon Traded McCain for a 22nd pick Cut Champagnie so McClung can participate in slam dunk contest I feel like I only covered 10%

Mother's Day 1983: bit.ly/3ChVROU (scrollable PDF appears automatically after 8 seconds)

SIXERS STEAL GAME 2 IN BOSTON IN SHOCKING FASHION!!!

2 events in Wilmington Tue. 4/14, Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day: Area rabbis conduct noon memorial service at Holocaust monument in Freedom Plaza alongside Louis L. Redding City/County Building. And 7 p.m. at Siegel JCC, program focusing on the murdered Jewish children.

What did my father record 75 yrs ago on this Dictabelt that represents a bridge between his past and future? Sign up at the bottom of my website homepage for my free newsletter! And thanks to my friend @georgeblood_lp for digitizing this surreal discovery. DavidLeePreston.com

Originally scheduled for Jan. 26 at the Delaware Art Museum, this program was postponed due to weather. It will take place at 2 p.m. today at the Siegel JCC in Wilmington. Latest forecasts say snow won't start until later in the day. @ShalomDelaware

All of us are immigrants Every daughter, every son Everyone is everyone All of us are immigrants Everyone — Steve Earle, “City of Immigrants” (2007) youtu.be/3aeqGex645Y?si… via @YouTube

My father’s ID card from first engineering job in Lille, France. The 1937 grad of University of Caen was 25 yrs old. Arrested by Gestapo in Lille on Aug. 8, 1942. Survived Auschwitz & Buchenwald. He was 92 when he died 19 yrs ago, Nov. 8, 2006. Learn more: DavidLeePreston.com

Sunday: Alfred Munzer’s memories of Indonesian Muslim nanny who hid him in The Hague. My cousin Joel Wind recalls my parents’ 1951 wedding. Paris mathematician Henri Berestycki recalls his dad, who survived 14 months in Lviv sewers w/my mom 1943-44. RSVP: HEC.Delaware@gmail.com

Please join us next Sunday afternoon in Wilmington for what promises to be an unforgettable program. In addition to the headliner, you’ll meet two VERY special guests. Hope to see you there!

2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 14 -- Save the date!

Sunday, Sept. 14: Save the date for the 13th Halina Wind Preston Memorial Lecture on the Holocaust, a free public event at the Siegel JCC in Wilmington sponsored by @ShalomDelaware.

60 yrs ago, my dad flew to Frankfurt to stand in front of Emil Bednarek & testify that in Auschwitz-Birkenau he saw the Nazi kapo kick a man to death. That testimony — in English, listenable on my website — helped to convict Bednarek of murder. He was sentenced to life in prison.

@RondaGoldfein and I are hosting @SeanStrub ahead of their testimony before Pa. House Judiciary Cmte in Harrisburg to remove last refc to HIV in Pa. Criminal Code. His book “Body Counts: A Memoir of Politics, Sex, AIDS & Survival” (2014, Scribner) is a must-read. #HIVIsNotACrime

@RondaGoldfein and I are proud to host @SeanStrub tonight ahead of their testimony tomorrow before the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee in Harrisburg seeking to remove the last reference to HIV in the Pennsylvania Criminal Code. #HIVIsNotACrime

How a righteous Joe Biden honored my Holocaust survivor parents forward.com/opinion/723094…

My 1st published writing on the Holocaust was 47 years ago today @CoMissourian front page. I was 23. I'm including snapshots of my parents from our July '77 Israel trip, focus of my piece. Tonight begins Yom HaShoah, the day on which we remember the tragedy that made me who I am.

I am deeply saddened to learn that my dear friend Jacob Brandelstein, 78, died of pneumonia in January. Here is my 31-minute interview with Jacob and his wife, Rachel, last June at their home in the northern Israeli village of Kfar Vradim: youtu.be/iAsmfIMVlFU?si… via @YouTube

April 11 marks 80 years since my father, a walking skeleton weighing 80 pounds, was liberated from Buchenwald by American troops. And tomorrow begins Pesach 5785, the Passover festival that honors the Jews’ liberation from slavery in Egypt. youtu.be/FLHI-4H8RAo?si… via @YouTube