holocaust – Kveller

Gal Gadot — Israeli actor, model, and mom of two — got emotional when her assistant recently showed her a video of her late grandfather, Abraham Weiss, who was a Holocaust survivor. Weiss lost… his entire family in Auschwitz. What her assistant didn't realize is that Gadot didn't have any photos of her grandfather, who died in 2013 at age 85. This was especially poignant for the Wonder Woman star as it happened right in time for Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Jewish mom posted a clip of the video on… >> Read More

holocaust

5 Amazing Jewish Women Who Served During World War II

Joanna C. Valente

Did you know that 550,000 Jews served in the U.S. military during World War II? That number includes famous Jews, like film director Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner, but they weren't only men. Some… 10,000 Jewish women enlisted in the U.S. Armed Forces — and, like so much of women's history, they often performed unsung roles. This incredible history (or herstory, should we say?) is the topic of the 90-minute PBS special, GI Jews: Jewish Americans in World War II, premiering on the PBS network at 10 p.m. April… >> Read More

kveller q&a

The New Fantasy YA Holocaust Novel You Should Read

Joanna C. Valente

Jane Yolen author photo_Jason Stemple credit.jpg

Author Jane Yolen may be most famous for How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? — but she's actually written so many books that you can read one each day for a year. She's also a mom of three and a… grandmother of six — so, you know, she's pretty busy. Yolen, 79, began writing children's books more than 30 years ago. But she changed the game completely in 1988 with The Devil's Arithmetic, a young adult Holocaust fantasy-ish novel (with nearly 2 million copies in print in the U.S. alone) that was unlike anything else. The… >> Read More

holocaust

Holocaust Survivor Couple, Married 75 Years, Die Weeks Apart

Joanna C. Valente

If there was ever a love story to make you cry and smile at the same time, it's the story of John Jacob Rothschild and his wife, Renee Rothschild. The Holocaust survivors, who were married for 75… years, recently passed away within weeks of each other. Talk about kindred spirits. Last week, John died at age 98 of a stroke at his home in Louisville. Renee died of a stroke seven weeks earlier. Their love ran so deep that John famously snuck into a Nazi internment camp in France to find Renee, then his fiancee. This… >> Read More

holocaust

The Bond Between This Holocaust Survivor & His Great-Grandson Is Beautiful

Joanna C. Valente

“Your number was your name…that’s all he was to them.” That's what 10-year-old Elliott said to his 90-year-old great-grandfather, Jack Feldman, pointing to the number tattooed on his arm,… A-17606. Jack is a Holocaust survivor who grew up in Poland before he was sent to Auschwitz. Elliott is the narrator of a new HBO documentary directed by Amy Schatz, The Number on Great-Grandpa's Arm, which debuts Saturday, January 27 on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In the 19-minute film, the young boy explains what his great-grandfather's… >> Read More

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