CBH Talk | Our German-Jewish Grandfathers: Two Searches for Understanding
As we approach the annual telling of the Passover story, CBH brings together two women who relay very different personal family stories of escape and death in Nazi Germany in deeply researched books. As adults, Bonnie Siegler (The American Way) and Karen Baum Gordon (The Last Letter) were driven to fill in the lost details about their German grandparents. Their journeys of discovery sent them on deep dives into the archives, travel to Europe, and all manner of detective work, as they pieced together their family histories in powerful, poignant, and even amusing ways. These two granddaughters, along with Helene Stapinski, co-author ofThe American Way, share hands-on experiences and bring to light stories with meaning not only for their own children, but also for future generations of Jews.
Participants
Karen Baum Gordon is the daughter of Rudolf Baum, a Holocaust survivor whose stymied efforts to save his parents had multigenerational effects. Her book, The Last Letter: A Father’s Struggle, a Daughter’s Quest, and the Long Shadow of the Holocaust, tells the story of Karen’s father and the long shadow of the Holocaust that took the lives of her grandparents and irrevocably altered her father’s life and her own. Based on archival documents, correspondence and photos, the book is about relationships, forgiveness, and the perseverance to learn more about a loved one's story. A Dallas native, Karen lives with her husband and black lab in Brooklyn, NY, and also spends time in South Hero, Vermont.
Bonnie Siegler is the founder and creative director of award-winning, multi-disciplinary graphic design studio Eight and a Half. The author of Dear Client, a guide for people who work with creatives, and Signs of Resistance, a history of protest in America, she taught design in the graduate schools of Yale University and the School of Visual Arts for many years. Her latest book, co-authored with Helene Stapinski, is The American Way: A True Story of Nazi Escape, Superman, and Marilyn Monroe. She lives in Connecticut.
Author photo by Ryan Christopher Jones.
Helene Stapinski is the nationally bestselling author of three memoirs: Five-Finger Discount, Murder in Matera, and Baby Plays Around. She writes regularly for The New York Times; her work has also appeared in The Washington Post, New York, Travel & Leisure, and dozens of other publications. She teaches at New York University and lives in Brooklyn.
Author photo by Lisa Bauso.
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