Episode 139: Inheriting Holocaust Memory

What does it mean to be a third-generation descendant of Holocaust survivors? Jen reflects on her grandparents' experiences in the Holocaust—the ones they shared and the ones they didn't—and her responsibility to learn about and share them with her children. She also talks to Rachael Cerrotti, creator of We Share the Same Sky, a podcast about her journey tracing her grandmother's Holocaust survival story. Together, they explore how our family stories help us understand our own lives, and how we carry the past into the present and the future.

More about Rachael Cerrotti's work:

Personal website

Substack

We Share The Same Sky podcast

We Share The Same Sky book

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Released April 14, 2026

Rachael Cerrotti's grandmother in Denmark in the 1940s. Photo courtesy of Rachael Cerrotti.
Rachael Cerrotti's grandmother Hana in the US in the 1960s. Photo courtesy of Rachael Cerrotti.
Rachael Cerrotti and her grandmother Hana in the early 1990s. Photo courtesy of Rachael Cerrotti.
Rachael Cerrotti and her grandmother Hana at a Passover seder in 2009. Photo courtesy of Rachael Cerrotti.
Jen Richler's grandfather, Israel Helfgott, third from left, in a school photo in Kielce, Poland, in the late 1930s.
Displaced Persons ID card belonging to Jen Richler's grandfather, Germany 1947.
(Left) Jen Richler's grandparents, Manya and Israel Helfgott, on their wedding day in 1948 in front of the synagogue in Malmo, Sweden where they got married; (right) Jen in front of the same synagogue in 2011. She was pregnant with her daughter Maya, who is named after Manya.
Jen Richler's mother, Ruth, and grandmother, Manya, circa 1951. Photo courtesy of Jen Richler.
Jen Richler's grandparents, Israel and Manya Helfgott, her mother Ruth, and her uncle Simon in the late 1950s.
Jen Richler and her grandparents, Manya and Israel Helfgott, at her high school graduation in 1995.