Exile

Exile released its first episode in November 2022, but the tale of how it came to be started long before that. On this special episode, we’re pulling back the curtain to tell the story of how this podcast gets made. From its origins in the mind of a dedicated board member, to the months of research and planning to select and shape episodes, to the music and sound effects that bring listeners into a time and place long past, Exile is truly a labor of love. 

Learn more at lbi.org/exile.

This episode is narrated by David Brown, Director of Public History for LBI, New York. It was produced by Laura Regehr. It features contributions from Amy Houston, Stuart Coxe, Frank Mecklenburg, Michael Simonson, Karen Franklin, Renate Evers, Stephanie Ades, Eva Gans, James Dreyfus, Mandy Patinkin, Joshua Malina, Philip Wilson, Emily Morantz, Miriam Bistrovic, and Markus Krah. 

This episode of Exile is made possible in part by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, which is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Finance and the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future.

This is part 2 of the remarkable story of Rabbi Leo Baeck.

Trapped in the “model ghetto” of Theriesenstadt, Rabbi Baeck led philosophical discussions that gave a fleeting sense of normalcy to his fellow inmates. But life in the ghetto was harrowing – hygiene was poor, food was scarce, and, as a member of the Jewish Council, Baeck had to make decisions that strained his strong moral principles. Dedicated to protecting his community in whatever way he could, Baeck stayed on at Theriesenstadt until the very end, cementing his role as a powerful symbol of German-Jewish resilience and dignity.

Rabbi Leo Baeck looms large in German-Jewish history, but he began his career as a smalltown rabbi in present-day Poland. Baeck quickly earned a reputation for moral clarity and quiet resolve, even in the face of a powerful opposition. As World War I gave way to the rise of the Nazis, the pressures on German Jewry intensified, and Baeck was thrust into an impossible role: guiding a community through its most dangerous and devastating hour. This is the first chapter of a two-part story.

In 1933, German author Lion Feuchtwanger wrote the first ever novel about the experience of Jews under Hitler. The book became a global sensation. When he finally received an offer in 1938 to adapt his most popular book for the screen in Stalin’s Russia, he jumped at the chance. The film was a success, but the decision would come to haunt him when he lived in California during the Red Scare.

The Lion Feuchtwanger Collection in the LBI Archives contains a small amount of original correspondence, manuscripts for a translation of Lysistrata, and an essay on the historical consciousness of the Jews. Lion Feuchtwanger also appears in the extensive papers of his brother Ludwig, which are held by the LBI Archives. 

Learn more at lbi.org/feuchtwanger

In the late 1930s, one of the few places in Berlin that still allowed Jewish visitors was the Zoological Garden, which was established with the support of many Jewish donors. As antisemitic laws took over elsewhere, the Zoo remained a space for community and childhood joy. Eventually, however, even the Zoo would betray the Jews. Sixty years later, one man with fond memories of the zoo realized that an injustice had occurred against his family, and did everything he could to right the wrongs of the past. 

The James Cohn Collection in the LBI archives documents his father Dr. Werner Cohn’s battle for restitution of his family’s share in the Berlin Zoo, including correspondence with Zoo officials in 2000. The Papers of Gerald M. Friedman, a former Trustee of the LBI, also document his family’s efforts dating back to the 1960s to recover Zoo shares. They include copies of the entire family’s photographic Zoo membership cards. 

Learn more at lbi.org/zoo