WDYTYA Series 4 #1 Natasha Kaplinsky

[jillruss]

I'm with Simon. He makes many valid points. Come on, Rootschatter - let's allow freedom of opinion and a  bit of healthy debate.

I think the people who are getting on their soapboxes about the Holocaust are in danger of belonging to the same group who think that merely raising the problems caused by mass immigration automatically makes you a racist.

Just because he wanted to express his view that perhaps another WDYTYA programme concerning the Holocaust was excessive, given that there are many other ( even multicultural) aspects of our ancestry which haven't yet been touched on by the programme, does not make him unaware of the horrors perpetrated by the Nazis.

For the record, I enjoyed the programme and - yes - I had a tear in my eye when Natasha was overcome by it all. Personally, I could probably have done without the bit about her father and sit ins in South Africa. I felt that this was stuff only one generation back and easily accessible for her. I know she said her father didn't talk about it much, but I too had the impression that she already knew most of it anyway (by the way, that doesn't mean I'm in favour of apartheid!).

I also wanted to know more about the Charlewood apothocary side of her family.

As for including research details - I  think too much of it would be out of place in the actual programme. As the BBC have raised so many people's interest in their family history through this programme, wouldn't it be a good idea to either repeat the programmes they ran on digital after each programme in the first series, or even produce another set of 'how to' programmes?  


Jill

[Jebber]

Like ozlady, I have no Jewish connections, only having known someone whose entire family was wiped out in the Holocaust.

I first visited Bergen-Belsen in the fifties, this was when it was still a taboo subject amongst the Germans and they were still in denial about such places. It was very hard to find because there was no roadway or signposts, it was hidden away in the middle of a forest

The only other people there were the couple I went  with, and the memory of that visit will remain with me forever. Standing amongst those mass graves with no sound of any bird or animal life,  the atmosphere and feeling of the horrors that had taken place was quite tangible.

When I found myself living in Germany some years later, it was one place we took   our family to visit,  in the hope that they would get an understanding of the enormity of the terrible events that had taken place there. By that time things had changed, it was very much open to the public and there was a visitor centre and coach loads of tourists. Although still a very moving place to visit, nothing can compare with the the feelings experienced on my first visit

[Simon G.]

I'm with Simon. He makes many valid points. Come on, Rootschatter - let's allow freedom of opinion and a  bit of healthy debate.

Thank you.  I don't pretend to be right 'cause I know anyones opinion is as valid as the next.  I do, however, feel it's important than people's opinions be treated with a certain level of respect and I think it's a sad day when healthy debate is put to one side.

I'd like to make it abundantly clear, since people clearly have misinterpreted everything I've been saying.  I HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH AN EPISODE CONCERNING THE HOLOCAUST, I just feel that it wasn't done as well as it could have been in this episode and would rather they'd addressed issues well instead of, as it felt to me, giving us half a story on so many issues.  I would like to see more of British history (and that doesn't mean I'm a racist, just someone who feels British history is not something to be brushed aside), but before anything else I'd like to see any history shown to be more in-depth and for episodes to have more of a feel of "discovery".  To me this episode felt like they were reviewing what they already knew.

[lesleyhannah]

I'm sure we all have topics we'd really love the programme to cover in future episodes, and some programmes will interest us more than others. I want to know about lunatic asylums (and why my g-g-grandmother died in one), but realise not everyone will share my interest.

As for the Holocaust - even if we have no Jewish ancestors, many (most?) of us can identify quite close relatives killed in WW2. Programmes like this one remind us why - I thought this episode dealt with the subject from a very different angle from the Stephen Fry one, so I didn't feel it was repeating itself. I hope they repeat it soon, so I can record that song in the synagogue.

[BettyofKent]

My g-grandmother also died in an asylum, & , like you lesleyhannah, would like to know more about them

I thought this program might be covering the same ground as Stephen Fry, but I found it quite different.
I thought the partisans & their underground 'towns' particularly interesting.

I would love to hear Benny's beautiful voice again.

Betty
   

I'm sure we all have topics we'd really love the programme to cover in future episodes, and some programmes will interest us more than others. I want to know about lunatic asylums (and why my g-g-grandmother died in one), but realise not everyone will share my interest.

As for the Holocaust - even if we have no Jewish ancestors, many (most?) of us can identify quite close relatives killed in WW2. Programmes like this one remind us why - I thought this episode dealt with the subject from a very different angle from the Stephen Fry one, so I didn't feel it was repeating itself. I hope they repeat it soon, so I can record that song in the synagogue.

[Nutty1966]

Hi

If anyone missed the episode I have it on dvd drive thingy ( I am not a technical but OH is, he will make you a copy) if you send me a pm with your addy I am happy to post you a copy.  

Somethings are repeated on the digital channels BBC4 I think it may be called, but it is usually the day after it is shown for the first time.

I have nearly all of them on disc and watch whenever there is nothing to watch, which is often


Jane

[Keith Sherwood]

My own fascination with family history is unearthing individual stories that bring our ancestors from the past vividly to life again - however horrific or upsetting these accounts might sometimes be.  The fact that someone was able to discover an eyewitness account or what exactly happened to members of Natasha Kaplinsky's family during something already so well documented does not detract in any way from the programme.  Each one of those inhuman tales from the Holocaust should be discovered and repeated and never forgotten as a living memorial to what happened then...

[rancegal]

Let's not forget that for many people, searching for their forbears is too dry and boring to contemplate. How many of us have bemoaned the fact that no one else in their family is interested, and wonder what will happen to their painstaking research when they are gone?
     Ignoring (for now) the question of how much of the actual research should be shown, think of it this way: if the 'human interest' stories inspire more folk to see Family History in a different light, then they are well worth it. After all, history is not just big events and famous people. All of our ancestors were part of history with stories of their own that are worth telling.

[toni*]

great programme and very moving, my grandfather was also displaced in WW2 luckily he came to the UK or i wouldn't be here!

its a shame the programme makers don't make these programmes about non-celebrity folk, i would love it if someone paid for me to go to Kiev to find my grandfathers records.