Today is the anniversary of Kristallnacht–the night of broken glass. On November 9-10, 1938, a wave of violence against the Jews of Germany and Czechoslovakia took place. It was only the beginning of what became the Final Solution. Its observance makes today a doubly sad day for those of us who are mourning the election of…

I just finished reading a wonderful biography by Richard Askwith, TODAY WE DIE A LITTLE: THE INIMITABLE EMIL ZATOPEK, THE GREATEST OLYMPIC RUNNER OF ALL TIME. To most people today, it may be news when the author, as well as track historians, declare Emil Zatopek the greatest runner of all time. This is something every Czech…

Like most people, I’ve spent countless hours watching the Olympics from Rio, admiring the fabulous athletes competing in their respective sports. As much as I applaud these swimmers, gymnasts, soccer players, runners, rowers, sailors, and others, there’s another group of athletes of whom I’m in absolute awe. They will be in Rio in early September–following…

I am proud to call him my friend (and former business colleague). Doron Almog, a young Israeli soldier commanding a special IDF unit, was a hero of the daring Entebbe raid, which took place 40 years ago yesterday. Doron rose to Major General and head of the Southern Command. Today, he is once again performing…

The following is an op-ed piece I wrote for the July 2, 2016, issue of The Capital newspaper.  As I expected. I’ve received my share of hate mail, the most interesting of which is one that calls me a Nazi. But the good news–I hope, for our country–is that 95% of the messages have been…

Today, I participated in The Human Element Project, a national Holocaust memory reconstruction project led by Los Angeles artist, Lori Shocket. Holocaust survivors and their families construct photo boards which memorialize their lives before, during, and after the war. The picture below shows four photo boards, memorializing the lives of: my father, my mother, my…

I have submitted the following for publication in The Washington Post Magazine–its 250-word features titled “Mine”: It’s only a rusty piece of metal, but it’s priceless to me. I picked it up from a pile of mud back in 1994, the day I regained ownership of my family’s once-burgeoning manufacturing company in Czechoslovakia. As I…

My essay, titled “Something Happened,” just won third place in the 2016 Maryland Writers’ Association writing contest: SOMETHING HAPPENED by Charles Ota Heller Something happened to me. I don’t know when; I don’t know how; I don’t know why. I only know that it happened and that it was subtle, yet profound. It changed the…

As a small boy growing up in Europe, I idolized Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer famous for his heroic journeys to the North and South Poles. I read everything I could find about him and someday wanted to be an explorer like he. So, when I discovered a new book about Amundsen, I was anxious to…

The Baltimore Holocaust Survivors and Descendants Group Under the Auspices of the Baltimore Jewish Council Invites you to our: NEXT MEETING: Sunday, April 17, 2016 2 – 4 pm at the Community Room, Park Heights JCC 5700 Park Heights Ave, Baltimore, MD 21215 Guest speaker: Mr. Charles Ota Heller, author of award-winning book: Prague: My…