Episode 51

full
Published on:

21st Aug 2024

Finding Myself in the Holocaust, with Janet Singer Applefield

As a child survivor of the Holocaust, Janet Singer Applefield has spent over 40 years speaking to raise awareness and understanding of the dangers of prejudice, and leave a legacy of acceptance and love.  Hear the story of her escape, survival, and reuniting with family, and how the experience has led her to a mission of preserving the Jewish legacy and fighting hate speech and injustice by connecting the past and the present.

Transcript
Gary Michels:

Welcome to Let's Talk Legacy. My name is Gary

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Michels, the host. And we're just so excited to have Janet

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Singer Applefield on the show today. As a child survivor of

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the Holocaust and social worker, Janet Singer Applefield has

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spent over 40 years speaking with 1000s of students,

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educators, religious groups, government officials, and others

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to raise awareness and understanding of the dangers of

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prejudice and encouraging audiences to stand up any kind

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of discrimination and leave a legacy of acceptance and love.

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Love that part, or memoir Becoming Janet, Finding Myself

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in the Holocaust is available now. So Janet, let's dig right

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in. It's such an honor to have you here. The word Holocaust

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conjures up so many emotions for people, even now, almost 80

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years later, you have an incredibly unique vantage point

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as an actual survivor of that event. So tell us about your

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perspective and share your story of how old you were when when

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your home in Poland was invaded, or your small town was impacted

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what happened to your family and how this whole thing came about

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for you that you're still a survivor?

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Janet Singer Applefield: Well, I was born in Krakow, Poland, and

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I lived with my family in a little town, 50 miles south of

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the city of Krakow. And I had a wonderful idyllic childhood,

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first grandchild and the family I was loved. I was pampered

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September 1 1939. All this came to an abrupt end. At first, my

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family tried many, many attempts to escape, we first ran, ran

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away to Russia, then we returned. And after so many

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attempts to to escape, my parents ran out of options. And

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they made this amazing, most difficult decision of their

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lives. And that is to give me a way and score this several,

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several years. After that three and a half years to be exact. I

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was with different caregivers. I was away from my family, my

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identity was changed several times. And I ended up on the

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street that was abandoned. And that was picked up by a

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righteous Christian woman ended up on a farm where I spend most

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of the time with very kind people. I always knew I was

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Jewish, but I was able to keep an identified Jewish identity as

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secret. I was just seven years old when I was separated from my

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parents. But I was able to keep that a secret. And I ended up in

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an orphanage after the war. And miraculously my dad found me. No

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way. But he found me. And we eventually emigrated to the

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United States.

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So talk to me. So when you were seven years old,

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do you remember coming back from Russia and what it was like to

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be separated that actual day or was a kind of a big blur?

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Janet Singer Applefield: I remember only that I was, I was

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crying. My parents were crying. We were hugging. We were

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kissing. My parents said we will be reunited soon, I should be

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brave, and I should be good. And that's what I remember about

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that fateful day.

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And then that lady that became your friend and

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helped you did she become almost like a motherly figure, or was

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she more of a friend?

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Janet Singer Applefield: Well she was a very kind woman, and I

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wanted to call her mother and she said to me, you only have

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one mother called me. And so I called her aunt ganja. And when

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the war ended, my cousin's father, I was with my cousin who

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was very brutal to me. First, I was with a one person, one

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woman. And then my care was taken over by a cousin who was

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brutal and violent and abused me. The war ended her dad Sandy,

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but he turned me over to a refugee center in Krakow. And

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that's where I ended up. And from there, I went in an

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orphanage, and my father found me.

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So when you were reunited with your father, he

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had been in the slave labor camp. And when he found you, he

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insisted you give him all the details of the time you were

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separated so he can make sure it was documented. It was those

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handwritten pages rediscovered years later that started the new

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road of discovery for you. How was your father able to survive?

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What what happened to your mother and what was it like

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rediscovering the details of your escape as an adult? What

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was it like?

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Janet Singer Applefield: Well, it was very, very sad and very

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tragic, because the day that they gave me away, there was an

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order issued that all the people from that town and the

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surrounding towns had three days to report in an area outside of

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Krakow called via each guy. So they went there. Although

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independently because they decided to separate from each

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other, their thinking was that if they were separate, maybe one

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of them would survive. So when they arrived at that appointed

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place, there was a selection. And my father was one of 1000

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men, they were selected for slave labor, and other

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approximately 1000 old people and children were selected, and

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they were directly taken to the forest and shot. And the

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remaining people were putting onto boxcars, 53 boxcars, and my

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mother was a victim of that selection. And they were sent to

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Belle's that's a death camp. And so my mother and my grandmother,

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my many of my relatives were victims of that camp.

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How were you able to find all that stuff out?

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Janet Singer Applefield: So my story has evolved over time, I

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first thought that my mother was killed in Auschwitz. And then

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later on, I thought she was shot. But in 2012, I was

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contacted by a young Polish historian, she had lived in my

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town, and she always wondered what happened to the Jewish

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population of that town, and she found me on the internet. And

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after we were reunited, I learned that she was doing, she

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was writing a dissertation on the Holocaust. And she did a

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huge amount of research on my family. She was the one who

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found out exactly what happened to all my family members, not

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only my mom, but my grandparents and uncles and other family

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members.

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So you are actually able to reunite with

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some of the people who will help rescue you during that time,

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right?

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Janet Singer Applefield: Yes, I've been back to Poland four

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times. And each time that ship has been a little different. For

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me the first time, I was obviously very nervous, and I

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really didn't want to enjoy myself. And I didn't consider it

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a vacation. I knocked on the door of the family that saved me

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not knowing who I would find. And they were still there in the

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same apartment, and greeted me with open arms. Each time I had

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been in Poland, I've spoken in different places. And I'm I was

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reunited with a family that saved me. Wow. And it was very

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emotional. My family stayed downstairs and I climbed up

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three flights of steps, and I knocked on the door. And you

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know, they opened the door, and the parents were already

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deceased, but the children, the adult children are still there.

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And it was very emotional. Then my family came up, and then they

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pulled out photographs of me, which was amazing. You know, my

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family couldn't believe I was there, you know, seven years

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old.

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Wow, you say the experience changed both your

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sense of your gratitude, and also a sense of your own

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identity. And what identity really means. Can you explain

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about what identity means?

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Janet Singer Applefield: Well, for me, it was very confusing

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having to change my name several times, it was a loss, because I

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didn't understand what was happening here. And no one

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really explained what was going on I being so young, I didn't

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have the concept of of war, what it really meant. So it's been

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slightly hard for me to adjust to the different names and

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except those names, because when I came to this country, the

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first day of school, my uncle brought me to a school. And he

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said to me, what name do you want, you have to have an

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American name. So right on the spot, I had to choose a name

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again, right again. So I chose to name I said, Jeanette,

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because I had a we had a French cousin who lived in Paris. She

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used to visit us in the summertime and she was beautiful

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and glamorous. She had long red nails and her name was Jeanette.

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So I said Janet, and my uncle turned to the school secretary

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and said her name is Janet. Lee, I was Janet. So over time, you

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know, I thought about changing back my name by that I never

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did.

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What was your original name?

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Janet Singer Applefield: I was born Gustavo. And then my family

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company Gija, which means baby. Okay, but I was never Gustavo

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again.

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That still has a place in your heart.

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Janet Singer Applefield: It does.

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What was your last name?

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Janet Singer Applefield: Singer.

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So that's why you have the singer still in the

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middle, right?

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Janet Singer Applefield: Yes.

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So you later earned your Master of Social

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Work at Boston University and practice as a clinical social

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worker in the court system with perpetrators of the crimes in

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the Boston area for 30 years. How did your own personal

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experience impact your ability to be effective in that work and

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why was it such a passion and a mission for you?

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Janet Singer Applefield: I always try to understand human

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nature. I didn't understand what what made people, some people,

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evil and others good. And I chose a profession of social

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work because I thought I could do a little research and get a

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better understanding of people and human nature. Because so

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many survivors turn to the helping prevent professions.

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It's really interesting.

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Did you find as you are going through that work,

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a sense of forgiveness for the people that wronged your family?

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Or is there still a piece of your heart that has a hard time

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with that?

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Janet Singer Applefield: I am very fortunate, because my dad,

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who was my hero did not believe in general responsibility. The

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he felt that there were good Germans and bad Germans, good

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poles, bad poles. And because of that, I adopted the same

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philosophy. I judge people on the basis of their character and

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actions. I will never forget what happened. But I'm not

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hateful. And of course, I can't, I don't know who I can forgive.

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You know, for me, Forgiveness means that someone has to

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acknowledge what they did wrong, and then have some remorse. And

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then I could forgive. But there's no one yet I can

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forgive.

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I totally understand. You know, our show

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is called Let's Talk legacy. And legacy is such an important part

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for so many people. And I'm curious, what does legacy mean

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to you?

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Janet Singer Applefield: Well, Legacy means that what I leave

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behind has some meaning. I speak to 1000s of people a year that

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approximately 4000 Students must say, students, middle school and

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high school. And I feel that it's my responsibility to try to

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stop hate to impress, awareness and understanding of the history

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and inspire people to to be good people. Because you know, what's

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interesting about my memoir is that ordinary people did

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wonderful things and terrible things. And I think I want

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people to know that and understand that. Even the

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smallest acts of kindness have a ripple effect.

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Has there been, you know, from all of your

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speaking that you've done at the schools and to adults, is there

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a story that you can recall of someone that you did make an

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impact with that it changed their life, it changed their

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community? You heard the story later on how or what you had to

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say change the way they thought or did it reform anybody?

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Janet Singer Applefield: A student came up to me, Mary, she

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purposely in the sauna secretly, after I spoke to her an

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auditorium filled with 1100 students, this young man came

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up. And he asked, he said, How do I speak to my family who are

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racist? Because here in school, I'm learning about being a good

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person, and accepting people for who they are, and not be

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hateful. And then at home, I hear otherwise, how do I speak

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to them? To them? I was very touched that he trusted me. And

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he was able to ask that question. And I gave him few

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suggestions. And later on, he emailed me, and I was very

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fortunate and very happy that he was able to engage his family in

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a conversation that was ongoing. And I'm not sure if he

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completely changed their minds, but at least they were having a

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conversation.

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Wow, I get chills just hearing that. Because

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that's it's little small steps at a time, right.

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Janet Singer Applefield: And I've had so many students write

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to me 1000s of letters. One girl wrote, You are so brave, and

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you've helped me to be braver. You know, we all have stories,

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and we all deal with difficult circumstances in our lives. It's

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what you do with those experiences.

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Right? You say that retelling your story in the

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story of the Holocaust as a whole represents a connection

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between the past and the present, and that it's important

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for preserving the Jewish legacy and able to make sure people

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must never forget what happened. Talk to us about the connection

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between the past and the present.

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Janet Singer Applefield: Well, sadly the world today is very

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divided more so than ever in my lifetime. And I think hearing my

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experiences and hopefully learning some lessons from that.

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Hopefully it does help some people to change and to be

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proactive and stand up to injustice. And I think Today, we

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all need to be proactive and stand up to hatred.

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We do, we do. You know, you're just a child when

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you had to face score, I mean horror. How do parents and

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educators talk to children about difficult topics like hate

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speech and prejudice and other evils in the world? Because

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there's so many parents that listen to our show? And how do

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you have those conversations that are just really difficult

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ones to have?

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Janet Singer Applefield: I admit, they're very difficult.

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But I think it's important to speak with children. Because I

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remember, in my situation, my parents did not explain what was

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going on. I just knew something terrible and dangerous was

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happening, because they were crying, they were whispering,

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because they didn't want me to know what was happening. So I

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think it's important for children to be to have have some

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explanation of what's happening. And the conversation has to be

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geared to the appropriate age, you know, the language has to be

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correct, so that the children are not frightened, I think it

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has to be a conversation that ends with some hopefulness. And

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that is not very negative, even though events in our news is

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very negative, we still have to be careful how we speak to our

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children.

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Absolutely. So obviously, part of your legacy

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is tied to continuing to speak for the legacy of others, both

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other survivors as well as those who did not survive. What would

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you say is the other part of your legacy? What is an

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individual legacy that you'd like to leave behind?

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Janet Singer Applefield: Well, I'm very honored and proud,

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because I was invited to speak to the Massachusetts State

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Legislature in 2021. Right after that a law was passed genocide

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education mandate, to provide this education to all middle

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schools and high schools. So only 23 states in our country

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have passed such laws. So I'm very proud of that.

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Wow. And to think that they're states that don't

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want to teach it. It's it's....

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Janet Singer Applefield: There's states that have banned books

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that teach important subjects.

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Wow. Yeah. Well, that's a huge legacy.

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Janet Singer Applefield: I think it's important to be informed,

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to be proactive, to be kind, and do as much as one can to promote

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social justice.

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How can people reach you if they needed to get

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a hold of you, or wanted to ask you some questions or get a copy

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of your book. How would people get a hold of you?

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Janet Singer Applefield: I have a website, JanetApplefield.com.

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Then I'm on social media, Facebook, and Instagram. And

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that handle is at Janet Applefield. And through the

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website of the book is available on Amazon and on Barnes and

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Noble and all the other bookstores.

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Well I'm definitely ordering a copy of

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your book and can't wait to read it.

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Janet Singer Applefield: Oh thank you so much.

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Thank you so much for what you're doing for the

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people in our country and in our world for educating them on what

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happened and really looking at themselves to not be prejudiced

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and be the best you can be to accept everybody for who they

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are. So thank you so much.

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Janet Singer Applefield: Thank you so much for having me.

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About the Podcast

Let's Talk Legacy
Presented by Southwestern Legacy Insurance Group
What does it mean to build and maintain a legacy, either in business, or for your loved ones? What tools and resources are available to help? Join the discussion as host Gary Michels, along with exciting guests and real listeners just like you, tackle the answers to these questions, and learn how to grow today, for a better tomorrow.



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