All language subtitles for Holocaust.An.Untold.Story.2022.WEBRip.x264-ION10

[Fred Zaidman] What did it mean
to me growing up
with Holocaust survivors.

To me it felt like, uh...

Confusion.

I felt like I was the only one

in the world being affected
by it.

I felt so,

uh, isolated,

in my feelings as well.

You know, I couldn't
express them to anybody.

I couldn't pour it out.

I thought it was so painful
that they didn't want
to discuss it.

And I think deep down inside

I wanted to know.

And I just couldn't
muster the courage to ask.

When I was three years old
in 1967,

I was at my aunt
and uncle's apartment

And I knew that
something was different

then the ordinary family.

And I...
I could feel like

a pain in my chest.

I just saw the sorrow
in their eyes
and in their faces.

[Fred]
My father was more carefree.

My mother lived
in anxiety and fear.

So she was very
over-protective

and was a very tough woman.

She really was.

I remember my mother crying
to someone on the phone
every morning.

There was a sense of something
horrible happened in the past.

But when my mother started
to cry, I would start to cry.

I went to Hebrew school,
I was bar mitzvaed.

My parents and their
friends spoke in Yiddish.

I wanted to be
more American.

And I was battling with myself
which way to go.

So that's how I grew up.

Shy and by myself.

and, uh, sports.

That gave me a lot of
confidence which I didn't
even know I had.

I can still do it.

Yeah, look at that.

Was it enough? No.

Because there's more to life
than sports.

My parents weren't aware

of what was going on
inside me.

They were more into
their own world

of survival.

They met in Bergen-Belsen

Shortly after being liberated,
they married.

And they had my brother
in 1947.

My father and mother
didn't know each other
in the camps.

So they had men on one side
and women on the other side.

They never met,
never mingled.

So then
when they were liberated

in '45 by the British,

everybody came
to the courtyard.

According to my mother,
people picked partners,

without love,
just to rebuild the population.

My mother met a doctor,

and she met my father
the carpenter.

And she took my father
the carpenter.

And years later she tells
my father she should have taken
the doctor.

I think they fell
in love later.

But they weren't in love
when they got married.

The Holocaust kept
them together.

After they were married,

they went back to Poland
to look for family

And they found my Aunt Manya,
my mother's youngest sister.

[Miriam Ickowicz] 1939
when the Germans came in,

They took me right away.

I was just a kid, 12 years old.

And my parents never
saw me again.

I went to Czechoslovakia.

The life was something

nobody should know about it.
Nobody.

I was liberated from
the Russian army.
The whole camp.

And we walked,
we walked,

and every time we saw people,

we said, "Maybe it's my sister,
maybe it's my brother."

Very, very anxious
to find family.

I was in Poland

and somebody knocks
on the door.

It was my sister
with my brother-in-law.

And we smuggled ourselves

to Germany.

We lived together
till I got married.

That was the day. [chuckles]

[Fred] They were there
for five years.

And they built a life
over there

and did the best they can,
it wasn't easy.

We had a relative in
Beverly Hills.

Abe Biren.

And so he sponsored
my parents

to come to the United States
with me.

They moved to Los Angeles
in 1950

and I was born in 1954.

The parents were having
trouble supporting

two kids because
the finances were not good.

And so Fred was temporarily
put up

so somebody else could
take care of him.

The only thing I couldn't
figure out,

which I never asked,
was why him and not me,
or both of us?

[Fred] I would say
my brother was the favorite.

They shared that history
back in Bergen-Belsen.

I think there's a special bond
because of that.

And with me,
I'm the Americano.

Now, I have another person
who grew up in our family

His name is Barry Levine.

And we all considered him
a brother.

I say I have two brothers.

[Barry Levine] I just fit in.
They were so friendly.

So concerned about me,

and I truly called them
my second set of parents.

I tried my best to
cheer them up.

They were filled with

horror, pictures in their minds
about the Holocaust.

And they were sad
a lot of times,

really sad, which we could
all pick up very easily.

[Fred] My mother was
dealing with her past.

There were the nightmares.

Gestapo, Nazis, Gestapo.

[Martin] So you're coming out
of the concentration camp,

where's the therapists to
help people cope?

As far as I know,
they didn't get any.

So whatever happened to them
in Germany they brought here.

[Fred] My mother says,
"You're lucky,
you have a mother.

I don't have my mother.

I don't even know
where my mother is buried."

I feel Fred experienced
that trauma a lot more
than Martin did.

He went with their grief
and sorrow.

He lived it.

I didn't allow myself
to live with negativity.

It was, like, not me.

[Fred] In the past,
I was in various businesses.

And when my parents took ill,
I pretty much stopped working
to take care of them.

Now they're gone,
and my passion now
is volunteering.

The food pantry,
it's my way of helping out.

I didn't want to be someone
who was on the outside
looking in.

This was instilled in me
by my mother.

She never let anybody
who came in the house

leave without eating something.

The constant statement was,

"Fleisch, fleisch,
you have to eat, come on.

Come here, eat."

I got the lamb chops

and the tongue. Ugh!

[laughing]

And all these Jewish foods.

[Fred] I've been volunteering
here for 18 years.

I discovered many of the kids
playing basketball

were not playing
in any leagues,

and I started to
build a program

where kids had their uniforms

and they got their trophies,

and their achievements were
right here.

I've giving you a certificate
for all your great work
in the park

and for working to get
Nick Young here.

Well, thank you.

Keep going.

-[woman talking indistinctly]
-Hiya.

I donate platelets
at Cedars-Sanai Medical Center

because my father took ill,
he was in the ER

and they gave him six pints

of blood from strangers
who came in.

And that saved his life.

He has donated 273 times,

and this achievement makes him
the donor who has made
the most donations

in the history
of the blood donor program.

-Mr. Fred. Zaidman.
-[crowd applauds]

I accept it for all of us,
really,

because if it wasn't for us,

[clears throat] a lot
of people would be
in a lot of trouble.

So, God bless everybody,
thank you so very much,

and, let's get back
on that table.

[crowd laughs and applauds]

I have a beautiful dog,
a Boston Terrier
named Stella.

And I'm in a place
in my life where

I'm following my passion
of helping others

and having good people
in my life.

Everything in my life
has sort of settled

and the one part of it that

wasn't settled was knowing
my family ancestry.

I wanted to see if
I could find a living relative.

I heard they were in Auschwitz,

but I owed it to them
that I at least search.

I felt compelled to do it
for my parents.

Up here is my father, Wolf.

And my mother, Renya,

Renee.

I just had to know
who's there beyond my parents.

Who were my grandparents.

I wanted to break through
that wall, that mystery.

I thought my family tree
was a twig.

I didn't expect
to find anything.

What I discovered was, uh,

a few of the third,
fourth, fifth, sixth,
seventh generation.

And, uh, it's something.

One of my really
great discoveries

is the name of my
great-grandfather.

Here's the birth of
Jakub Wolf Birencwaig
in 1847,

in Radomsko, Poland.

My great-grandmother,
Chana Frimeta,

And on the other side
of the family,

my great-grandfather
Kopel Zaidman,

born in 1843.

This one happens to be
my father's older brother,
Fischel.

My mother's youngest brother,
Tadek,

who was killed in
a concentration camp.

He was shot in the head

only because he was singing
a happy song.

He learned that he was
going to be liberated
the next day.

Somebody reported him

to a Nazi and they came over
and they shot him.

Now I have two pieces
of the puzzle,

you know, now I want
to get the rest of the piece.

I want the whole family.

I would say
that he just misses
my parents

and wants to hang on

to someone that could be
connected to my parents
that are still alive.

So I think he's still dealing
with my parents' death.

And hasn't released them.

But he's driven

emotionally,
to do this research.

And that's okay,
it's just
not my calling for me.

My brother doesn't acknowledge

his past,

his Holocaust experience,

his heritage.

He is removed from that.

And I would say
I'm the complete opposite.

I'm glad I'm opposite for me.
I wouldn't want to be

trapped in the past.

Does it bother me
that my brother

has no interest?

Yeah, it bothers me.

It bothers me, but I try
not it let it get to me.

It just...
It is what it is.

And I just move on.

Hello.

Today I visit a half a dozen
Holocaust survivors.

Because I feel very comfortable
being with survivors.

I understand them.
I feel at home.

Adela's like my member
of the family.

[Adela] Today's really
my lucky day,

that I meet two guys
in my house

when I'm always so lonely.

Fred Zaidman
and Philip Raucher,

two people what I know since
I was beautiful and young.

[all chuckling]

You know what?
My father was in Bedzin.

[Adela] Czeladz.

My father was in Czeladz
or Bedzin?

[Adela] Czeladz.

Okay.

There are a lot of
Poles who were

very courageous
during the war.

Poles were not courageous.
Maybe in the east.

East of...

No? There weren't some Poles

-who helped the Jews...
-No.

-Hid the Jews?
-No.

-No?
-No.

[Fred] The photo
of my grandparents
is number one.

I don't know what
they looked like
except for one grandmother.

There is nothing

to indicate that they were
actually alive in this world.

So finding a document
is very important to me.

That'll prove
they actually lived.

I think it would bring
some kind of, uh,

completion in who I am.

I think he's trying to find
love from his grandparents.

He thinks grandparents
are angels.

And I think he's trying
to find the angel in his life.

They're my link to the past.

Hopefully I can find
a photo of my grandparents.

But I would accept
whatever I can find.

[Barbara] Hi.
[Fred] Hi. Hi, Barbara.

I'm still coming down to Earth.

[Barbara] Yeah, you're here.

-In person.
-Yeah, I'm here.

I'm here but
I'm not all there.

Because you two are
the only ones

that I've met
from my father's side
of the family.

And we're all Zaidmans
in one way or another.

They all came from Poland.
Does anybody know

anything that happened
to any of them?

-Auschwitz.
-Auschwitz is what I hear.

So I imagine that your parents
never discussed what
happened to them.

Their...
Their incarceration...

[Fred] My father did not.
You know, I didn't have
the guts either.

Honestly, I didn't have
the courage to ask them.

I got a glimpse of his history.

He had bypass surgery
and he was crying.

I had never seen
my father cry before.

-And he was telling the nurse
my mother went into the fire.
-[Barbara gasps]

That was the first time
I heard him talk about

-his parents...
-Stella!

-Stella!
-Pretty cousin.

Oh, thank you.

I dropped her down
to number one cousin.

I need to stand
on my tippy-toes.

[Fred] I got new relatives.

Which is an amazing feeling,
you know, from a,

a side of the family that
I never knew.

Wow.

Yeah.

I was first told

about this several years ago
by my father's first cousin
in Australia.

But I wasn't able to
connect it until

late, uh, last year.

And that is my father's
first cousin, Isser Be'eri.

He became the first director
of military intelligence
for the IDF.

And the Haganah.

Isser's father would be
my grandmother's brother.

Isser Be'eri.

There he is.

Tall and handsome.

1951 to 1958.
Director of the Haganah
Intelligence Service.

There's the man.

I discovered Issar had a son.

His name is Itay.

I shot him off an email

explaining who I am
and I'm waiting to hear back.

My aunt, Manya, and I
have been having
frequent talks,

and she has opened up
that part of the world.

When I go to Poland
for the first time,

I don't want to be rushed,
I don't want to be
bothered by anybody.

-I want to feel--
-You want to be on your own.

I want to be on my own
to feel it.

He wants to go to visit
where we used to live.

I don't blame him.

You know, memories.

That's what he wants.

[Fred] You and Martin
in Bergen-Belsen.

[Manya] Yes.

[Freddy] I think it's going
to be very painful for him.

I hope that he discovers, uh,

just where we came from.

Our humble beginnings.

The city's there,
the people are not there.

The Jewish people.

[flight attendant speaking
foreign language]

[Fred] Just landed on the moon.

That's what it's like for me,
I landed on the moon.

[woman on PA]
Welcome to Warsaw,
ladies and gentlemen.

I'm looking for anything
and everything
related to my family.

On my father's side,
my father was
the only one who survived.

He never spoke about anything.
He just clammed up.

So each discovery gives me
that extra air of oxygen.

It means a lot to me.

[Matan Shefi] So what do you
know about your father?

-His parents, Moshe Zaidman.
-[Matan] Mmm-hmm.

And he was married to
Rywka Birencwaig.

And Moshe's father is Kopel.

[Anna Przybyszewska-Drozd]
Where did you find this?

[Fred] Ancestry.com.

[scoffs] Which means nothing.

It's a very difficult situation
with your family.

Because the people are from
one place,

but the registration
is in other archives,

so you have to go all over
to see even if there's nothing.

It's like the borderline
between a few regions,

so if you live here,
the record goes there.

If you live five kilometers
farther, the record goes
to the other.

It's important
the source of information,

which is, "My mother told me,
my dad told me."

-[Fred] Right.
-"I saw it in a book."

And then, of course,
which book?

"I saw it on Ancestry."
Okay, but where?

Right, you have to verify.

[Anna] It's not the source.

Were any photos taken
at the same time

a document was being written?

[Matan] This is a really
problematic thing.

Photos were not very often
attached to documents.

Nowadays, we're accustomed
to it, like driver's license.

And before the war,
photos were taken
as private property.

Family photos in official
documents only in
very rare occasions,

usually passports,

from the '30s onwards.

University applications,

and sometimes
army registrations
for officers.

And after the war,
it gets more common.

I have to say that,
you know,

one of my main goals
is to, uh,

have my family members

acknowledged as actually
existing in this world.

Right now,
it's an imagination.

There's not a grave,
there's nothing.

[Anna] For whom
do you need a grave?

-For the grandparents?
-My grandparents.

-For my uncles.
-Yeah, but,

if there is a grandson speaking
about this,

-there is a real sign
of existence.
-[Fred] I know.

No, but this is important.

We are forgetting what's real,

and if there is no grave,
there is no grave.

So you try to find
whatever else you can find.

If you cannot find,
that's also okay,

because you still know
that the grandfather existed.

So you are the one
who's giving them the shape

with whatever you know,

a story you can share
with the others.

I think you're bringing
your philosophy of

intangible heritage or honor.

I think for other people
honoring has different ways.

I don't agree with you
because you honor
your parents with your life.

Yeah, I know that.
That, I know.

It's like...
It cannot be more.

My parents can from Bedzin.

-Ah, Bedzin.
-Bedzin.

It's here,
not so far from Krakow.

Close to...

-To German principalities.
-Right.

Very interesting.

So where do they come from

before they got here?
So that's...

That's the next question,
right?

Jewish issues

were like taboo after '68.

There is this feeling
of missing.

That's the reason
why I'm here, in Poland,

it's because
I'm missing something.

Something.
And you even don't know.

Do you know what
you're missing?

Well, it's hard
to put into words.

My world stops
where my father begins.

How did they live?
Were they happy, unhappy?

So, that's why
I'm determined to

at least come here to Poland
and step on the same ground.

Maybe this fascination
is us trying to get back

to the world that was before,
before this

huge tragedy, yes?

All those who perished
were citizens of Poland.

So they felt betrayal.

Betrayal? I think there's
a stronger word
than betrayal.

Mmm-hmm.

Why my country was so weak

to let such things happen.
I can't reverse.

-No, you can't.
-I can just talk about it.

There's a very strong pull

that is making me
go forward.

And this shtetlhere is what
I imagined it used to be.

This is what I've been
waiting for

61 years to experience.

-[horn honks]
-Yeah, yeah. Excuse me.

I'm going on the wrong side
of the street.

When I got to Bedzin,

I was really surprised
to meet survivors and
second-generation like me.

They invited me to
the first Shabbat dinner
in 75 years.

In a synagogue
in this old apartment building.

-[saying prayers
in local language]
-Amen.

[Fred] When Mrs. Lior started
the blessing,

I sensed my grandmother

and my relatives with me.

That was one of the most
profound moments
in my entire life.

[woman praying
in local language]

[people responding
in local language]

-[Fred] Adam!
-Oh!

How are you? Finally!
Finally we meet.

Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!

I discovered Adam
on the Internet.

Thank you for coming.

While I was searching
for a genealogist in Bedzin.

You know what,
this is the trip
of my lifetime.

-Oh, fresh air.
-Fresh air.

-Bedzin.
-Bedzin, Bedzin air.

Now Adam is going to
help me find photos,

more information
on the Zaidman family.

There's the castle,
the Bedzin castle.

[Adam] And near the castle
is the synagogue
before the war.

This corner before the war
is a Jewish cemetery.

Now only the tree.

[Fred] Right here.
[Adam] Yes, here, here.

Adam, my top priority
is finding a photo
of my grandparents,

and aunts and uncles

that were murdered
during the Holocaust.

This is everything the people
who are named the Zaidman.

Mmm... Bedzin

born your father,
only lives?

Zytno.

Ah, Zytno.

Wolf is your father, tak?

Wolf is my father.

Are you holding
the entire records?

-This is...
-The entire?

Or could there be names...
Information missing?

-Maybe--
-No. no.

This is everything.

Where are the best places
I should be looking?

I... I...

Tomorrow in Radomsko.

[violin playing]

[indistinct conversations]

What I think of Cafe Jerusalem?

The Jewish ghetto here
in Bedzin

began in 1942?

In 1942, in October, yes.

In October. Okay, so...

My father was
in the ghetto.

About how many people were?

-From Bedzin?
-Yeah.

About 20-25,000.

-Wow.
-25,000.

25,000?

They give order to the people
to go out of the houses.

And Jewish people to go in.

Where there was one family,

there come in two
or three families.

In 2008,

we decided to come here,

because it's 60 years
for Israel.

And we went to the mayor

and he said,
"I will bring my army."

[marching band playing]

It's a memory.

It's a memory.

Shimshon, I want...
Are you okay?

Look...

[tearfully] To hear here
in this place the Hattikva,

singing by 180 soldiers.

On this place,

where 30,000 people was taken
out to Auschwitz...

This is our victory.

Okay? This is our victory.

We don't have another victory.

I know how you're feeling.

You really...
I can't even talk.

This is where
my father was born.

And I think
my grandfather was born here.

[Adam speaking]

Maybe this woman find
for you

maybe first documents.

Waiting many years.

-Please wait two hours.
-I can wait two hours.

-Okay.
-Yes.

[Adam] Now we go.
[Fred] It's very exciting.

It's mind-boggling to me

that there was once
a synagogue here,

And now it's all gone
and it's replaced by

a telephone company.

Zaidman... Curtla.

-Curtla.
-Curtla.

[Fred] When I saw
my aunt's name, Curtla,

which I knew from research,

but when I actually saw
the birth certificate,

it put me in a new world.
It kind of slowed down.

I'm reading, "Curtla Zaidman,"

there is something that

proved that she had lived.

And then I hear,
"Oh, here's Lieb Zaidman,

and here's Frimeta..."

I'm still trying to get over

the shock of seeing Curtla

and everything else became
a dream.

[indistinct chatter]

[Fred] I still feel
I have to go back because
I didn't get everything.

This used to be
the Zaidman family home.

And now it's a parking lot.

This is the building

that sat next to
the building

my grandparents owned,
lived, rented...

Come visit the Zaidman home.
Come on!

Come inside,
take off your shoes.

Here it is.
It's a fuckin' parking lot.

Come on!

This is unbelievable.

Very upset.

You know what they did?
They erased my family history.

You know?
Destroyed all the buildings
where they used to live.

One is a high rise,
one is a parking lot.

[Adam] Your history is closed.

1939, 1945.

So this is in memory

of the victims of the Holocaust

from Radomsko.

Did you see how the weeds
and the grass were
at least three feet high?

A lot of grass,
nobody cut the grass.

This is the problem.
The problem is money.

I'm in Zytno.
Zytno, Poland where
my father was born,

my grandfather, siblings.

I wish my father was
still here so I could
show him

what his old town looks like.

It's kind of bittersweet.

I didn't expect it to be

so beautiful and peaceful.

Quite community-oriented.

[camera clicking]

Now, that's a building.

I bet you that's been around
since my mother's day.

I like that building.

I'm sure if my mother,
if she were alive and
here today she would point out,

"I know that building
and I know that building."

I'm getting

a really comfortable feeling
that this is,

you know, she's been here.

I'm looking for the street
where my mother used
to live.

And it's across the street
from what they called
a "gymnasium."

Here it is.

Lukaskiego.

♪ Hallelujah ♪

So I'm looking for number 25.

It's completely different.
These are all modern
buildings

If they want to come back
and see

my mother's history,

They're not gonna find it.

If somebody mentions
the gymnasium...

Here it is.

A close friend of mine,
Adela Manheimer,

her apartment building,
it's obviously gone,

but it would have been
right over here.

And Adela would see
my mother going to work.

Oh, it's bringing
back a lot of, uh,

memories of stories
that I've been told.

[spits]

I'd like to destroy
the building.

I'm really determined to find
this place.

And that place being
the Dabrowa-Gornicza
cemetery,

the Jewish cemetery,
which I hear is very,
very small.

There it is, right over there.

Right there.

[exhales deeply]

The letters are faded.

But what I can do,

is fix this one.

That I can do.

Be something if this
was a relative, wouldn't it?

[grunts] There.

It looks good,
that was a good one.

[exhales]

[quietly reading]
It's probably a prayer.

At first I thought
there wasn't anything here,

which is pretty much
the story of my trip.

My mother's home is gone,

my father's home is gone.

And I thought this was gone.

But it's not, it's still here.

It's a really nice cemetery.

It's obvious that
they really care.

Clean, grass is cut.

I just noticed something
very, very disturbing.

If I'm correct,
I'm looking at

a Nazi insignia.

Uh-uh-uh. Unacceptable.

Not gonna stand for that.

Son of a bitch.

Can I show you something quick?

Can you clean that off?

-I don't know...
-I know you don't know.

-[laughs] I don't know...
-I know, I know, I know.

But you can clean it off?
Wash?

-Wash?
-Wash off. Clean.

No more. No more this.
See this?

Off.

-I understand.
-Off. Okay?

Everything nice I said
about this cemetery
I'm taking back.

It's hard for me to picture
that my mother was here.

Here I am, and I'm seeing it
for the first time.

My aunt, Manya,
told me a story

that there's the two lines.

The one that goes straight
into the gas chamber,

and the one that goes
into labor.

And...

My grandparents were in
the line to go
to the gas chamber.

My mother was with them.

And she didn't want
to let go.

She was holding on to them.

And if they were going to go
to the gas chamber,

she was going to go with them.

And there was an argument,
there was a struggle,

and my mother went
to the other line.

And my grandparents went
straight into the gas chamber.

I hear the worlds but
I couldn't get the feeling...

Until now.

This is the closest
I'll ever be
to my grandparents.

They're right here.

If I could, I would stay here
for a very, very, very
long time.

I want to say I love you.

[sniffles]

Zaidman, it would
be Rywka

and Moshe.

Fischel Zaidman.

That's my uncle.

In the Book of Names
I was able to find
two uncles

and an aunt.

Lieb is my uncle,
that's the first-born.

Frania. Frania is

my father's, uh, sister.

1918 seems about right.

[archivist] The place
of death unknown.

Unbelievable.

So, they're not missing,
they're not...

Their name isn't gone
in the wind,

and they did live
on this planet.

-It could be.
-Can you look that up?

So hopefully
he can find something.

And even if he doesn't find
anything, I can eliminate

Auschwitz.

The fact that my mother
did not have numbers

indicates that she was
here temporarily.

My grandparents went
straight to the ovens.

So the ones that went straight
and were killed in the ovens
were not recorded.

-[Piotr Supinski] Yes.
-All right.
So that makes sense.

Before liberation,
Germans burned
more than 90% of documentation.

-[Fred] More than 90%?
-More than 90%.

It's like they gathered

everybody together...

-And they're all gone.
-[Piotr] We don't know.

-We don't know.
-We don't know.

I got an idea
of what they went through.

My parents didn't want
to talk about it.

Would you want to tell
your child how you were
humiliated for four years?

You know,

wondering if you're going
to live minute to minute?

Your parents and
your siblings

murdered?

My mission now is to retrack
those steps,

find out what their
experience is.

[man over PA in Hebrew]

[man chanting in Hebrew]

[crowd praying]

[chanting continues]

[Shaya Ben-Yehuda]
I remember this country
as a child.

It was nothing.
It all started with survivors.

Yad Vashem is

to ensure that the memories

of their relatives

will be kept forever
in one place.

It's a memorial to the names.

[Gideon Greif] Most of the Jews
living in Bedzin

were gassed
and cremated in Auschwitz,

except those who were murdered
inside the ghettos.

In Bedzin, every second person
was a Jew.

50%, half of the city's
population was Jewish.

So we can say
it was a Jewish town.

The process of annihilation

began with confiscation
of all property.

Concentration, ghettoization,

and then deportation
to the extermination camp.

And I would say the Jews
in Poland were
murdered twice.

First,

the spiritual murder,
and then the physical
murder.

And I can't tell you
which was worse.

I think both.

Those who were capable
of being slaves,

could for the time being
survive.

But the minute the Jews could
not provide work,

they were physically
too weak,

they had to die.

This is the German logic.

They were not so orderly,

but they had some kind of logic
inside the system.

When a Jew arrives
in Auschwitz

and they choose him
to work,

they give him...
They tattoo a number.

All Jews.

Until '44, with no exception

who were selected to life

were tattooed.

All Jews, and non-Jews.

The permanent rule was
75 to 90%

immediately to the
gas chambers.

5 to 15%

to become slaves.

Survival was not dependent
on your talents,

on your, uh, education.

It was mere luck, pure luck.

[Sima Velkovich]
So Moshe Zaidman

-this was your grandfather?
-[Fred] Yes.

-And Rywka your grandmother.
-Yes.

Lieb Zaidman is your uncle.

-Right.
-And do you know that
his wife is survived?

No.

Sally Frocht, she's the widow
of Lieb Zaidman.

She survived?
Is that from a testimony?

No, no. She applied for
searching for the documents
to international

-Protective Services.
-...looking for family.

-[Sima] Yeah.
-If my father was alive
he's flip out

that his brother's wife...

-Survived.
-Survived.

And also I think...

I think I also found
a picture of the brother.

This is small photo,
like passport photos

used by Gestapo in Bedzin.

You think that's him.

This is her document,
it's very interesting.

So, she...
Her maiden name
is Grunewald.

And Frocht, it seems to me,

is from the second marriage
after war.

And she's also
Auschwitz survivor,
she was Zaidman.

So this is her address
in Miami.

So you have an address,
you can check in the USA.

[Fred] I did research,
but she's passed away

and apparently she doesn't have
any children

So it was a dead end.

It's hard, because

Sima at Yad Vashem
is convinced

that this is my

uncle, my father's
eldest brother

I so desperately wanted to
find his photo and here he is.

Right now,
I'm going to consider him
my uncle.

He's my uncle.

It would be great
if I had a photo
of my grandparents.

This is Itay with Tovah.

They were there two years?

[speaking Hebrew]

Itay!

Eitana! [speaks Hebrew]
How are you?

Mwah!

-It's so nice to meet you.
-Yeah.

It's very nice that
you have come to Israel.

Yes, it's my first time here.

Yeah, after so many years,
after 62 years?

-I know. I feel bad.
-Yeah.

This is a sign of good luck

for a house and
the people living in a house.

And this is for Fred
and the first time

that he visits Israel.

Thank you. It's beautiful.

[greeting in Hebrew]

Our cousin, Adam.

He's our first cousin.

Adam, I'm Fred.

-Issar, Issar.
-Pleasure to meet you.

[Fred] Adam Snir was
the personal bodyguard
for Gold Meir

and for Yitzhak Rabin.

I felt very, very proud to be

among these prestigious people
in my family.

[Fred] Let me tell
you something.

I have no photos
of my grandparents.

Here.

That's...
That's our grandmother.

[indistinct chattering]

[Itay] She was married
to Mendel.

[Fred] To Mendel.
[Itay] Yeah.

[Fred] That's my grandmother's
brother.

So it was a huge find.

Later in the week
I was invited to

Eitana's parents' Yahrzeit.

Eitana is Itay's wife.

And the Yahrzeit was at
a kibbutz.

[praying in Hebrew]

They came on one boat
from Europe

and got married here
in Israel.

And that was the last time
they saw their parents.

All of them died in
the Holocaust
in concentration camp.

[Fred] Afterwards we met
at a cousin's home.

Itay, do you have any
hobbies now?

No, I have only one hobby.

Eitana was in Army,
her mother saw me

and told her,
"Look at the nice guy."

-Because Eitana is quite high.
-[Fred] Mmm-hmm.

And her mother was
always worried

that she would not find

a boyfriend her size.

And ever since,
we're together.

Now it's over 60 years.

[Eitana] I was 21
and he was 22.

[laughs]

Two kids.

This is Itay and me.

Thank you again for everything.

-Thank you.
-Have a good trip.

Shabbat shalom.

[Fred] I felt like
I walked into my family's home.

They were accepting,
they were very loving.

They're really
wonderful people.

[Fred] Her grandmother was
my grandmother's sister.

My parents came here
before the Holocaust.

To Israel.

I was happy
that I had grandparents here.

-Yeah, you're lucky.
-Otherwise,

-you know...
-You have no idea.

-It ends on the grandparents.
-That's right.

[Fred] Nitza knew
her grandmother.

She lived with her,
kissed her.

-Yeah.
-I don't even know
what mine looks like.

That's why my need is
different than her need.

These are our
great-grandparents,

our grandmother's parents.

I lost track of them.

I'm filling you in.

[Nitza laughs]

I found a lot of stuff for you.

My grandmother,

grandfather,

My grandmother is taking me
on her knees.

-Are you saying that's
my grandmother's sister?
-[Nitza] Yeah.

She looks like my father.

All of you have the same face.

It's striking.

Now, this is 100%.

It's historical.

I found two relatives
since I came to Israel.

Menachem

and your grandmother Hava.

-Yeah.
-Brother and sister
to my grandmother.

It's the only picture of Hava.

It's the only picture.

-Of her.
-Well, all you need is one.

Oh, this is great.

This happens to be

perhaps the greatest surprise
of my research.

The most profound,

which is a testimonial

of my grandmother's death.

06-01-43.

Status, murdered.

I can now light a candle,

a Yahrzeit candle
on her death date.

My grandmother Rywka,

like my other grandmother
and grandfathers,

went into the ovens
at Auschwitz,

and the ashes at the bottom
were taken into

a mass grave.

I'm thinking, visualizing,
they got off the train.

They're... They're in line

and the Gestapos are all over
with rifles.

And they weren't sure that

they were going to live or die.

As a result,
I grew up with my father,

he kept most of it to himself,

but now that I found
this piece of information,

it solidifies what I thought
was going on,

uh, with him.

[announcement over PA]

Your mother was liberated
at the main camp
at Bergen-Belsen,

this is this place here
right now,

And your father was liberated
also in Bergen-Belsen,

but not at the main camp,
but on the barracks camp.

And he met your mother,
and then they got
married here.

Your brother was one of
more than 1,000 children who
were born here.

Most of the survivors were
the sole survivors
of the families.

And so they were happy
to build a new family,
a new home.

That's why I guess that
they fell in love immediately.

I was under the impression

that my mother met
my father in the hospital.

He was sick, tuberculosis.

-[Katja] Yes, yes.
-And she was a nurse.

And then do you know,
May, June, or...

Don't have a clue.

-Well, they married in August.
-Yeah, very early.

Yeah, on the 25th, right?

-Yes.
-25th,

so knowing my mother
they could have met
on the 24th.

-[both laugh]
-Yes.

[Katja] Bergen-Belsen was
not a typical camp for
prisoners came in first.

You see, his father was
first brought to Auschwitz,

and then from Auschwitz
he was brought to Buchenwald,

and from Buchenwald
he was brought to
Mittelbrau-Dora,

and from Mittelbrau
Dora-Ehrlich, he was brought
then to Bergen-Belsen.

-It's a holding area.
-Yeah.

-It's a place where
they went do die.
-Yes.

More than 50,000 people died

and about 30,000 prisoners died
after the liberation.

[camera clicks]

[Katja] This is the beginning
of the former DP camp.

We are not allowed
to make photographs because
it's a military training area.

The conditions in the main camp
were really bad,

and they made mass grave
for those people who died.

There's nothing left from
the former woman's camp,

so to say, no remains.

[Fred] We're not sure
if my mother was over here.

There's two huts, right?

-No, one hut.
-One hut.

-But this is the area.
-Yeah, this is the area.
That's right.

Fred's mother and Anna Frank
could have met

because Anna Frank was also
in this area of
the woman's camp

but if they were
in the same hut,

I cannot really say
because we have
no documents.

I have a pretty good idea
what my parents were
going through,

where they lived,

and I'm looking forward to
tomorrow where we're
going to finish looking at

all the records
here in Bergen-Belsen.

His grandparents
and his father and his mother

were forced to leave their home
to a ghetto.

A person named Mr. Woll
was taking all of their stuff.

-Furs.
-Um...

-Gold.
-Gold.

Silver things.
Maybe a German neighbor.

This is a picture
of your mother.

[Fred]
This one's hard to look at.

Her eyelids are deepened.

Yes.

It's like her soul was, um...

-Taken away.
-[Klaus] Mmm-hmm.

Okay.

In this list, uh,

the name
of your father appears.

The list of Polish Jews.

[Fred] In 1945.
[Katja] Yes.

[Klaus]
This is another document

which says Mr. Zaidman
was here.

We are very lucky that
we have this kind of source
for you.

My mother stayed in
Bergen-Belsen
at least one month,

according to this.

Yeah, or maybe
some weeks more.

-One or two months.
-One or two months?

That's a long time
in Bergen-Belsen.

Especially during this time
it was very hard to survive
because...

[Fred] And my mother survived,

walking among the dead people
and watching them die.

So these are things
that she kept to herself

-and never talked about.
-Mmm.

Now, we know that

not every bride has
the possibility

to have a wedding dress
on her own.

So they were changing,
giving the wedding dresses

to other brides.

Some of these were made
here in the camp.

Here she's pregnant.

Beautiful picture.

It's like two stories,
one of torture

and then a story
of survival and hope.

I always dreamed about
going back there

and helping out
to make sure everybody was

safe or survived.

I don't know how they made it
but they certainly did.

It's a miracle.

I lost my dear aunt.

Her passing away is the end
of her generation,
my parents' generation.

They're all gone now.

I loved her,
she was very dear to me.

It's still fresh in my mind

and just talking about it,
you know, I can feel it.

[thunder cracking]

I think I found my cousin
David Markowitz.

I found a photo of
his grandmother,

and I do a separate search

for Yudis Kochman
and I notice she's in
the family tree.

His mother and my mother
were first cousins.

And, you know, he had
the same reaction,
it was like, "Wow."

And now there are plans
for us to meet in Atlanta.

Hello? Cousin dear!

What took you so long?
[chuckles]

-Hi.
-Sixty years.

[Fred] Where you been?

I never thought I'd come
to Atlanta

to actually meet a cousin.

I thought it was just four
people in my family until...

I know that because

we don't know who's alive
and who's not.

And what we have
and what we don't have.

-So...
-[chuckles]

[David] My mom
would be so proud.

Before coming in here,
I'm thinking of
our grandparents

and our great-grandparents
and our parents.

And looking down and

seeing the family
connecting again,

you know.
Hitler destroyed

and separated our family.

-But he couldn't
take this away.
-This he can't take away.

Come on in. Come on in.

Meet my wife. This is Lisa.

Fred Zaidman.
Lisa Markowitz.

-Hi, Lisa.
-Welcome.

Thank you.
Thank you very much.

-Thank you for coming.
-I have so much to show you.

I got things to show you.
Things to talk about.

Come on in.

I put this in here
on purpose

because this looks like
my grandmother.

[Fred] But it's your mother.
[David] Yes, it is.

Gucia.

I see similarities
to my mother.

-[David] You do?
-Yeah.

Well, you know,
they're first cousins.

Growing up.

Were you...
Were you micro-managed
by your parents?

The opposite.

Yeah, they never looked at
grades or homework.

My father was strict.
Some people today might say
it was abusive.

But my father, my parents,
my mother didn't know
any different.

-Their adolescent years
were spent...
-Right.

...at the butt of a gun.

Mine was different.
I was more...

I'm gonna say,
it sounds ridiculous,
like a family pet.

As long as my mother knew
I was okay,

you know, and I was fed,

then she was okay,
that was it.

The funny thing
about my experience is

I ended up being who I am
despite what I went through.

Yeah.

That's the Kochman, uh, will.

Oh, my God.

[David] What do you see?

That's my parents
and my aunt
in Bergen-Belsen.

No way.
What do you read on the back?

[Fred] "Bergen-Belsen."

-Wow.
-Have they got a year?

I've never...

Is there a year here?
On the back?

Yeah. There's
something different.

Discovering this photo
here with you,

which I've only seen

from a collection of
my parents and Manya's.

-It's obvious
they were all together.
-This is unbelievable.

You sent me that picture.

Here I am, 60 years old,
for the first time seeing
my grandmother.

[Fred]
Your mother did have relatives.

And you may have
more relatives out there.

I'll be... I'll be looking.

[Steven Reece] Have you
ever heard the theory
of social Darwinism?

That is the survival
of the strongest who wins,

and Hitler bought into
that ideology.

[Peter Berg] Steven called me
out of the blue one day
and said,

"I have started
this organization that
I'm really passionate about,

the Matzevah Foundation."

He's going to Poland

and he is restoring cemeteries
that have been destroyed.

All he's trying to do is
perform this act
of reconciliation

between the Jewish
community,

the Christian church
and Poland.

Jan is a journalist

and Steven is a minister,

and I had been speaking
to both of them
about Poland,

so we decided that
they would co-teach
a class.

The Germans considered
the Poles

people to be enslaved.

They were just
a few rungs above Jews.

[Peter] It's a class from
the lens of what the Polish
communities were like

before the war,
and what Poland is
like today.

It asks the question,
"What is it that
we can do now

to leave this world
a better place for
the next generation?"

Sometimes when I talk to

people who have their roots,
Jews who have their roots
in Poland,

there's a very strong
visceral response

that Poland is a place
of death,

it's a graveyard,
why should I go back?

There's no Jewish
life there.

But I work
with Jewish life there.

In that pond

is my family. That's where
my grandparents are.

My aunts and my uncles.

What do you think about that
right now?

I'm tearing up now,
but I was speechless.

You know,
I caught up to them.

For the first time
in my life it's like...

It sounds strange but,

you know, here they are.

Why do you think
that sounds strange?

Because it's, uh,

-it's a pond.
-Mmm-hmm.

and there's thousands,
millions of Jews

perhaps, you know,
all in there.

But what other milestone
led you to that grave?

That cemetery in Czeladz.

I walk in and I'm saying
to myself, "Wow,
this is nice."

Suddenly I see
a large Swastika

on one of these
tall headstones.

Do you know
if anything was done?

No, but when I go back,
I'm going to see if
it's still there.

Why are you going back?

-To Poland?
-Mmm-hmm.

To clean up
the Radomsko cemetery.

I discovered my
great-grandparents
are buried there.

And the cemetery is
in bad shape, just like
many of them are.

You know, in Poland there are
anywhere between 12 and 1,500
cemeteries like that.

You came to the place
at Auschwitz where
you connected

with your family,
this is where they are,

and you recognized something
that you didn't
recognize before.

That's what reconciliation is.

Reconciliation in its basic
sense means "to bring
together broken pieces."

To restore, to unite,

to rejoin. "This is what
happened, now I'm here."

Just like you did
when you shared
the photograph

of you standing there
in the ash pit.

-There's a cemetery.
-Mmm-hmm.

Now it's being neglected
and disrespected by

being left alone.

-Well, let's do something
about it.
-Yeah, let's go!

This is my family street.
My ancestors.

This is where they went
to school, they went
to synagogue.

They erased the whole
family memory.

I... I can't even imagine
what that must
feel like

to have a whole generation,
[makes noise] wiped out.

It's very emotional.

For one thing,
it's extremely sad.

But take hope, take joy
in the fact that you're
returning to reclaim that.

[Fred] I have photos
of the graves of my great-aunt

and three great-grandparents.

And a researcher in Warsaw
sent me a map and
GPS coordinates

to locate all of the graves.

[Steven] 43 is right there.

That's your great-grandparent.

[Steven] Right there.
[Fred] My great-grandfather.

Great-grandfather.

Can I help make the path?

[speaking in Polish]

He wants to open
the way for you only.

This is the original
resting place
of your great-grandfather.

Yakov Siev Birencwaig.

[speaking in Polish]
Miriam Birencwaig.

He found your aunt,
Miriam, yes.

All right, you want
to go see Miriam?

[Fred] Not right now.

[Steven] He wants
to remain here for a minute
by himself.

We'll go find
the other two locations.

This is her.

"Miriam Birencwaig."

My guess is
my Aunt Sala Birencwaig,
Great Aunt Sala,

put these in here,

because I have a photo of her
standing right next to it.

I feel like I'm looking after
my great-grandfather.

Kind of like
if he was in a wheelchair,

113 years old.

Okay, we need to find

Chana Kobieta.

-So, who is Chana?
-My grandmother,
great-grandmother.

[Steven] Okay, his
great-grandmother. Chana.

-Chana Frimeta?
-[Steven] Yes.

Birencwaig.

-[man speaking Polish]
-We have three now.

[speaking indistinctly]

[Steven] This is
his great-grandmother, Chana.

This is his moment
to connect.

Working in the dirt
with your hands
is very intimate.

We need to be pathfinders.

And open the way
so that Fred can,

with tender loving care,

express that to
his great-grandparents
and his aunt.

[Fred] I think
we're making good progress.

If you go look over here,

compared to what it was,
it's fantastic.

But we'll get the rest.

Not to worry. You either.
We'll get to you.

We got it!

We got all four.

This is Jacob Zaidman,
his great-grandfather.

-Hey, Fred.
-What?

I have a plan to help you.

Take as much time
as you have,

but you have two days to do
what you're doing
right now.

-Okay.
-So if you do two today
like that,

and do two tomorrow,
then you'll walk away
with something very good.

-Very powerful.
-All right. Thank you.

All right, so what's next?

We know where all four
points are,
all four graves.

The closest one is here.

Okay. So why don't we
start on that?

This tree is growing
into this matzevah,
so this was a clue here.

Then the shape of this
was a clue,
plus the paint.

Plus that mark,
that's how I found this.

[Fred] My great-grandfather.
Kopel Zaidman.

It's surreal.

It's kind of exhilarating.

That's what I'm feeling.
I'm looking after him.

Your great-grandparents,
their grandchildren
and children,

some of them were murdered,
some of them were executed.

So you're actually doing
the mitzvah that
they would have been doing.

That's what you've come
to replace.

You're in the presence
of your family,
they stood here.

I'm very aware of that.

-Does that make sense?
-100%.

-You now know where your
two great-grandfathers are.
-Yeah.

So let's go meet your
great-grandmother
and your aunt.

-All right, captain.
-I'm not the captain.

-I'm just the bus driver.
-[both laugh]

Okay. This is, uh,
this is Miriam.

-[Fred] My great-aunt.
-Yes.

-This is hers.
-My grandmother's sister.

Okay, why don't
I start cleaning?

[weed wacker buzzing]

This is your great-grandmother.

Chana.

It's a beautiful headstone.

Here I am.

I'm with my great-grandmother.

And, I have arrived.

Your great-grandson
has arrived.

I've accomplished
a major goal.

I don't think I want to
go through my whole life
without

connecting with my ancestry,
with my great-grandmother.

Great-grandfather.

What comes to mind is, uh,

feeling more of
a whole person.

And now you have
two endpoints.

Your life and their life,
and what happened in between

is what you're trying to
understand.
Is that correct?

Sure.

-You think you can
do that today?
-No.

[laughs]

-I don't think so.
-I don't think so either.

But you have a start.
And then you have you,

and your life.

-There's still a gap there.
-What is that gap?

My grandparents
and aunts and uncles.

-Photos would help.
-Something concrete?

Something concrete.

I know my parents had
a deep loss.

I inherited it.

I think what I'm trying to do
is ease their pain,
even though they're dead.

[Steven] The fact is that
he put his hands to clear away
undergrowth

is a very physical, practical,
tangible way to deal with

that tragedy and loss
in his family's life.

Because his parents,
they never
dealt with their loss.

He's dealing with it now
for them.

[thanking in Polish]

[Fred] I sense the presence
of my father.

It's with me. It's all with me.

I'm with my family.
There's no grieving.

It's a get-together,
it's a reunion.

There's a mass grave
of 1,700 Jews that were
murdered from this town.

-Yes.
-Near the front gate.

There's also in that number

50 righteous gentiles
who were murdered
because they harbored the Jews.

What would it look like
if we did some cleaning up
there?

Okay?

[Fred] We cleared a path
not only to my
great-grandparents,

but a path where
50 heroic Poles
were massacred

together with the Jews.

I was pleasantly surprised
to see the three Poles

who helped clean that
cemetery. It was
very meaningful to them.

You prepared me
psychologically for

-my experience, really.
-Mmm-hmm.

Because I had
high expectations.

What were
your expectations?

[Fred] That I'm saving
the memory and the integrity
of my family.

[Steven] That's awesome.

You see life
instead of death.

I've seen you change.

And I just want you
to know that.

Am I better-looking?

Wait, wait, wait. Am I?

Oh, yeah, since I first
saw you on this trip,
you're much better-looking.

-Thank you.
-Yeah, I can actually
look at you.

[laughs heartily]

I made a decision that
if I can't get a photo
on this trip,

I would love to have
the signatures
of my grandparents.

There was only one
birth certificate

that wasn't transferred
to the state archive.

And that was of
my Aunt Curtla.

And here I found
my grandmother's signature.

I did something different.
I ran my finger across
my grandmother's signature.

My grandmother.

And then moved my fingers
around the circle where
I thought

she had held the page.

It may not sound like much
to anybody else, but to me
that meant a lot.

The last time I was here,

I made a promise that
I would return
and make sure

that the graffiti was removed.

I took my time and checked
each one of them.

I inched forward kind of,
"Uh-oh, am I going to
see that

Swastika? Am I going
to see Hitler?"

There it is, it's still there.

It's still there.

Instead, there's a lot more.

And I noticed
at least a half a dozen

Swastikas and other markings.

And I took a photo this time.

[camera shutter clicks]

There's another one right here.

[camera clicks]

And I went to get
the lady who opens the gate.

And we took a nice walk

all the way down
to the very end

and all the way back.

I'm pointing and she's
acknowledging "yes."

[agreeing in Polish]

And she even saw
on her own...

[speaking in Polish]

One, two.

The gatekeeper is aware of it.

I have it on film,
and I'll go straight
to the police.

Okay.

Oh, and this one,
I'm going to show him.

This one says "Hitler."
Can you see it?

He was looking,
and then there were some
symbols that made him stop

and make some kind of sound
like, "Whoa, okay,
I understand.

This is bad."

This picture on your phone,
please send this mail, okay?

This is something that I
think they're really going to
take seriously

and take care of right away.

[sergeant] Thank you
for your information

regarding the destruction
of graves.

We will take care of this.

[Fred] I did what I had to do.

I was told the offense is
a criminal offense.

And that there's a fine
and that if the perpetrator
didn't pay the fine,

it's jail time.

If it weren't for Adam,

I wouldn't have
the birth certificates

of my aunts and uncles.

I think, uh, it's pretty good.

So if I can get a photo
of my grandparents...

I don't think so.

-No?
-That we have photos
from ghetto.

They lived in Bedzin or
they were just in ghetto
in Bedzin?

No, they lived in Bedzin.
My father lived in Bedzin.

Maybe we can start from
the books of citizens, okay?

-Yeah.
-So if you find some
information

about your family there,

there will be information
about their births.

I will transfer you the books
to the computer

-and you will check.
-Okay.

[Fred] So we proceeded to check
and see if there were any
records, any home addresses

for my father's side
of the family, the Zaidmans.

I didn't find anything.
I'm very disappointed.

I think I've exhausted almost
any means of finding photos
of my grandparents.

[Adam] Everything maybe
is in Dabrowa.

Unfortunately, I have nothing
about your mother.

We have a birth certificate
of this guy, Wolfbeck Kosuch.

Wolf is
my grandmother's brother.

There is one street where
Wolf lived there.

Stefana Okrzei Street.

Do you have a number,
or just the street?

[Aleksandra] Yes,
there is a number.

Struck silver.

The neighbors helped me
locate the spot.

It doesn't exist
at this moment.

[Fred] A married couple took me
to the place where
the building had stood.

It was an empty strip.
Straight down.

And that's where the row
of buildings had been.

I accepted it.
This is what had happened.

And I learned how to deal
with my emotions.

The first trip, I got
it all out. All the anger
and sadness,

frustrations and everything

that I had been carrying
with me.

[woman] Yes,
and the next to this block.

And so I was able

to fantasize my grandparents
visiting with my mother
and the other kids.

So I was able to move forward,
I was able to reconcile.

[singing in Hebrew]

[audience clapping]

[Steven] It was a privilege
to be acknowledged as

one who is taking part
in something that is
very unique

and very, um, special.

And to pass that on
to the next generation
of Jews.

It's pretty cool that I'm
a Christian and I get to do
something like that.

Adam, you gave me permission
to bring photos of my parents

-from Bedzin and put it
on your wall.
-Yes.

Return to Bedzin.

[kisses]

It was a very moving moment.

Seeing my parents back
in Bedzin, in that cafe.

It's going to be there,
hopefully, forever.

So, there they are.
They're back.

[Donna Kanter]
What if you never find
a photo of your grandparents?

I don't think about that.

I always feel I'm going to
find it.

And I'll never stop looking
for it.