Thirty years ago, on the 50th anniversary of Kristallnacht, a Holocaust survivor spoke publicly for the first time about the horrors he had seen and what he had done as a teenage guerilla/partisan, fighting German Nazi invaders in what is now Belarus, very close to Poland’s eastern border.
Sol Shulman later immigrated to the United States and became head of the chemistry department at Illinois State University. I was honored to have him sit with me for an extensive interview on WJBC Radio, one that would evoke painful memories. His thoughts near the end of the interview seem particularly relevant given what transpired in Pittsburgh late last month.
This interview took place just a couple days after Dr. Shulman’s 60th birthday. He died 22 years later–but not before he was also interviewed for the visual library established by Steven Spielberg’s “Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation.” I’m also pleased to say that late in life, Dr. Shulman became a friend of my father.
Five years after my interview, my talented writer-friend Wes Smith produced a wonderful feature article about Dr. Shulman that appeared in The Chicago Tribune and elsewhere. Here’s a link: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1993-12-16-9312160173-story.html
And here’s a link to my interview as it aired on the 50th anniversary of Kristallnacht (the Night of the Broken Glass when Nazis attacked Jews and their property). I’m pleased we can preserve it here.
Very interesting, Steve.
Dan Swaney
If you haven’t checked out Wes Smith’s article (link above), do so. Dr. Shulman, who expressed no interest in returning to his homeland when I interviewed him, did, in fact, return for a visit later on.