Current sectionJewish WorldShare to FacebookShare to XArticle printing is available to subscribers onlyPrint in a simple, ad-free formatSubscribeComments: Zen reading is available to subscribers onlyAd-free and in a comfortable reading formatSubscribeThe psychiatric hospital in Bernburg, where my great-grandfather Eberhard Hirsch was murdered. The place feels both tranquil and deeply unsettling. Credit: Neta RiskinI grew up believing the Holocaust had nothing to do with my family. But applying for a German passport sent me on an unexpected journey – from the banks of the Rhine to the gas chamber where my great-grandfather was murdered, uncovering an entire branch of my family that had been wiped out09:09 AM • July 10 2026 IDTGELSENKIRCHEN, Germany – On March 11, 1942, Eberhard Hirsch stepped off a gray bus at the entrance to the psychiatric hospital in the town of Bernburg on the Saale River. Or perhaps he was carried off. Hirsch was 60 years old, likely too weak to walk on his own. The other men on the bus were strangers: people with mental illnesses or disabilities, Roma, political prisoners, common criminals, Jehovah's Witnesses and gay men. After checking in at reception desk, he was ordered to undress and underwent a brief medical examination. Hirsch did not sleep in that facility that night – or anywhere else.In the NewsFor 80 Years, My Family Didn't Exist. Then, Suddenly, It Came Back to LifeEisenkot Hopes to Bore His Way to Power – and Netanyahu's Likud Can't Handle HimNetanyahu Ignored the Warnings Before October 7. This Time Is Just as BadThree Palestinians Wounded by Live Fire During Israeli Army Raid in West BankThe Jewish Olympics Reimagined: War, Victory and MemoryRemembering and rebuilding two years laterICYMIThe 'Special Relationship' Is Gone, and Israel Isn't Ready for What's ComingDumber Than a 10-year-old: Are Israeli Students Really That Stupid?An Israeli Principal Desegregated a Tel Aviv School. Here's What HappenedAs Israel Lacks Hundreds of Patrol Officers, West Bank Staff DoublesIsraeli Cop Filmed Throwing Stun Grenade Into Car, Trapping Palestinians InsideMade in Kurdistan, Smuggled via Jordan: The Mysterious Firearms Flooding Israel