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Legacy Chronicles – Episode 338

Guest: David First, Child of Holocaust Survivors
Host: Zachary Graulic, Assistant Director of Education, HMTC

In this powerful and deeply personal episode of Legacy Chronicles, host Zachary Graulic sits down with David First, the son of two Holocaust survivors whose lives were marked by resilience, loss, and an unbreakable will to live.

David shares the extraordinary survival stories of his parents—his mother, Sala, who evaded death by hiding in the forests of Belzec with the help of courageous local farmers, and his father, a Kraków native who endured the Kraków ghetto, Plaszów, Mauthausen, and St. Valentin before liberation. Their paths crossed in a DP camp in Bari, Italy, where David was born before the family immigrated to the United States.

With honesty and vivid detail, David reflects on growing up as a child of survivors in New York, the unspoken trauma that shaped his home, and the moments—often later in life—that opened the door to hard truths and long-buried stories. He speaks about his journey to reclaim his family’s history through years of research at Yad Vashem, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and through unexpected connections with scholars and fellow second-generation survivors.

Today, as a docent and active member of HMTC’s educational team, David is determined to ensure his family’s legacy—and the lessons of the Holocaust—live on. He discusses the responsibility of testimony, the urgency of Holocaust education in 2025, and the rising tide of global hatred that makes this work more important than ever.

This episode is not just a conversation—it’s a reminder of how fragile memory can be, how vital it is to preserve it, and how one person’s story can illuminate the path for future generations.

Listen in for a moving, candid, and unforgettable exploration of survival, identity, and the enduring power of truth.

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