Ep 672: The Fog of War and Humanity with Richard Acritelli and guest Susanne Seperson P1 on hmTv

Send us Fan MailThe Fog of War and Humanity | Ep. 672: Escape from a Nazi Death Train (Part 1) | HMTCSusanne Bleiberg Seperson’s mother escaped a Nazi deportation train by climbing through loosened boards and jumping into deep snow. Her final memory of her own mother was feeling the hands that pushed her through the opening and saved her life.In Episode 672 of The Fog of War and Humanity, host Richard Acritelli welcomes Dr. Susanne Bleiberg Seperson for Part 1 of her family’s remarkable story of Holocaust survival, immigration, adaptation, and rebuilding in America.Born in Bayreuth, Germany, after World War II, Susanne arrived in New York with her parents in September 1950, when she was two years old. Her parents were Polish Jews who had survived persecution, ghettos, imprisonment, betrayal, and the murder of family members.After the war, Susanne’s mother refused to enter a displaced persons camp. Having already been imprisoned in Auschwitz, she declared that she had spent enough of her life in camps. The family initially planned to settle in Israel, but the War of Independence convinced her mother that they had endured enough conflict. With relatives in the United States, they instead chose America and the possibility of a normal life.Susanne recalls growing up in the Bronx, visiting the New York Botanical Garden, and watching her parents pursue the American dream. Her father worked in dry cleaning, tailoring, the supermarket business, and real estate. Her mother, who had worked in a Polish bank before the war, used her education and language skills to become a bookkeeper.The conversation then returns to Oleszyce and Jarosław in southeastern Poland, where Susanne’s parents were raised. The region’s borders changed repeatedly, placing generations of the same family under different countries without anyone moving. Jewish families were prohibited from owning land directly, forcing Susanne’s relatives to rely on trusted Christian neighbors to hold property in their names.Her family’s history reveals the moral complexity of the Holocaust. Christian neighbors helped Susanne’s parents survive, while another man betrayed her father’s blond-haired, blue-eyed sister to local collaborators for a small reward. She was murdered. Some family members were killed by Germans, while others were victimized by Polish and Ukrainian collaborators.Following the Soviet occupation of eastern Poland, Nazi Germany invaded the region in 1941. Susanne’s relatives were ultimately confined in the Lubaczów Ghetto. Her father and his brother escaped before its liquidation, but her mother, grandparents, and younger aunt were forced aboard a deportation train believed to be traveling toward Bełżec or Sobibór.Susanne’s maternal grandfather anticipated the danger and concealed hammers and crowbars among the few belongings the family was permitted to carry. Prisoners secretly loosened the cattle-car boards and held them in place until the train began moving.Following her father’s instructions, Susanne’s mother curled herself like a cat and jumped in the direction opposite the moving train. Deep snow cushioned her fall. Her mother and younger sister remained behind and were murdered.Part 1 demonstrates that survival often depended on preparation, adaptability, trusted relationships, sudden decisions, and extraordinary courage. It also preserves the final act of a mother who, facing almost certain death, used her last moment with her daughter to push her toward life.The Fog of War and Humanity on hmTv | Host: Richard Acritelli | Guest: Dr. Susanne Bleiberg SepersonExecutive 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 Opening0:21 Welcome and guest introduction1:04 Born in postwar Germany and immigrating to America1:39 Stateless survivors leave Europe2:08 Refusing to enter another camp2:43 Choosing America instead of Israel3:17 Arriving in New York and honoring an immigrant legacy4:04 Growing up in the Bronx5:28 Discovering her Polish identity6:37 Her parents pursue the American dream8:16 Different immigrant paths to success9:37 Family roots in Oleszyce and Jarosław10:12 Adaptability as a tool for survival11:10 Susanne’s grandparents before and after the war12:17 Jewish land restrictions and trusted Christian neighbors13:16 Witold Maczak and warnings of approaching danger14:52 Soviet occupation before the German invasion15:26 Betrayal, collaboration, and the murder of an aunt16:58 A decision to avoid deportation to Siberia18:07 Bringing tools aboard the deportation train18:35 Operation Barbarossa and German occupation19:48 The Lubaczów Ghetto and her father’s escape20:45 A deportation train bound for a death camp21:36 Nazi deception and the hidden tools22:05 Loosening the boards and jumping into the snow23:08 A mother and younger sister left behind23:19 Remembering Holocaust survivor Werner Reich24:57 Part 2 preview and closing25:12 hmTv outro──────────────────#FogOfWarAndHumanity #SusanneSeperson #HolocaustSurvivors #HolocaustTestimony #DeathTrainEscape #LubaczowGhetto #AuschwitzSurvivor #PolishJewishHistory #SecondGeneration #ImmigrantStories #InheritedMemory #HMTCSupport the show