(upbeat music) - I really had no choice but to write this book.

At a very young age I was introduced to the history of my family and I was told about the lives that they lived.

But when it came to the war, it abruptly ended.

And all they said was that, "They didn't make it," and, "They're all gone."

(soft piano music) - We are honored to be joined by Meryl Frank, who is the author of a compelling and very important book called "Unearthed, a Lost Actress, a Forbidden Book, and a Search for Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust".

Meryl, thank you so much for joining us.

- Thank you for having me here today.

- Georgette Timoney, our executive producer, One-on-One and reading your book said she just had to keep putting the book down because it was so powerful.

It is so powerful and moving and emotional.

The premise of the book is?

- Well, it's a complicated story.

It's a story about family memory and secrets that are kept and our desire to find them.

And then also, what do we tell our children about sometimes a horrific past, trauma in the family past?

- Your cousin, Franya Winter.

- Yes.

- [Steve] You wanted to know who she was, how she lived and how she died.

Was that kept from you throughout your entire childhood?

- Well, when I was a child, I was sort of designated as the one that would remember the family history.

Even as a very small child I was told stories about their life in Europe and I would look through the old family photographs.

The kind on the hard stock, they're very solid and serious ancestors.

But I had this one who looked so alive and fun and interesting in costumes.

And it was my cousin, this actress, Franya Winter.

And they were all in black and white, but somehow she seemed to be in color to me and I fell in love with her.

But when I asked what happened to Franya and the rest of the relatives, all I was told was, "They're all gone.

They didn't make it."

And so it was something that I had been interested in since a very, very young age.

But it wasn't until I was older, an adult that my aunt gave me a book.

And the book was entitled "21 and One".

And there was an article on it, a chapter on my cousin, Franya Winter.

And my aunt said to keep the book, to hand it down to the children.

But don't ever read it.

The book was in Yiddish so that wasn't hard to do.

And my aunt was a formidable woman.

She was from Bayonne, New Jersey.

She was a teacher and labor organizer.

And I thought if she told me not to read it, I probably shouldn't.

Now, I should tell you, I'm not the sort of person that if someone says, don't do something, I don't do it.

I usually do it.

(Steve chuckles) But in this case, I thought there must be a reason she doesn't want me to read it.

And I put it on the shelf with the rest of my Holocaust books.

- What is the most significant aspect of Franya's life and what happened to her that you feel people, whether they're Jewish or not whether they feel a direct personal family connection to the Holocaust or not, should care about?

- Well, what I tried to do was to discuss Franya in a way where she was human.

And I spent seven years researching this to make sure that it would be clear that she was a human being with flaws.

And with joys and sadness and that she was someone that they would fall in love with too.

And that's so important.

When we talk about stories, having one person is so much easier to understand than 6 million.

You know, it's sort of the Anne Frank phenomenon.

I wanted people to know that this was a real person and this is what happens when hate goes unchecked.

- For people who minimize the Holocaust, who deny the Holocaust, who say, "Okay, well, let's move on from the Holocaust."

You say what to them?

- I say, "Look, there's no moving on from this."

That these stories are important, that we tell these stories because they are universal stories.

They're stories about trauma and suffering.

And again, what happens if hate goes unchecked?

I'm convinced that the Holocaust was not inevitable.

And that means that if people stand up and speak out when they see injustice that we can prevent something like this from happening.

Now, my story is a Holocaust story like many others and they're all so important to tell.

But I also discuss after discussing Franya's life and what ultimately happened to her, "Okay, what do we do with this information?

Where do we go now?

What do we tell our children?"

- Okay, so let's stay on.

There's clearly a rise in antisemitism in this country and there are an awful lot of folks who either are not moved by it or think, "Okay, so there's antisemitism."

Isn't that how it started?

- Well, you're right, it did start that way and in my case my own relatives didn't want to leave Europe.

My grandmother tried to get her sisters and her nephews and nieces to come to America but they felt comfortable.

They had wonderful lives, and they thought, "You know what?

There's been anti-Semitic attacks before.

This will pass too."

So we have to be vigilant.

We have to know and you can't put your head in the sand.

And this is what I learned from my children.

They grew up in an atmosphere of my constantly talking about the Holocaust.

I wanted them to know and it was my way of keeping them safe.

And they said to me that, "No, I didn't make them paranoid.

I made them aware."

And my one son said to me he understood because of the stories that were told that you have to be constantly vigilant.

You have to believe it.

And if you put your head in the sand, horrible things can happen.

It was interesting that they made a connection with climate change.

My kids said to me, "Mom, there's Holocaust deniers and there's climate change deniers and we have to deal with them both."

- What does it mean to deal with?

- That means stand up, to speak out and to do something.

I think that talking with your children about horrors is important.

The world isn't always a beautiful place.

But at the same time it's equally important to give them a sense of agency, that they can do something about it.

In the case of antisemitism, my children understand that there could be a target on their back.

I mean, when they travel or if they go to synagogues, there are police outside of synagogues.

Can you imagine?

It's a terrible state of affairs and it's something that we get used to.

But at the same time, they need to know that there is a risk and still be able to live a full and beautiful life.

- The book is "Unearthed, a Lost Actress, a Forbidden Book and a Search for Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust."

By the way, you're the former mayor of Highland Park of New Jersey, that sounds like out of the blue, but during what period of time?

- From the year 2000 till 2010, 10 years.

- So in writing the book, it's one thing to ask what you learned about Franya, what you learned about your family's history.

But I actually wanna ask you something slightly differently, a slightly different question.

How do you think it's changed you?

- How has the book changed me?

- Not just the book, the experience of researching, writing and living this book.

- I was told these stories from a very young age but they wasn't in a vacuum.

I was told the stories by my aunt and she was a labor organizer, a teacher in Bayonne, - The same Mollie.

- The same, my Aunt Molle.

And she was the one that made it very clear to me that I needed to understand this history, not just because it happened to us.

But because we need to take action and that we have a responsibility as Jews to act and to call out when we see injustice.

And that was very important.

And it's the reason that I entered politics, - Is it?

- That I did the work that I did.

The Holocaust was always in my mind, that this was something that I had a responsibility to do.

And so I spent many years in politics in New Jersey and then internationally.

And I learned that there was still something else I needed to do.

And it wasn't until I received an email from the Mémorial de la Shoah in Paris, that's their Holocaust museum.

They told me that somebody had delivered 50 photographs of an actress in costume and her family.

And they asked me if I knew her.

And in fact, I did.

It was my aunt and my cousins.

And when I viewed those photographs, I realized there's a story that needs to be told these people who I loved dearly although I didn't know them, I felt that I needed to honor them.

I needed to show that they were real human beings, to give them back their personhood and their dignity.

And so writing this book helped me do that.

It was in many ways healing to be able to do that.

And I feel very fortunate that I was able to in some ways bring them back to life, bring back their story.

- Meryl Frank, an important book, "Unearthed".

We appreciate you joining us.

We appreciate you sharing your perspective on such an important, it's not even an issue.

It's a part of our history, not just in this country, but throughout the world.

And you do not have to be Jewish.

You do not have to have that particular heritage to care deeply, understand and care.

Thank you, Meryl, we appreciate it.

- Thank you, Steve.

- I'm Steve Adubato.

We'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

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