Featuring Ed Kruszynski and Patrice O’Neill
Bearing witness is something we ask ourselves, and those who visit us at the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center, to do every day. We devoted this episode to people whose work has made a difference as they’ve witnessed others’ lived experiences with empathy.
“The whole lesson from this history is that we should resist dehumanization whether it’s happening to Jews or happening to anyone else.” — Jackie Congedo
Jackie and Kevin start this conversation by remembering the life of a Cincinnati Holocaust survivor, Dr. Renate Neeman, z”l. Dr. Neeman was born in 1926 in Hildesheim, Germany. In May 1938, her parents fled to the Netherlands after her father received notification of his impending arrest by the Gestapo. The young girl was hidden by the Dutch resistance – upstanders whom she credited with her survival. She shared her story for many years with students and others as part of our Coppel Speakers Bureau.
Other current events discussed include their reaction to a Wall Street Journal article, “Holocaust Museums at a crossroads.” Jackie and Kevin discussed the challenges facing organizations like the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center, and how these museums can educate about history in general and antisemitism specifically, as well as incorporate the lessons from the past into their lives going forward.
We also share part of the conversation with Cincinnati author, Ed Kruszynski. Ed did not set out to be an author, but when he found a box that contained letters, photos, and other memorabilia from his father’s time as a medic in WWII, he wanted to write down the story for his family. Ed’s father, Sgt. Edmund Kruszynski, led dozens of medics on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day and for days afterwards, and later treated people at multiple concentration camps after liberation. The young Sergeant wrote dozens of letters home to his wife, Mary, who saved them and hid them away for decades. Ed pored over the documents that told his parents’ story, and investigated the context further in the U.S. archives. The result is an incredibly moving work of historical fiction, called The Medic’s Wife. Jackie and Kevin shared their reaction to Ed’s work bearing witness to all his parents went through during and after the war.
The upstander featured in this episode is Patrice O’Neill, who has made it her life’s work to carefully and compassionately document the impact of hate in communities all over the country. Her film, Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life tells the story of the community response to the deadly attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2018. 11 people were murdered by a gunman motivated by antisemitic hate, and the area was left reeling, but as Patrice’s moving film shows, vowed not to let hate have the last word.
Episode Resources
Learn more about the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center https://www.holocaustandhumanity.org/
We remember the life of Dr. Renate Neeman, z”l https://www.holocaustandhumanity.org/remembering-dr-renate-berg-neeman-zl/
Book your own speaker through our Coppel Speakers Bureau.
Read about the 11th International Summer Academy (ISA) organized by the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust (ICEAH), that HHC staff members Cori Silbernagel and Trinity Johnson recently attended:
Catch the full episode of Hear My Story with Ed Kruszynski as he shares his reflections on the stories from his family’s past that were almost never told:
Buy your copy of The Medic’s Wife – proceeds of books purchased in August 2024 are being generously donated to HHC by author Ed Kruszynski:
Watch our whole conversation with Patrice O’Neill and Dr. Lauren Bairnsfather as they share their personal experiences during and after the deadly attack at the Tree of Life synagogue.
Learn more about Patrice O’Neill’s organization dedicated to stopping hate https://www.niot.org
View Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life (PBS Passport account required) https://www.pbs.org/show/repairing-the-world-stories-from-the-tree-of-life
This episode is part of the Cynthia & Harold Guttman Family Center for Storytelling. Subscribe here to make sure you don’t miss a thing https://www.youtube.com/@holocaustandhumanity
News stories mentioned:
“Holocaust Museums at a Crossroads” by Edward Rothstein at the Wall Street Journal https://archive.is/2024.08.13-145757/https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/history/holocaust-museums-at-a-crossroads-c9bdd1b6
Thoughts on bearing witness by Jessica Blitchok at Jewish Silicon Valley https://www.jvalley.org/the-importance-of-bearing-witness/
How Flavor Flav made a splash as an upstander at the Paris Olympics https://slate.com/business/2024/08/paris-olympics-flavor-flav-water-polo-sponsorship-rent-gofundme.html
Kevin’s column, Remembering Yudell Hightower https://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/columnists/2024/08/16/remembering-yudell-hightower-middletown-business-man-pioneer/74824733007/
