Ep 666: Raised by Survivors with Bernie Furshpan and guest Fern Schumer Chapman on hmTv

Send us Fan MailRaised by Survivors | Ep. 666: Fern Schumer Chapman: Holocaust Trauma Across Generations | HMTCAt age 12, Edith Westerfeld was sent alone from Nazi Germany to the United States. Although her parents made the agonizing decision to save her life, Edith experienced the separation as betrayal. For decades, she remained trapped inside a child’s broken heart, believing she had been sent away because she was unlovable.In Episode 666 of Raised by Survivors, host Bernie Furshpan welcomes award-winning author, journalist, and educator Fern Schumer Chapman for a powerful conversation about child refugees, intergenerational trauma, family silence, moral courage, and the responsibility to carry Holocaust memory forward.Fern explains how her mother’s trauma transformed their relationship. Beginning at age five, Fern often found herself caring for the mother who was supposed to care for her. This reversal, known as parentification, profoundly shaped Fern’s childhood, her writing, and her determination to create a healthier relationship with her own children.The conversation explores the little-known One Thousand Children rescue effort. Between 1934 and 1945, religious and humanitarian organizations quietly brought approximately 1,400 Jewish children to safety in the United States. Edith was among them. Fern recounts her mother’s experience in the widely taught young adult novel Is It Night or Day?Fern also discusses returning with Edith to Stockstadt am Rhein, where they encountered comforting family legends, community denial, and the consequences of what Bernie calls “twistory.” Newly accessible Nazi Party membership records are now forcing some German families to confront documented truths about relatives whose wartime actions had long been denied or minimized.One extraordinary figure in Fern’s family story is Mina, a Christian girl who lived with the Westerfeld family and considered them her own. Beginning in the early 1930s, Mina collected evidence of Nazi crimes in a suitcase. After the war, she fought unsuccessfully for restitution and accountability while her community chose silence. Ostracized for refusing to forget, Mina remained a moral compass whose own trauma followed her for the rest of her life.Bernie and Fern examine ordinary complicity, failed denazification, rising antisemitism, the cancellation of Jewish authors and speakers, and the urgent need for Holocaust and civics education. They also discuss why students often connect more deeply with the experience of one frightened child than with statistics alone.As the survivor generation disappears, Fern believes young people can become “derivative witnesses” who preserve these stories and recognize the warning signs of hatred. Holocaust memory must never become an empty ritual. It must remain a living responsibility that inspires education, empathy, courage, and action.Raised by Survivors on hmTv | Host: Bernie Furshpan | Guest: Fern Schumer ChapmanExecutive 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📚 fernschumerchapman.com─── CHAPTERS ───0:00 Opening and guest introduction1:57 Welcome, Fern Schumer Chapman1:59 Edith is sent alone from Nazi Germany2:17 When rescue felt like betrayal3:27 Trauma transmitted across generations4:35 Becoming a mother to her own mother6:01 Parentification within survivor families6:59 America and the One Thousand Children9:42 “Twistory” and comforting family legends10:03 Nazi records challenge decades of denial11:43 Coercion, conformity, and failed denazification14:52 Mina’s secret archive of Nazi crimes16:39 Rescuers, upstanders, and moral responsibility17:28 Mina’s fight for restitution and justice18:56 The lasting trauma carried by an upstander20:00 Ordinary complicity and today’s warning signs20:41 The urgent need for Holocaust and civics education22:19 Jewish authors and speakers being canceled22:31 Teaching history through one child’s experience23:21 The responsibility of descendants and educators25:04 Young people as derivative witnesses26:04 One humanity and closing reflections26:55 hmTv outro──────────────────#RaisedBySurvivors #FernSchumerChapman #HolocaustEducation #OneThousandChildren #ChildRefugees #IntergenerationalTrauma #Parentification #HolocaustMemory #Upstanders #SecondGeneration #DerivativeWitnesses #HMTCSupport the show