Hogan's Heroes, Thanksgiving, Anne Fran

 

Just a few days ago this popped up on Facebook.  An article from The New York Post.  Not a publication I typically read, so was surprised it was in my feed.  I loved the sow Hogan's Heroes, and LeBeau was a favorite character.  What I didn't know about him at the time was he was in fact a survivor of The Holocaust.  At the age of 16 he was taken from Paris to Auschwitz Concentration Camp along with his family.  He was one of 14 children born to Orthodox Parents.  His parents were gassed, and none of his siblings lived.  He was moved from Auschwitz to Buchenwalk were he spent 31 months incarcerated.  He worked in a wooden shoe factor making heals.  

He was a performing and believes one reason he was spared was because he sang and entertain The SS officers every other  Sunday.  He was liberated and returned to Paris and performed, both dancing and singing; and then sailed for The United  States were he performed on soap operas, Broadway and most notably, "Hogan's Heroes".

He has written a biography, which is on my to read list:

I was fascinated to learn this about him, and wanted to share.  Perhaps you all knew this?

How many of you go through a check list like this when you leave the house?  I know my hubby does, checking pockets etc.  I doubt he thinks of the stove and or iron, but certainly the other items.

A book perhaps you read back in High  School?  I didn't read it back then.  Frankly, I never liked reading when I was younger and always fundged a book report by reading the first, last, and middle chapter of the book.  So, I guess I'm making up for lost time.  

Things I didn't know:

1. She was in hiding 761 days (25 months).  
2. That only her father lived through the concentration camp captiviity
3. That they were multiple versions of the book.  This one is a combination of the first one written (without any conversation about sexuality).  Her Father Adolph censored that out.
4. Her last diary was written August 1st, 1944, and she was arrested on August 4th, and the Germans surrendered to the US on May 8th, 1945.  Just a few months after she was arrested.  

Not sure what I make of her as a teenager.  On one hand her situation seemed far better than many who were in hiding, or taken early to camps.  At times she seemed very nasty to her family and the others in hiding with them.  I didn't find her endearing.  Did you?  Would love to know your thoughts.

My asymetrical scarf looks pretty much the same even though I've spend quite a bit more time working on it.  It truly is taking much longer to complete than I anticipated.

Spotted this Turkey on a recent walk.  I don't decorate outdoors for this holiday, do you?  I've seen some in the neighborhood, but far less than Halloween decorations.  If you're traveling for the holiday, please be safe.  If you're gathering with family, I hope you enjoy yourself and everyone stays healthy.  We'll not be doing the large family gathering this year, since hubby just recently had surgery.  Many thanks to all that left kind messages.  His surgery went well and he feels better each and everyday.

Knitting, Voting, Georia Tann Scandal, and Counting Steps

 

The Color on this scarf isn't quite right.  I sure miss my old software.  It had a greeat feature that one click improved the color.  Don't remember quite what the option was called.  I used Irfanview, before I got my new laptop which is Windows 11 and so I only have a photo app, which doesn't seem to do much.  But, the scarf is coming along nicely.  I have 120 stitches on the needle.  Had hoped to have this completed by now, but it's such thin yarn it's a slower process than I thought it would be.  Wonderfully soft yarn and thus far am much more pleased with this than the previous shawl project, which I still haven't soaked or blocked.  Figured I would wait until I get this one finished and do them both.

Look who hubby and I ran into when we voted earlier this week!  I love the ability to vote early, it sure lessens the lines, and gives you options.  Who knows if you'll be sick or maybe your car won't start on election day!  AND, hubby will have surgery that day, so we would not have been able to voite on election day.  The states that don't allow early voting are, in my opinion very very backward!  And sadly, I think making voting as hard as possible is purposeful, and shameful.  

Not being able to get the horrific story about The Tennessee Children's Home Society out of my mind, I decided I needed to read more about it and that horrible woman, Georgia Tann.  Lisa Wingate, author of the previous book, "Before we Were Yours", teamed up with a reporter friend, Judy Christie to tell the stories of some of the stolen babies and their separated families in this book, book 2.  The reunion I mentioned that was arranged enable many who shared this sad experience to come together and share their stories.  People found each other at book signings and through the help of DNA testing with Ancestry.com and 23 and me, some have been able to re-unite with long lost siblings.  Due to the timing, many tracing their routes are now 2nd generation but learning about their birth families and what happened.  

I've learned that my husband's assistant's uncle was in fact one of these "Georgia Tann" stolen babies.  I believe I mentioned in my previous post that no one was held accountable to this horrible scandal, not the police, not the judges, not any of the workers, and not Georgia Tann herself.  

This is the actual house where it all began, though as time went on; there were other locations.  Part of how she made her money selling the babies was due to wealthy people being willing and able to pay high prices for babies.  For example, movie stars.  She had a following in Hollywood.  Movie stars June Allyson, Esther Williams, and Joan Crawford were among some of the famous stars who bought Georgia Tann's children.  Knowing that Joan Crawford was one, we also know that not all children found loving homes.  In 1986 60 minutes did a special on this scandal.  This audio book was 8 hours compared to 14 hours for the previous book.  Again...it was a short read/listen for me.  I really couldn't put it down.

There are a few other books, "Bought and Paid For", "The Baby Thief" I found listed about this, but thus far I've not found an audio version of them.

Happy to say October was a better month then September (my Covid month and ill fated France tour).  I took 11 actual walks, did planks 7 times and yard work 7 times.  Yard work is raking, and mowing mostly.  My steps went from 89.78 miles in Sept to 101.94 in October.   One must keep at it.