My first post on this medium was in commemoration of Yom HaShoah last year. After uncovering information about family members being killed in the Holocaust, I didn’t quite know how to process that information. My great-grandparents had come to America before the outbreak of World War II, and three of my four grandparents were born in this country. It’s not that it didn’t occur to me that it could have happened, but I don’t know why I was so shocked at this discovery. I needed an outlet for my feelings, and so I began this blog.

The encounter of facing this information was the impetus behind me taking a course in my schedule of graduate classes titled Teaching the Holocaust, which was taught by one of the foremost experts in the subject (and Holocaust studies in general). Although it was only a 4 day intensive course, I gained more from those 4 meaningful days than in any other class I’ve taken in my life. The professor, Dr. Shawn, oversees an interdisciplinary journal for Holocaust educators, that is put out annually by Azrieli. I submitted this post for print in the forthcoming volume, and, after many edits and additions, it was accepted!

When editing this piece for publication, my emotions ran high once more. I again pored over my great-grandfather’s autobiographical work that was penned along with my great-Aunt Audrey. I was again struck with a sense of awe, turning each new page faster than the last. It caused me to comb through the internet database of Yad Vashem in an effort to trace any family members of mine listed there that I may have missed. If I’m not too sheepish, I may even try and reach out to family members that I discovered through this personal initiative.

Nevertheless, below you will find both pieces, the original and the newly published. Enjoy!

Click here to see the published piece.

Click here to see the original blog post.