A well-known urologist, Jacques Chirac, and mocha-induced blogging

There are a gazillion things I need to be doing now, but the mocha I made myself a couple of hours ago has not worn off, and somehow I find myself reading this:

The Marais is often referred to as the "Jewish neighbourhood." It was never a ghetto but rather a "Pletzl", "little plaza" in Yiddish, located around the "rue des Rosiers", "rue des Ecouffes" and "rue Ferdinand-Duval" (formerly called "rue des Juifs", "street of the Jews").

Visit the Pletzl and get to know its history thanks to this outstanding exhibit organised by the Paris City Hall: "Du refuge au piège, les juifs dans le Marais", which translates to "From the shelter to the trap: The Jews in the Marais".

Most of the exhibit focuses on Jewish immigration and on the arrests and the deportations of the Jews of Paris. Lucien Finel, former mayor of the 4th arrondissement, and Ady Steg, a well known urologist and honorary President of the Alliance Israélite Universelle, recall memories of their childhood at the Hospitalières Saint Gervais School - the extraordinary state (public) school situated in the heart of the Pletzl - and tell us about their life during those dark years. Numerous photos and documents illustrate daily life in the Marais.

We must thank the Hotel de Ville and Mayor Bernard Delanoë for a captivating exhibit, most welcome during this year that commemorates the end of Nazi rule in the concentration camps of Europe.

"Du refuge au piège, les juifs dans le Marais"
Exhibit located in the lobby of the Paris main City Hall
Entrance from the rue de Rivoli
Until August 13th, 2005
Admission free

(emphasis mine.)

Now that sounds like a fascinating exhibit. But Ady Steg, what a bio--famous urologist and honorary president of the Alliance Israélite Universelle! I didn't know that urologists ever became well-known, nor did I know that they might also find the time to be so politically active. A quick Google search provides some more information. Neat stuff.