Remembering diversity: walks through Jewish and Kurdish stories in Kreuzberg

Remembering diversity: walks through Jewish and Kurdish stories in Kreuzberg

On November 3, 2025, the Pek Koach e.V. association in Berlin Kreuzberg is organizing city walks that commemorate Jewish and Kurdish women. The initiative is entitled “Diaspora and Dasein” and aims to strengthen solidarity alliances against anti-Semitism, racism and sexism. The walks are led by Maria and Fatma and take participants to five important stations in Kreuzberg.

The first stop is the synagogue on Fraenkelufer. Regina Jonas is remembered here, who was born in 1902, received her rabbinical diploma in 1935 and was murdered in Auschwitz in 1944. The Kottbusser Tor is commemorated with the second station, where Kurdish victims of political violence are remembered, including Celalettin Kesim, who was killed in 1980, and Fatma E., who was the victim of a misogynistic attack in 1984. This shows the diverse and painful history that has shaped both Jewish and Kurdish communities in Berlin.

Remembering victims and fighters

The third station deals with Semanur S., who was killed by her husband in 2012, which led to widespread protests in the community. The fourth station, the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Museum, commemorates Eva Mamlok, who was active in the resistance against National Socialism and died in 1944. The last stop is the intercultural multilingual family center Rengîn, which was founded by Yekmal e.V. and supports Kurdish families and refugees.

Finally, there is a report from Maya Wolffberg, who came to Berlin in 2017 and co-founded the Israeli Community Europe (ICE). Due to the great interest, Pek Koach plans to expand the city walks and provide headphones for better acoustics to convey the stories and memories even more vividly.

US government shutdown reaches important mark

In other news, the ongoing government shutdown in the US, which began on October 1, is making waves. This closure has now reached its 30th day, making it one of the longest in history. According to reports, the 13th attempt in the Senate to end the shutdown failed again by a vote of 54-45. Hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been furloughed or not receiving salaries.

The political situation is tense as most Democrats refuse to support legislation that does not roll back cuts to Medicaid or extend expiring subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Republican Senator John Thune has urged Democrats to support a temporary funding bill as the shutdown continues to impact millions of families who may be left without additional funding for programs like WIC and SNAP come November 1.

With ongoing political uncertainty, it is not clear when a solution will be found. Betting odds even show that 37.9% of people believe the shutdown will end on November 16th or later.

In another area of ​​technology, there are reports of the difficulties faced by Windows 10 Home Single Language (SL) users. They have found that they cannot change the language settings unless they upgrade to a different version. This limitation can be annoying, especially for those who accidentally chose the wrong language during installation.

However, users have found some possible solutions, including purchasing a new license for Windows 10 Pro or a downgrade option to Windows 7 or 8. The language change steps require technical knowledge and are not easy for everyone to implement. This remains a constant annoyance for users dealing with technical difficulties.

Overall, these events and messages not only reflect cultural and historical challenges, but also take a look at the current political and technological difficulties facing society.

For more information about the city walks you can visit the Amadeu Antonio Stiftung. For detailed analysis of the government shutdown, please visit USA Today. For information about troubleshooting Windows 10, visit the Microsoft Answers website.