Podcast host: Lisa Louise Cooke
July 2020
In episode #14 of Elevenses with Lisa (my YouTube channel show) we talked about how important it is to tell our stories. Then we went through the process of creating videos about the stories in our family history.
Every family’s story dovetail with history at large. That is certainly true for Daniel Horowitz and his family.
Daniel Horowitz, MyHeritage Genealogy Expert
Daniel’s family experienced the horrors of the Holocaust. Many of his relatives tragically perished, and those who survived narrowly escaped to locations around the world like Trinidad and Venezuela.
Just a few decades later, Daniel and his family were once again forced to flee unforeseen and devastating societal upheaval. He and his young family left Venezuela and made their home in Israel.
In this episode of the Genealogy Gems Podcast you’ll hear Daniel’s story and the lessons we can learn from history. You can watch the video recording of this interview here on Elevenses with Lisa.
Getting Your History Digitized
Our family’s history comes in many forms, and some of them over time can become obsolete. I shared in this episode my continuing progress on my own project of converting the rest of my old home movies that are in a variety of formats (8mm, mini DV, High 8, and VHS.) I use Larsen Digital and have been extremely pleased with the service and results. The folks at Larsen Digital have put together special and exclusive discounts for Genealogy Gems listeners and readers. Click here to learn more and receive exclusive discounts and coupon codes.
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Podcast Resources
Download the episode mp3
show notes episode 243
Dear Lisa,
I enjoy so much all that you do in genealogy and I hope to use many of your tips when I get back to searching. Right now I am in an archiving phase.
But, I have a comment on this episode. I think you alluded to “erasing history” as you mentioned some statues coming down. I believe genealogists are historians and as a historian, I don’t think the presence or absence of statues can truly rewrite history. What they can do is elevate aspects or perspectives on history. The real erasure of history has been the true story of indigenous and enslaved people. Statues to people who worked to eliminate or enslave people further denigrate the history that has already been mostly lost. Many of the a Civil War statues were not put up right after the war, but later, as a way to signal that things for previously enslaved people would not change.
I know you keep politics out of your work but I hope you can see that protesters are not trying to “erase” history but uncover it.
Thanks always for your work—and your enthusiasm! It’s a motivator!
You’re correct, I typically keep politics out of my genealogical work. However there are times when history and genealogy are drawn into politics and conversations like this one with Daniel are important to have and explore. The folks tearing down statues are largely anarchists (many well-funded self-proclaimed marxists). As we discussed in this episode, the tearing down of statues is a “signal” by these people of their larger intent. This isn’t my opinion, rather this is what the people doing it are actually saying. I listen very closely to what people say and what they do. I personally would not assume the motivation of the original raising of statues was all for one purpose. In many cases it was to highlight a particular deed or positive character trait. The destruction and / or defacing of statues of George Washington, the Shaw Memorial honoring the first all-volunteer black regiment of the Union Army in the Civil War, Frederick Douglass and more lend evidence that this is not about concern over the enslaved people of the past. I encourage you to relisten to the context of the discussion because I believe Daniel’s first hand experience and wisdom is compelling. Thank you for listening to the show and contributing to the discussion.
The link for the shownotes is not live.
Thank you – It is now live.