When the Flames Go Up
When the Flames Go Up
Episode 19: "When it all comes together, it is beyond exhilarating."
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Episode 19: "When it all comes together, it is beyond exhilarating."

After Jennifer Mendelsohn began researching her family's genealogy, she turned her newfound passion into a new career—and a new project using DNA to reunite families riven by the Holocaust.

Note: This episode includes frank discussions about people who were murdered by Nazis during the Holocaust, and we recorded it before the brutal and disgusting attacks in Israel. We find Jennifer's work to be life-affirming, but in light of last weekend’s atrocities, we understand if you need to postpone listening in order to protect your heart.

Jennifer Mendelsohn was a freelance journalist when her nascent interest in genealogy led to a life-changing achievement: finding three first cousins of her husband’s grandmother, who had lost track of her entire family after the Holocaust.

Now—after rising to prominence using the viral #resistancegenealogy hashtag to call out political hypocrisy about immigration—she’s become a sought-after genealogical expert with an exciting new mission: using DNA at the Center for Jewish History to reunite Holocaust survivors with their families.

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Getting the facts right about your forebears is an important pursuit, since much of the lore we pass down often distorts over the generations. We also talk about our shared joy of logic puzzles, how every immigration story leads to several even-more-amazing stories, and how close Jennifer came to writing the “When Your Hashtag Goes Viral” diet book.

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