Episode 5: "New Beginnings" featuring Helen Kaltman and Whitney Austin

Throughout our lives, there are times and seasons when it’s required, or desired, to start something new. New beginnings can take many forms but there are some common elements to them – uncertainty, the need for bravery and resilience, and parts of oneself or one’s story that get left behind to make room for the new.

“They made their way to Cincinnati, and they started their life - another new beginning” - Jackie Congedo, on the story of Holocaust survivor Helen Kaltman 

In this episode, Jackie and Kevin explore the idea of new beginnings by examining a story in the headlines from Springfield, Ohio, where Haitian immigrants became the focus of national debate and concern. 

From our archive, you will hear the story of Holocaust survivor Helen Kaltman. Helen was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1937. As the threat against European Jews grew, her family fled to Russia, but was deported to Siberia. Two generations of her family joined Helen to share their reflections on what it meant for Helen to survive, and how she subsequently started her life over, not once, but twice…first in Israel and then in the United States. 

Then we bring you part of Jackie’s conversation with mass shooting survivor and upstander Whitney Austin. Whitney defied the odds when she was shot 12 times and lived. That was 2018. Now she is the force behind Whitney/Strong, the organization that she founded to find common ground solutions to gun violence. 

Download this episode today, and please share this with a friend you think might enjoy it.  Thanks for being part of the Upstander Ripple Effect community! 

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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  

Episode Resources: 

Learn more about the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center https://www.holocaustandhumanity.org/

Watch Helen Kaltman's episode of Hear My Story
https://youtu.be/q-iqW5Ivajg  

Follow Whitney Austin’s work
https://www.whitneystrong.org/  

Watch Whitney’s episode of Hear My Story
https://youtu.be/f8H3DbE9My8?si=mrzq6nRWsG9eAabF  

Find a Stop the Bleed training
https://www.stopthebleed.org/training/ 

Washington Post Op-Ed on Springfield
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/09/18/springfield-migrants-pets-trump-haiti/  

Background on Haitian stereotypes
https://nacla.org/anti-haitianism-springfield-scapegoating  

  

 

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