From a little-known chapter of Holocaust history, Rebecca Frankel’s Into the Forest: A Holocaust Story of Survival, Triumph, and Love is one family’s inspiring true story of love, escape, and survival.
In the summer of 1942, the Rabinowitz family narrowly escaped the Nazi ghetto in their Polish town by fleeing to the forbidding Bialowieza Forest. They miraculously survived two years in the woods―through brutal winters, Typhus outbreaks, and merciless Nazi raids―until they were liberated by the Red Army in 1944.
During the first ghetto massacre, Miriam Rabinowitz rescued a young boy named Philip by pretending he was her son. Nearly a decade later, a chance encounter at a wedding in Brooklyn would lead Philip to find the woman who saved him. And to discover her daughter Ruth was the love of his life.
This Museum program celebrated the launch of Into the Forest with Frankel and David Rothkopf, host of the Deep State Radio podcast and CEO of The Rothkopf Group. Their conversation was held live in the Museum’s Edmond J. Safra Hall.
Watch the program below.
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Learn About the Holocaust by Bullets
Into the Forest illuminates a story from the “Holocaust by bullets”—a term that describes Einsatzgruppen killings in eastern Europe, which are less understood than the Nazi death camps. Learn more about this part of the Holocaust in this Museum lecture by Dr. Wendy Lower.
Discover A World War II Love Story from the Museum’s Collection
Julian and Bertha Lowitt were married a few months after Julian enlisted in the U.S. Army in December 1941. After he was deployed to Europe, Julian wrote love poems to Bertha, some of which you can read in this Museum blog post. Julian was one of many Jewish American soldiers in World War II.
Explore More of Rebecca Frankel’s Writing
Rebecca Frankel is a New York Times bestselling author who has written for publications including National Geographic, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post. Read more of her work here.