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Ordinary Heroes | Ep. 694: John Tantillo - Can Unity Be Marketed? | HMTC

Marketing can sell a product, build a movement, or persuade people to fear their neighbors. Can those same tools be used to promote unity, empathy, and shared purpose?

On Ordinary Heroes, Bernie Furshpan speaks with Dr. John Tantillo, branding expert, author, educator, and longtime commentator, about the emotional power of brands. John explains his NAV system of noun, adjective, and verb, and how a clear personal identity can evolve across careers.

Their conversation turns to the “business of rage,” the way fear and anger attract attention, and the role of social media in intensifying division. They discuss direct human contact, respectful debate, critical thinking, and the need to understand perspectives without excusing hatred or cruelty.

Asked how individuals can resist manipulation and avoid becoming unpaid promoters of hate, John offers one memorable instruction: Think. Pause before speaking, question inflammatory messages, and choose what you amplify. Sometimes ordinary heroism begins by refusing to spread someone else’s hatred.

Ordinary Heroes on hmTv | Host: Bernie Furshpan | Guest: Dr. John Tantillo
A production of the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Introduction
1:30 Friendship and John’s personal brand
3:41 What is a brand? The NAV system
7:12 Are fear and hatred being marketed?
10:21 Why upstanders must speak
11:19 How direct contact reduces prejudice
13:34 The profitable business of rage
15:17 Finding the middle without tolerating hate
17:16 Empathy means crossing the street
20:44 How to market unity to young people
24:32 Cognitive dissonance and open minds
25:10 Resisting manipulation and inflammatory messages
25:51 John’s one-word answer: Think
29:18 Closing

HASHTAGS

#OrdinaryHeroes #CriticalThinking #MediaLiteracy #Empathy #HMTC

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Raised by Survivors | Ep. 693: Zena Frey & Susan McClelland - The Story of Honor | HMTC

At twelve years old, Leizer “Leon” Buchwald was forced to become a man. For three years, he survived the Holocaust by hiding in caves, forests, and the attic of a Ukrainian Catholic family that refused to surrender its humanity.

On Raised by Survivors, Bernie Furshpan speaks with Leon’s daughter, Zena Buchwald Frey, and author Susan McClelland about Honor, the award-winning young adult book preserving his story. They trace the letters that connected Leon’s family with the descendants of Grigory, the neighbor who repeatedly risked his life to shelter them.

Zena reflects on growing up with survivor parents, the questions she wishes she could still ask, and the family Leon rebuilt in Canada. Susan explains how research in Ukraine helped weave Leon’s wartime experiences together with a contemporary teenager’s search for hope. Their message is enduring: courage begins when ordinary people recognize one another’s humanity, protect the threatened, and refuse to remain silent.

Raised by Survivors on hmTv | Host: Bernie Furshpan | Guests: Zena Buchwald Frey and Susan McClelland
A production of the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Introduction
2:09 Letters that restored hope
3:02 Grigory’s family hides Leon
4:23 Zena remembers her quiet father
6:20 Parallel stories of survival and remembrance
7:44 Caves, forests, and refuge
10:42 A family separated in hiding
12:46 Murder, loss, and unanswered questions
16:42 Why Grigory chose to help
20:47 Liberation and rebuilding in Canada
22:30 Growing up with survivor parents
24:16 How Susan came to write Honor
27:06 Hope, love, and moral responsibility
34:23 Closing

HASHTAGS

#RaisedBySurvivors #HolocaustEducation #MoralCourage #Testimony #HMTC

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Education in Motion | Ep. 692: Phyllis Abrams - Teaching History One Student at a Time | HMTC

After decades in education, film writing, healthcare communications, and business, Phyllis Abrams found a new calling close to home: guiding students through HMTC.

On Education in Motion, Donna Rosenblum speaks with Phyllis about becoming a Holocaust docent. She began by shadowing school tours for a year, advanced to co-leading tours, and eventually guided groups independently. Her greatest concern was not managing students, but presenting the truth accurately and keeping young minds engaged.

Phyllis explains why she teaches through individual stories rather than relying only on the number six million. Students respond with thoughtful questions about resistance, survival, and responsibility. One student’s Kristallnacht poem became part of an HMTC commemoration, demonstrating how learning continues long after a visit.

The conversation also shows how education can challenge inherited stereotypes. By responding calmly and honestly to an antisemitic claim, Phyllis helped one person reconsider a lifelong belief. Her work affirms that teaching history can open eyes, build empathy, and shape the future.

Education in Motion on hmTv | Host: Donna Rosenblum | Guest: Phyllis Abrams
A production of the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Introduction
1:09 From anthropology to communications
2:19 Finding HMTC after retirement
3:34 Family roots and a lifelong interest in the Holocaust
6:26 Shadowing, co-leading, and becoming a docent
9:26 Truth, engagement, and difficult student questions
10:59 Teaching Jewish resistance and deeper learning
12:51 Molly’s Kristallnacht poem
14:22 The impact educators may never see
18:17 Teaching through individual stories
19:15 History, culture, and empathy
21:30 Challenging an inherited antisemitic stereotype
22:25 Teaching humanity through the Holocaust
25:14 Closing

HASHTAGS

#EducationInMotion #HolocaustEducation #Docent #Empathy #HMTC

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Raised by Survivors | Ep. 691: Carolyn Enger - Recognizing Hate’s Warning Signs | HMTC

Children of survivors often inherit an extra antenna for danger. For concert pianist Carolyn Enger and Bernie Furshpan, today’s surge of digital hatred makes that vigilance feel urgently relevant.

On Raised by Survivors, they examine how words, lies, stereotypes, silence, and algorithms can normalize cruelty before violence begins. Their conversation explores social-media silos, misinformation, digital addiction, the loss of shared community spaces, and why a brief Holocaust lesson cannot compete with hours of online influence.

Carolyn also discusses taking her multimedia program Mischling Exposé to new audiences and using music to open pathways toward tolerance and peaceful dialogue. Together, she and Bernie consider education, interfaith alliances, critical thinking, civic responsibility, art, travel, and everyday human contact as ways to rebuild connection. Their message is practical and hopeful: listen before arguing, seek other perspectives, speak when warning signs appear, and never underestimate the power of simply saying hello.

Raised by Survivors on hmTv | Host: Bernie Furshpan | Guest: Carolyn Enger
A production of the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Introduction
2:08 Mischling Exposé and music as education
3:56 Digital warning signs and misinformation
6:31 Algorithms, bots, and social-media silos
10:51 The loss of community spaces and shared values
13:46 Inherited vigilance as children of survivors
16:24 Holocaust education and a closing window
19:50 Normalizing cruelty through technology
23:40 Perspective and our shared humanity
28:21 What communities can do together
41:59 Why hatred threatens everyone
44:44 Music, art, and travel as common ground
52:11 A simple action: say hello
53:51 Closing

HASHTAGS

#RaisedBySurvivors #Antisemitism #MediaLiteracy #Upstander #HMTC

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Voices Illuminated | Ep. 690: Marc Karimzadeh - Fashion, Memory and Jewish Pride | HMTC

Marc Karimzadeh once read fashion magazines under his duvet with a flashlight. That private teenage passion in Hamburg became a career chronicling and shaping American fashion.

On Voices Illuminated, host Judy Liman speaks with the CFDA’s Senior Director of Content and Communications about his Persian and Ashkenazi Jewish roots, journalism career, and work confronting antisemitism within the fashion industry. Marc describes the CFDA initiative “We Need to Talk About Antisemitism” and Shabbat dinners that invite fashion leaders to encounter Jewish culture through celebration and conversation.

He also reflects on his mother and grandmother’s Holocaust survival, Jewish designers’ influence on American fashion, Persian family traditions, and the freedom he found by living honestly. From meeting Spanx founder Sara Blakely before the brand became famous to interviewing Karl Lagerfeld about Choupette, Marc shows how storytelling can recognize creativity, preserve memory, and turn professional influence into meaningful action.

Voices Illuminated on hmTv | Host: Judy Liman | Guest: Marc Karimzadeh
A production of the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Introduction
1:36 The CFDA’s mission and Marc’s role
2:55 Persian and Ashkenazi roots in Hamburg
5:42 A teenage passion for fashion
6:41 We Need to Talk About Antisemitism
9:41 Shabbat dinners build understanding
11:13 Art, accountability, and John Galliano
15:14 Holocaust memory in Marc’s family
18:10 Why Marc speaks out against hate
19:03 Jewish contributions to American fashion
20:39 Tahdig and Persian family traditions
22:34 Marriage, honesty, and identity
24:10 Spanx, Karl Lagerfeld, and Choupette
27:55 Closing

HASHTAGS

#VoicesIlluminated #Antisemitism #JewishPride #Fashion #HMTC

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Influential Origins | Ep. 689: Michael Trager - Cara’s Legacy and a Call for Safety | 

After 47 years of marriage, Michael Trager lost his wife, Cara Sellinger Trager, in a fatal traffic collision while they were walking home together in Queens.

On Influential Origins, host Alan Mindel speaks with Michael about Cara’s life as a journalist, mother, grandmother, proud Jew, and devoted community member. Michael recalls their first meeting, marriage at Temple Torah, raising Eric and Rachel, and Cara’s ability to build a successful writing career while remaining deeply present for her family.

He also recounts the collision that killed Cara and injured him, the unresolved questions surrounding it, and his continuing pursuit of justice, public safety, and accountability. Rather than allowing grief to end Cara’s story, Michael is turning loss into advocacy. His message reaches beyond one family or faith: communities need the rule of law, mutual respect, and leaders willing to protect every person’s right to live safely.

Influential Origins on hmTv | Host: Alan Mindel | Guest: Michael Trager
A production of the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Introduction
0:45 Growing up Jewish in Queens
4:29 Meeting Cara Sellinger
8:22 Raising Eric and Rachel
11:04 Cara’s career as a writer and mother
14:20 A changing climate in New York
19:04 The day that changed Michael’s life
23:26 Losing Cara in a fatal collision
25:19 Good Samaritans respond
29:12 Due process, justice, and community safety
31:07 A community confronting fear and division
34:23 The legal process and unanswered questions
42:16 Cara’s Jewish identity and legacy
45:26 Closing

HASHTAGS

#InfluentialOrigins #Legacy #CommunitySafety #MutualRespect #HMTC

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Raised by Survivors | Ep. 688: Matilde Broder - Greek Jewish Survival and Legacy | HMTC

After Auschwitz, two Greek Jewish survivors made their way to Paris, met in a holding camp, and began the family the Nazis had tried to erase.

On Raised by Survivors, Bernie Furshpan speaks with Matilde Broder about her parents, Sephardic Jews whose families had lived in Greece for generations. Matilde recounts her mother’s will to live, her father’s forced labor, acts of courage that saved lives, and the kindness that sustained liberated survivors on their journey to Paris.

She also traces the family’s path from France to Argentina and finally New York, reflecting on Ladino heritage, childhood as the daughter of survivors, and the photographs, documents, and memorial book that preserve those who were lost. Now a mother of two and grandmother of four, Matilde offers living proof that survival created new generations. Her testimony protects memory, confronts denial, and reminds us where unchecked hatred can lead.

Raised by Survivors on hmTv | Host: Bernie Furshpan | Guest: Matilde Broder
A production of the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Introduction
2:13 Sephardic roots, Ladino, and Argentina
4:02 Jewish life in Greece before the Holocaust
5:42 Greek Christians who protected Jewish families
6:30 The destruction of Greek Jewish communities
9:07 Samuel Castro’s Auschwitz record
9:31 Matilde’s mother and the will to live
10:04 Forced labor and a life-saving act
12:00 Liberation and the journey to Paris
13:19 Argentina and a new beginning
14:20 Growing up as the child of survivors
17:38 Preserving photographs, documents, and memory
21:10 Children, grandchildren, and survival
24:32 Closing

HASHTAGS

#RaisedBySurvivors #HolocaustEducation #GreekJewry #Testimony #HMTC

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Legacy Chronicles | Ep. 687: Sophie Weisz - Carrying Holocaust Memory Forward | HMTC

One school project about Anne Frank opened Sophie Weisz’s path into her own family’s Holocaust history. Today, as a fourth-generation descendant of survivors, she is helping shape how memory will be carried forward.

On Legacy Chronicles, Zachary Graulich speaks with Sophie about leading her school’s Holocaust Remembrance Day program and interning at HMTC. She reflects on survivor Rosalie Simon’s testimony, student-led discussions, collaborative art, and the confidence she gained by helping classmates connect history to courage and responsibility.

Sophie also shares her work developing Seeds of Courage, an HMTC program for scouting groups that combines Holocaust education with hands-on service and community action. As firsthand survivor testimony becomes less available, she believes descendants, educators, and students must preserve these stories. Her call is direct: ask difficult questions, research your family history, use your voice, and never underestimate your power to make a positive difference.

Legacy Chronicles on hmTv | Host: Zachary Graulich | Guest: Sophie Weisz
A production of the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Introduction
0:42 Discovering family history through Anne Frank
2:23 Holocaust Remembrance Day at school
3:31 Testimony, discussion, and collaborative art
6:39 Building confidence as a student leader
7:59 Learning from Rosalie Simon and classmates
9:34 An internship at HMTC
11:56 Connecting with descendants and docents
14:00 Who will carry survivor stories forward?
15:49 Introducing Seeds of Courage
17:34 Holocaust education through scouting and service
21:43 Empowering young people to take action
25:07 Preserving family history as a 4G
30:04 Closing

HASHTAGS

#LegacyChronicles #HolocaustEducation #YouthLeadership #Remembrance #HMTC

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Education in Motion | Ep. 686: Howard Merims — From Principal to Holocaust Educator | HMTC

After 43 years in public education, Howard “Howie” Merims found a new classroom at HMTC. Donna Rosenblum welcomes the retired teacher, assistant principal, and principal to discuss why he chose Holocaust education as his next chapter.

Howie reflects on the school communities that shaped his career and the survivor testimony that inspired him to give back. As he trains to become an HMTC docent, he studies the different styles of experienced educators, accompanies Holocaust survivors into schools, and learns how personal stories help students connect history to their own lives.

Donna and Howie examine the importance of respecting each school’s needs, building genuine partnerships with educators, and teaching through testimony, artifacts, and family memory. They also discuss antisemitism, social media, missing context, and the need for critical thinking. Their conversation affirms that education, empathy, truth, and human dignity remain essential tools for helping young people reject hatred and recognize their responsibility to one another.

Education in Motion on hmTv | Host: Donna Rosenblum | Guest: Howard Merims
A production of the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Introduction
0:45 A 43-Year Career in Education
2:00 Why HMTC Became the Next Chapter
4:40 Learning from HMTC Docents
6:11 Building Partnerships with Schools
8:25 Meeting Each School’s Needs
9:54 Learning from Holocaust Survivors
11:24 Teaching Through Personal Testimony
13:51 Connecting History to Family
15:24 Choosing Meaningful Work in Retirement
16:40 Family History and a Call to Educate
19:21 Human Dignity and Teaching Against Hate
21:07 Media Literacy and Student Connections
24:35 Closing

HASHTAGS

#EducationInMotion #HolocaustEducation #Testimony #MediaLiteracy #HMTC

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It’s All About the Children | Ep. 685: Dan Cohen — From Awakening to Purpose, Part 2 | HMTC

DESCRIPTION

A father’s unexpected return to clarity becomes the beginning of a mission. In Part 2, Carin Bail and Sami Steigmann continue their conversation with author, podcaster, and storyteller Dan Cohen about love, memory, resilience, and the choices that shape a life.

Dan describes the two days when his father, deep in dementia, suddenly spoke with clarity, recalled family milestones, and expressed gratitude simply to be alive. That awakening inspired Dan’s book and podcast, Awakenings in Real Life, where he shares stories of people transformed by adversity, connection, and purpose.

The conversation turns to Sami’s Holocaust experience, the validation of his history, and his EMET mission to educate, motivate, empower upstanders, and teach tolerance. Dan also discusses plans for a documentary about Sami. Together, they offer a hopeful message for every generation: accept people where they are, include them in life, and remember that we are defined not only by what happens to us, but by what we choose to become.

It’s All About the Children on hmTv | Hosts: Carin Bail and Sami Steigmann | Guest: Dan Cohen
A production of the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Introduction
0:31 A Father’s Unexpected Awakening
3:15 Memory Beneath Dementia
5:10 The Human Spirit and Inclusion
6:13 Lessons for the Next Generation
8:28 The Words That Changed Dan’s Life
14:53 How Dan and Sami Met
15:33 Sami’s Awakening
17:42 EMET: Truth and Responsibility
19:35 Why Sami’s Story Still Matters
21:54 Researching and Preserving Testimony
23:02 Friendship and Chosen Family
25:33 I Am What I Choose to Be
27:25 Closing

HASHTAGS

#ItsAllAboutTheChildren #Upstander #Testimony #Resilience #HMTC

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