The Legal History Blog links to a paper (PDF) by Fanie Oz-Salzberger and Eli Salzberger on The Secret German Sources of the Israeli Supreme Court. Its main emphasis is on important Israeli judges who were educated in German-speaking Europe.

The present paper … offers a glimpse into the collective biography and intellectual legacy of a distinct group of German-born or German-educated jurists who came to Palestine during the 1930s following the rise of Nazism, reached key positions within the Israeli legal system, and became the founding fathers of the Supreme Court of Israel.

Most fascinating is the glimpse of a cosmopolitan German-speaking intellectual world with centres in Vienna, Krakow, Danzig, Heidelberg, Frankfurt-am-Main and Berlin. About 40 per cent of the lawyers in Frankfurt and Berlin were Jewish when Hitler came to power.

The German influence on the Israeli Supreme Court has not yet been an issue for discussion or research, despite the large number of judges born and/or educated in Germany. Nearly 50 percent of the Court’s first-generation judges were educated in German institutions. They were part of a mass migration that reluctantly left a beloved country and culture in the wake of the Nazi rise to power. They were immediately recognized in their new homeland as a group markedly different in accent and personality from the more numerous east-European immigrants. They even earned a collective nickname – “Yekkes”. This slang term, which is still alive, has been associated over the years with both positive and negative characteristics, from punctuality to excessive toughness.

The characteristics associated with the term Yekke (from German Jecke) seem to show some consistency over the years: see Wikipedia.

Thanks to Isabella Massardo, who sadly has closed her weblog Taccuino di traduzione, for the Legal History blog)

Self-described as the best musical advent calendar on the Web, from the German Embassy in London.

Probably the best musical advent calendar on the web! Packed with modern arrangements of traditional German and English Christmas songs, the German Embassy London presents a whole range of different musical styles and interpretations. Simply click on the 24 little doors and enjoy a festive gem every day.

Direct link

In seinem Blog USA Erklärt verlinkt Scot W. Stevenson eine überarbeitete Version seines Textes gegen den Begriff “US-amerikanisch”. Dort listet er viele Argumente auf.

Übung 1: Benutze bei Deiner nächsten Diskussion mit Freunden über die USA immer und ausschließlich die Formen mit “US-amerikanisch”. Sprich also nur von der “US-amerikanische Außenpolitik”, dem “US-amerikanischen Präsidenten”, den “Afro-US-Amerikanern” und dem “US-amerikanischen Bundesstaat Texas”. Jedes Mal, wenn Du das vergisst, musst Du einen Whiskey trinken. Beobachte – versuche zu beobachten – was zuerst passiert, dass Du betrunken unter den Tisch fällst oder Deine genervten Freude Dir Prügel androhen.

Danke für den Link an Scott Hansen, der mal über das Wort Ami geschrieben hat.

Heute geht es nicht um Schäuble.

In MI5 alert on China’s cyberspace spy threat, the Times reports on 120 countries targeting other countries’ governments and economic systems through the Internet:

The Government has openly accused China of carrying out state-sponsored espionage against vital parts of Britain’s economy, including the computer systems of big banks and financial services firms.

A comment says:

Why bother,we will send them the discs.
Peter, Manchester, UK