.
. WELCOME
. WELCOME BACK TO THE SHOW. JOSHUA GORTNER WAS THREE YEARS
OLD WHEN HIS FAMILY WAS FORCED
TO FLEE THEIR HOME IN POLAND
DURING WORLD WAR TWO.
THEY SPENT YEARS RUNNING ACROSS
BORDERS AT TIMES BARELY
ESCAPING THE NAZIS.
A FAMILY WOULD THEN SPEND YEARS
IN THE DISPLACED PERSONS CAMPS
LEARNING TO SURVIVE, FINALLY
MAKING IT TO AMERICA AT AGE 15,
WALLERS STARTED OVER AND IN HIS
NEW BOOK AMONG THE REMNANTS HE
SHARES WHY HE CONSIDERS HIMSELF
FORTUNATE.
WHAT I REALLY REMEMBER MORE
THAN THE LABOR CAMP ITSELF I
REMEMBER LEAVING THE COMFORTS
MY HOME POLAND MY LABELLE'S
CAME CLOSE TO THE SIXTEEN
HUNDREDS.
WHEN WE START OUR FAMILY GOES
BACK TO UNPUBLISHABLE.
THEY MOVED INTO 16 HUNDER AND
IT'S INTERESTING NOT ONLY TODAY
BUT IN NINETEEN FORTY FIVE
KOSOFF THAT YOU DESIGN THERE
ARE NO JEWS THE ONLY JEWISH YOU
CAN FIND AND MAKE ALL OF THOSE
THAT ARE BURIED UNDER THE
GROUND IN THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH FOR YOUR
FAMILY WAS JUST A MATTER
OF DAYS YOU LEFT RATHER RISKA
BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE JEWS
THAT STAYED THERE?
IT'S REALLY A MIRACLE THAT I'M
HERE TODAY WITH YOU TO TALK TO,
YOU KNOW, BECAUSE AS YOU SAID,
IT WAS A MATTER OF SECONDS
MOMENTS THAT IT WAS LIFE AND
DEATH AND WE WERE FORCED TO
LEAVE PROBABLY GOT TO SIBERIA.
THE GERMANS AGAIN REOCCUPIED
ROBERT RUSHKOFF AND EVERY JEW
HAD TO DIG TRENCHES HAD TO GO
INSIDE.
THEY WERE ALL KILLED AND THOSE
THAT SURVIVED WERE SENT TO AN
EXTERMINATION CAMP, A PLACE
CALLED BELTZER.
EVERYBODY WAS ISOLATED.
TELL ME AGAIN HOW YOUR FAMILY
ENDED LEAVING.
YOU WERE LUCKY WE WERE LOADED
AS SECURE AS THE RUSSIAN MOVED
OUT OF THAT PARTICULAR PART
OF POLAND.
WE WENT FOR THE RUSSIAN ARMY
AND SHIPPED OUT THE JEWS THAT
SLAVE LABOR TO SIBERIA.
UNBELIEVABLE.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO BE A
DISPLACED PERSON?
WHAT WAS THAT LIKE FOR YOU?
YOU WERE A TEENAGER AT THE TIME
IN NINETEEN FORTY FIVE THE WAR
WAS OVER.
MY PARENTS HAVE CHOSEN TO GO
BACK TO OUR HOMELAND THEN WE
RETURNED AGAIN.
WE EXPECTED WELCOME.
THAT WAS NOT THE CASE THAT OUR
HOME WAS OCCUPIED BY POLISH
NEIGHBORS AND THEY DID NOT
WELCOME US BACK.
THEY JUST SAID WHAT DID THE
WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?
HITLER DIDN'T TAKE CARE OF YOU
YET ENOUGH SO MY PARENTS HAD A
VISION BEFORE WE WENT EAST
NORTH TO SIBERIA.
NOW WE ARE TRAVELING WEST TO
GERMANY AND WE FIND REFUGE IN
THE FIRST PLACE PERSONAL CAMP
IN BERLIN.
I WENT TO THREE DIFFERENT
PEOPLE AND TO REMEMBER I NOW
ELEVEN YEARS OLD UNEDUCATED I
HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO READ
HEBREW, HOW TO READ THE LATIN
ALPHABET WITH THE YOUTH TODAY
ELEVEN YEARS OLD AND COMPLETE
ME UNEDUCATED TO ZERO AND THE
FIRST TIME I LOOKED AT THE FOUR
I HAD NO IDEA HOW DO YOU LIVE
FOR LESS TIME I DO THE WORK
OF A THREE YEAR OLD.
YOU HAD ONE STONE OF FALLING
ALL THE TIME AND WE WERE IN
SIBERIA AGAIN AND NOW I HAVE TO
BE VERY EDUCATED JUST LIKE
SOMEONE WHO CAME OUT OF THE
WOODS.
HOW HAS THAT IMPACTED YOUR
OUTLOOK ON LIFE?
I BECAME A PASSIONATE
INDIVIDUAL.
I BECAME AN EDUCATED INDIVIDUAL
AND I DEVOTED MY ENTIRE
PROFESSIONAL CAREER IN HELPING
OTHERS.
SO THE DP CAMPS WERE A REMARK
ABOUT PLACE FOR ME.
MY EXPERIENCE IN THE DP CAMP IS
GAINING KNOWLEDGE, HAVE CONCERN
FOR OTHERS AND THERE'S A JEWISH
EXPRESSION THAT IS KNOWN AS
TIKKUN OLAM.
EACH AND EVERY ONE IS BORN AND
THAT PERSON'S SORT
OF OBLIGATION TO LEAVE THIS
EARTH IN BETTER CONDITION THAN
THEY FOUND IT.
IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL TO HEAR YOU
SAY THAT ESPECIALLY AFTER
EVERYTHING YOU WENT THROUGH.
I MEAN YOU EVEN REFERRED TO
YOURSELF AS A FORTUNATE JEW.
YOU KNOW, THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO
AFTER THE WAR IN THE DP CAMP
WHO GAVE UP RELIGION TOTAL WHO
FELT THAT THERE IS NO GOD IF
THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN A GOD HE
COULD NEVER LET THESE TYPE
OF ATROCITIES TO HAPPEN.
HE WOULD HAVE NEVER LET PEOPLE
BE BURNED ALIVE.
IT'S INTERESTING I DO NOT USE
THE TERM HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR THE
TERM REMNANT IS REFERRED TO IN
THE OLD TESTAMENT IN MANY
PLACES AS THOSE WHO WERE LEFT
OVER IN CAME BACK FROM THE
ASHES JUST CAME TO ME AS WE ARE
TALKING WE WERE RESETTLED IN
PHENIX AND THE TERM PHENIX BIRD
HAS A TREMENDOUS METAPHORE CAME
OUT FROM THE ASHES AND PERHAPS
THIS IS MY LIFE THE PHENIX AND
PERHAPS IT WAS GOD'S WILL TO
ACCEPT THE I THINK THAT'S A
FANTASTIC METAPHOR FOR YOUR
LIFE.
JOSHUA, YOU ARE A PHENIX RISING
FROM THE ASHES.
YOU'VE WRITTEN THIS BOOK TO
SHARE YOUR STORY AND QUITE
FRANKLY TO SHARE OH WHY IS IT
SO IMPORTANT THAT WE KEEP
TALKING ABOUT THIS TODAY?
THERE WAS A TIME TO TALK AND
THERE ARE TIME TO BE SILENT AND
WHAT I SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING TO
THE JEWS AROUND THE WORLD
ANTI-SEMITISM.
I FEEL IT IS A TIME FOR FEW
OF US.
I WAS A CHILD THAT I LEFT.
THERE WAS A MOVEMENT
OF HOLOCAUST DENIERS.
UNFORTUNATELY WE SEE THAT THEN
IN BOTH ANTI-SEMITISM IS
SPREADING AGAIN IN EUROPE AND
IN THE UNITED STATES.
IS THAT WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT
YOU CONTINUE TO SPEAK OUT
ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO
TALKING TO YOUTH IN SCHOOLS?
ABSOLUTELY.
I FEEL A COMMITMENT.
I DO BOB AND THE FIFTEEN BUCKS
A YEAR IN SCHOOLS I DO TO TALK
TO YOU ABOUT JUVENILE PRISONS.
I TELL YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN THAT
THEY HAVE IT HARD.
THEY HAVE THE DIFFICULT LOOK
WHAT I WENT THROUGH AND LOOK
HOW I TURNED.
THEY HAVE THE SAME ABILITY IF
THEY PUT THEIR MIND AND SOUL TO
WORK.
I FEEL THAT EVERY CHILD THAT I
COULD HELP IS