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The Fog of War and Humanity | Ep. 670: The Hidden Medals of a WWII POW (Part 2) | HMTC

Jerome L. Frankel was only 19 when he was wounded, captured during the Battle of the Bulge, forced to march through freezing conditions, transported in a cattle car, and imprisoned at Stalag IV-B. He survived, returned home, raised a family, and rarely spoke about what he had endured.

In Episode 670 of The Fog of War and Humanity, host Richard Acritelli continues his conversation with Jerome’s daughter, Leah Freeberg, about the medals, military records, physical injuries, and memories her father kept hidden for decades.

Jerome served as a radio operator with the 423rd Infantry Regiment of the 106th Infantry Division, known as the Golden Lions. Positioned directly in the path of the German advance, the young and inexperienced division suffered catastrophic losses during the Battle of the Bulge.

Leah shares the Purple Heart her father received for a shrapnel wound to his wrist and severe trench foot. The damage to his feet remained visible throughout his life, and cold, wet weather frequently brought the pain back. Although the physical wounds never disappeared, Jerome rarely complained or explained their origin to his daughters.

In 2019, Leah and her husband traveled through Belgium and Germany to retrace part of Jerome’s wartime journey. They visited Schönberg, where his regiment was captured, the Bulge Relics Museum, the 106th Infantry Division memorial at St. Vith, and the concrete “dragon’s teeth” of the Siegfried Line.

Leah also reflects on the forced march from Schönberg to the railway station at Gerolstein. Thousands of American prisoners walked more than 20 miles through bitter cold before being packed into cattle cars and transported to Stalag IV-B. Jerome endured the journey while suffering from frozen feet, a shrapnel wound, hunger, and exhaustion.

After her father’s death, Leah discovered a green metal container filled with original military documents. Because many government Army records had been destroyed in a fire, Jerome’s personal collection provided the evidence needed for Leah to obtain his Prisoner of War Medal posthumously.

Among the records was a letter Jerome had written to his congressman requesting the Purple Heart, a commendation, and other recognition that had not been properly entered into his military record. His appeal reveals that veterans sometimes had to fight long after returning home to receive the honors they had earned.

Jerome Frankel was more than a soldier or prisoner of war. He was a survivor who endured combat, captivity, starvation, injury, and silence. He returned home, built a career, raised a family, embraced his faith, and created a life that the war had nearly taken from him.

The Fog of War and Humanity on hmTv | Host: Richard Acritelli | Guest: Leah Freeberg

Executive Producer and Director: Bernie Furshpan

A production of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County

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🎙 buzzsprout.com/2449781
▶️ youtube.com/@hmTv-hmtc

─── CHAPTERS ───

0:00 Opening
0:19 Welcome and Part 1 recap
1:55 The Golden Lions of the 106th Infantry Division
2:09 An inexperienced division faces catastrophe
3:00 The Purple Heart Jerome’s family never knew about
3:30 Shrapnel wounds and severe trench foot
4:13 The lifelong physical effects of war
5:09 Veterans waiting decades for recognition
6:06 A 19-year-old soldier enters combat
7:14 Seeing her father as a young man
7:34 A Jewish prayer book and a dangerous identity
8:25 Retracing Jerome’s journey in 2019
9:06 Visiting the Bulge Relics Museum
10:15 Traveling through Belgium with a private guide
11:15 The 106th Infantry Division memorial at St. Vith
12:27 The forced march from Schönberg to Gerolstein
13:44 The Malmedy massacre and a church along the route
14:12 Discovering Jerome’s meticulous military records
14:50 The dragon’s teeth of the Siegfried Line
15:34 Experiencing the bitter cold of the Ardennes
16:06 Why Leah did not visit Stalag IV-B
16:45 Starvation and intercepted Red Cross parcels
17:40 Understanding the burden of a field radio
18:37 A radio operator’s front-line responsibility
19:20 Original records and the posthumous POW Medal
20:09 Veterans and Holocaust survivors on Long Island
21:32 Liberation and the advancing Soviet Army
22:04 Jerome’s letter requesting recognition
23:07 Finally receiving the Purple Heart
23:47 A complete timeline of his military journey
24:14 Surviving combat, captivity, and starvation
25:02 Rebuilding a life after war
25:40 hmTv outro

──────────────────

#FogOfWarAndHumanity #LeahFreeberg #JeromeFrankel #BattleOfTheBulge #WorldWarII #PrisonerOfWar #PurpleHeart #POWMedal #106thInfantryDivision #JewishAmericanVeteran #VeteranStories #HMTC

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The Fog of War and Humanity | Ep. 669: Leah Freeberg: Battle of the Bulge POW (Part 1) | HMTC

For most of her life, Leah Freeberg knew only fragments of her father’s World War II service. He sometimes spoke about surviving on potato peels and lived with damaged feet and severe back pain, but he never told his daughters that he had been captured during the Battle of the Bulge, imprisoned by the Nazis, or awarded the Purple Heart.

In Episode 669 of The Fog of War and Humanity, host Richard Acritelli welcomes Leah for Part 1 of her father’s extraordinary story of combat, captivity, survival, faith, and silence.

Leah’s father entered the Army in 1943 and trained as a radio operator. After crossing the Atlantic aboard the Queen Elizabeth, he was sent toward the Belgian-German border with the 423rd Infantry Regiment. At only 19 years old, he carried a radio weighing approximately 40 pounds and remained close to his commanders on the front line.

His unit arrived ahead of its supplies and lacked adequate winter clothing and footwear. During one of Europe’s coldest winters, he developed trench foot, which permanently damaged the circulation in his feet. On December 19, 1944, German forces surrounded his inexperienced regiment near Schönberg, forcing thousands of American soldiers to surrender.

After his capture, Leah’s father tore off his identification tags and threw them into the snow because they identified him as Jewish. He was forced to march through the bitter cold, packed into a cattle car, and transported to Stalag IV-B in Mühlberg, one of Nazi Germany’s largest prisoner-of-war camps.

Leah did not learn the full story until after her father’s death, when she opened a large green metal case containing his original military records, personal documents, and Purple Heart. The paperwork revealed the journey he had kept buried throughout his life.

In 2019, Leah and her husband traveled to Germany and Belgium, where they followed part of his wartime route, visited the Siegfried Line, and stood near the location where he had been captured. The experience transformed family fragments into a clearer understanding of the trauma he carried home.

Although Leah’s father rarely discussed the war, its wounds never disappeared. He lived with damaged feet, debilitating back pain from being struck with a rifle butt, and what Leah now recognizes as PTSD. Yet he rebuilt his life, raised a family, embraced his Jewish faith, and regained enough strength to lift and open the Torah before his congregation.

Part 1 reveals how many veterans returned home carrying experiences they could not speak about. Their silence protected their families from the details, but it also left future generations with the responsibility of recovering and preserving their stories.

The Fog of War and Humanity on hmTv | Host: Richard Acritelli | Guest: Leah Freeberg

Executive Producer and Director: Bernie Furshpan

A production of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County

🌐 hmtcli.org
🎙 buzzsprout.com/2449781
▶️ youtube.com/@hmTv-hmtc

─── CHAPTERS ───

0:00 Opening
0:19 Welcome and guest introduction
1:18 Leah’s Long Island upbringing
2:27 From L’Oréal executive to mathematics teacher
3:55 Her father’s career and international travels
5:06 Growing up in Jewish Flatbush
6:11 Entering the Army at age 18
7:40 A family receives notice that he is missing
8:28 Discovering his original military records
9:29 Training and crossing the Atlantic
11:14 Arriving without adequate winter supplies
11:30 Trench foot and lifelong physical damage
12:41 Moving toward the Siegfried Line
13:11 Serving as a front-line radio operator
13:36 Captured near Schönberg
14:40 Retracing his journey in 2019
16:06 Surrounded during the Battle of the Bulge
17:24 Hiding his Jewish identity from the Nazis
19:31 Imprisonment at Stalag IV-B
19:48 The green metal case and hidden Purple Heart
20:42 Trauma, silence, and undiagnosed PTSD
21:57 Why his daughters never knew the full story
22:41 Returning home emaciated and unrecognizable
24:14 Regaining the strength to lift the Torah
25:14 Faith after captivity
26:37 POWs who carried their stories in silence
29:04 A rifle-butt injury and lifelong back pain
29:32 Part 2 preview and closing
29:59 hmTv outro
30:15 Humanity matters

──────────────────

#FogOfWarAndHumanity #LeahFreeberg #BattleOfTheBulge #WorldWarII #PrisonerOfWar #JewishAmericanVeteran #StalagIVB #PurpleHeart #VeteranStories #PTSD #MilitaryHistory #HMTC

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The Fog of War and Humanity | Ep. 668: Bill Byrne: Helping Veterans Heal and Come Home (Part 2) | HMTC

Veterans are trained to be strong, disciplined, and self-sufficient. Those same qualities can make it difficult for them to admit when they need help. Bill Byrne’s message is direct: veterans have earned their benefits, and asking for support is not a sign of weakness.

In Episode 668 of The Fog of War and Humanity, host Richard Acritelli continues his conversation with Bill, president of Rolling Thunder New York Chapter 6, about PTSD, veterans’ benefits, repeated combat deployments, September 11, and the practical work of helping veterans rebuild their lives.

Bill urges every veteran to register with the Department of Veterans Affairs, even if assistance is not immediately needed. He explains that unused benefits are not transferred to another veteran. Establishing a record today may make it easier to receive medical care, disability support, or other services in the future.

Rolling Thunder’s assistance extends far beyond paperwork. Its members install wheelchair ramps, renovate bathrooms, add safety railings, replace broken heating systems, and respond quickly when a veteran’s home becomes unsafe or inaccessible. With support from skilled union tradespeople and veteran-friendly companies, the organization transforms concern into immediate action.

The conversation also examines the psychological impact of repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Military training prepares people for combat, but Bill argues that no comparable process prepares them to return to civilian life. After years of remaining alert to hidden explosives, incoming fire, and sudden danger, many veterans struggle to adjust to everyday environments that others take for granted.

Bill explains why no two experiences of PTSD are identical and why some combat veterans will speak only with people they deeply trust. He earned that trust by sharing his own experiences growing up amid the Troubles in Ireland and working inside the wreckage at Ground Zero during the first two months following September 11.

Bill and Richard also recognize the work of General Needs, Paws of War, Tunnel to Towers, the FealGood Foundation, and the union workers, businesses, and volunteers who support veterans and September 11 responders throughout Long Island.

The episode concludes with Rolling Thunder’s central mission. Bill cites approximately 82,000 American service members who remain missing from modern conflicts. For him, POW/MIA remembrance is not ceremonial. It is a continuing promise that no American who served will ever be abandoned or forgotten.

The Fog of War and Humanity on hmTv | Host: Richard Acritelli | Guest: Bill Byrne

Executive Producer and Director: Bernie Furshpan

A production of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County

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🎙 buzzsprout.com/2449781
▶️ youtube.com/@hmTv-hmtc
🏍 rollingthunderny6.org

─── CHAPTERS ───

0:00 Introduction
0:19 Welcome and Part 2 introduction
1:12 Why veterans rarely ask for help
2:25 Richie Kitson and serving through the VA
3:18 Veterans have earned their benefits
4:00 Forgotten benefits and delayed recognition
4:47 Why veterans remain silent
5:12 Wheelchair ramps and immediate assistance
6:03 Renovating homes for disabled veterans
6:40 Union tradespeople answer the call
7:49 Iraq, Afghanistan, and growing demand
8:28 Repeated deployments and difficult transitions
9:34 September 11 and the lasting trauma of war
10:05 Returning home without decommissioning
11:10 Chad Lennon’s experience with PTSD
12:37 Walking across Long Island for veterans
13:00 Veterans bringing experience into public service
13:31 Why these stories need to be told
13:48 Understanding post-traumatic stress
15:11 Current conflicts reactivate painful memories
15:44 Why every experience of PTSD is different
16:42 Acceptance by the Marine Corps League
17:44 Earning the trust of combat veterans
18:27 Bill’s work inside Ground Zero
19:28 Building September 11 memorials
21:00 A shared commitment to remembrance
22:01 General Needs, Paws of War, and Tunnel to Towers
23:40 Companies supporting Long Island veterans
24:14 Twenty-five years since September 11
25:44 Preventing remembrance from becoming commercialized
26:03 Approximately 82,000 Americans remain missing
27:06 Closing reflections
27:33 hmTv outro

──────────────────

#FogOfWarAndHumanity #BillByrne #RollingThunder #VeteransSupport #VeteransBenefits #PTSD #POWMIA #September11 #GroundZero #GeneralNeeds #PawsOfWar #HMTC

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The Fog of War and Humanity | Ep. 667: Bill Byrne: No Veteran Left Behind (Part 1) | HMTC

As a boy watching the Vietnam War end, Bill Byrne saw how returning veterans were treated and made himself a promise: if he could help it, that would never happen again.

In Episode 667 of The Fog of War and Humanity, host Richard Acritelli welcomes Bill, a veterans advocate and president of Rolling Thunder, New York Chapter 6, for Part 1 of a conversation about military service, remembrance, and helping veterans in crisis.

Bill traces his journey from Queens Village and an Irish immigrant family to the building trades and a lifetime of veterans advocacy. He recalls the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut and learning that his cousin’s reconnaissance unit had been transferred only days before the attack. That narrow escape became what Bill calls “the match that lit my fuse.”

The conversation explores the Patriot Guard Riders, whose members shielded grieving military families from protesters, and the origins of Rolling Thunder’s Ride for Freedom. Bill emphasizes that Rolling Thunder is not a motorcycle club. Its primary mission is to keep the POW/MIA issue before the public and remind the government that no American service member should be left behind.

On Long Island, Bill and his chapter also focus on PTSD, veteran suicide prevention, and helping former service members navigate available resources. When a veteran calls in crisis, Bill does more than provide a telephone number. He answers at all hours, offers to meet in person, and sits down to listen.

Bill’s work demonstrates that honoring veterans requires more than gratitude on Memorial Day. It requires presence, persistence, and a commitment to ensuring that no veteran faces the battle alone.

The Fog of War and Humanity on hmTv | Host: Richard Acritelli | Guest: Bill Byrne

Executive Producer and Director: Bernie Furshpan

A production of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County

🌐 hmtcli.org
🎙 buzzsprout.com/2449781
▶️ youtube.com/@hmTv-hmtc

─── CHAPTERS ───

0:00 Introduction
0:19 Welcome and guest introduction
1:19 Richard’s Army and Air National Guard service
2:04 Growing up in Queens Village
3:03 Irish immigrant parents and family roots
4:22 Returning to Ireland during the Troubles
5:11 Choosing a career in construction
6:02 Entering the plumbers union
7:18 Moving to Nassau County
8:03 Witnessing the treatment of Vietnam veterans
9:19 The 1983 Beirut barracks bombing
10:05 America’s complicated military history
11:32 Iran, Operation Eagle Claw, and military readiness
12:30 The Patriot Guard Riders protect military families
14:38 Becoming president of Rolling Thunder Chapter 6
15:11 A mission that never stops
16:01 The origins of Rolling Thunder
16:44 The Ride for Freedom and the POW/MIA mission
17:19 Confronting veteran suicide on Long Island
18:47 Answering veterans in crisis
20:02 Navigating the VA and finding additional help
21:27 Turning a career-ending injury into purpose
22:13 Discovering Rolling Thunder
23:30 Riding through Washington for veterans
24:46 Part 2 preview and closing
25:15 hmTv outro

──────────────────

#FogOfWarAndHumanity #BillByrne #RollingThunder #VeteransAdvocacy #POWMIA #VeteranSuicidePrevention #PTSD #PatriotGuardRiders #RideForFreedom #LongIslandVeterans #MilitaryFamilies #HMTC

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Raised by Survivors | Ep. 666: Fern Schumer Chapman: Holocaust Trauma Across Generations | HMTC

At age 12, Edith Westerfeld was sent alone from Nazi Germany to the United States. Although her parents made the agonizing decision to save her life, Edith experienced the separation as betrayal. For decades, she remained trapped inside a child’s broken heart, believing she had been sent away because she was unlovable.

In Episode 666 of Raised by Survivors, host Bernie Furshpan welcomes award-winning author, journalist, and educator Fern Schumer Chapman for a powerful conversation about child refugees, intergenerational trauma, family silence, moral courage, and the responsibility to carry Holocaust memory forward.

Fern explains how her mother’s trauma transformed their relationship. Beginning at age five, Fern often found herself caring for the mother who was supposed to care for her. This reversal, known as parentification, profoundly shaped Fern’s childhood, her writing, and her determination to create a healthier relationship with her own children.

The conversation explores the little-known One Thousand Children rescue effort. Between 1934 and 1945, religious and humanitarian organizations quietly brought approximately 1,400 Jewish children to safety in the United States. Edith was among them. Fern recounts her mother’s experience in the widely taught young adult novel Is It Night or Day?

Fern also discusses returning with Edith to Stockstadt am Rhein, where they encountered comforting family legends, community denial, and the consequences of what Bernie calls “twistory.” Newly accessible Nazi Party membership records are now forcing some German families to confront documented truths about relatives whose wartime actions had long been denied or minimized.

One extraordinary figure in Fern’s family story is Mina, a Christian girl who lived with the Westerfeld family and considered them her own. Beginning in the early 1930s, Mina collected evidence of Nazi crimes in a suitcase. After the war, she fought unsuccessfully for restitution and accountability while her community chose silence. Ostracized for refusing to forget, Mina remained a moral compass whose own trauma followed her for the rest of her life.

Bernie and Fern examine ordinary complicity, failed denazification, rising antisemitism, the cancellation of Jewish authors and speakers, and the urgent need for Holocaust and civics education. They also discuss why students often connect more deeply with the experience of one frightened child than with statistics alone.

As the survivor generation disappears, Fern believes young people can become “derivative witnesses” who preserve these stories and recognize the warning signs of hatred. Holocaust memory must never become an empty ritual. It must remain a living responsibility that inspires education, empathy, courage, and action.

Raised by Survivors on hmTv | Host: Bernie Furshpan | Guest: Fern Schumer Chapman

Executive Producer and Director: Bernie Furshpan

A production of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County

🌐 hmtcli.org
🎙 buzzsprout.com/2449781
▶️ youtube.com/@hmTv-hmtc
📚 fernschumerchapman.com

─── CHAPTERS ───

0:00 Opening and guest introduction
1:57 Welcome, Fern Schumer Chapman
1:59 Edith is sent alone from Nazi Germany
2:17 When rescue felt like betrayal
3:27 Trauma transmitted across generations
4:35 Becoming a mother to her own mother
6:01 Parentification within survivor families
6:59 America and the One Thousand Children
9:42 “Twistory” and comforting family legends
10:03 Nazi records challenge decades of denial
11:43 Coercion, conformity, and failed denazification
14:52 Mina’s secret archive of Nazi crimes
16:39 Rescuers, upstanders, and moral responsibility
17:28 Mina’s fight for restitution and justice
18:56 The lasting trauma carried by an upstander
20:00 Ordinary complicity and today’s warning signs
20:41 The urgent need for Holocaust and civics education
22:19 Jewish authors and speakers being canceled
22:31 Teaching history through one child’s experience
23:21 The responsibility of descendants and educators
25:04 Young people as derivative witnesses
26:04 One humanity and closing reflections
26:55 hmTv outro

──────────────────

#RaisedBySurvivors #FernSchumerChapman #HolocaustEducation #OneThousandChildren #ChildRefugees #IntergenerationalTrauma #Parentification #HolocaustMemory #Upstanders #SecondGeneration #DerivativeWitnesses #HMTC

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Putting the Brakes on Bullying | Ep. 665: Dan Grunfeld: Holocaust, Bullying and Basketball | HMTC

Ernie Grunfeld arrived in America at age nine without speaking English. Bullied because of his accent and immigrant background, he transformed adversity into determination, becoming an Olympic gold medalist, NBA star, and respected basketball executive. Just as importantly, he became a man who treated others with the kindness he had once been denied.

In Episode 665 of Putting the Brakes on Bullying, host Samantha Sosnik welcomes former professional basketball player and author Dan Grunfeld for a powerful conversation about Holocaust survival, inherited memory, antisemitism, bullying, resilience, and the unifying power of sports.

Dan shares the remarkable story of his grandparents, who survived the Holocaust in Hungary. His grandfather endured a forced labor camp, while his grandmother survived on the run, was saved twice by Raoul Wallenberg, and was imprisoned in the Budapest ghetto. Now 101 years old, she remains the heart of the Grunfeld family and a daily presence in Dan’s life.

The conversation explores Ernie Grunfeld’s journey from communist Romania to Queens and his extraordinary friendship with basketball legend Bernard King. Known together as the “Ernie and Bernie Show,” the Jewish immigrant from Queens and the Black athlete from Brooklyn became one of college basketball’s greatest duos, later playing together for the New York Knicks. Their friendship demonstrates how shared purpose can overcome cultural and social divisions.

Dan also reflects on playing basketball at Stanford, competing in the Maccabiah Games in Israel, acknowledging the privilege of growing up as an NBA player’s son, and learning that opportunity means little without discipline, effort, and performance.

One of the episode’s most moving moments comes when Dan recalls receiving an offer to play professionally in Germany. Before accepting, he asked his grandmother for permission. Her response, “Sons are not responsible for the sins of their fathers,” opened the door to a meaningful experience of friendship, understanding, and healing across generations.

Dan discusses his acclaimed book, By the Grace of the Game, which connects his family’s Holocaust history with basketball, immigration, mental health, identity, and the opportunities made possible by survival. He also confirms that a documentary adaptation is now in development.

This multigenerational story demonstrates how people can transform trauma and bullying into purpose. The Grunfeld family’s legacy is not defined only by what they survived, but by what they built through perseverance, honesty, compassion, and the grace of the game.

Putting the Brakes on Bullying on hmTv | Host: Samantha Sosnik | Guest: Dan Grunfeld

Executive Producer and Director: Bernie Furshpan

A production of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County

🌐 hmtcli.org
🎙 buzzsprout.com/2449781
▶️ youtube.com/@hmTv-hmtc

─── CHAPTERS ───

0:00 Opening
0:18 Welcome and guest introduction
1:19 Discovering the Grunfeld family story
2:45 Dan’s Holocaust-survivor grandparents
4:15 A special bond with his 101-year-old grandmother
5:42 Rising antisemitism and warnings from a survivor
6:53 “Never Again” and generational trauma
8:19 Israel as a refuge for the Jewish people
9:13 Ernie Grunfeld and Bernard King
9:52 The “Ernie and Bernie Show”
11:45 Privilege, hard work, and proving yourself
13:59 The significance of number 18
14:24 The Maccabiah Games and Dan’s first visit to Israel
16:40 Honoring opportunities denied to earlier generations
17:52 Carrying survivors’ stories forward
19:51 Basketball as an entry point to Holocaust history
20:57 Asking permission to play in Germany
21:13 “Sons are not responsible for the sins of their fathers”
22:17 Healing and responsibility across generations
23:53 Turning criticism into motivation
26:23 Ernie’s childhood experience with bullying
26:54 Transforming pain into achievement and kindness
29:32 Why surviving trauma can deepen compassion
31:03 Writing By the Grace of the Game with honesty
33:06 Celebrating a Knicks championship
35:11 A documentary adaptation in development
36:21 Bringing Dan’s story to students
37:42 A final call to kindness
37:54 hmTv outro

──────────────────

#PuttingTheBrakesOnBullying #DanGrunfeld #ByTheGraceOfTheGame #ErnieGrunfeld #HolocaustSurvivors #BasketballHistory #JewishIdentity #Antisemitism #BullyingPrevention #InheritedMemory #Resilience #HMTC

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Legacy Chronicles | Ep. 664: Joan Arnay Halperin: My Sister’s Eyes | HMTC

For most of her childhood, Joan Arnay Halperin never knew she had an older sister. Her parents had escaped Nazi-occupied Europe with their daughter, Yvonne, but the child died tragically in a Jamaican refugee camp. The loss was so painful that Joan’s mother could not speak Yvonne’s name for decades.

In Episode 664 of Legacy Chronicles, host Donna Rosenblum welcomes Joan, an educator and author of My Sister’s Eyes: A Family Chronicle of Rescue and Loss During World War II.

Joan traces her parents’ remarkable journey from Poland and Belgium through France, Portugal, Jamaica, and ultimately the United States. After Germany invaded Belgium in 1940, her father placed his family inside a Mercedes and drove south toward Bordeaux. There, Portuguese diplomat Aristides de Sousa Mendes defied his government and issued the visas that saved them.

After approximately 18 months in Portugal, the family was evacuated to Gibraltar Camp in Jamaica. A bicycle accident left four-year-old Yvonne critically injured. Delayed medical treatment cost the child her life, leaving Joan’s parents with a grief they carried in silence.

Joan first learned that she had a sister at age 11, when a stranger recognized her by Yvonne’s eyes. Her mother did not reveal the full story until decades later, after Joan recovered family properties in Łódź. She then handed Joan a hidden photograph album bearing the words, “Yvonne, 1938 to 1942.”

The conversation also reveals how an unidentified Belgian woman preserved the family’s photographs, wedding gifts, silver, and other belongings throughout the war. Those rescued materials later became an invaluable visual record of the family’s history.

Joan explains how her mother’s testimony, family documents, and surviving photographs became the foundation of My Sister’s Eyes. She now shares the story with schools, universities, synagogues, and communities to promote empathy, strengthen historical understanding, and preserve her family’s legacy.

Joan is also developing an animated short to bring the story to younger audiences. Her mission is clear: inherited pain must not remain buried. Through education, it can become memory, empathy, and action.

Legacy Chronicles on hmTv | Host: Donna Rosenblum | Guest: Joan Arnay Halperin

Executive Producer and Director: Bernie Furshpan

A production of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County

🌐 hmtcli.org
🎙 buzzsprout.com/2449781
▶️ youtube.com/@hmTv-hmtc

─── CHAPTERS ───

0:00 Opening
0:17 Welcome and guest introduction
1:20 Ignas and Hala meet in prewar Poland
2:28 Attending the 1936 Berlin Olympics
2:43 Escaping the German invasion of Belgium
4:11 Sousa Mendes, Portugal, and evacuation to Jamaica
4:53 Growing up unaware of her parents’ history
5:48 The stranger who recognized Yvonne’s eyes
7:25 Discovering she had an older sister
7:47 Decades of silence and unspoken grief
9:14 Family members murdered at Treblinka
10:44 Recording Joan’s mother’s testimony
11:35 Recovering family properties in Łódź
12:51 The hidden album of Yvonne’s photographs
14:08 Life inside Jamaica’s Gibraltar Camp
14:51 The accident that claimed Yvonne’s life
15:48 Why Joan wrote My Sister’s Eyes
16:28 Discovering Aristides de Sousa Mendes
17:14 The famous and forgotten refugees he saved
17:56 Preserving photographs and historical evidence
18:36 Building a new life in America
20:22 The Belgian woman who saved everything
21:24 Creating and publishing the book
22:37 Carrying Yvonne’s memory and pain
23:55 Teaching empathy through personal history
24:49 Turning the story into an animated short
26 through:14 Joan’s commitment to Holocaust education
26:34 Closing reflections
27:07 hmTv outro

──────────────────

#LegacyChronicles #JoanArnayHalperin #MySistersEyes #HolocaustSurvivors #SecondGeneration #AristidesDeSousaMendes #HolocaustEducation #RefugeeStories #InheritedMemory #JewishHistory #EmpathyThroughEducation #HMTC

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Raised by Survivors | Ep. 663: How Holocaust Survivors Rebuilt Family in America | HMTC

For Holocaust survivors rebuilding their lives after the war, close friends often became family. They celebrated holidays together, raised their children together, helped one another through hardship, and created a community connected by shared history and an unspoken understanding.

In Episode 663 of Raised by Survivors, host Bernie Furshpan reunites with longtime family friends Miriam Will and Rina Berman for a deeply personal journey through photographs, memories, Jewish traditions, and the enduring friendships formed by their families in Israel and New York.

Miriam and Rina share warm memories of Bernie’s parents, Moshe and Zenia Zahava Furshpan. Rina remembers arriving in America as a young wife and mother and finding a maternal figure in Zenia, who helped her care for her first child. Miriam recalls Zenia’s remarkable devotion to her family, including washing her twins’ diapers before sunrise and carefully dividing a watermelon into two perfectly equal portions.

Their stories reveal how survivor families created extended communities of support. They gathered for holidays, attended one another’s weddings and bar mitzvahs, traveled together, helped with household projects, and filled their basements with parties, laughter, and the friendships that made rebuilding possible.

Bernie reflects on his father’s childhood survival in the forest, his lifelong need to protect his family, and the extraordinary kindness he retained despite losing nearly everyone he loved. He also remembers the profound devotion between his parents and how his father cared for his mother through years of illness.

The conversation eventually reaches further into the past. Miriam recounts how her mother fled Warsaw against her father’s wishes, carrying food hidden inside a schoolbook, and later met Miriam’s father aboard a train escaping toward Russia. Rina describes how her father-in-law recognized the danger in Lomazy and led his family away before their neighbors or the Nazis could murder them.

Through humor, grief, affection, and remarkable family history, this episode demonstrates that Holocaust testimony is not limited to what was lost. It also lives in the families survivors created, the friendships they sustained, the traditions they preserved, and the stories their children now carry forward.

Raised by Survivors on hmTv | Host: Bernie Furshpan | Guests: Miriam Will and Rina Berman

Executive Producer and Director: Bernie Furshpan

A production of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County

🌐 hmtcli.org
🎙 buzzsprout.com/2449781
▶️ youtube.com/@hmTv-hmtc

─── CHAPTERS ───

0:00 Opening
0:18 Welcome and guest introductions
1:46 Miriam’s journey from Poland to Israel and America
2:45 Remembering Marcel Will and family life in Queens
3:57 Jewish identity and the fear of wearing a Magen David
5:24 Rina, Tzvika, and arriving in America
6:20 Zenia Furshpan’s devotion as a mother
7:00 Food, trauma, and caring for Moshe
7:46 The extraordinary love between Bernie’s parents
8:10 How Moshe’s survival shaped family life
9:11 Family photographs awaken old memories
10:34 Why survivor families gathered together
11:49 Bar mitzvah candles and honoring loved ones
13:11 Remembering relatives murdered in the Holocaust
14:56 Jewish traditions and accepting responsibility
16:55 Passing identity and memory to the next generation
17:58 Antisemitic myths and the return of old hatred
20:31 Family trips, holidays, and raising children together
22:41 A documentary creates an unexpected reunion
23:51 Hotel ashtrays, smoking, and humorous memories
24:48 Classic cars and working together in New York
26:00 The Puck Building and a powerful family connection
26:58 A community where everyone helped one another
28:42 Diapers, watermelon, and “the equalizer”
30:32 Zenia’s lifelong consideration for others
32:26 Joanne and the continuing presence of Bernie’s mother
33:35 Childhood memories of Yazur and Bat Yam
36:13 The matchmaker who introduced Bernie’s parents
37:44 Moshe’s illness and life after losing Zenia
39:03 Survival decisions and escaping by train
39:52 Rina’s family flees Lomazy
40:42 Miriam’s mother escapes Warsaw
41:51 A shared legacy for descendants of survivors
42:45 Jewish survival, homeland, and hope
44:24 hmTv outro

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#RaisedBySurvivors #MiriamWill #RinaBerman #BernieFurshpan #HolocaustSurvivors #SecondGeneration #JewishFamily #InheritedMemory #JewishTraditions #SurvivorStories #HolocaustLegacy #HMTC

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Raised by Survivors | Guest: Oleg Frish

Title: Raised by Survivors | Ep. 662: Oleg Frish: From Soviet Ukraine to the American Stage | HMTC

Before Oleg Frish performed on celebrated New York stages, American music gave a young boy behind the Iron Curtain a window into another world. His childhood fascination with records eventually became a remarkable career spanning singing, broadcasting, cultural commentary, and interviews with legendary entertainers.

In Episode 662 of Raised by Survivors, host Bernie Furshpan reunites with Oleg, a longtime friend, former client, and son of a Holocaust survivor.

Born in the Ukrainian region of the Soviet Union, Oleg grew up in a musical family. His father was a prominent conductor and People’s Artist of Ukraine, while his mother was a pianist and music teacher. As a child, Oleg spent his money on records and studied the names of composers, musicians, and performers printed on every album cover.

Oleg reflects on growing up with limited discussion of his Jewish roots and beginning to understand his Jewish identity more deeply after immigrating to the United States. He discusses the Yiddish words taught by his grandmothers, the changing character of Brighton Beach, and the importance of recognizing the distinct identities found across the former Soviet Union.

The conversation explores Oleg’s lifelong love of the Great American Songbook, his performances in multiple languages, and his rendition of “Hello, Dolly!” in more than 130 languages. He also recalls meeting and interviewing legendary artists, including Tony Bennett, James Brown, Keely Smith, Bobby Rydell, Claire Barry, Dudu Fisher, and Lalo Schifrin.

Oleg and Bernie also discuss the war between Russia and Ukraine, young people whose lives have become defined by waiting, and the human cost of conflict. Oleg’s position is deeply personal and direct: he opposes people killing one another, regardless of nationality, religion, or political identity.

The episode becomes a warm reunion between two entertainers whose paths crossed at New York’s Metropolitan Room. Together, they reflect on inherited memory, Jewish identity, immigration, friendship, cultural connection, and the power of entertainment to bring people together.

Raised by Survivors on hmTv | Host: Bernie Furshpan | Guest: Oleg Frish

Executive Producer and Director: Bernie Furshpan

A production of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County

🌐 hmtcli.org
🎙 buzzsprout.com/2449781
▶️ youtube.com/@hmTv-hmtc
🎵 youtube.com/olegfrish

─── CHAPTERS ───

0:00 Opening
0:18 Welcome and guest introduction
1:11 Oleg’s first visit to HMTC
2:32 Bernie and Oleg remember working together
3:32 A musical childhood in Soviet Ukraine
4:46 Collecting thousands of records and recordings
6:07 Family migration from Ukraine
7:09 Jewish identity in the Soviet Union
8:38 Discovering his Jewish roots in America
9:48 American music behind the Iron Curtain
10:57 Interviewing legendary entertainers
12:16 Recording Soviet songs with a jazz orchestra
13:03 Connecting cultures through music
13:25 Singing “Hello, Dolly!” in more than 130 languages
14:17 Foreign languages and the fading of Yiddish
15:30 How Brighton Beach has changed
17:51 Russian, Ukrainian, and Soviet identities
19:04 Oleg’s feelings about the war in Ukraine
21:26 Jewish communities around the world
22:05 Lalo Schifrin’s unexpected journey to Argentina
23:15 Performing for international Jewish audiences
23:49 Remembering the Metropolitan Room
25:14 Could the Metropolitan Room return?
26:08 Bernie’s transition to tolerance education
26:54 Oleg’s authenticity and humor onstage
27:38 Television, digital media, and Oleg’s archive
28:29 How inherited history shaped Bernie and Oleg
29:44 Future performances and an English-language podcast
30:19 Performing at Rabbi Pearl’s marathon
31:08 Friendship, family, and closing reflections
31:54 hmTv outro

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#RaisedBySurvivors #OlegFrish #BernieFurshpan #GreatAmericanSongbook #JewishIdentity #SovietUkraine #Yiddish #HolocaustLegacy #ImmigrantStories #MusicAndMemory #CulturalConnection #HMTC

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hmTv Episode 661: Title & Description

Kibitz with Keren | Host: Doron Keren

Title: Kibitz with Keren | Ep. 661: Jewish Strength, Survival and “Never Again” | HMTC

For 14 months, Doron Keren’s grandfather, Ignacy Chiger, kept his family alive beneath the streets of Lvov. He broke through three feet of concrete, led his wife and two children into the sewers, and placed their survival in the hands of Leopold Socha, a sewer worker and petty thief who became a rescuer and Righteous Among the Nations.

In the premiere of Kibitz with Keren, Doron introduces a new hmTv series built around thoughtful conversation, respectful disagreement, Jewish history, and the search for practical wisdom.

The son of two Holocaust survivors, Doron reflects on growing up in a family defined not by constant sadness, but by gratitude, laughter, resilience, and an understanding that freedom can never be taken for granted.

He challenges a familiar interpretation of “Never Again.” To Doron, it does not mean keeping one’s head down or avoiding attention. It means becoming capable, prepared, and strong enough to protect families, communities, institutions, and future generations.

The episode examines assimilation, rising antisemitism, Jewish achievement, and the cultural habits that have encouraged education, curiosity, responsibility, innovation, and debate. Doron introduces havruta, the Jewish tradition of learning through questions and disagreement, as a model for discovering better answers.

He also outlines the six pillars of Jewish strength that the series will explore: havruta, Israeli innovation, achievement and resentment, preparation, Jewish sovereignty, and values-based philanthropy.

Kibitz with Keren will not be an echo chamber. Doron invites listeners to laugh, question assumptions, disagree honestly, and leave each conversation feeling lighter, stronger, and more hopeful.

Kibitz with Keren on hmTv | Host: Doron Keren

Executive Producer and Director: Bernie Furshpan

A production of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County

🌐 hmtcli.org
🎙 buzzsprout.com/2449781
▶️ youtube.com/@hmTv-hmtc

─── CHAPTERS ───

0:00 Introduction
0:17 Welcome to Kibitz with Keren
0:49 What does “kibitz” mean?
2:16 A family’s survival beneath Lvov
3:40 Leopold Socha and Ignacy Chiger’s memoir
4:09 The only surviving family with two children
5:08 Growing up as the son of Holocaust survivors
6:02 “Never Again” means capable and prepared
6:22 Assimilation and the lessons of history
7:18 Jewish achievement and cultural habits
7:59 Havruta and learning through disagreement
8:25 The unspoken lessons of Doron’s parents
9:03 Prosperity, comfort, and complacency
9:53 Finding strength when history demands it
10:20 Standing taller and building stronger communities
11:17 Introducing the six pillars of Jewish strength
11:28 Havruta and Israeli innovation
11:46 Achievement, resentment, and preparation
12:12 Jewish sovereignty and values-based philanthropy
12:46 Respectful disagreement, not an echo chamber
13:18 Choosing hope over despair
13:35 The Jewish story of resilience and rebuilding
13:49 Closing reflections
14:07 Previewing the next conversation
14:30 hmTv outro

──────────────────

#KibitzWithKeren #DoronKeren #JewishStrength #JewishResilience #NeverAgain #HolocaustMemory #Lvov #LeopoldSocha #RighteousAmongTheNations #Havruta #JewishHistory #HMTC

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