OUR STORY

The | Frontline | Chronicles emanated from the outpouring of selflessness and American ingenuity that has permeated communities across America since the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic, even in the wake of what was a tumultuous and divisive political climate throughout 2020. The contributions made by frontline workers left us with an indelible sense that although human existence can be tested in unthinkable ways, humans are destined not only to survive but to thrive - a silver-lining in what has otherwise been more than a year of despair.

For Jacob and Johnny, a true understanding of the capacity for people to act altruistically first occurred when they had the opportunity to visit Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Israel, to learn about their family’s plight and legacy during World War II. 

Jacob and Johnny's grandfather's (Larry Torkin) uncles (Hyman and Joe Wiseman) fought in the war for Canada. At the same time, their grandmother's (Frieda Torkin) parents (Jennie and Frank Krystal) and their families were victimized in Europe and suffered the atrocities of the Holocaust. Yet, Jennie and Frank ended up meeting, getting married and giving birth to Frieda in Bergen Belsen, after the camp was liberated by the British in 1945. Yes! Our grandmother was one of 2,000 children born in Bergen Belsen (two years after Anne Frank was murdered there).

Despite the intensity of the experience, what truly moved Jacob and Johnny about their visit to Yad Vashem was the extraordinary way in which the museum honored and memorialized those who had risked their lives to save members of the Jewish population. In the bleakest hours of the most murderous period of the twentieth century, emerged a group of special individuals who provided hope for humanity and who are honored at Yad Vashem as the Righteous Among the Nations. 

A member of the Righteous Among the Nations refers to a non-Jewish person (or family) who risked their safety and economic security to save Jews from being captured and killed by the Nazis. If caught, it meant imprisonment or likely death. One of the most famous Righteous Among the Nations was Oskar Schindler, a former member of the Nazi party, who saved 1,200 Jews by employing them in his factories throughout Poland. Without detracting from Schindler’s heroism, the Righteous Among the Nations includes the every-day citizens who helped persecuted Jews survive. In particular, Johnny and Jacob want to highlight the Kaszuba family, an example that is close to home

The Kaszuba family was honored as the Righteous Among the Nations in 1993, by their grandmother's best friend, Anette Goldstein, who for all

intents and purposes is our grandmother’s sister (both were only-children of survivors and have been inseparable since they were children growing up in Toronto, Canada). Like Frieda, Anette was born in a displaced persons camp (Landsberg, just outside Munich). Anette’s grandmother, and her mother and her four uncles (who were children at the time) survived the war because of the Kaszuba family's heroic efforts. These every-day people risked everything by hiding Anette’s family in a secret room in a country house that Anette’s grandfather had built for the Kaszuba family before the war. Anette’s mother and her family lived in that room for 2 years, 2 months, 17 days (October 27 1942 to January 13 1945). Painfully, Anette’s grandfather and three of his sons never made it to the Kaszuba’s home and were murdered in Treblinka.

Author and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Eli Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, poetically described the altruism demonstrated by these individuals, recognizing that “only a few had the courage to care. These few men and women were vulnerable, afraid, helpless. What made them different from their fellow citizens? Why were there so few?”

The selflessness of the Kaszuba family and the other Righteous Among the Nations exemplifies the capacity of human beings to react with courage and empathy even in the most unimaginable of conditions.

Reflecting on the devastating health crisis and economic impact caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the sacrifices assumed by our frontline workers, including those caring for those infected – at the significant risk of infecting themselves and their families – motivated us to create an online documentary - a form of time capsule - to memorialize how communities across America confronted the pandemic.

Rather than sit idle, frontline workers put their community above their safety. Their heroic efforts exemplify the capacity of certain humans to subordinate their innate self-survival instincts to help others – even strangers. Their selflessness is the quintessential example of the emergence of human kindness that presents itself during times of turmoil and despair.

We want to encourage others in communities throughout America to become Chroniclers; to reach out and interview local EMS workers, grocers, restaurant owners, teachers, nurses, and other frontline workers to be able to tell their stories so that future generations can appreciate these shining members of communities around our country, and truly understand their individual contributions and sacrifices.