My 101-Year-Old Grandfather, Papa Jack, Shares His Holocaust Survival Story with us

Raising Good Humans

Dear Media, Aliza Pressman

Toddler, Sinai, Mount, Doctor, Mother, Science, Dear, Baby, Motherhood, Parenting, Psychology, Pressman, Education, Humans, Seedlings, Kids & Family, Adolescence, Children, Child, Childhood, Parent, Good, Raising, Infant, Media, Aliza

4.6 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 12 September 2025

⏱️ 83 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, I sit down with my 101-year-old grandfather, Papa Jack, to hear his extraordinary story of survival and love. Born in Poland in 1924, he describes the beauty of his childhood, the rise of antisemitism, and the devastation that followed when Nazi Germany invaded. He shares what it was like to be forced into a ghetto, separated from family, and pushed into camps where survival often came down to instinct and impossible choices.

Papa Jack’s story and his love story with my grandmother, is the origin of my interest in understanding resilience, the human condition and how we come to be who we are. Their story is one of loss, courage, and hope. In this conversation, you’ll hear not just about the horrors he endured, but also about the love and laughter that carried him forward, and why he feels so strongly that his story must never be forgotten. For his birthday this weekend, I’m going to make sure that I do my part and sharing his story with all of you.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The following podcast is a Dear Media production.
0:10.4	Welcome to Raising Good Humans podcast. I'm Dr. Lisa Pressman, and today is like nothing I've ever done.
0:17.1	I hope you'll stick with me because I'm sharing with you an episode I just recorded with my
0:23.1	101 year old grandfather.
0:25.8	It's his birthday this weekend.
0:27.7	And in honor of that, I wanted to help him share his story of surviving the Holocaust.
0:33.8	And it's so wild to me that this man who is so alert and cognitively competent and has a better memory than I do is turning 101 this weekend.
0:48.3	And he really, really deeply cares that nobody forgets these stories, that people learn them, and that we
0:57.8	live our lives in consideration of the experiences of the past. And I certainly believe that this
1:06.9	is such a privilege that I have to have my grandfather still with us today and to be part of this lineage and also to be able to share it with you.
1:18.6	So no, we're not technically talking about raising our kids, but his story from when he was a little kid until the war ended is extraordinary.
1:30.0	And to be here today to tell you about it and to share it with you means the world.
1:35.8	I know it's weird because this episode is a normal episode.
1:39.2	So there are going to be ads.
1:40.4	Like he's going to be talking about really difficult things and then it's going to go to an
1:46.3	ad and that's a little weird. But I think you guys can handle it and I can. And there's also things
1:55.1	that he talks about where he probably assumes you know what it is, like the name of a concentration
2:00.2	camp or a reference to a time during World War II that maybe you don't know.
2:07.7	So I'm hoping it all will weave together and make sense to you and that you will pick up on the exquisite life lessons of this incredible survivor whose story is part of how I came to be
2:24.1	who I am. And this is just an incredible gift. So thank you for being here with me. And please
2:33.1	stick around.
2:38.1	So I want to start with you introducing, who are you?
	...

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