Filed under: News, Video
Pinchas Isaak tells the story of his unlikely escape.
Today marks the 75th anniversary of Hitler and the Nazi party coming to power in Germany. That's the news peg for an interesting story in the New York Times about how modern-day Germans continue to confront and process Nazi history. The reporter was surprised to find that young Germans don't attempt to put the past behind them, but rather immerse themselves in it -- building new monuments to honor the dead, using their difficult history as the inspiration to become activists for human rights.
When I was growing up and going to Hebrew School, milestones like today's anniversary -- and there have been many markers like that, in my lifetime -- were always used as teaching opportunities: on the 50th anniversary of this, or the 55th of that, we were somberly told to never forget that human beings have the power (and, sadly, the instinct) to commit extreme evil. These days, of course, we've got more than one model for that disappointing lesson, and American Jewish kids are as likely to rail against genocide in Rwanda, Darfur, or the Congo as they are against the Holocaust.
For the Jews of my generation, though, discussions of the Holocaust have always and instantly turned personal. I was surrounded, growing up, by members of my father's family -- all from Germany -- who lost brothers, sisters and parents in concentration camps. There are great-uncles and great-aunts I didn't get to know because they were killed. The survivors aren't immersed in sadness and pain now, but that era in history has shaped their lives, and their faith, totally.
But it's my grandparents' story that I think of first and last whenever I hear or read about the Holocaust. I've been lucky enough to grow up with them, and know them well; my two sons have lit Chanukah candles with their great-grandparents for many years. I've been sorting through my memories a lot recently, because my grandfather, Pinchas Isaak, died a few weeks ago at the age of 91. I've marveled at his strength, who he is and what he stood for, and how he spent his time on earth. And I've re-learned the fairly breathtaking story of how he and my grandmother, Martha, survived the Holocaust themselves by the skin of their teeth. It's pretty dramatic, especially the part when they finally get out of Germany and into Italy. There, they waited six weeks for the papers that would allow them to fly to meet family in (the relatively safe haven of) London. Finally, the papers arrived -- but with a hitch. On video above, recorded by volunteers for Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation in 1996, Pinchas Isaak tells what happened next. You can read the rest of my grandfather's story here.
Sharon Hoffman
11:05 AM ET
|
01-30-2008
|
permalink
|
comments (1)
|
e-mail post
Filed under: Music, Video
A year ago, Rolling Stone called the the Whigs "the best unsigned band in America." With the combination of ink like that and their trademark ear-blistering live shows, it wasn't long before Dave Matthew's ATO Records took notice and signed the Athens, Georgia, band to a multi-album deal. Their second record, Mission Control, has drawn gleeful comparisons to both Nirvana and Superchunk by critics and fans alike.
Here's a (rare) unplugged rendition of the first track off of Mission Control, "Like a Vibration":
Win Rosenfeld
10:45 AM ET
|
01-30-2008
|
permalink
|
comments (2)
|
e-mail post
