Ep 497: Legacy Chronicles with Donna Rosenblum and guest Terry Kaplan on hmTv

In this moving episode of Legacy Chronicles on hmTv, Donna Rosenblum speaks with Terry Kaplan, a second-generation Holocaust survivor, about the lasting impact of growing up in the shadow of her parents’ trauma and resilience. Terry shares the extraordinary story of her father’s survival on Oskar Schindler’s list, her mother’s imprisonment in Auschwitz, and what it meant to be raised in a home shaped by memory, loss, identity, and survival.

Terry reflects on the emotional complexities of being a 2G, the responsibility of carrying family history forward, and why she proudly wears her mother’s Auschwitz number as a symbol of remembrance, strength, and Jewish pride. This heartfelt conversation is a powerful reminder that memory is not only about honoring the past, but about shaping a more compassionate future.

On Legacy Chronicles, we honor the past and shape the future, one story at a time.

Transcript

Ep. 497 – Legacy Chronicles
Host: Donna Rosenblum
Guest: Terry Kaplan
Platform: hmTv – Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County

Speaker 1 (Donna Rosenblum): 00:32
Good morning, everybody. This is Donna Rosenblum. I am the Director of Education here at the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center, and we’re here for our next installment of Legacy Chronicles: Honoring the Past and Shaping the Future.

Today I have the wonderful privilege of being here with Terry Kaplan, who is going to share a powerful story with us. Terry, thank you so much for being on our podcast.

Speaker 2 (Terry Kaplan): 00:55
Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1:
It’s a pleasure.

Speaker 2:
I’m thrilled to be here.

Speaker 1:
And we’re thrilled to hear your story, because sharing these experiences is exactly what this podcast is about. Let’s begin by having you introduce your parents. Tell us a little about them.

Speaker 2: 01:14
My parents were both born in relatively small towns in Poland. My father came from a town called Krasznik, and my mother lived nearby, in a suburb of that town.

They didn’t know each other as a couple at first, but my mother was familiar with him because she had cousins who lived in that town, and her sister eventually married someone from there.

When the Nazis came in, they were forced into the ghetto like so many other Jewish families.

Speaker 1:
How old were your parents at that time?

Speaker 2:
My mother was about sixteen, and my father was around twenty-two.

Speaker 1:
And this would have been 1939, early in the German occupation of Poland.

Speaker 2:
Yes, very early. My mother lived with her mother, her grandparents, and her siblings. Her father had actually come to the United States before the war and had tried to bring them over. But he could only afford a ticket for her mother and one child. Her mother refused to leave the rest of the family behind, and that was the end of that opportunity.

My father had also lost his father young and had already been working by that time.

Soon after the Germans took control, the Jews were gathered into the ghetto, and eventually many were sent to camps.

Speaker 1:
Do you know which camps they were in first?

Speaker 2:
I believe the first camp may have been Majdanek or one of the Gross-Rosen camps. They were separated immediately. My father was in the men’s section and my mother in the women’s section.

At one point he tried to give her a piece of bread through the fence. I guess he liked her even then. But my mother told him to give it to someone else who might need it more, maybe his brother.

After that they were separated again.

Speaker 1:
And your father went on to several camps?

Speaker 2:
Yes. He was in Gross-Rosen and several of its subcamps, and eventually he was sent to Plaszow.

He arrived there about seven months before the camp was liquidated when the Russians were advancing.

That’s when something extraordinary happened. My father ended up on Oskar Schindler’s list. In fact, he was number ten on the list. I even have a copy of it.

Speaker 1:
That’s incredible. What work did he do?

Speaker 2:
Before the war he was a tailor, but in Plaszow he did whatever he was forced to do. The truth is, he never spoke about those experiences.

But as a child I remember hearing him screaming in his sleep at night. I would tell my mother the next morning that I heard Daddy yelling during the night, and she would say it must have been me having a nightmare.

He really never talked about it.

Speaker 1:
But you still heard things growing up.

Speaker 2:
Yes. I spoke fluent Yiddish as a child, and when my parents and their friends gathered together, they would speak freely. I was very young, and I didn’t fully understand what they were saying, but I heard everything.

Speaker 1:
And your mother eventually ended up in Auschwitz.

Speaker 2:
Yes. She was in several camps before that, but she eventually wound up in Auschwitz.

I don’t know exactly what year she arrived, but it wasn’t extremely early in the camp’s operation. Her tattoo number had five digits and a letter, which indicates a later arrival.

She told me she arrived with a transport of about 300 young women around her age. They were not put to work immediately, which may have helped her survive.

Speaker 1:
At what point did you first realize your parents were Holocaust survivors?

Speaker 2:
I think I was in elementary school, maybe fifth or sixth grade, when I began to understand that my family was different.

My best friend Marsha and I would talk about it, because she was also a child of survivors.

We knew we were different from the other kids.

Speaker 1:
Were there moments that really made that difference clear to you?

Speaker 2:
Yes. Food was a big one.

We had an American friend on our street whose grandmother lived nearby. Every day she would go home for lunch and get peanut butter and jelly. I had never even tasted peanut butter and jelly until I was in my twenties.

My mother would make baby lamb chops and French fries for lunch because food was incredibly important after what they had endured.

One day our friend stopped by her grandmother’s house and got a nickel for candy. On the way back to school she bought sweets.

Marsha and I were so jealous. We desperately wanted grandparents like that.

Speaker 1:
Did you have any family members who survived?

Speaker 2:
Fortunately, yes. My father had a brother and sister who survived, and my mother had two brothers who survived as well. Eventually they all came to the United States.

But still, most of our social circle consisted of other survivor families. They became our extended family.

Speaker 1:
As you got older, did you study the Holocaust more formally?

Speaker 2:
I always wanted to learn more, but when I was young I didn’t read much about it. I felt like I was living it already.

My mother struggled deeply with trauma. She would say in Yiddish, “Gott help me,” meaning “God help me,” and then she would immediately ask why she was asking God for help after what she had experienced.

She would ask where God was when her mother was shot in front of her, when her head was shaved, when she was tattooed.

That was the environment I grew up in.

Speaker 1:
That must have been very difficult.

Speaker 2:
It was. I always felt responsible for keeping my parents happy and protecting them from stress.

My brother had a very different reaction. He felt ashamed and wanted to be completely Americanized. He didn’t want our parents attending school events. He just wanted hamburgers and French fries.

Speaker 1:
And today, you’ve taken a very different path.

Speaker 2:
Yes. I try not to pass that trauma forward. I have two daughters, and I’ve worked hard to give them a strong, positive sense of identity.

The one thing I always told them is that they are Jews first, then Americans. They should be proud of that identity and aware of their history.

Speaker 1:
How did you eventually become involved here at the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center?

Speaker 2:
Years ago I brought my parents here to visit. Later my daughter saw a small ad looking for a part-time receptionist. By that time I had lost my job during COVID.

I contacted the center and said I wasn’t looking for a paid position but would love to volunteer.

I had already donated hundreds of Holocaust-related books here over the years.

They welcomed me right away, and this April will mark five years that I’ve been volunteering here every week.

Speaker 1:
What does being a second generation survivor mean to you today?

Speaker 2:
My mission is to help people understand what happened and how easily it could happen again.

We must never forget.

I have stickers on my car that say “Remember. Never forget.”

It’s about reminding people how easily hatred can spread and how much easier it should be to be kind.

Speaker 1:
You also wear your mother’s Auschwitz number as a necklace.

Speaker 2:
Yes. During COVID I realized I had never written down my mother’s tattoo number. My daughters helped me find it through the Holocaust Museum archives.

I had a simple necklace made with that number.

I also made two others so my daughters and granddaughters can carry it forward someday.

Speaker 1:
And people often ask you about it.

Speaker 2:
They do. Sometimes they’re shocked, sometimes they say they thought that’s what it might be.

One person asked why I would want to wear something like that every day. But I told them, I remember it every day anyway.

This isn’t about remembering. It’s about honoring and reclaiming it.

Speaker 1:
Almost wearing it as a badge of pride rather than shame.

Speaker 2:
Exactly. I’m proud of it. I also wear my Jewish star proudly. I will never hide it.

Speaker 1:
As we conclude, what message would you share with other second generation survivors who may not yet feel ready to share their family stories?

Speaker 2:
I would tell them to be proud of who they are and where they come from. Teach your children and grandchildren about your family’s history.

Because if we don’t pass those stories forward, they will disappear.

And remembering is the only way we can try to make sure it never happens again.

Speaker 1:
Terry, thank you so much for sharing your story today. It was truly meaningful.

Speaker 2:
Thank you for inviting me. I’m grateful for the opportunity.

Speaker 1:
And thank you to all of our viewers. Please like, share, and subscribe, and we’ll see you next time on Legacy Chronicles.