Ep 664: Legacy Chronicles with Donna Rosenblum and guest Joan Arnay Halperin on hmTv

Send us Fan MailLegacy Chronicles | Ep. 664: Joan Arnay Halperin: My Sister’s Eyes | HMTCFor most of her childhood, Joan Arnay Halperin never knew she had an older sister. Her parents had escaped Nazi-occupied Europe with their daughter, Yvonne, but the child died tragically in a Jamaican refugee camp. The loss was so painful that Joan’s mother could not speak Yvonne’s name for decades.In Episode 664 of Legacy Chronicles, host Donna Rosenblum welcomes Joan, an educator and author of My Sister’s Eyes: A Family Chronicle of Rescue and Loss During World War II.Joan traces her parents’ remarkable journey from Poland and Belgium through France, Portugal, Jamaica, and ultimately the United States. After Germany invaded Belgium in 1940, her father placed his family inside a Mercedes and drove south toward Bordeaux. There, Portuguese diplomat Aristides de Sousa Mendes defied his government and issued the visas that saved them.After approximately 18 months in Portugal, the family was evacuated to Gibraltar Camp in Jamaica. A bicycle accident left four-year-old Yvonne critically injured. Delayed medical treatment cost the child her life, leaving Joan’s parents with a grief they carried in silence.Joan first learned that she had a sister at age 11, when a stranger recognized her by Yvonne’s eyes. Her mother did not reveal the full story until decades later, after Joan recovered family properties in Łódź. She then handed Joan a hidden photograph album bearing the words, “Yvonne, 1938 to 1942.”The conversation also reveals how an unidentified Belgian woman preserved the family’s photographs, wedding gifts, silver, and other belongings throughout the war. Those rescued materials later became an invaluable visual record of the family’s history.Joan explains how her mother’s testimony, family documents, and surviving photographs became the foundation of My Sister’s Eyes. She now shares the story with schools, universities, synagogues, and communities to promote empathy, strengthen historical understanding, and preserve her family’s legacy.Joan is also developing an animated short to bring the story to younger audiences. Her mission is clear: inherited pain must not remain buried. Through education, it can become memory, empathy, and action.Legacy Chronicles on hmTv | Host: Donna Rosenblum | Guest: Joan Arnay HalperinExecutive Producer and Director: Bernie FurshpanA production of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County🌐 hmtcli.org🎙 buzzsprout.com/2449781▶️ youtube.com/@hmTv-hmtc─── CHAPTERS ───0:00 Opening0:17 Welcome and guest introduction1:20 Ignas and Hala meet in prewar Poland2:28 Attending the 1936 Berlin Olympics2:43 Escaping the German invasion of Belgium4:11 Sousa Mendes, Portugal, and evacuation to Jamaica4:53 Growing up unaware of her parents’ history5:48 The stranger who recognized Yvonne’s eyes7:25 Discovering she had an older sister7:47 Decades of silence and unspoken grief9:14 Family members murdered at Treblinka10:44 Recording Joan’s mother’s testimony11:35 Recovering family properties in Łódź12:51 The hidden album of Yvonne’s photographs14:08 Life inside Jamaica’s Gibraltar Camp14:51 The accident that claimed Yvonne’s life15:48 Why Joan wrote My Sister’s Eyes16:28 Discovering Aristides de Sousa Mendes17:14 The famous and forgotten refugees he saved17:56 Preserving photographs and historical evidence18:36 Building a new life in America20:22 The Belgian woman who saved everything21:24 Creating and publishing the book22:37 Carrying Yvonne’s memory and pain23:55 Teaching empathy through personal history24:49 Turning the story into an animated short26 through:14 Joan’s commitment to Holocaust education26:34 Closing reflections27:07 hmTv outro──────────────────#LegacyChronicles #JoanArnayHalperin #MySistersEyes #HolocaustSurvivors #SecondGeneration #AristidesDeSousaMendes #HolocaustEducation #RefugeeStories #InheritedMemory #JewishHistory #EmpathyThroughEducation #HMTCSupport the show