Ep 669: The Fog of War and Humanity with Richard Acritelli and guest Leah Freeberg P1 on hmTv

Send us Fan MailThe Fog of War and Humanity | Ep. 669: Leah Freeberg: Battle of the Bulge POW (Part 1) | HMTCFor most of her life, Leah Freeberg knew only fragments of her father’s World War II service. He sometimes spoke about surviving on potato peels and lived with damaged feet and severe back pain, but he never told his daughters that he had been captured during the Battle of the Bulge, imprisoned by the Nazis, or awarded the Purple Heart.In Episode 669 of The Fog of War and Humanity, host Richard Acritelli welcomes Leah for Part 1 of her father’s extraordinary story of combat, captivity, survival, faith, and silence.Leah’s father entered the Army in 1943 and trained as a radio operator. After crossing the Atlantic aboard the Queen Elizabeth, he was sent toward the Belgian-German border with the 423rd Infantry Regiment. At only 19 years old, he carried a radio weighing approximately 40 pounds and remained close to his commanders on the front line.His unit arrived ahead of its supplies and lacked adequate winter clothing and footwear. During one of Europe’s coldest winters, he developed trench foot, which permanently damaged the circulation in his feet. On December 19, 1944, German forces surrounded his inexperienced regiment near Schönberg, forcing thousands of American soldiers to surrender.After his capture, Leah’s father tore off his identification tags and threw them into the snow because they identified him as Jewish. He was forced to march through the bitter cold, packed into a cattle car, and transported to Stalag IV-B in Mühlberg, one of Nazi Germany’s largest prisoner-of-war camps.Leah did not learn the full story until after her father’s death, when she opened a large green metal case containing his original military records, personal documents, and Purple Heart. The paperwork revealed the journey he had kept buried throughout his life.In 2019, Leah and her husband traveled to Germany and Belgium, where they followed part of his wartime route, visited the Siegfried Line, and stood near the location where he had been captured. The experience transformed family fragments into a clearer understanding of the trauma he carried home.Although Leah’s father rarely discussed the war, its wounds never disappeared. He lived with damaged feet, debilitating back pain from being struck with a rifle butt, and what Leah now recognizes as PTSD. Yet he rebuilt his life, raised a family, embraced his Jewish faith, and regained enough strength to lift and open the Torah before his congregation.Part 1 reveals how many veterans returned home carrying experiences they could not speak about. Their silence protected their families from the details, but it also left future generations with the responsibility of recovering and preserving their stories.The Fog of War and Humanity on hmTv | Host: Richard Acritelli | Guest: Leah FreebergExecutive 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 Opening0:19 Welcome and guest introduction1:18 Leah’s Long Island upbringing2:27 From L’Oréal executive to mathematics teacher3:55 Her father’s career and international travels5:06 Growing up in Jewish Flatbush6:11 Entering the Army at age 187:40 A family receives notice that he is missing8:28 Discovering his original military records9:29 Training and crossing the Atlantic11:14 Arriving without adequate winter supplies11:30 Trench foot and lifelong physical damage12:41 Moving toward the Siegfried Line13:11 Serving as a front-line radio operator13:36 Captured near Schönberg14:40 Retracing his journey in 201916:06 Surrounded during the Battle of the Bulge17:24 Hiding his Jewish identity from the Nazis19:31 Imprisonment at Stalag IV-B19:48 The green metal case and hidden Purple Heart20:42 Trauma, silence, and undiagnosed PTSD21:57 Why his daughters never knew the full story22:41 Returning home emaciated and unrecognizable24:14 Regaining the strength to lift the Torah25:14 Faith after captivity26:37 POWs who carried their stories in silence29:04 A rifle-butt injury and lifelong back pain29:32 Part 2 preview and closing29:59 hmTv outro30:15 Humanity matters──────────────────#FogOfWarAndHumanity #LeahFreeberg #BattleOfTheBulge #WorldWarII #PrisonerOfWar #JewishAmericanVeteran #StalagIVB #PurpleHeart #VeteranStories #PTSD #MilitaryHistory #HMTCSupport the show