Vox Tablet

When a Daughter of the Holocaust Meets a Daughter of the Third Reich

No one Lynn talked to understood how she, the child of a survivor, could cut ties with her family. Then she met Inga.

March 24, 2014
(Erik Mace)
(Erik Mace)

Growing up, Lynn Jordan never knew that her father was a Holocaust survivor. She only knew, subconsciously, that he seemed fragile and that he needed her to live life for the two of them, because he had somehow missed out on most of life’s pleasures. There were other problems, too—her mother’s self-destructive habits, her parents’ frequent fights. It wasn’t until Lynn had been begging her parents for years to get help that she discovered her father’s past. At that point, she was faced with a painful question: Given what he’d been through, should she go on living for him? Or could she make a break and start living for herself? It would take an encounter with a stranger whose parents were survivors of a different kind for Lynn to resolve that question once and for all. Mark Betancourt brings us their story.

Vox Tablet is Tablet Magazine’s weekly podcast, hosted by Sara Ivry and produced by Julie Subrin. You can listen to individual episodes here or subscribe on iTunes.

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