WDYTYA - Robert Rinder

[Dyingout]

The thing that has struck me about this series.
Apart from the lack of self searching in the records. 

Is that every one of the subjects so far has been very enthusiastic
and beguiled about what has been found.

And all of them have been so grateful to the researchers for that information.
Whereas some of the two previous series there has been some apathy.

[snooziflooze]

I'm a bit confused.  What happened to Israel's family?  Did they manage to escape Latvia and get to England?  Or did he have to leave them behind?

[Jomot]

I thought this was an excellent episode, and incredibly moving - I think it's the first time I've ever seen the 'expert' getting teary too, at Robert's reaction to the letter inviting Friedman to his grandparents wedding.

I can sometimes get a little bored when only 2 people are featured, but not in this episode - I wanted to know more and was pausing the TV to try & read the documents in full.  I noticed that the asylum admission made reference to previous institutions, although these weren't mentioned.

In ways this was similar to the Boy George episode - relatively recent history and a tough watch at times, but very interesting and (thankfully) no OTT weeping from the 'celebrity'.

[jfchaly]

Overall I liked the way the progamme went.
The date of birth issue made sense in the circumstances. I really liked Robert's reaction to grandfather wanting his real birth date corrected for the records. The Judge came out with reaction to all the 1930 birth years.
The wedding invitation and response were special. Ten pounds was quite a sum in those years.

Looking forward to next episode.

Jfch

[heywood]

I'm a bit confused.  What happened to Israel's family?  Did they manage to escape Latvia and get to England?  Or did he have to leave them behind?

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XWPM-GR8

This looks to be the family.

[heywood]

I thought that the programme was very moving and was better for concentrating on just the two men.
It must be so difficult to see, hear and read of the suffering, when it is your own grandfather whom you have known and loved.

[Romilly]

I thought it was rather surprising that the programme didn't visit the Treblinka Site, where the GreatGrandparents and their children had all been killed, while they were filming in Poland.

I don't know how far Piotrkow is from Treblinka, but it was quite near to Warsaw I think?

But perhaps it would have been too upsetting?

Romilly.

[dowdstree]

Romilly they are around 250km/160 miles apart.

I wondered that myself but as you say perhaps it would have been too upsetting to televise. Maybe he made a private visit while he was in Poland.

Also, I wonder if there are restrictions on camera crews filming inside Treblinka for this kind of television programme?


Dorrie

[Romilly]

Thanks Dorrie for pointing out the distances involved.

I think that the reason I wondered about this is because so many previous 'WDYTYA' episodes seem to have involved people visiting Auschwitz... Possibly this is because more has been preserved at that Site?

And no, I don't think there are any filming restrictions at the Treblinka Site; it features in the film 'Shoah' for example.

Romilly.