Yeshiva boy turns Nazi

A convicted Neo-Nazi had tried converting to Judaism in Jerusalem. 

By Jack Gold, World Israel News

A neo-Nazi who named his baby after Adolf Hitler and dressed in Ku Klux Klan robes previously attempted to convert to Judaism at a Jerusalem yeshiva, the UK’s Jewish Chronicle reported Monday.

Adam Thomas, 22, his partner Claudia Patatas, and Daniel Bogunovic, 27, were all tried and convicted by the Birmingham Crown Court of being members of National Action, an illegal neo-Nazi group.

Thomas was also convicted of having a copy of the Anarchist’s Cookbook, which could be used for terrorism purposes.

It was during the trial that the couple, who owned a large collection of Nazi and far-right memorabilia, gave their son the middle name “Adolf.”

Thomas and Patatas will be sentenced in December.

Adam ‘Avi’ Thomas in yeshiva

Thomas attended the Machon Meir yeshiva in Jerusalem in two separate periods in 2015 but was turned away from its conversion program, The Chronicle reported.

A Machon Meir spokesman confirmed to the Chronicle that Thomas did attempt to study at Machon Meir’s Conversion Department.

“But we sensed after awhile that he was a real meshugeneh (‘crazy person’ in Yiddish). This was not evident immediately. He was quite knowledgeable in Torah, mild mannered and even somewhat pleasant,” the spokesman said.

The spokesman described Thomas as someone who has a “fantastic memory and was passionate about Torah knowledge. He has a very dark side as well and a pull towards extremism. Once this side came out we knew he was not worthy for giur (conversion) studies.”

The yeshiva said he registered under the name “Avi Thomas,” while classmates recalled that he went by “Avi Ben Avraham,” a name often taken by converts.

Thomas attended Machon Meir, one of the largest national-religious yeshivas in Israel, on a trial basis for less than two months in April 2015, and he returned for a period between November and December of the same year, the yeshiva confirmed.

‘Anger issues and a tendency to the extreme’

David Simpkins, a Machon Meir alumnus who was assigned as Thomas’s roommate and informal mentor, said that Thomas was turned away for “anger issues and a tendency to the extreme.”

Thomas wished to “start his life over in Israel and never return to the UK” and planned to either serve in the IDF or continue his Jewish education, Simpkins recalled.

“He was a very serious, very smart kid. I knew he was dealing with things. He wore a face that reflected anger a lot of the time. And fear – lots of fear this kid had,” he told the Chronicle.

“He was very sharp but very withdrawn at the same time. Obviously there was some trauma that was going on that not a lot of us knew about,” he added.

Another former Machon Meir student said Thomas “spoke to me once or twice about his upbringing and how rough it was, and why he was in Israel and what he was trying to do – basically to get himself on the right path.”

However, he had a hard time fitting into the system, which often drives people to the opposite extreme, the former student explained.

It is believed that Thomas spent time in Tel Aviv after leaving the yeshiva, before returning to the UK in 2016.