Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : DENYING A MOTHER TO HER BABIES IS NOT RIGHT

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr Deutsch,

By now I am sure you are aware your inbox is full to the brim of letters for justice for Benjy and Sammy.

I have known Beth since our time at King David High School and we have remained firm friends since. Many people marry and divorce; however at the centre of it all should be how to safeguard children if they are involved. For me safeguarding has gone out the window in this case. The poor boys have been used as pawns. 

Let me tell you about Beth; something the authorities have failed to do. Beth grew up in Manchester in an orthodox family with two brothers, Graeme and Adrian. Beth is softly spoken and caring. She has always taken pride in her Jewish roots, becoming a Madricha at Bnei Akiva. Beth would go above and beyond to help anyone who needed her help.

She met Mr Schlesinger at a European Jewish Event and they hit it off and so their relationship developed. As a friend, I was very happy for her. She had everything going for her as she was also studying at Cambridge. When she announced her engagement, I was so happy. I knew she would relocate to Vienna and it would be tough due to the language barrier, but I knew it would be Vienna's gain.

Beth never discussed her pregnancy but when I found out, I could not have been happier. I could tell she was very excited and with twins! It brought a smile to my face as I had just found out my sister was pregnant with twins. 

In late 2009,  I decided to throw my sister a baby shower and when I found out Beth was over with Sammy and Benji, she was invited. I'm bringing this up because during the baby shower, I noticed Beth was not her usual self. Her eyes were sad and I could tell her mind was elsewhere. Little did I know what had happened in Vienna. It was only months later when Beth and family members confided in me the true horror.  

On that very visit where she came to my sister's baby shower, she was introducing her sweet baby boys to their uncles, cousins and friends; those who she had not seen for long periods of time. They were catching up and spending quality time together. Mr Schlesinger was not present but threatened Beth to bring the boys back to Vienna immediately otherwise he would contact the authorities and claim that she had kidnapped them. Even though he had agreed to the visit at the suggestion of heir marriage counsellor! I can only imagine Beth's heart break. 

I later found out other controlling and abusive behaviour that took place after the twins were born; notably Mr Schlesinger making Beth walk the streets for hours on end with the twins in Vienna in the height of summer as he said he needed to sleep when he came home from work at lunch times and the babies disturbed his sleep. Only after he gave her permission to return, was she "allowed" to bring  the twins home. I do not want to think what would have happened if she returned early. There are many other issues that I am sure you are aware of. 

The last point I want to make is regarding the Get. Mr Schlesinger told Rabbi Biderman that he would only grant a get subject to Beth agreeing to certain conditions, including waiving her right to custody, something which of course Beth would never have agreed to. This is coming from a person who had shown up until that point no paternal instinct. I am aware of 'Agunah' - being a 'chained wife'. I know the past few years the orthodox community are trying to put an end to this abuse. In fact it is abuse! Just imagine using that and the children as a weapon! You as a human being, Mr Deutsch, know that is not right. Denying a mother to her babies is not right by any stretch of the imagination.

In January 2023, my twin nephews are being bar mitzvah-ed and of course I will be there. It really pains me to see Beth alienated from her boys through no fault of her own. It pains me to think of all the false information being fed to the boys.

Please help bring Beth back to her boys. Let them form a relationship with her again.

If you want to get in touch please do not hesitate.

Kind Regards

Lauren Goldstone

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : DEEPLY SADDENED AND SHOCKED

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Sir,

I have served as a Justice of Peace in Magistrates Court in Greater Manchester for 19 years and I have worked on a team supporting Oldham families in crisis. I am also a member of Manchester Jewish community and am deeply saddened and shocked that your community has allowed these boys to become so separated from a parent who is clearly very able and very willing to be a part of their lives.

Please support to rectify this situation to enable Beth to have some emotional and physical contact with her children and for these boys to know their mother’s love.

As an active grandma, I also hope that Beth’s parents and family will be able to share their love with these children too.

Yours sincerely

Denise Journo

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : THIS TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE IS UNACCEPTABLE

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Sir,

I write as an orthodox Jewish mother.

How do you and your community hold your heads up in prayer in the synagogue. 

Your inaction to solve this travesty of justice is unacceptable.

Please do everything in your power to resolve this family’s plight.

Rochelle Gilbert

Jerusalem 

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : WHERE IS YOUR CHESED AND YOUR RACHMONUS

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr Deutsch,

As president of the Jewish community in Vienna, I would like to think that you have the power and influence to help put an end to this terrible miscarriage of justice levelled at her.

You have for over 5 years been saying that there is nothing you can do and it is in the hands of the courts, but the courts don’t care. Especially they can’t care about the boys or they would never deprive the twins of their mother’s love, care and support. Beth fought as much as she could, after having to suffer the lies and awful treatment from not only the courts but also her ex husband, that after years of this terrible treatment she returned home to the UK broken and without her boys.

I have known Beth Alexander for over 30 years and only ever known her to be a very kind, caring and intelligent person, so the  assertions that were levelled at her are a complete anathema. Beth might have returned home without her boys and broken, but now 5 years later she is anything but broken. She is working even harder than ever to get this awful wrong, righted. She has an army of supporters, who will never give up on her and will shout as LOUD as is necessary to get justice for her and get her reunited with her boys.

Where is your chesed, and your rachmonus for this dreadful situation? This year the boys are to be Barmitzvah, so how can you think it is correct to deprive Beth the Nachus that every Jewish mother would get watching her children on the Bimah.

I appeal to you to intervene and do something to help her and lift this awful cloud that is most definitely hanging over your community. The Jewish world is watching and waiting to see what you will do, but more importantly so is Hashem.

Please don’t let them down.

Yours

Evayne Bentley

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr Deutsch,

Please please please help to reunite Beth with  her boys - Sammy and Benjy. 

I can’t believe this is still going on. My heart breaks for Sammy and Benjy that they don’t have their warm, kind and courageous mummy in their life. I believe you can help her and I am begging you to do what is right.  

This has gone on for too long.

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : CAUSE OF GREAT SHAME TO THE ENTIRE JEWISH COMMUNITY

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr Deutsch,

I am writing to ask you, as the president of the Viennese Jewish community and therefore a person in a position of authority and respect, to lend your support to the cause of Beth Alexander's reunion with her beloved sons, Sammy and Benjy.

I am aware that you are currently receiving numerous communications from Beth's support network around the country, full of history and detail. I am hopeful that you are reading those emails too, so will keep this short and simple.

This tragic situation is causing immense harm to the boys and their mother, and should be a cause of great shame to the entire Jewish community. As the Talmud says, "כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה", we all bear responsibility for each other. Beth, Sammy and Benjy deserve to be together, and to have the time and space to repair and rebuild their relationship, which will now undoubtedly involve a lot of additional intervention due to the prolonged suffering they have experienced.

She is their mother. She loves them. It is that simple.

Please lift up your strong voice and use your position to ensure justice for this family.

Yours sincerely,

Rachel Creeger - Comedian, Writer, Director, Speaker

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : IT IS UP TO YOU TO MAKE IT HAPPEN

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Herr Deutsch,

You have by now received an avalanche of letters from those of us supporting Beth Alexander in her fight to be reunited with her young sons. I am adding my voice to the thousands who cannot begin to understand how this terrible miscarriage of justice has been allowed to continue, with the Vienna Jewish community at best turning a blind eye, at worst condoning this situation. 

I first met Beth at a mutual family wedding, when the boys had not long since been horrifically snatched from her. It shouldn’t have to be said how kind, caring, bright and determined she is – but I’m saying it anyway because it is not even remotely conceivable to think there is anything about her that warrants removing her children from her care. (My daughter worked with a child whose father was in prison for murder and even he was allowed visits with his children!) 

As a mother of four I can’t begin to imagine the torture of having my children taken from me. How the community and legal system have brought this about is shocking and to be honest, frightening. It was a terrible story then – I am utterly appalled that all these years later it is actually even worse.

I don’t know the workings of the Vienna community, but this case is a terrible terrible stain on your reputation. "Tzedek tzedek tirdof" – our rabbis say that whoever pursues justice, trying to bring about justice as soon as possible, it is counted as double. You have an opportunity here to perform one of the greatest mitzvot. As the head of the community it falls to you to lead the way in restoring justice for Beth and reuniting her with her beloved sons. I don’t know what it will take but it is up to you to make it happen, and thousands of us in communities around the world will support you in doing so.

Wishing you strength and courage to do the right thing,

All the best

Kate Gerstler

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : I TRUST THAT YOU WILL DO WHAT’S RIGHT

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Oskar,

I hope this email finds you well.

I am sure you are aware of the tragic case of the Schlesinger twins – Sammi and Benji - who were forcibly taken away at the age of 2 years old from their mother Beth. This happened in your very own community in Vienna, more than 10 years ago. Beth is and has always been a loving, caring and devoted mother to her twin boys, and is still fighting for them more than 10 years on.

I am not sure if you have heard of John Bowlby a world renowned psychologist, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst, notable for his interest in child development and for his pioneering work in attachment theory. In his theory he writes the following ‘Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis suggests that continual disruption of the attachment between infant and primary caregiver (i.e. mother) could result in long term cognitive, social, and emotional difficulties for that infant. Bowlby originally believed the effects to be permanent and irreversible’.

Beth’s boys will have suffered huge long term psychological damage as a result of what has happened to them, with their strong attachment and bond to Beth being broken in their crucial years of early development. Unfortunately we cannot change what has happened in the past, but we can act now, and I urge you as the President of the Jewish Community of Vienna to use your influence for the good to do the right thing and ensure that Beth is united once again with her twin boys. It is only then that the damage done to these boys can start to slowly be repaired and healed.

I trust that you will do what’s right for these boys and Beth who have suffered for long enough.

If you have any further questions, feel free to be in touch.

Kind regards,

Danielle Lamski

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : INTOLERABLE TORTURE

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr Deutsch,

I write this email to you today to ask for your action to support a mother, a member of your community who has for the last decade suffered intolerable torture in being torn away from her twin sons. 

A life lesson I was taught by my late grandfather from Pirkei Avot 4:13 

“There are three crowns — the crown of Torah, the crown of priesthood and the crown of sovereignty — but the crown of good name surmounts them all.”

This is your opportunity Mr Deutsch to assist and support the efforts of so many others from around the globe to reunite Beth with her children and earn the title of a “keser shem tov” - the crown of a good name. 

This situation Beth has found herself in cannot sit right with you as an upstanding member of the community in Austria.

I knew Beth personally during our school days in Manchester some 20+ years ago. Beth is undoubtedly one of the kindest and most caring people I have ever met and it is nothing short of tragic that her boys have missed out on sharing everyday moments with their mum. 

Please right this wrong and do whatever you can to speedily reunite Beth with her boys IY”H. 

Many thanks for your time in reading this email. 

Kind regards,

Ben Cooper

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : RESPONSIBILITY TO HELP

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr Deutsch,

I’d like your help in resolving a situation that I’m sure you are familiar with. But first, I’d like to explain my involvement in this.

I’ve known Beth Alexander since around 2001. She always struck me to be an incredibly polite and caring person. But it wasn’t until her wedding night that I really understood. That night, she left a lasting impression on me.

As her partner was not from the UK, he didn’t have men to dance with. So Beth asked me, along with other male friends, to come and support him during the dancing. But that is not what impressed me. What impressed me was that, towards the end of the evening, when the Kallah is usually busy dancing with her own close friends or saying bye to relatives, she stopped, and came over to each and every male who danced with her husband, and personally thanked them.

While many brides would be totally focused on themselves, she stopped and thought to thank us for coming. We didn’t even dance with her! She didn’t even know we were there! It left me speechless.

So when I found out that her struggles were still ongoing, I contacted her and offered my assistance.

If someone can take the time, out of their special day, to think of others, I have a responsibility to help them.

I was nervous at first, that this situation had broken the good person I once knew. But over the last few weeks, I’ve had the privilege to reconnect with her, and she continues to amaze me. Not only does she want to be allowed to be the good mother she is, but she also wants to help thousands of people in situations like her own.

Beth has shown me, through how she acted prior to marriage, what she did on the wedding night, and how she continues to think about others, that she is an absolutely incredible person, and extremely caring.

And so, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that she is an incredibly loving and capable mother, and with your help, she can be allowed to show it.

I would really really appreciate it if you could assist in efforts to mediate the situation, so that the children can be safely and happily reunited with their mother.

Thank you for reading this. Please contact me via the details below if there is anything I can do to help with this.

Kind regards

Dan Journo

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : MY HEART BREAKS FOR THE SUFFERING OF BENJI AND SAMMY

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr Deutsch,

I am writing to you in your capacity as President of the IKG to implore you to do everything in your power to help Beth Alexander be reunited with her precious twin sons.

I am sure by now your inbox has been filled with many letters  from people from all parts of the world, writing to you about this case. Therefore you are already well informed about the gross miscarriage of justice that has taken place in Vienna over the past decade.

I am writing to you as a mother of twins. My twins are 6 months younger than Sammy and Benjy and I, like any mother, if I don't see or hear from them for a few hours if they are at school or doing sport or out with friends I start to panic. I don't think I am particularly special in this, I think the majority of parents all over the globe would agree with me.

In today's society where everything is online and communication is immediate, we can easily keep in touch with our kids in a matter of seconds wherever they are in the world.

My heart breaks for the suffering of Benji and Sammy. They have not had their mother's love for too long and this has to be corrected. Beth is a loving, caring lady who just wants to be there as their Mum. She has already missed out on raising them in the early years which are crucial in a child's development, but as I see with my own kids, teenagers need their parents even more. The teenage years are filled with questions and changes and in order for kids to develop into well functioning adults that can be upstanding members of society, the basic principles of a mothers love will guide them in the right direction.

I implore you to get involved in this case, to see justice done, and for Beth to once more play a vital part in Benjy and Sammy's lives.

Thank you in advance for getting involved and helping to correct this massive injustice.

Suzanne Yantin

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : MUST NOT LOOK THE OTHER WAY

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr Deutsch,

My name is Charlotte Yitzchak and I am the mother of four children. I cannot imagine the pain of being separated from them for any length of time and I can only imagine the damage it would do to them to be removed from a loving, caring, parent. I am writing to you, like so many others, to ask you to do as much as you can to intervene on the behalf of Beth Alexander.

The Jewish community of Austria must not look the other way and in doing so be complicit in this tragic situation. You as the leader of that community have the influence to help right this wrong.

Yours sincerely

Charlotte Yitzchak

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : AREN'T YOU EMBARRASSED

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Mr Deutsch

I know you have been inundated with communications over the last few days demonstrating an army of supporters for Beth Alexander. She has been through so much injustice over the last 12 years and this has to stop now.

I grew up in the Manchester Jewish community - and although I don't know Beth personally, I know of her family and many many friends. Doesn't this outcry over the last few days demonstrate what happens when a Jewish community stand together for what is right? It is beyond conceivable what the Vienna Jewish Community have put her and her gorgeous boys through over the years - aren't you embarrassed to lead a community that behave in such a manner, especially when you can now see how worldwide communities come to together in such force to fight injustice. Harmony is much more pleasant than enemies.

I pray that you can step up as a leader of the community and make some decisions and exert your authority to support Beth's fight to reunite with her boys. I will stand by her all the way, along with her worldwide supporters until this injustice is over. She has an abundance of love to give to those boys who have so desperately lacked it from a mother figure over the last 10 years. I ask you to reflect on mine and  all the requests over the last few days and MAKE A CHANGE! LEAD BY EXAMPLE. SHOW THE WORLDWIDE JEWISH COMMUNITY THAT YOU HAVE A HEART - you know she has been wronged and now is your time to correct it.

Thank you

Debbie

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : SHAME UPON THE LEGAL SYSTEM, UPON THE JUDICIARY AND UPON THE RABBINICAL AUTHORITIES

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr Deutsch,

I writing to appeal to you to do everything you can to bring justice to the case of this wronged mother.

I live in the UK trained and practised as a lawyer and above all am a wife and mother myself.

I know that those not parties to the couple’s disagreement will not be in possession of all of the facts however in UK law the children’s rights and needs are paramount. Whatever issues there may be between the husband and wife these should be secondary to the best interests of the children. It is an acknowledged fact that only in the most serious circumstances should it be thought fit and proper for a child to be separated so completely from one or other parent. This will cause untold stress and lifelong damage to have a child believe mistruths about an absent parent. The damage to the mother should be acknowledged of course but principally I am appealing to you to consider the lifelong damage the separation will cause to both children. If one wishes to consider evidence for such damage one only has to know that the father in this case suffered similar enforced separation from his own father. What impact do we know this has had on him to move forward in his own life as a husband and as a father?

The manipulation of justice is a serious affront and to allow this within a Country where Jews suffered directly from the perversion of justice is to seriously undermine our collective responsibility. We should be a light into the nations. It is utterly unacceptable that a parent is manipulating the legal system and thereby causing the children to transgress the commandment that a child should honour its parents- parents not parent.

This case brings shame upon the legal system, upon the judiciary and upon the rabbinical authorities indeed upon all those behind by commission or omission allow this travesty to occur.

We have just observed Internationally Holocaust Memorial Day - the perpetrators could not have succeeded in committing such evil were it not for the thousands of disinterested bystanders who looked the other way.

My family have never forgotten the evil that can be allowed by becoming a bystander and got this reason I appeal to you step forward and say something to help these poor children.  It is not enough to stand idly by and allow it to happen.

Regards

Melanie Diamond

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : SIMPLY INHUMANE FOR BOTH THE MOTHER AND THE BOYS

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr Deutsch,

I am a resident in the UK and an Indian national. I am sure you must have received quite a number of emails regarding Beth Alexander’s case, I am writing to you for the same. 

I don’t come from your community, I am a Hindu by my values. But irrespective of where we come from or what we believe in, I am sure we understand the importance of why this case needs a humanistic eye and approach. Beth is a mother of two beautiful boys, and has been separated from them, with each passing year her contact time being reduced to none now. This is simply inhumane for both the mother and the boys. I implore you too look at this case not through the prism of opinions that have been legally presented so far, but from a humanistic eye and help her. 

I request you to intervene in this matter for Beth Alexander and more importantly her boys Sami and Benji who are growing up without a mother. In no religion, culture or community should that be acceptable. 

I am standing by a mother and her sons, hoping desperately to see if you will! Our hopes are pinned on you. 

Kindest regards,

Swati Raina

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : EVEN MURDERERS IN PRISON ARE ALLOWED FAMILY VISITS

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Herr Deutsch,

I hope you are well.

I and many many others are writing to you, indeed we are pleading with you to right this dreadful injustice to Beth Alexander.

Beth is a loving, caring and empathic person. 

She has put herself through law school and became a Lawyer.

She has the backing of the British Parliament, she has the backing of the British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis. 

All have looked into her situation deeply, and do you honestly think these important institutions would support her if she was a terrible Mother? You know the answer to that already.

Even Murderers in Prison are allowed family visits. 

My Mother died on Sept 10th 2021, 3 days after her Hebrew birthday, 2nd day Rosh Hashana. She was 86 years old. She was the template of a wonderful Mother and caring human being. I dare not think where I would be today without the love, care, advice and wisdom of my Mother. I'm not sure I would still be around.

Beth is also a caring Mother. I KNOW she is, and there has been a most dreadful wrong  acted against her. 

I got divorced in Aug 2017 after 20 years marriage. The divorce was farely amicable, but one thing that my ex wife,and both sets of our Parents agreed upon was. 

Keep the corridors of communication open. This is absolutely vital. 

My Mother used to say there is NOTHING more important than Family, didn't matter how much you earn or don't, Family comes first. Her boys are being denied this by the dreadful decisions of the Austrian Judiciary.

It is almost Dreyfus like in its injustice. 

Please help to right this wrong. Some things in life we KNOW are just plain WRONG..... and this is definitely one of those situations. 

Sincerely 

Steven J Selig.

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : TRUE EVIL

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Oskar Deutsch

You who are aware of the incredible farce of justice and Chillul Hashem that has occurred in your community, with a father who supports his children by denying his mother Beth Alexander.

The whole world, the press and the Jewish and non-Jewish communities around the world expect the Jewish community of Vienna to correct this injustice and this form of mistreatment, you are key in this worldwide request to remove the bad reputation have made your Vienna community. 

Return the children to Beth immediately.

The court was "fixed", Biderman who no one in the world considers him a rabbi since he did the Chillul Hashem instead of carrying his title with dignity. He did it with evil and for the benefit of himself and ex-husband Michael Schlesinger.

That he manipulated all the chips to achieve his malice against Beth and her own children. Now are shaking all the uniforms to take out all the garbage that they shelter! Such a bad reputation that nobody wants to get married or go to live in your community because you corner the people, you already have Cherem. Solve it immediately before you fall into your own hole!

Michael Schlesinger has spearheaded a campaign of meanness and abuse against his ex-wife, Beth Alexander. He falsified testimonies of her in the past and now keeps her children away from her.

The Jewish community in Vienna has facilitated this evil and has kept a mother away from her children. What Chillul Hashem. What true evil to deny a mother her own children and deny those children a mother who loves them. Leaving the children in the care of an abusive man who poisons his children against his mother! The same history that Michael’s mother made to him and his sister! A “groise “example …

It is SHOCKING that this has happened in a traditional Jewish community. What the hell has happened to the Jews in Vienna that this has been allowed to happen and continue for so many years? Another “holocaust “ between your own people”

Act now!

#BBMC #WIZOAustria #JUKO Jugendkommission #Chabad #engelmayer

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : ON THE SAME SOIL WHERE THE NAZIS RIPPED JEWISH BABIES FROM THEIR MOTHERS' ARMS

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Herr Deutsch,

I am writing to express my dismay over the reports of corruption in the Viennese Jewish community, specifically in regard to the Beth Alexander case.

In describing Adolph Eichmann, the philosopher Hannah Arendt wrote about "the banality of evil" - how "terrifyingly normal" the man responsible for so many horrors seemed. 

Arendt's chilling words come to mind when I think about how Judge Susanne Gottlicher - who is responsible for depriving a sane, loving, capable mother of her twin sons - met community member Dr. Michael Schlesinger for tea and cakes before awarding him final custody of the boys. And the banality of evil comes to mind when I read about the chilling silence this case has been met with within the Viennese Jewish community.

(Yes, on the same soil where the Nazis ripped Jewish babies from their mothers' arms 80 years ago, the community remains comfortably silent as history repeats itself.)

In 2007, you stood before the community and said, "I listened carefully when my grandparents spoke about the Holocaust. Most of it was simply unimaginable, for a human being to have done to another human being. As a grown man I am incapable of comprehending how inhumanities as cruel as these could have occurred."

As a grandchild of survivors myself, I understand and agree. And while we can't undo the trauma of the Shoah, we can - and must - take a stance against the unspeakable cruelty that is being carried out today against a Jewish mother and her children.

As the leader of the community, you are in a unique position to help. And you have a unique responsibility to do just that.

Investigate the corruption (it is not hard to find). Apply pressure to the bad actors in this case. Let your voice be heard. Be a force of justice and morality.

I urge you to work to remove this great stain on your community's character, and the stain on your own good name.

Respectfully,

Paula Margulies Sion

Ra'anana, Israel

#reunitingbethwithhersons

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : LACK OF SUPPORT AND EXCLUSION

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr Deutsch,

I am writing to you again about the same case, mainly because I am not able to see whether my previous email was received, and it is very important you get these emails and get the chance to read them properly.

I hope this email finds you well.

As you already know, I am very concerned to hear about this case of a young mother who has been denied ALL CONTACT to her two sons, for no obvious reason at all. I understand she is a good, capable mother and loves her sons more than anything. Her experience in the Jewish community in Vienna seems to have been one of lack of support and exclusion. This is where you, as a leader of the community, have an opportunity to help out. In addition, the children's father, a member of your community, has the option of allowing more contact with the mother. As a leader, who clearly cares about the well-being of the families in the community and its children, you have the opportunity to try and mediate so this should happen. Children need their parents and grandparents, however bitter their parents' relationship should have become (and you could say even more so in those circumstances).

It is simply very hard for me to understand how a community, who clearly takes their children's well-being and education seriously, would not cry out against something like this. Of course I don't know all the details of the case but, if you know differently, feel free to share that information.

I would very much appreciate a response from you, with any further information and what you feel you can do for Beth and her boys, as this is an issue that now concerns a large group of people around the world. We all care about justice for parents and families and the well-being of children after divorce. As a mother of two boys myself, I can only imagine the pain of a mother not being able to see her children. It makes me very uneasy that something like this could happen in the modern world, with supposedly sound legal systems and in a country where I also have spent some time living and where I felt safe and welcome in my time.

You CAN help. Please don't waste that opportunity.

Best regards,

Kirsten Simons

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : YOU HAVE TURNED YOUR BACK

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr Deutsch,

It's been 10 long years that I have been supporting a young lady, who came to live in your community having married one of your local boys. Michael Schlesinger. 

I have been trying to support Beth Alexander, whilst you have turned your back.

In 2013, you promised to help Beth, when she and her dear parents Sylvia and Anthony came to see you, but then you turned your back.

Many of our prominent leaders in the UK including your counterparts have tried to convince you to make sense of this awful situation, where twin boys are being deprived of their loving and capable mother for no good reason.

It's time now Mr Deutsch for you to stand up and make sense of this tragic situation. You cannot allow a Jewish boy, a member of the Jewish community in Vienna to behave in such an atrocious way.

This problem is not going away, because enough is enough. It has to be dealt with.

Austria and the Jewish community are getting a bad name. This can be seen by the strength of Beth's support, including the British Government and our own Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Mirvis and countless others.

We all have children, who want to marry but they have all been warned off Austrians.

Mr Deutsch  You have power in your community.

Let the world see that you care about these two boys who are about to be Barmitzvah in May and as Rabbi Mirvis quite rightly said. This event should not go unmarked.

Those of us who are experienced parents and grandparents know how much children especially boys need their mothers in their teenage years. 

Please don't allow two innocent lives. The lives of Sammy and Benji Schlesinger be destroyed. They need to know they have a mother, who loves them.

This needs to happen now. 

Please let the world see that you are an upright honourable man, who does the right thing.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Gillian Kaye

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : YOUR OWN PERSONAL LEGACY AT STAKE

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr. Deutsch

For over two thousand years we as Jews have set the example to the world of how to raise children, how to engrave on their hearts our hopes for the future; we, more than any other people, have led the way in education and respect for children.

We have learned through the centuries that children need their mothers to grow and become members of our community and faith.

You, sir, stand on the threshold with your own personal legacy and the legacy of all your forebears at stake.

Do not let them down.

Please do not leave behind you a lost opportunity to reunite a Jewish mother with her children and secure their future.

Thank you

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : HOW CAN THIS BE RIGHT OR ACCEPTABLE IN CIVILISED SOCIETY

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Mr Deutsch, 

I am aware you have received many emails addressing the plight of Beth Alexander and her twin sons. With respect, I would like to add my own thoughts to you, and I thank you in advance for hearing my voice.

I only discovered Beth’s and her family situation recently, but have been deeply moved and, above all, appalled, by what I have learned. 

Since time began, the mother’s role in her children’s upbringing - her love, guidance, support and teaching - has been recognised. In the most extreme of cases only will a mother be denied access to her children. And yet I am heartbroken to read that Beth is deemed unfit to parent and has been documented as such by her embittered ex-husband, who, it appears, is being protected from any justice being served to him by the Austrian courts. Worse still, this miscarriage of justice has been allowed to continue for ten years, with no apparent end in sight. How can this be right or acceptable in civilised society?

There is no clear reason for custody to have been denied to Beth, an upstanding member of the Jewish community and a professional woman. The twins have been denied the presence of their mother in their lives. Instead, I learn that they are living in a toxic environment, poisoned by their father against Beth, and their future is being shaped without any positive input from their mother to balance this.

The Austrian courts have ruled that Beth is not a fit mother, and that the boys are best served living with their father and childminders. In whose interest has this decision been made? Certainly not the boys’. They have grown up with an absent mother, but unaware that she is fighting with every fibre of her being to be allowed to be in their lives, indeed to secure custody of them. To rebuild the relationship, and repair any psychological damage that her forced absence will have caused to them. This does not represent the actions of a bad mother. This is the behaviour of a fiercely protective, intelligent, grounded adult woman who has love for her sons in abundance. Given the chance, Beth Alexander will be nothing short of an exemplary parent. 

I implore you to examine all the positive reasons for Beth to be reunited with her two sons and exert your considerable influence to enable this outcome. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

With hope and anticipation, 

Tonie Jascourt

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : GIVE BETH HER BOYS BACK

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr Deutsch,

I've known Beth since we were teens in Manchester, England. While we haven't been in direct contact since then, I've followed her on social media over the years.

Beth and I went on a school trip when we were in our late teens to France. She's 2 school years older than me, yet I still remember how kind, mature, and maternal she was even at that tender age. Beth is the epitome of good. What she's going through now is a complete nightmare for her, and what her boys  are living through is a true crime of nature. Her sons need her. Whether they know it or not. I wouldn't wish what she and her boys are going through on anyone.

The decision to keep Beth away from her sons reflect your country, your system, your government. Yet, based on this situation, I'm sure that many, many people will come to the conclusion that they wouldn't trust your system. They wouldn't have faith in you. 

You've worked hard to get where you are. You are obviously smart, and can make decisions based on fact. The fact is, Beth is an amazing human and a wonderful mother who doesn't deserve even one more hour away from her boys.

Luckily, you have the power to change this. You have the power to think about what's the right thing to do. To make the right choices, changes and decisions.

Don't be the system that's disappointing. Be the system that people can trust to look after them and their families. Do the right thing. Give Beth her boys back.

Humbly yours,

Abi Gantz

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : EVEN PRISONERS ARE GIVEN RIGHTS

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr Deutsch,

I was shocked to hear that British born Beth Alexander is still forbidden to have any contact with her sons. Even prisoners are given rights to continue having some family life.

What has she done to deserve such an appalling situation? The Vienna Jewish community must put all the necessary pressure to stop this from continuing any further - so much damage has been done to the boys, the mother and extended families.

Enough is enough.

You must do what you can to help this appalling situation stop continuing any further and help Beth be reunited with her own flesh and blood.

I gather the ex husband was abandoned by his mother. This clearly has had a terrible impact on him if he is now perpetrating such an unspeakable act on the mother of his children.

I look forward to seeing a positive outcome to our efforts globally to help Beth.

Jane Myers

London

England

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : SHOW KINDNESS AND COMPASSION

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr Deutsch,

I am sure you have received a number of emails on the issue of Beth Alexander, the British mother of twin boys, who has been forced apart from her children so I will keep this message brief.

As you know, Ms. Alexander is forbidden from any contact with her children. The boys in question live in Vienna and Ms. Alexander is forbidden by the Austrian legal system to have any contact with her sons.

I am not Jewish but understand you have the ability to influence the father, Dr. Michael Schlesinger, and persuade him to allow Ms. Alexander to have contact with her children. And while I may not be Jewish, I do understand the strength of a mother's love for her children and hope you will help to resolve this terrible situation. A mother's love for her children does not just last the 9 months in the womb but lasts for a lifetime and beyond.

Ms. Alexander wants one thing only - to have contact with her boys and to help raise them and care for them.

I implore you to do what you can to help Ms. Alexander, to show kindness and compassion and to do simply what is right.

Yours sincerely,

Susanna A Bellino, London, UK

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : PLEASE FIND IT IN YOUR OWN HEART

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr Deutsch,

I hope this email finds you in good health. 

I am writing to you, along with many others, to ask for your support in helping to reunite Beth Alexander with her twin boys. 

As a mother to two boys I cannot even imagine how they, or I would cope without being with each other each day, week and month. Not only that but I know with all my heart that my husband would never want to deprive our boys of a loving family, especially a relationship with me, no matter what the circumstances. 

Beth is a kind, caring, loving human and I have followed her story for the last ten years with a heart full of love and hope for her and her wonderful family.

Beth and I are distantly related as her Aunt was married to my Uncle before they passed. They both spoke of her with affection and pride for the amazing woman she is. 

Please find it in your own heart to help resolve these terrible circumstances so the twins can receive all the love of their mother and her family for every day of their lives!

Yours sincerely,

Emma Wisnia

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : MASSIVE CHILLUL HASHEM

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Herr Deutsch,

I am writing to you to ask for your help in the case of Beth Alexander. It's truly heart breaking to read the facts of this case. Please support Beth in reuniting her with her sons. No mother should be denied her rights to see their children, especially in this case where Beth has been proved to be sane, able and capable. 

This is really a massive Chillul Hashem.  

Kind regards 

Rachel Varley 

Manchester, England

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : IT'S BEEN 10 LONG YEARS

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr Deutsch,

Is it worth writing to you? Do you really read these messages?

I would like to ask you to help Beth Alexander a good Jewish Mother who wants to be Reunited with her Twin Sons.

I am a Jewish Mother and Grandmother I have 5 wonderful children. My eldest two are Twins and have 5 Beautiful Grandchildren . I am telling you this as an ordinary person who is begging you to help get Beth Reunited so she can be with her Twins who she Carried for 9 months who nurtured them till they were cruelly taken off her.

She and their grandparents should be at their Barmitzvah, the Proudest moment of a mother's life. You can help with this as a Jewish man and maybe a father and Grandfather yourself. I am from Manchester England and the Austrian Jewish Community should be ashamed of turning a blind eye to this. I am pleading with you as many others who are following Beth HELP HER DONT IGNORE HER REUNITE HER WITH HER BOYS ITS BEEN 10 LONG YEARS OF TRYING PLEASE PLEASE HAVE A HEART. As a Human being as a man of Compassion she is just a mum that wants her children is that so wrong?

Yours Sincerely

Roz Shaw

Thank You

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : TSUNAMI OF VOICES FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr Deutsch,

Reading about your background and many achievements, it is obvious you are a man who has accomplished much during your career, both in the Jewish and the wider community. You have also won the respect of many, and as a leader would have had to deal with many conflicts, hearing diverse opinions and having to make difficult decisions.

Perhaps none is more challenging than the situation that Beth finds herself in, deprived of the boys she loves for their entire childhood. Miscarriages of justice happen, and mostly we are powerless to do anything about them. Recently however, the amount of people who have become aware of this particular miscarriage within the Viennese Jewish community has grown into a tsunami of voices from all over the world.

There is certainly power in numbers, but even more power resides in the President of the Vienna Jewish community. This is your Churchill moment: you can rise to the challenge and use your influence to restore the boys to their loving, caring and highly intelligent Jewish mother, or you can choose to stand idly by.

By rising to the challenge, you will redress a terrible wrong, which contravenes all the tenets of Judaism, where the woman has a vital role in the upbringing of the children of the marriage. Undoubtedly the father is important, but children brought up without a mother often suffer life-long problems, especially if they are lead to believe that the mother was uncaring or unfit. Both parents are important, and no just person would deny them a part in the nurturing of their children.

Even more devastating is that two innocent boys, Sammy and Benji, have been torn away from the woman most connected to them, their mother, and their human rights denied.

 Please, Mr Deutsch, take courage, step up and let your voice be heard. Not only will you restore justice to Beth, but your action  may well ameliorate  the plight of anguished parents everywhere who have been unfairly alienated from their children.

Rarely does the opportunity arise to be a hero. This is your moment!

Pam Hopf

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : SEE THE ERROR OF ITS WAYS

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr. Deutsch, 

I met Beth Alexander in 1999 at the International Bible Contest. We have been in touch on and off ever since. I have been absolutely appalled by the circumstances in which she and her boys find themselves, where they are not allowed to see each other at all and barely speak. To my understanding, the Austrian community has closed ranks around the father and completely refused to help bring this situation to a just and logical conclusion, one in the best interests of all parties and not just one.  

Since I met Beth at a Bible Competition, I will use a bible analogy. When Austria received Beth as a guest, they should have received her as did Avraham Avinu, with open arms and generous hearts.  Instead, it seems like she was treated more like the 2 angels who went to Sodom.  Thankfully no blood was shed, but as a mother I can attest that having your children literally ripped from your arms is akin to having your soul ripped in half. I truly hope that the Viennese community, with you at its head, will see the error of its ways and work with Beth to reunite her with her sons and to undo the terrible wrong that has been perpetrated against her and her sons.

Thank you

Carolyn Gehr

Montreal, Canada

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : LOOKING AT YOU AND YOUR COMMUNITY WITH HORROR

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Oskar Deutsch,

Jewish communities all over the world are looking at you and your community with horror. What a cold as ice, and uncompassionate bunch you all are! Just standing by, and doing nothing to stop this injustice of a mother being torn from her babies. This campaign is just at the start, and will not stop until Beth and her children are reunited.

You live in a Country that not so long ago was complicit under the Nazi era, in the separation of Jewish children from their parents.

Think about that!

Leah Borkin

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : AUSTRIAN COMMUNITY TO CORRECT THEIR WAYS

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Mr Deutsch,

This has gone on too long, I implore you to reverse the terrible injustice that has prevented Beth from having contact with her sons. It is time for the Austrian community to correct their ways before even more damage is inflicted.

We know Beth wants the best for her children and see no reason why she has been denied a relationship with them. Who can possibly think this is in their best interests? 

Leora Zackon

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : FOR THE SAKE OF TWO INNOCENT CHILDREN

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr Deutsch,

I will keep this short as I realise you may be receiving many messages. Please understand this is purely for the sake of two innocent children and not an attempt to bombard or intimidate. 

When Sammy and Benji Schlesinger are one day reunited with their mother, and are old enough to want to understand, they will no doubt ask how this situation unfolded and who fought for their basic right to have a mother. What will you tell them?

It is not too late for this horrific injustice to be corrected. I am writing from Melbourne, Australia. Jewish communities worldwide are urging you and your community to do the right thing for the sake of two innocent children. 

Yours sincerely,

Helene Ross

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : GONE ON FOR FAR TOO LONG

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Sehr geehrter Herr Deutsch,

I am writing to you to express my concern at the tragic situation faced by Beth Alexander, in that she has been seeking access to her children for over a decade.

I am sure that you are well aware of the situation, which has unfortunately gone on for far too long, without any resolution in sight.

I write to you in the spirit of asking for you and the IKG - Austrian Jewish Community to do whatever you can in order to bring this tragic situation to a speedy and just resolution for both Beth and her sons, who are now in their Barmitzvah year.

I have been friends with Beth for several years, and I know her to be a responsible, capable, intelligent, caring and loving individual. She deserves, as it be the right of every mother, to be reunited with her sons.

I thank you for your time and consideration. 

Mit freundlichen Grüßen,

Asher Harrison J. Bar-Shimon

London NW4 4RJ

United Kingdom

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : THIS IS NOT GOING TO GO AWAY

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Oskar Deutsch,

I am writing re the case of Beth Alexander/Schlesinger custody issue.

I have known Beth for many many years and in fact went to her wedding.

I have watched by, horrified at what has happened to what I know to be a lovely person. It is so wrong on so many levels, not least for the children.

By your lack of action, you have continued to deny these children the experience and nurture of a loving mother, stunting their development, enabling the father to drip feed and manipulate them for his own benefit against their mother. In essence you are contributing to the destruction of the children's and their mothers future by doing absolutely nothing! What an utter disgrace!

It is so completely wrong on multiple levels. You have the power to change this. This is not going to go away, and Beth and her many supporters will carry on fighting, and it will get harder and harder for you to ignore this. We will not relent. She has thousands of supporters now and it is increasing.

Please help Beth reunite with her children.

DO THE RIGHT THING!!!!

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : WITH THE WORLD WATCHING

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr. Deutsch,

As a leader of the Vienna Jewish Community, and with the world watching, I am writing from Israel to ask you to please do everything in your power to assist Beth Alexander to be reunited with her two young sons living in your community.

As you know, this travesty of justice began a decade ago, and it will not end until a loving and devastated Jewish mother torn from her children, is reunited with them. I have confidence that you can use your influence to make this happen.

Praying for a happy and swift end to this heart-rending case.

Tamar Wisemon

B'hatzlacha!

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : JEWISH COMMUNITY IN VIENNA IS NOT A POSITIVE ONE

 

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr. Deutsch,

Please help Beth Alexander. I have been following Beth’s trauma for over a decade now and the situation needs to change. No child should grow up without knowing his mother. You, as the President of the Viennese Jewish community, have the power to change this.

The Schlesinger twins need to spend quality time with their mother – freely – they need to get to know her again, they need their mother’s love. Please use your contacts and familiarity with the community to allow Beth to be with her boys again. Please put the past behind and look forward, there is still time to make this better. Please do not wait - each day that passes is another day wasted, another day of heartbreak for Beth and for her boys (whether they are aware of it or not).

Please give Beth the chance to be a mother to the twins, please give the boys a chance to have more love in their lives and be with their mother. This pain needs to stop.

The Jewish community needs to step up and help. At the moment the view of the Jewish community in Vienna is not a positive one at all, the Jewish community needs to change this and you as their leader need to show them how. Please arrange for Beth to have quality time with her sons now and from now on.

Good luck!

Naomi Kresh, Israel

Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : GRAVE INJUSTICE

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Herr Deutsch,

צֶ֥דֶק צֶ֖דֶק תִּרְדֹּ֑ף

As a person of influence within the Austrian Jewish community, and as President of the IKG, I write to ask you to support Beth Alexander so that she can be reunited with her sons.  

As a mother, I can't imagine the pain of being separated from my child. And as an adult child, I can't imagine the pain of realizing I'd been taken away from my mother.

I beg you to do anything you can to help Beth in this grave injustice.

This will surely hasten the coming of Moshiach.

Yours sincerely,

Rosie