Julie Gray's Blog: The True Adventures of Gidon Lev

"Life is a narrow bridge. The important thing is not to be afraid." ~ Rabbi Nachman of Breslov

In the past several weeks, Gidon and I have received dozens of terrified messages on our social media accounts and emails from young people in the LGBTQIA community in the United States. These messages can be described in one word: scared. Young people are writing to Gidon, asking him if they should flee their homes and find safety in another state or country.

Their fear and desperation are palpable. ,The number of anti-LGBTQIA bills being passed in the USA is genuinely terrifying. It seems that almost every day, some new legislation is introduced or speech made that dehumanizes members of the LGBTQIA community. This is happening in tandem with increasing incidents of antisemitism and antisemitic rhetoric parading in the light of day.

For Gidon, it's complicated. We sat down and had a conversation about it:

Julie:

A lot of people are saying that the LGBTQIA community is overreacting and that they should not compare this current political climate to the laws passed by the Nazis, that they're being overly dramatic. What do you think about that?

Gidon

I think that's bullshit. I don't think they are overreacting. They are reacting. If more people, many more German people at the time, had reacted, maybe a few million people would not have suffered and died.

Julie

Many people have written or commented to you and asked whether they should stay put or whether you think they should flee to another state. What do you think of that?

Gidon

That's not an easy question to answer. Because it depends on many factors in my opinion. Can they stay and feel fairly safe where they are with family and friends, and community? If that is not so, and if they find themselves faced with actual danger physically and maybe in many other ways, then perhaps it is wiser to get the hell out and go to where they can find a safer and more secure environment, someplace where they can live equal, free, and worthwhile lives.

Julie

I hear what you are saying about physical danger, but for example, in 1938 in Prague, where your family lived, there were laws passed that Jews could not work or go to a restaurant, and many other incremental restrictions. But they were not in physical danger at that point. Should they have left? Should that have been the sign that they should go? Because I think that's where the parallel is. Where is the line, you know?

Gidon

Look, it's clear that there are similarities. But I think the Germans were much more determined, organized, and systematic in their pursuit of annihilating the Jewish people. Kristallnacht happened in 1938, don't forget that. That was a clear sign that Jews were not safe and that violence was coming.

Julie

You're right to point out Kristallnacht, but still, I keep wondering where the line will be--

Gidon

--and it wouldn't be the same thing anyway. That makes it hard to compare, so I think it's not a good idea to compare too closely because it leads us down all sorts of paths when what we need to be doing is taking action steps.

Julie

Back to the idea of people in the LGBTQIA community thinking about relocating, one thing that strikes me is that because the United States is made up of many states, you could say, "Okay, I'm going to leave Florida and move to California or a more liberal state. Jews didn't have that option, and I think that's a key difference.

Gidon

That's true, it was a different situation for the Jews in Europe who had nowhere to go because they couldn't emigrate or get visas. But why should a person have to leave behind their community or family, or job? Doesn't someone living in one of these states have the same human rights as someone in a different state? Isn't it the "United States?"

Julie

During the time of Hitler's rise to power, the Nazi Party had a very clear ideology of Aryan purity and Germany's "greatness" that needed to be restored. And that ideology was exclusionary, so a German Jew, a member of the Roma community, or anybody who was mixed race or mentally or physically disabled did not fit this standard they had for who is the right kind of German. I see a lot of evidence that in America, there's an idea being put forth by the far right that the right kind of American should be white, straight, and Christian. It's a similar kind of "purity" thinking.

Gidon

Probably there are right-wing Americans who sign onto this ideology of exclusiveness, but it started someplace. It has to be stopped. Now. Those politicians promoting this should be removed from power and influence and not allowed to express these horrific ideas.

Julie

But they're not being removed from power; they are gaining power.

Gidon

I don't think that will last. There is too much momentum toward progress.

Julie

I hope you are right. But it seems to me that there is truth to it when people say we haven't learned the lessons of the Holocaust. In some ways, I think that far-right politicians very much learned, and what they learned is that it's better to couch your language, to be more nuanced so that your aims aren't totally clear. So, for example, we were just talking about transgender versus transgenderism, which is a right-wing dog whistle, as if who you are as a human being is an ideology with an agenda.

Gidon

They are using language to confuse people by softening it. They say, "We don't hate these communities; we just don't want them around." But their actions seem to be saying, "How do we prevent (the LGBTQIA community) from being in existence? That's not being said outright. They're not building, at least not yet, concentration camps or isolated communities for the LGBTQIA community, but it's just one or two steps ahead.

Julie

What fascist leaders do, part of their m.o. is to empower mouthpieces and embolden others. I'm thinking of Der Stürmer, that incredibly antisemitic newspaper that had terrible images and rhetoric encouraging antisemitic violence. So I think another parallel is that Ron DeSantis and other right-wing political leaders waging war against the trans community also emboldens people in communities to echo anti -trans rhetoric or sometimes even take violent action.

Gidon

And that is definitely what happened in Germany in the 1930s (and even before then.) People don't realize that the Nazis fanned flames and eventually created an atmosphere of terror and fear. Anyone, anytime, who questioned what was happening, was an enemy of the country, was an enemy of the Third Reich, and therefore could be done away with. No one felt and could feel safe. That was when it was too late.

Julie

That's the main takeaway from the Niemöller poem, you know. That in the end, no one is safe. If you sign onto hate for one group, just wait your turn. We have to be allies. This is our chance to actually learn from the past.

Gidon

Absolutely. Well said.

Julie

I feel like we do so much for Holocaust education, using your story to teach others, and the point is not that people should memorize dates or numbers or places but so that they can be aware of similar patterns today. Anywhere.

Gidon

Well, that's just it. Otherwise, what is the point?

Julie:

So this is the $64,000 question. How do we know when a line has been crossed?

Gidon

I don't know. America is a very big country, and I don't think that most states are implementing these ideologies. But we know there do exist in America groups that are collecting arms and educating their children to hate. They can be dangerous.

Julie

The other day, we talked about that teacher in Florida who is being investigated for indoctrination because she showed a Disney film with one gay character. We were going to do a TikTok about it but we didn't get around to it.

Gidon

It's absolutely ridiculous and frightening. It reminds me of the brown shirts spying on people and turning them in.

Julie

I was doing some reading about Mom's For Liberty and how they barnstorm school board meetings with lists of books to ban. They are really frightening. That's what inspired that TikTok we both really like. That and visiting the Eichmann exhibit.

Gidon

Did we show that one at Yad Vashem?

Julie

We did. Okay back to the subject: I often say "There have been many genocides but only one Holocaust" because I feel this direct comparison is not productive. What's your take on that?

Gidon

I don't think we have to put the Holocaust into the same basket with everything. I think that people do not take into consideration that it's also a totally different landscape between what took place in 1930s Germany and what's taking place in America. Times have changed. The situation is different. The country, the history is different. We don't need to compare. We need to act.

Julie

Fran Leibowitz once said "Genocides are like snowflakes; each one unique."

Gidon

I never heard that. But it makes a lot of sense.

Julie

Do you see this as a conversation that's important to be having?

Gidon

Yeah. I think that's one of the things that we should be aiming for. Let's talk about it. We need to put everything on the table. One of the things that I can't understand is why people feel threatened if someone is a homosexual or feels they are a different gender. Why does it threaten some people?

When I first found out that my oldest daughter was a lesbian, I wasn't happy, and it took me a while to internalize, understand, think about, and deal with it. And today, I am totally happy for her and love her. She goes through the same problems as any couple. How many heterosexual couples today stay together forever? Not too many.

In the past eight days, Gidon has been at the airport eight times, and taken two round trip flights to two totally different countries, to teach about Holocaust education. That's a lot for anyone, but imagine having the energy to do that when you are 88 years old!

First, we went to Prague to attend the EJA symposium in Prague and Theresienstadt, where Gidon was the honored guest and told his story to European diplomats and dignitaries. I gave a talk about the opportunity that social media offers to teach Holocaust education. The next day, there was a memorial event at Theresienstadt where Gidon spoke again. It was an incredible experience.

Then, only two days later, we went to Dubai, as guests of the Israeli Consulate, where we attended a truly landmark event; the first time that International Holocaust Remembrance Day has been commemorated in an Arab State. Gidon told his story to European and UAE diplomats, dignitaries and ambassadors at the incredible Crossroads of Civilization Museum. The museum is the first museum in the Middle East to feature an exhibit about the Holocaust and was built and is curated by the generous Ahmad Almansoori.

I do a lot of reading about the Holocaust. Recently I read that the more you know about the Holocaust the less you can understand it. I'll vouch for that.

In this week alone, I read two books by Wendy Lower, The Ravine and Hitler's Furies. The Ravine traces the fate of those photographed at the moment of their death in a small village in Ukraine, during the Holocaust of bullets and Hitler's Furies is about the role played by women during the 3rd Reich.

I had avoided reading Hitler's Furies for some time, because I wrongly surmised that the book was about the most sadistic female Nazi guards and honestly, I just didn't have the emotional bandwidth.

How wrong I was about the book. I have learned through reading Hitler's Furies that the predominant depictions of women in the 3rd Reich as stereotypes of the seductress, the sadistic b*tch, the cold, glamorous wife of a high-ranking official, or the devoted mother are insufficient. These stereotypes do not help us to understand the biggest question - how was this possible?

The consensus in Holocaust and genocide studies is that the systems that make mass murder possible would not function without the broad participation of society, and yet nearly all histories of the Holocaust leave out half of those who populated that society, as if women’s history happens somewhere else. - Wendy Lower

In other news, on January 17th, Gidon and I will be launching a series of "tiny docs" on TikTok and Instagram. The impetus for this project was that sometimes on our social media, commenters say that they had the chance to visit a concentration camp and that it had changed their lives forever. I am so struck by the power of being in such a place and yet for most of us, actually visiting a concentration camp memorial is out of reach. Europe is distant and expensive.

So it struck me that perhaps Gidon could take his followers on virtual mini-tours of several sites. But how on earth could I make that happen? Because I have done work with Hebrew University's unique program of helping Holocaust memorial museums and sites "onboard" to social media to better amplify their messages, I developed relationships with several of the participants.

What if I just reached out to a number of them and asked them to contribute a one-minute video showing their memorial site and giving viewers a simple, thumbnail lesson about it? Then I could direct viewers to the websites or social media accounts of these memorials where they can learn more. To my great delight, a number of memorials agreed and participated.

This has created a metric ton of editing and work for me but somehow, I feel this is important. In this time, when Holocaust education is so pressingly important, there is no consensus on how educators should go forward. TikTok seems like a silly app (and perhaps it is) but that half a million people follow Gidon's account is a strong indication that there IS interest and a willingness to learn.

Not all memorials I approached wanted to participate. For many, the idea of using Tiktok to talk about the Holocaust is too silly and degrades their mission. But my view is that given the high levels of ignorance about the Holocaust, and the rising antisemitism, we who have a stake in Holocaust education must use whatever means we have at our disposal to teach about it. You can only learn so much in a minute-long TikTok but the point is for viewers to become curious and want to learn more. There is a whole, wide world (and Google) out there brimming with books, testimonies, and documentaries about the Holocaust. I hope these tiny docs will serve as an amuse-bouche for more learning. They will be uploaded to our TikTok and Instagram accounts.

The schedule for the tiny docs is:

January 17th: Theresienstadt

January 18th: Treblinka

January 19th: Maly Trostenets

January 20th: The Wannsee Conference Memorial

January 21st: Majdanek

January 22nd: Neuengamme

January 23rd: Dachau

January 24th: Flossenburg

January 25th: Mauthausen

January 26th: The Arolsen Archives

I hope you tune in to this labor of love. The memorials who participated worked so hard; they went out, in the freezing winter cold, on short notice, and showed us their sites and told us a bit about their history. I will be forever grateful.

For many years, the 15,000/100 statistic of the children in Theresienstadt has been the accepted wisdom. This being that of the 15,000 children imprisoned in or transported through Theresienstadt, fewer than 100 survived. It's a startling number and one that grabs attention.

But Gidon and I just discovered that these numbers are misleading and based on a misreading of a report written by Willy Groag, the deputy director of the Youth Care Department in Theresienstadt.

We found out, of all places, on Twitter.

When we researched and wrote the book, we found multiple sources with the 15,000/100 statistic. Simply Google "15,000 children Theresienstadt" and you will see, as we did, source after source citing this number.

But historians work long and hard to be more accurate about these numbers and what they mean. Yesterday we became aware of a tremendous book called The Last Ghetto: An Everyday History of Life in Theresienstadt, by Anna Hájková. In the book, Hájková asserts that historians Margita and Miroslav Kárny provided conclusive research that in actuality, there were actually 9,000 children in Theresienstadt, and that something like 2,000 survived.

There are really two aspects of this new information. First, those of us who write about the Holocaust need to make sure that our information is correct. In this case, this is new(ish) information and it flew under our (and apparently many others) radar.

The other aspect, which I think is important, is that we must also bear in mind, in books like Gidon's, that the memories of the survivors themselves are at times fragmented and ephemeral. I make that clear in The True Adventures, when I sometime question Gidon's memories.

As an eye-witness to the greatest atrocity every committed in humankind, Gidon's memories and insights are invaluable. Though outwardly he claims that he is not defined by the Holocaust, this 15,000/100 statistic made him feel special. It put into sharp relief how lucky he is to be alive. He's still special and he's extraordinarily lucky to be alive.

The enormity of the trauma experienced and its impact on Holocaust survivors lives cannot be overstated. In After Such Knowledge, one of my favorite authors, Eva Hoffman takes a deep dive into the nature of trauma and memory. Hoffman's book made a big impact on me as I wrote The True Adventures.

Survivors have their own ideas about numbers and dates that don't always add up. Sometimes facts such as these are received information; what the survivor later learned or was told. Sometimes these facts are elided by time, trauma and wishful thinking.

Chroniclers of these testimonies must be gentle and understanding. But they need to maintain an awareness that these stories, as crucial as they are, must be seen through the lens of time - and research. This is a very tricky balancing act. One in which fact-based research encounters very real trauma.

I am already in the midst of writing a new version of The True Adventures, one that updates Gidon's story to include his adventures on TikTok and shooting a documentary, etc. I will include this new information (to us) in the book as well. And not just the information itself, but Gidon's reaction to it and some of my thoughts here, about the tremendous responsibility of getting history right, while at the same time taking into consideration the three-dimensional, very human source of personal testimonies.

We, the survivors, are not only a tiny but also an anomalous minority. We are those who, through prevarication, skill or luck, never touched bottom. Those who have, and who have seen the face of the Gorgon, did not return, or returned wordless.

- Primo Levi

Gidon and I are so proud to be on this list which includes so many Jewish luminaries! The work we do on TikTok sometimes takes a lot out of us, but it's been quite an experience.

When we first started a TikTok account, we simply thought we would bring more exposure to the book. Little did we know that we would become online activists combatting antisemitism and teaching Holocaust education online (about which I have mixed feelings.)

So much has happened since July 2020, when we released our book and we are happy to say that we are working on an updated version of the book to expand upon our adventures. That's life with Gidon - the adventures never seem to end!

Later this month, we are heading to the Czech Republic to complete the filming of the documentary. We will visit Prague and the home Gidon's family lived in before they were transported to Theresienstadt, then of course to Theresienstadt itself and then, finally, to Karlovy Vary the place of Gidon's birth. This time we'll be going with a film crew and a few relatives, so it will truly be an epic adventure. In exciting news the Grand Hotel Püpp, established in 1701, will be generously and complimentarily hosting Gidon, me and the whole crew.

We will of course take many photos of our trip and post them on our Instagram and TikTok accounts.

We are just so excited and amazed that a team of award-winning filmmakers have decided to make a film about Gidon and me. We have a lofty goal of raising $72,000 in 30 days and your contribution will help us reach that goal and be able to cover the production costs and get this film released in the spring of 2023. There are tons of goodies offered at every contribution level. We thank you in advance!

Go to our Kickstarter Campaign to check out the sizzle real for the film!

It had to happen. After more than two years of lockdowns and handwashing and masking - Gidon finally got a variant of Covid-19. Thank goodness his symptoms were very mild; a low fever and fatigue, and only lasted a few days. But it was a scare for both of us and changed our travel plans. Of course, it only took me about three days later to get it myself. My symptoms were those of a head cold. Luckily, we were comfortably ensconced in a lovely home in Santa Cruz, with piles of books and sunlight and fresh sea air drifting in through the windows. Hopefully, Gidon won't suffer any long term effects. His energy is back, along with his determination, and that is good to see. Here's Gidon saying hi on Instagram.

Up, up and away we go, to return to our wonderful visit here in California!

Gidon was absolutely everywhere here in Israel on Yom HaShoah. The evening before Yom HaShoah, Gidon spoke to over 1,000 people at an event in Tel Aviv sponsored by the amazing Adopt-a-Safta.

The following day, we went to a moving ceremony at Beit Theresienstadt, a museum at Kibbutz Givat Chaim Ihud that was built by survivors of Theresienstadt. Check out their website, it's really interesting. There, Gidon and five other survivors from the camp were honored and met the ambassadors of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. When the siren started at 10am, which is when all of Israel stops and bows our heads for two minutes, Gidon uploaded a Tiktok that started a viral hashtag duet trend,

Then we headed to the IAF (Israeli Air Force) where Gidon gave a presentation to officers and pilots (we were not allowed to photograph that event for obvious reasons!) and then if that weren't enough, we went to the private residence of the British Ambassador to Israel where Gidon again told the story of his life and was honored. It was a long and emotional day. I lost track of the number of articles, and broadcast appearances Gidon has put in over the past few weeks, culminating with Yom HaShoah. Here are a couple of standouts: The Telegraph, Kan 11 (in Hebrew).

I am so proud and in awe of Gidon for reaching into his depths of strength and perseverance as he tells his story and touches so many lives.

In the memory of the six million, I am humbled to have facilitated these remembrances. It will never be enough but we must try.

Gidon has lived a very long life and his adventures just never seem to stop unfolding! When the pandemic first began, Gidon and I took advantage of the (spooky) quiet of the first lockdown and began recording the audio version of The True Adventures in our mamad (the bomb shelter in our building) but later, we completed the recording in a professional studio.

Many months passed and lockdowns came and went when we were finally able to take these recordings and create a new, more immersive version of Gidon's story. The format of the podcast is that of a series. There are 14 episodes total, 9 of which have been released.

To create the podcast series, we created podcast "chapters" that are each two chapters of the printed book. We added music, singing and even some fx to really create a three-dimensional experience for listeners. We found that we were creating something quite different from the book, something even more immersive and impactful.

A wonderful American-Israeli actor, Eli Rahn, read most of Gidon's journal writing, as it was a bit hard for Gidon to get all of that done. Composer Nigel Groom composed an original theme for Gidon. Victoria Sampson edited the dialogue and Andrew Macht put it all together. Israeli composer Adi Goldstein gave us access to his huge catalog of music. So, as you can see, it really does take a village.

Importantly, the podcast is a historical document in and of itself. In the podcast you can hear Gidon's voice as he recalls particular incidents, memories and even songs. You can hear the voices of authors like Yossi Klein Halevi and Lewis Hyde and you can hear tour guides like Laura Nelson Levy, and historians like John LeStrange. Everybody came together to paint a picture of Gidon's story that can be learned from, enjoyed and even incorporated into Holocaust education curricula.

You can find The True Adventures of Gidon Lev on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Audible and just about every other podcast platform you can imagine. An audiobook, without the music, interviews and asides will be available by mid-summer 2022.

We hope you check it out and help share Gidon's story, which is more important than ever.

If you've read The True Adventures of Gidon Lev - and we hope you have! - you have by now noticed that the book is multi-dimensional, telling more than Gidon's story but also surrounding that story with historical context and with the sights and sounds of the land of Israel, where Gidon has spent the majority of his life.

Now that most pandemic travel restrictions are over, visitors are returning to Israel. Thankfully, once again the opportunity exists to travel to this complicated, ancient, modern, living and breathing place and see it for yourself.

In Chapter 9 of The True Adventures podcast, which is even more immersive than the book, we spoke briefly with Laura Nelson Levy, a tour guide in Israel of over 35 years, about her take on the story of Masada. Laura has deep knowledge about the history of Israel but more than that - she loves this land and is a gifted tour guide. If you would like to schedule a visit to Israel, Gidon and I urge you to book a tour with Laura. You can reach her at [email protected] and let Laura know you heard about her on our podcast!