"If Kafka had written non-fiction, he could not have bested Tenenbom’s latest book ... This is one of the finest pieces of reporting I have seen in quite some time." Asia Times
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"Hello, Refugees! is a gem. A brilliant journalist, Tenenbom is straightforward, fearless, politically incorrect, courageous – and very funny." Jerusalem Post
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"Hello, Refugees! is maddening and funny and blood-boiling. It is half-snark, half-goofball, half-indictment, half-excellent reporting by a nervy and talented and always hungry writer and raconteur. Get it." National Review
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"Tenenbom is at once an expert guide and a traveling companion who keeps your spirits up even through the worst of it." PJ Media
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"Tuvia Tenenbom, who writes best sellers and writes with great wit, has taken his sense of humor and plunged it into a crisis that's worldwide; it's global." WABC
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"Tenenbom is a piercing storyteller whose writing is full of humor and irony." Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
American edition launched in New York, at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, on March 11, 2018
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A special presentation at the famed Grand Havana Room cigar club, in NY, June 26, 2018
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German edition launched in Berlin, Germany at the legendary Volksbühne Theater in Berlin, on April 6, 2017
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Hebrew edition launched in Tel Aviv, Israel on October 2, 2017, hosted by Benny Ziffer, Culture & Literature Editor of Haaretz. (Hear Ziffer sharing what Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, told him; in Hebrew)
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English edition launched at the Begin Center in Jerusalem, Israel on October 9, 2017 with Melanie Phillips of The Times of London
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Special event at the prestigious Literaturhaus Frankfurt on April 20, 2017
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In the past few years, the German government welcomed close to two million refugees, more than any other European country. And German citizens have showered the newcomers, mostly Muslims from the Middle East and Africa, with teddy bears and sweet cookies.
It will be interesting to see what the Muslims are doing with their teddy bears, Tuvia Tenenbom, an investigative journalist and the artistic director of The Jewish Theater of New York, said to himself.And so, Tenenbom, a Jew, flew to Germany and presented himself as a Middle Eastern Muslim at the heavily guarded refugee camps across the country -- and was promptly gained entry. There he saw no teddy bears, and nothing sweet. What he found instead were refugees spending their days and nights in the most horrific living conditions imaginable, and all begged him to help them out.
Trying to find the reason for the harsh treatment of the refugees by the German authorities, Tenenbom met German politicians, from the far right to the far left, as well as business leaders, activists, and other citizens, asking them for explanations.
What did they say? Well, they didn't have much to say, except to share one deep-seated feeling: no matter what they do, they said, they would always be better than the "inhumane Jews."• • •
Film version of Hello, Refugees! was broadcast on German TV on April 20, 2018 (in German). To watch, click below:
directed by tuvia tenenbom and produced by preview production, for swr tv (germany). video credit: florian krauss, sound: daniel till, organization: isi tenenbom
