IF YOU HEARD WHAT ALEX HEARD

ALEX SHARES THE STORY OF HIS GRANDFATHER HENRY KANNER, WHO WAS FROM A LOVING FAMILY IN KĘTY, POLAND, WHERE HIS FATHER OWNED A LARGE FUR FACTORY, AND HE WAS THE ONLY BOY AMONG THREE SISTERS. HE HAD A HAPPY CHILDHOOD BEFORE THE WAR, AND DESCRIBES A SECULAR JEWISH UPBRINGING WHERE THEY WOULD CELEBRATE SHABBAT AND THE HOLIDAYS, BUT WERE NOT OVERLY RELIGIOUS. HE STARTED EXPERIENCING ANTISEMITISM AS A YOUNG TEENAGER, AND VIOLENCE BREAKING OUT TOWARDS JEWS. WHILE HIS FAMILY SECURED PAPERS TO IMMIGRATE TO THE U.S. IN 1939, BUT GOT STUCK WHEN GERMANY INVADED POLAND IN 1939. AS A RESULT, HENRY AND HIS FAMILY LIVED THROUGH WORSENING CONDITIONS, ANTISEMITISM, AND GOVERNMENT RESTRICTIONS AGAINST JEWS. HIS FAMILY WAS SOON SEPARATED, HIS MOTHER, FATHER, AND SISTERS, WERE ALL SENT TO BELZEC CONCENTRATION CAMP WHERE THEY WERE MURDERED ALMOST IMMEDIATELY. HENRY JOINED THE POLISH UNDERGROUND, AND WAS ULTIMATELY SENT TO AUSCHWITZ AS A POLITICAL PRISONER. THROUGH A SERIES OF MIRACLES AND CLOSE CALLS, HENRY SURVIVED. SOON AFTER LIBERATION, HENRY MET HIS WIFE, MELENA, ALSO A HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR. THEY IMMIGRATED TO THE U.S. AND TOGETHER, THEY REBUILT THEIR LIVES AND A FAMILY THAT CONTINUES TO GROW AND THRIVE TODAY.

IF YOU HEARD WHAT ALEX HEARD, YOU WOULD NEVER FORGET.