Ep. 80 Rachelle Unreich on mothers and daughters, fate and the goodness of people.

How are you going with the state of the world right now?

Wars and violence continue to rage, hate and abuse fill social media feeds, and an escalation of ideological conflict is causing uncertainty and division in our politics, in our communities and at our dinner tables.

It can make you lose a little faith in the world ... wonder if humanity will be ok, whether we can actually save ourselves from ourselves.

Until you remember that there are stories of hope and love and life and survival everywhere, if you make the time to seek them out.

Today’s episode is a story that will restore your faith, and fill your cup.

It’s the unforgettable story of Mira Unreich, who one fine Spring day in 1945, was freed from a concentration camp in Germany, and found herself alive, under blue skies, against all odds. She’d survived four death camps, including Auschwitz, and a death march. 

And in the decades that followed her release, she never explained the mystery underpinning her extraordinary survival, and why the holocaust’s greatest lesson for her - despite unimaginable horror - was experiencing the innate "goodness of people".

When Mira’s journalist daughter, Rachelle Unreich, many decades later, realised time was running out for her mother who was in her final weeks of terminal cancer, she decided to sit down and finally ask her some questions. 

It would be the most important interview of her life: a chance to discover the secret to her mother’s boundless optimism, the sliding doors of fate and chance, how love and grief can run as deep as the years, and how the past and present weave a powerful and indelible connection between a mother and child, even when they’re gone.

Heartfelt thanks to Rachelle - and of course to Mira - for sharing this remarkable story.

We hope this episode leaves you all feeling a little better about the world right now. 

Guest: Rachelle Unreich
Book: A Brilliant Life: My Mother's Inspiring Story of Surviving the Holocaust

Host: Mads Grummet + Sabina Read
Producer: Daryl Missen

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website where you can also catch great conversations with previous guests :)

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