Wyoming, OH – Concerned About Jeopardizing His Release, Negotiators Kept Warmbier’s Jewish Identity Secret From North Korea

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    FILE PHOTO - Otto Frederick Warmbier, a University of Virginia student who has been detained in North Korea since early January, attends a news conference in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo released by Kyodo February 29, 2016.  Wyoming, OH – Days after the death of American college student Otto Warmbier who was imprisoned for 17 months in North Korea comes word that officials negotiating his release deliberately kept his Jewish identity hidden from his captors.

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    North Korean officials said that Warmbier was detained because he had removed a poster from the walls of a hotel lobby in Pyongyang and was planning to deliver it to an Ohio church in exchange for a $10,000 used car.

    The Times of Israel (http://bit.ly/2sYjLil) reported that negotiators were concerned that if word leaked that Warmbier was Jewish and therefore unaffiliated with any church it could potentially humiliate the North Koreans, making it even more difficult to secure Warmbier’s release.

    “The family chose, rightfully so, not to share that information while he was in captivity … because they didn’t want to embarrass [North Korea] by explaining that he actually was Jewish,” explained Mickey Bergman, executive director of The Richardson Center for Global Engagement which negotiates the release of prisoners who cannot be freed through conventional diplomatic channels.

    Bergman said that it was obvious that the premise for Warmbier’s arrest was fabricated but that playing along with the narrative supplied by North Korea was the most logical course of action.

    “If that’s what their story is, there’s no point in fighting it if your objective is to get him out,” said Bergman. “When you realize he is Jewish you realize how objective that claim is.”

    Warmbier’s family is not religiously observant, but he had always identified himself as Jewish and became active at the University of Virginia’s Hillel after taking a 2014 Birthright trip to Israel. During that trip Warmbier took on a Hebrew name and described his trip to the Western Wall in a blog post, saying that have to leave the holy site was “like saying goodbye to a loved one.”

    “Just being at a spot that has been central to Judaism for thousands of year was completely surreal,” wrote Warmbier. “The power that emanated from the wall showed on the faces of all those who were near it.”


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    9 Comments
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    TRumpIzPrez
    TRumpIzPrez
    6 years ago

    If Otto was an American with Scottish and German yechis …
    NKorea would already be a parking lot.

    Reb Yid
    Reb Yid
    6 years ago

    That’s quite a statement that he wrote about the kose. BDE.

    6 years ago

    Soooo sad!!! Somehow this boy struck a deep cord within me. Had a feeling hes Jewish. I feel so sorry for the family and that has nothing to do with him being Jewish. He just had that Jewish face you cldnt miss. May he rest in peace and may G D bless his family.

    6 years ago

    Ohio church in exchange for a $10,000 used car.

    Yeah right.

    Easygoing770
    Easygoing770
    6 years ago

    HIS DEATH WAS AN ACT OF WAR PLANE AND SIMPLE!!