Episode 6: "Lightness and Dark" featuring Zahava Rendler

In the face of darkness, every small act of courage and empathy can ignite a beacon of hope. That lens of dark versus light is how we’re examining stories in this episode.  

“As I'm sitting there having this conversation with her, it's just chilling to think this person in front of me had this experience. This was not generations ago. I'm talking to the human being who spent the first two years of her life in darkness, or the first chunk of her life, right? It's just remarkable.” 
- Jackie on her conversation with Holocaust survivor Zahava Rendler, who was hidden in a bunker as a baby with her parents. 

Zahava Rendler has spent her adult life sharing her experience of the darkness of her childhood – being born in 1941 in Poland to a Jewish family. Her family was forced to make incredibly hard decisions to survive Nazi persecution. Even through that darkness, Zahava is able to see the light that upstanders brought to her story, hiding her and her family. Jackie and Kevin also share the way light has shown up in their lives and in the news lately, and are here to remind you that whatever light you have to bring to the table is needed because we all have times when darkness seems like it’s going to win. 

Download this episode today, and then share it with a friend. 

This episode is part of the Cynthia & Harold Guttman Family Center for Storytelling. Subscribe here
https://www.youtube.com/@holocaustandhumanity 
Email us [e-mail]

Episode Resources 

Admission to the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center will be free every January!
https://youtu.be/GGITEqa7C9s?si=p2OEVKW9sEZgNG9r  

Read John Trautmann’s op-ed about his experience in Western North Carolina
https://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/contributors/2024/10/21/opinion-how-my-family-survived-the-nightmare-of-hurricane-helene/75597735007/  

Experience Rutka at Playhouse in the Park
https://www.cincyplay.com/productions/RUTKA  

General John Kelly’s words about Donald Trump and Hitler
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-said-hitler-did-some-good-things-and-wanted-generals-like-the-nazis-former-chief-of-staff-kelly-claims  

Read about the generals in the Nazi regime
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/german-armed-forces-high-command

Historians are wrestling with whether Donald Trump meets the definition of a fascist. https://theconversation.com/is-donald-trump-a-fascist-heres-what-an-expert-thinks-242243 
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/fascism-1

Follow Eric Ward at Race Forward https://www.raceforward.org/  

Meet our Scholar in Residence
https://www.holocaustandhumanity.org/stories-that-shape-us-educational-updates/

Zahava Rendler's story
https://youtu.be/RXp

.css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}