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Stories from StoryCorps

"StoryCorps is committed to the idea that everyone has an important story to tell and that everyone’s story matters. Our mission: to help us believe in each other by illuminating the humanity and possibility in us all — one story at a time. Since our founding in 2003, we’ve helped nearly 700,000 people across the country have meaningful conversations about their lives. These recordings are collected in the U.S. Library of Congress and in our online archive which is now the largest single collection of human voices ever gathered."

Please note that these stories are in no way a comprehensive examination of the Holocaust or Antisemitism.

Stories include content warnings, please note that this is not descriptive of all of the possible content warnings in these videos. Each video is also available as a transcript by clicking on the title of each story.

Content warning: The Holocaust, child separation

"Before the term “Holocaust” was part of our vocabulary, a radio show presented by the Mutual Broadcasting Company featured a survivor of Nazi terror telling his story. The program, Reunion, was sponsored by the United Service for New Americans, a Jewish philanthropic organization aimed at reforming the 1924 anti-immigration laws that continued to keep Jews and other Eastern Europeans from the safe haven of America... In its final episode, the Yiddish Radio Project reexamines that historic broadcast through the other end of the telescope. Our work on this program — and on the Yiddish Radio Project as a whole — was profoundly influenced by our association with Freiberg, who died on April 20, 2002. We are grateful beyond words for having known him."

Content Warning: Gun Violence, Shootings, Wounded Children, Anti-Semitism

Content warning: The Holocaust

Almost every Friday at about 7:45 p.m., auxiliary police officer Joe Erber calls in “Ten-Six” (or “busy”) to his dispatcher. He cruises over to West Market Street on the outskirts of downtown Greenwood, Mississippi, and strides into Ahavath Rayim, the last Orthodox synagogue in the state. Erber grabs a prayer shawl off the rack, kisses it, and drapes it over his police uniform. Then he makes his way to the pulpit and begins the services: Hebrew with a drawl. For years, Erber has served as the de facto rabbi of Ahavath Rayim, spiritual leader to a once-thriving congregation that has dwindled down to almost nothing.