eNEWSLETTER EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF IN TEL AVIV July – August 2018

Visit of Slovenian Minister of Health Slovenian Minister of Health Ms Milojka Kolar Celarc, accompanied by Director General of the Long-term Care Directorate Ms Tatjana Buzeti, visited Israel on 10-11 July to participate at the South-Eastern Europe Health Network (SEEHN) Ministerial Meeting on Ensuring Primary Care for Ageing Population. The Minister also visited the Holon Institute of Technology, where she was presented with innovative solutions for the elderly as well as people with special needs and disabilities. These solutions are developed by the Centre for Applied Technological Research and Development for the Elderly (CARE). The guests have visited Excellence Centers and Research Labs: the 3D printing lab and the MADE lab.

LT: Ms. Celarc, Prof. Yakubov. Photo:Timor Aselman RT: HIT faculty, Ambassador Barbara Sušnik and Minister Celarc.

Minister Celarc was welcomed by Prof. Eduard Yakubov – President of HIT; Dr. Refael Barkan - Head of Research, Development and External Relations Authority, HIT ; Dr. Guy Yoskovitz - Deputy Director of Research, Development and External Relations Authority at HIT; Prof. Yair Lampl – HIT & Wolfson Medical Center ;Dr.Hagit Meishar-Tal - Head of B.A program, Faculty of Instructional Technologies, HIT ;Prof. Gila Kurtz - Head of M.A program, Faculty of Instructional Technologies, HIT ;Mrs. Ira Ivshin-Guetta – International Office, HIT. Minister Celarc, was impressed with the various initiatives and projects and said that she will be happy to assist in connecting HIT to relevant leading academic institutions in Slovenia in order to help establish fruitful collaborations between both countries.

1 THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE PLACEMENT OF STOLPERSTEINE- MEMORIAL STONES

“A person is only forgotten when his or her name is forgotten.” - Talmud

Monday, 6 August 2018, was a special day for and Slovenia, as first twenty-three Jews from Ljubljana and their relatives, who were forced from their homes due to their origin under the Nazi plan and were taken to various concentration camps across Europe, symbolically returned to Slovenia. More than ninety percent of the Slovenian Jewish community perished in the Holocaust, and it has not recovered since.

The Jewish Cultural Centre Ljubljana, the Synagogue, the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the City Municipality of Ljubljana–the Department of Culture organized the opening ceremony of the placement of Stolpersteine on 6 August 2018, in 1 Cankarjevo Nabrežje Street. With the help of Gunter Demnig, the first Stolperstein were laid by the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr. Borut Pahor, and the second by the President of the Slovenian National Assembly, Mr. Matej Tonin.

LT: Mr. Robert Waltl, Director of the Jewish Cultural Centre Ljubljana, President Borut Pahor and the President of the Slovenian National Assembly, Mr. Matej Tonin. Photo: Jewish Cultural Centre Ljubljana

2 Gunter Demnig and Boruh Pahor are laying the mark in memory of the Slovene Jews. Photo: BoBo

The ceremony was also attended by: Vice Mayor of the City Municipality of Ljubljana Janez Koželj, Dr. Irena Šumi, cantor of the Stockholm Synagogue Isidoro Abramovicz, rabbi of the Jewish community of Slovenia Ariel Haddad and representatives of the Jewish community form Slovenia, Chief rabbi of Croatia and Montenegro Moše Prelević, President of the Coordination of Jewish Municipalities of Croatia Dr. Ognjen Kraus and also other rabbis from Croatia, Italy, Switzerland and the US as well as theatre actress Polona Vetrih.

The closing ceremony on that day in 7 Križevniška Street included the last Stolperstein of the day to commemorate Oton Baumgarten, the beginner of judo in Slovenia. The program featured the Judo Club Ljubljana Bežigrad. On this occasion, two art openings took place in the Jewish Cultural Centre Ljubljana: an installation dedicated to 587 Slovenian victims of the Holocaust made by artists Vadim Fiškin and Miran Mohar and an exhibition–a series of portrait posters UNDELETED– by Vuk Ćosić entitled Reconstructed Portraits of Erased Jewish Fellow Citizens from Ljubljana. The ceremony was followed by a short lecture by Gunter Deming and a cultural program featuring Israeli singer Sivan Goldman and the cantor of the Stockholm Synagogue Isidoro Abramovicz.

SPOTIKAVCI/ STOLPERSTEINI 2018, LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIJA, SLOVENIA

Lepodvorska 26

DR. HUGO BAUMGARTEN DR. HUGO BAUMGARTEN ROJ. 1881 BORN 1881 ARETIRAN 12. IX. 1944 ARRESTED 12. IX. 1944 ODPELJAN V DACHAU TAKEN TO DACHAU UMORJEN 15. III. 1945 MURDERED 15. III. 1945 V BERGEN-BELSNU IN BERGEN-BELSEN

3 FRIDA BAUMGARTEN FRIDA BAUMGARTEN ROJ. GROSSMAN, 1884 BORN GROSSMAN, 1884 ARETIRANA 12. IX. 1944 ARRESTED 12. IX. 1944 ODPELJANA V SALZBURG TAKEN TO SALZBURG PREŽIVELA SURVIVED

DR. MARJANA DR. MARJANA BAUMGARTEN - BRIŠKI BAUMGARTEN - BRIŠKI ROJ. 1914 BORN 1914 ARETIRANA 12. IX. 1944 ARRESTED 12. IX. 1944 ODPELJANA V BEGUNJE, NATO TAKEN TO BEGUNJE, THEN V RAVENSBRÜCK, TO RAVENSBRÜCK, SALZGITTER IN SALZGITTER, BERGEN-BELSEN BERGEN-BELSEN PREŽIVELA SURVIVED

Israeli singer Sivan Goldman and the cantor of the Stockholm Synagogue Isidoro Abramovicz, Photo: Jewish Cultural Centre Ljubljana

4 Gender Equality Conference at Knesset Ambassador Barbara Sušnik participated as a panelist at the Gender Equality Conference on 17 July 2018 in Knesset. Conference was organised by MK Dr. Michael Oren, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, in cooperation with The Israeli Gender Guard and PANIM Hadashot Women's Leadership Parliament. Ambassador Sušnik presented gender equality policy in Slovenia and stressed that gender equality and empowerment of women are among priorities of Slovenia internally and in foreign policy.

LT: Ambassador of Slovenia Barbara Sušnik participating at Panel One, together with her colleagues from Croatia, Paraguay, Latvia, Denmark and Germany. RT: DM Michael Oren, Ambassador Sušnik and colleagues.

Visit to Bialik Rogozin School Ambassador Barbara Sušnik and Deputy Head of Mission Blaž Masle visited the Bialik Rogozin School in South Tel Aviv on July 16, 2018 and met with Principal Mr Eli Nechama. Around 1,300 children of migrants and asylum-seekers from 51 different countries attend the school, where they receive education and the empowerment to realize their potentials and their dreams. Ambassador Sušnik, Mr Masle and Mr Nechama discussed the possibilities for cooperation, including Slovenian project on child's rights education. Mr. Eli Nechama, Principal of Bialik Rogozin School and Ambassador Barbara Sušnik. Photos: VTA

5 Our Rights Project The empowerment of children, notably through education about their rights and guaranteed access to justice, remains a key priority of Slovenian foreign policy in the area of human rights. Since 2005, with the Our Rights project and teaching materials, Slovenia has enabled education on children’s rights for more than 190,000 children in 26 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.

DebateForPeace at the Embassy

Ambassador Barbara Sušnik held a debate with students of youth leadership program DebateForPeace for Arab and Jewish high school students interested in diplomacy, on 27 July 2018 at the Embassy of Slovenia in Tel Aviv. Ambassador Sušnik presented diplomatic work as well as relations between Israel and Slovenia. The debate focused on protection of human rights and status of national minorities in Slovenia, international standards of human rights and issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ambassador Sušnik encouraged the students to engage actively and promote values in the society they consider important for the future prosperity of all sides.

Students of youth leadership program DebateForPeace. Photos: VTA

6 Remembering Marko Rosner- Jewish persona from Slovenia

Marko Rosner (1888, Iacobeni - 1969, Haifa) was a central personality of the Jewish community of Maribor before World War II, which numbered around 100 people. His company employed around 1,000 workers in 1939.

Marko Rosner had a strong sense for social welfare and he provided for many social services for his employees. He made several major donations and was involved in humanitarian activities. For his 50th birthday, he established a fund for his employees and contributed 100.000 dinars himself. Also, he contributed 100.000 dinars to at that time newly established academy of science and arts in Ljubljana. Marko Rosner also helped many Jews who were fleeing and crossed the border illegally.

Just before the German attack on Yugoslavia in 1941, he fled with his family and travelled to Palestine through Serbia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. In August 1945, Rosner was sentenced by the Communist authorities in a military court to 15-year imprisonment, including the deprivation of civil rights and the confiscation of property. In 1954, at the age of 66, he tried for the last time to restore the process, without demanding the return of property, but only in the repeated trial to clear his reputation. The Yugoslav authorities did not allow the rehabilitation until the end of his life and therefore he never saw Maribor again. He died in Haifa in 1969.

Holocaust researcher and historians, Professor Boris Hajdinjak and Dr. Renato Podbersič together with Ambassador Barbara Sušnik visited the grave of Marko Rosner at the Joshua Field Cemetery in Haifa on June 6, 2018. Source: Boris Hajdinjak

Photos: VTA

7 The Jewish cemetery between Nova Gorica (Slovenia) and Gorizia (Italia)

Dr. Renato Podbersič, historian and an expert particularly on the history of Jewish community in Gorica/Gorizia between 1900-1950, visited Israel in June and presented life of Jewish soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Army on the Isonzo Front during the First World War on June 5, 2018 (Embassy's eNewsletter May-June 2018). Dr. Podbersič shares with us an overview of his research on the Jewish cemetery between Nova Gorica (Slovenia) and Gorizia (Italy).

Ambassador of Israel to Slovenia, Mr. Eyal Sela and Dr. Renato Podbersič visiting the Cemetery. Photo: R.Podbersič

Gorizia was sometimes also known as Jerusalem upon Soča river. Jews were probably present in the town at the time of its establishment, and their first written mention dates to 1288. The local Jewish community stood out more due its impact on the everyday life in the town than due to their numerical presence. Today, the Jewish community no longer exists in Gorizia. In 1969, the numerically weak local Jewish community united with that of Trieste. The memory of what was once an important part of Gorizian community is kept alive by the Jewish cemetery in Rožna Dolina near Nova Gorica, the final resting place of over nine hundred Jews, with the oldest tombstone dating to the fourteenth century. The Jewish cemetery in Rožna Dolina not only stands as a unique monument to the Jewish cultural heritage in Slovenia, but it is the biggest Jewish cemetery in the state and one among the best preserved in Central Europe.

Apart from the synagogue in Gorizia (Italy) from the mid-eighteenth century, it is the only remnant of immovable cultural heritage that once belonged to the rounded-out Jewish community in Gorizia, which is now divided between two countries. Burying the dead has a special place in the Judaism (Talmud). The burial is to take place within one day after death or at least as soon as possible, since according to the Jewish belief, the soul cannot find peace until the deceased’s body is buried. Burial is one of the most important rituals in

8 Judaism and also customarily associated with ritual impurity, caused by the contact with the deceased’s body. A special Jewish funeral service, which is usually composed of volunteers, cleanses the deceased’s body before the funeral and makes all the necessary preparations for the burial. The sanctity of the burial grounds is, among others, also attested by events that took place during the Battles of the Isonzo. After the fall of Gorizia and the Isonzo Front shifted eastwards, the town had found itself in the front line by the autumn of 1916. Military maps of the time show that the Austro-Hungarian units held their assault positions in the eastern part of the Jewish cemetery and the Italian units in the western part, both sides making every effort to respect the sanctity of the Jewish burial grounds, but nevertheless destroying the Jewish funeral parlour during the exchange of fire. After the First World War, Jews in Gorizia restored the facility and reopened it in 1929. The funeral parlour then remained in use until 1947, when the newly demarcated border between Yugoslavia and Italy cut the cemetery off from the seat of the Jewish community in Gorizia. The Holocaust, however, had an especially disastrous effect on the Jewish population in Gorizia, with the majority of those who persisted in the town during the war, being driven to Nazi camps. Thenceforth, the few Jewish inhabitants of Gorizia bury their deceased in the Jewish cemetery at Gradisca d’Isonzo (Italia). Photo and text: dr. Renato Podbersič

9 Jerusalem in Slovenia- Jeruzalem Jeruzalem, pronounced Yeruzalem is a small settlement in the eastern part of the Slovene Hills (Slovene: Slovenske gorice) in the Municipality of in northeastern Slovenia. The viniferous hill has been famous for its high-quality wines since the Middle Ages. The legend of the vine-covered Jeruzalem originates from the times of the crusades when the beauty of the hilly landscape and its wines enthralled the crusaders, sojourning on their way to the Holy Land by the castle near Velika Nedelja. They felt as though they had reached the Biblical Jerusalem and went no further. For that reason the highest hill, renowned for its distinguished wine, was named Jeruzalem. On the top of Jeruzalem stands a marvelous baroque church from the 16th century, holding the portrait of the Mourning Virgin, brought from the Holy Land.

Jeruzalem is the highest peak in the area, at an altitude of 341 m. On clear days the view extends as far as the Lake Balaton in Hungary.

Jeruzalem, Slovenia. Photos: VTA

10 A sensational adventure for the whole family high in the Alps-The Krvavec Goblin Adventure, children simply love it!

Photo: RTC Krvavec A mere half hour’s drive from the capital, Ljublajna, Mount Krvavec invites families to take part in an authentic goblin adventure. Last year saw the birth of the Krvavec Goblin Adventure – a fairy-tale and adventurous path like no other. Brunarica Sonček, the developer of the project, in collaboration with RTC Krvavec and Zavod Škrateljc, created an integral tourism product that focuses on family tourism and is very appealing to schools, kindergartens and organised groups of hikers, scouts and anyone eager to experience the great outdoors in a new way. The project was considered an innovative tourism product by the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. Why is the Krvavec Goblin Adventure so special that it attracted several thousand new visitors in its first year of operation? What’s in the foreground is the experience; children not only learn on this adventure, they experience, feel, enjoy and co-create a story. Children are the ones who help the shepherds break the goblin’s curse and save the mountain from the evil goblins. The concept of the trail is based on the original picture book On the Shepherds and Goblins of Krvavec by Uroš Grilc and illustrated by Gorazd

11 Vahen. It connects Krvavec’s key identity elements: grassland farming, medicinal herbs and mountain life. With their Goblin’s Notebook and educational boards visitors solve the problems on the trail and seek a mysterious spell that will help the shepherds break the goblin’s curse on the mountain. Various emotions are aroused on the way, and the experience is additionally broadened on the trail with 16 large wooden sculptures representing the animals from Krvavec along with goblins, all master works by five local artists working with chainsaws. Guests will also enjoy the goblins’ herb garden, shepherd’s cottage, a mountain of sounds, and more. The trail also encompasses several skill-testing elements for the children to strengthen not only their senses, but their mobility too. The trail hides countless surprises, but we can’t reveal everything online and spoil the fun – we want children to experience it on the mountain, and create magical memories that will last a lifetime. The Krvavec Goblin Adventure is also perfectly tailored for foreign visitors. As the target audience is families, the adventure was translated into four languages so that more parents and children can follow the story. The Krvavec Goblin Adventure is available in English, German, Italian and Czech. Text by Dr Uroš Grilc, Source: Sinfo

Photo: Iztok Medja

12 Slovenia awarded the title of European Region of Gastronomy 2021

"Slovenia has impressed us with the quality of its gastronomic offerings, its commitment to sustainable development and the implementation of all activities related to it. Food production is on a high quality level, and we were impressed by the extraordinary pride and passion of everyone we met, which is reflected in the respectful treatment of their environment.

Photo: Mostphotos

The many stakeholders who joined the project in order to facilitate Slovenia's efforts to become a green country known in the world for gastronomy, sustainable tourism, food education and quality food supply also left a great impression on us," said Diane Dodd, speaking at the press conference on behalf of the European Region of Gastronomy expert panel. She then made a very exciting announcement: Slovenia will be the holder of the title European Region of Gastronomy 2021.

"I am delighted that Slovenia has been awarded the title of European Region of Gastronomy 2021, since this prestigious accolade proves that Slovenia has found its place on the global tourism map as an attractive destination capable of impressing even the most demanding guests with its genuine, innovative and boutique gastronomic offerings," said Zdravko Počivalšek, Minister of Economic Development and Technology. Source: Slovenia Weekly.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

European Day of Jewish Culture- September 3, 2018

The European Day of Jewish Culture takes place all over Europe on September 3rd. The Jewish Cultural Center in Ljubljana will celebrate the special event with the opening of a large exhibition “The Red cycle - inspired by the Torah" of the Slovenian painter Oki Rotovnik. Also on that day, the Vienna's tango quartet will offer an exceptional concert in Yiddish with Israeli world renowned singer Paula Barembuem. More information at: Ticket: www.mini-teater.si

13 Bled Strategic Forum 2018 – Bridging the Divide (10 – 11 September 2018)

Under the title ‘Bridging the Divide’, the 13th Bled Strategic Forum will be dedicated to overcoming our traditional perceptions and searching for things that we have in common. Source: BSF

After more than a decade of annual gatherings, the Bled Strategic Forum has evolved into a leading international conference in Central and South-Eastern Europe, bringing together a diverse set of participants, including heads of state and government, ministers, diplomats, businesspeople, scholars and experts, youth, and media from around the world.

The Forum focuses on engaging the participants in discussions about, and seeking out of the box solutions for, the compelling regional and global challenges. In addition, it provides an excellent opportunity for tailored bilateral and multilateral meetings and networking with prominent regional and global actors from the spheres of diplomacy, policy, business, science, and innovation.

Despite technological advances and enhanced interconnectivity, we do not share a common understanding of the world in which we live. The array of tools at our disposal to engage in effective, inclusive and transparent dialogue is greater than ever before in the history of mankind – new scientific advances, greater understanding of ourselves, new learning techniques, new frameworks for cooperation and dialogue, new ways to communicate – and yet, the predictions and, indeed, hopes that access to information would result in greater homogeneity have failed to materialize.

Under the title ‘Bridging the Divide’, the 13th Bled Strategic Forum planned for 10 and 11 September 2018 will be dedicated to overcoming our traditional perceptions and searching for things that we have in common, thus ensuring a prosperous and sustainable future for everyone. As a leading strategic conference in Central and South East Europe it will offer the room for exchange of ideas and concepts through the panels, round tables and one- on-one interviews in the idyllic environment of Bled, Slovenia.

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Shana Tova to all our readers! Happy, Healthy New Year!

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