Ron Grossman

A photo of a concentration camp is included in a yizkor book from the city of Czestochowa, Poland, at the Illinois Holocaust Museum on Sept. 13, 2021, in Skokie. The Holocaust yizkors are a series of memories of life in prewar Jewish communities by the people who survived their destruction. They include remembrances of homes, people and ways of life lost during World War II.

Holocaust survivors penned memoirs of their hometowns so future generations would know about them

September 15, 2021 at 5:00 a.m.

"I am an old man of 88+ with trembling hands and health status leaving much to be desired," wrote Mendel Halpern. "Besides I don't have much to write about regarding...

People flee the scene near New York's World Trade Center after terrorists crashed two planes into the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001.

Interviews with first responders told the story of what they saw on 9/11

September 10, 2021 at 5:00 a.m.

New York firefighter James Canham was supposed to have the day off on Sept. 11, 2001. His wife worked in Manhattan, not far from the World Trade Center, so he...

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., flanked by Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., left, and Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., right, speaks with fellow Republicans, some who are military veterans, as he criticizes President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the Afghanistan evacuation, at the Capitol in Washington, Aug. 30, 2021.

Column: Do disenchanted Republicans + discouraged Democrats = a ‘vital center’?

September 1, 2021 at 5:00 a.m.

Such a foul mood envelops me, politically, that I should be reconsidering my affiliation as a Democrat. I know of similarly disenchanted Republicans, and our mutual paralysis is, paradoxically, an...

Families evacuated from Kabul, Afghanistan, wait to board a bus after they arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport, in Chantilly, Virginia, on Aug. 25, 2021.

Column: News of explosions near Kabul airport brings thoughts of unlearned lessons from previous evacuations

August 26, 2021 at 11:21 a.m.

In 1940, a ragtag flotilla of tug boats, fishing vessels, barges, lifeboats, and pleasure craft responded to an urgent call to save a British Army trapped by Nazi forces on...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference Aug. 5, 2021 in Hialeah, Florida. His office has threatened to deny salaries to school district administrators who violate his prohibition on requiring students to wear masks.

Column: Science as lifesaver dates back thousands of years to the Nilometer, but now some politicians want to turn back the clock

August 18, 2021 at 10:14 a.m.

Five thousand years after the Egyptians demonstrated science's ability to hold death at bay, Florida's governor is committed to denying his constituents that benefit. The Egyptians invented a device that...

The view of Houseboat City from the Irving Park Road bridge in 1936. It was an assortment of about 100 floating residences stretching from Belmont Avenue north to Montrose Avenue.

Column: Chicago’s rapid change may be ‘progress,’ but it doesn’t always feel like an improvement

August 17, 2021 at 5:00 a.m.

My beefs with "progress" are spiraling out of control. Bulldozers used to level my childhood memories maybe once every other year. Now those sites are continuously imperiled. I dread turning...

Flashback: 90 years ago, teen couples on a double date in Ypsilanti, Michigan, met a horrible end. The torch murders stunned the Midwest.

August 3, 2021 at 2:27 p.m.

When his motion for a new trial was heard, Frank Oliver was dressed in an ill-fitting herringbone suit rather than the prison uniform he had worn since a judge gave...

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