Observation of a Cuba watcher

For the past year, this Cuba watcher has been reporting a “slow but steady improvement in relations” between Cuba and the U.S., including talks on direct mail service, migration, cooperation in reactions to oil spills. A senior American official Edward Alex Lee last week said in Havana, the U.S. is “very open” to building a new relationship with Cuba. He also visited jailed U.S. government subcontractor Alan Gross, adding that the U.S. was “deeply concerned “about his wellbeing and expressed the hope that Cuban government would free him. 

 For more information on Cuba and its small Jewish community and the Gross case, check out my chapter on Cuba in “The Scattered Tribe: Traveling the Diaspora from Cuba to India to Tahiti & Beyond,” (Globe Pequot Press) http://amzn.to/J3Z47T  

 

 

Today’s news not only brought polar weather in much of the U.S, but also told of the annual amazing ice city unveiling  of huge snow sculptures in Harbin, China. After and during  World War I and World War II, Harbin was a sanctuary for Jews fleeing the Bolsheviks in  Russia and the Nazis in Germany. In October, 1918, Harbin had 65,000 residents representing 53 nationalities, including 25,000 Jews, among them Klara Rasputnis.  “Welcome to Harbin, in winter, the coldest place on earth,” the concierge informed  Klara whose story of “betrayal, drama and love” is told in “Klara’s Journey, A Novel,” (Marion Street Press) Available wherever books are sold and on all ebook formats. http://amzn.to/13Sp769 Also,nook,ipad,Kobo,etc.

Much talk in Burma these days on President Thein Sein saying he backed changing the country’s Constitution to allow “any citizen” to become president, apparently a reference to Daw Aung Suu Kyi, the Nobel Prize-winning democracy advocate whose “political ambitions have been thwarted for decades by the military,” according to The New York Times. Suu Kyi has said she will run if allowed.

 Check out my chapter on Burma and its rich Jewish heritage, including the small Jewish community in Yangon, in “The Scattered Tribe: Traveling the Diaspora from Cuba to India to Tahiti & Beyond,” (Globe Pequot Press). Wherever books are sold. http://amzn.to/J3Z47T  Check out my blog at www.bengfrank.blogspot.com “I Travel the World.” Follow me on twitter @bengfrank :  

 

Possible changes in world relations with Cuba continuing.  Good analysis of European attitude to Havana. For info on U.S-Cuba possible revision of policy, check out my Cuba chapter in The Scattered Tribe, Traveling the Diaspora from Cuba to India to Tahiti & Beyond,”  (Globe Pequot Press). http://amzn.to/J3Z47T  Also an ebook.

Honored by this testimonial. Thanks Gene,

HONORED TO HAVE THIS TESTIMONIAL:

“Ben Frank has made skillful use of his longtime expertise in researching the cultural and religious history of the far-flung diaspora of the Jewish people throughout the world and creating this credible and compelling novel about a passionate  young woman…”

 

 Gene Sosin, Ph.D., is a former senior executive of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

 

“Klara’s Journey” (Marion Street Press)

 

“betrayal, high drama, love!”

·        

Available  wherever books are sold. On all ebook formats!

http://amzn.to/13Sp769

Brest-Litovsk & The Russian Civil War

In December 1917, the Bolsheviks signed an armistice with  Germany and Austria. A few months later, the new Communist government would sign the treaty of Brest-Litovsk formally ending Russia’s involvement in World War I. Although out of a foreign war, Russia then entered another bloody conflict, a Civil War, that would cause the death of seven to ten million persons. That is the backdrop of “Klara’s Journey,” an historical novel and a story of “betrayal, high drama and love.” Available wherever books are sold and on all ebook formats. http://amzn.to/13Sp769 Also,nook, ipad,Kobo,etc.

 

Lest We Forget, The Battle of the Bulge,

LEST WE FORGET: About 1 million American World War II veterans are still alive. We should honor them this month, including those who fought in The Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945). The battle was   a major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium., France and Luxembourg on the western front. The battle involved about 610,000 American men of whom some 89,000 were casualties, including 19,000 killed. It was the largest and bloodiest battle fought by the United States in the Second World War.  That war is certainly a topic in “The Scattered Tribe: Traveling the Diaspora from Cuba to India to Tahiti & Beyond.” (Globe Pequot Press). http://amzn.to/J3Z47T  Check out my blog at www.bengfrank.blogspot.com “I Travel the World.” Follow me on twitter @bengfrank :