Nina & Irena
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
Filmmaker Daniel Lombroso makes the startling discovery that his grandmother, Nina, had a sister who disappeared during the Second World War. For the first time in his life, Nina shares the story of how she survived the Holocaust — and the untold story of Irena.
Citation
Main credits
Lombroso, Daniel (film director)
Lombroso, Daniel (film producer)
Blackwell, Devon (film producer)
Other credits
Cinematography, Vittoria Campaner; editing, David Zucker; music, Gil Talmi.
Distributor subjects
Jewish Studies; Archival; Antisemitism; WWII; Untold StoriesKeywords
00:00:00.490 --> 00:00:03.157
(calming music)
00:00:08.418 --> 00:00:12.085
(people faintly chattering)
00:00:21.840 --> 00:00:23.093
- [Person] Where were you?
00:00:24.138 --> 00:00:24.971
- What?
00:00:24.971 --> 00:00:26.460
- In the war? Where were you?
00:00:26.460 --> 00:00:27.840
- In Poland.
00:00:27.840 --> 00:00:28.673
- [Person] But where were...
00:00:28.673 --> 00:00:29.520
You weren't in the camps?
00:00:29.520 --> 00:00:31.713
- No, we had the Aryan papers.
00:00:32.919 --> 00:00:33.752
- [Person] You had what?
00:00:33.752 --> 00:00:34.585
- Aryan papers.
00:00:34.585 --> 00:00:35.418
- [Person] Oh.
00:00:35.418 --> 00:00:36.251
- Yeah.
00:00:36.251 --> 00:00:39.600
- Yeah, 'cause when he said the Holocaust,
00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:41.730
my parents were Holocaust survivors and-
00:00:41.730 --> 00:00:42.563
- Yeah?
00:00:42.563 --> 00:00:43.396
- [Person] They were much older.
00:00:43.396 --> 00:00:46.950
With your age, you couldn't
never survive the camps.
00:00:46.950 --> 00:00:49.260
- Yeah, well, we were lucky.
00:00:49.260 --> 00:00:53.250
My father was at one point
in camp, but he escaped.
00:00:53.250 --> 00:00:54.083
- Oh.
00:00:54.083 --> 00:00:55.590
- Yeah.
- He escaped the camp?
00:00:55.590 --> 00:00:57.210
- No.
00:00:57.210 --> 00:00:58.590
No, the camp.
00:00:58.590 --> 00:01:00.750
They took him on a work detail-
00:01:00.750 --> 00:01:01.583
- Oh.
00:01:01.583 --> 00:01:02.850
- And then there was a shed there,
00:01:02.850 --> 00:01:04.980
and he hid in there,
00:01:04.980 --> 00:01:07.200
and they didn't make a count going back.
00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:08.520
So, he was left behind.
00:01:08.520 --> 00:01:09.353
- Very lucky.
00:01:09.353 --> 00:01:10.332
- Yes.
00:01:10.332 --> 00:01:11.329
- Very.
00:01:11.329 --> 00:01:14.421
(soft piano music)
00:01:14.421 --> 00:01:16.231
- [Nina] Hi, hun. How are you?
00:01:16.231 --> 00:01:17.899
- So nice to see you.
00:01:17.899 --> 00:01:19.033
- Ah.
00:01:19.033 --> 00:01:20.673
I get to kiss you more times.
00:01:21.510 --> 00:01:22.410
- Thank you for...
00:01:23.334 --> 00:01:24.167
(Nina laughs)
Thanks for having me.
00:01:24.167 --> 00:01:25.000
I'm excited.
00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:25.833
- Where's my popcorn?
00:01:25.833 --> 00:01:28.833
(Grandson chuckles)
00:01:29.719 --> 00:01:31.322
Oh.
00:01:31.322 --> 00:01:33.225
Hello, ladies and gentlemen.
00:01:33.225 --> 00:01:34.200
(Grandson chuckles)
00:01:34.200 --> 00:01:36.240
- [Grandson] The one
tip is to try to restate
00:01:36.240 --> 00:01:37.590
the question when you can.
00:01:37.590 --> 00:01:38.580
So I'll say-
00:01:38.580 --> 00:01:40.233
- I'm not going to do that.
00:01:41.430 --> 00:01:42.273
Come on.
00:01:43.500 --> 00:01:46.140
If I can't hear it,
then I'll say it to you,
00:01:46.140 --> 00:01:48.143
but otherwise I'm not going
to repeat what you said.
00:01:48.143 --> 00:01:50.280
- [Grandson] No, you don't
have to repeat, can I explain?
00:01:50.280 --> 00:01:51.113
So if I say, what is-
00:01:51.113 --> 00:01:52.410
- I know what you're saying.
00:01:52.410 --> 00:01:56.310
You want to hear about my
experiences there and there.
00:01:56.310 --> 00:01:58.203
- [Grandson] Okay. You ready to go?
00:01:59.491 --> 00:02:02.241
(paper crumples)
00:02:03.870 --> 00:02:05.190
I know you give me a lot of shit
00:02:05.190 --> 00:02:06.810
that I don't have kids yet,
00:02:06.810 --> 00:02:09.630
and my brother doesn't
either, but one day we will.
00:02:09.630 --> 00:02:13.170
And I want them to know about
you and to know your story.
00:02:13.170 --> 00:02:15.903
How do you want them and my
grandkids to remember you?
00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:21.956
(soft piano music)
00:02:23.370 --> 00:02:25.380
- I was born in Kielce,
00:02:25.380 --> 00:02:28.833
which is a town between Warsaw and Krakow.
00:02:33.090 --> 00:02:35.793
We were way above middle class,
00:02:36.870 --> 00:02:39.930
and if anybody thinks
that I come from a shtetl,
00:02:39.930 --> 00:02:40.980
I get very upset,
00:02:40.980 --> 00:02:43.833
because I have never seen
a shtetl in my whole life.
00:02:46.080 --> 00:02:48.063
My sister was six years older.
00:02:49.530 --> 00:02:54.150
Supposedly I looked like Shirley
Temple, I had blonde curls.
00:02:54.150 --> 00:02:56.013
And she was Deanna Durbin.
00:02:56.910 --> 00:03:00.513
Once she heard the tune, she
could sit down and play it.
00:03:01.917 --> 00:03:05.580
(soft piano music)
00:03:05.580 --> 00:03:09.570
My sister had friends,
she wouldn't let me in.
00:03:09.570 --> 00:03:10.860
She would close the door,
00:03:10.860 --> 00:03:14.100
and they would talk
about different things,
00:03:14.100 --> 00:03:16.080
so I would listen through the peephole,
00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:17.880
and then what if I heard something bad?
00:03:17.880 --> 00:03:21.390
I would run to my mother,
"You know what she's doing?"
00:03:21.390 --> 00:03:25.200
If we were eating something
and she wanted what I had,
00:03:25.200 --> 00:03:27.420
she would say, "You want to eat that?
00:03:27.420 --> 00:03:28.890
It's disgusting.
00:03:28.890 --> 00:03:29.940
How can you have that?"
00:03:29.940 --> 00:03:30.960
You know.
00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:32.400
Then the minute I pushed away,
00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:34.587
she would take it and eat it.
00:03:34.587 --> 00:03:36.120
- [Grandson] And her name is Irene?
00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:36.953
- What?
00:03:36.953 --> 00:03:37.980
- [Grandson] Her name was Irene?
00:03:37.980 --> 00:03:39.030
- Irena.
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- [Grandson] Irena.
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- Irena.
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- [Grandson] And when was the
last time that you saw her?
00:03:44.970 --> 00:03:49.833
- In April of 1943.
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(train honks)
(soft piano music)
00:04:12.120 --> 00:04:12.953
- Hi.
00:04:13.969 --> 00:04:14.820
I got new glasses.
00:04:14.820 --> 00:04:16.106
Sorry, sorry.
00:04:16.106 --> 00:04:17.628
- Make sure you don't fall down.
00:04:17.628 --> 00:04:18.461
- No, I'm good. I'm all right.
00:04:18.461 --> 00:04:19.294
- Oh, okay.
00:04:19.294 --> 00:04:21.140
No, I thought you were closer to this-
00:04:21.140 --> 00:04:21.973
- No.
00:04:21.973 --> 00:04:22.806
- Hi, Mom.
- Hi.
00:04:22.806 --> 00:04:23.639
- Hi.
- Hi.
00:04:23.639 --> 00:04:24.472
- Hi.
- Hi.
00:04:24.472 --> 00:04:25.305
How are you?
- Hi.
00:04:25.305 --> 00:04:26.213
- Hi.
00:04:26.213 --> 00:04:30.348
- You have to make the
Netflix respond to me.
00:04:30.348 --> 00:04:31.181
Go.
00:04:31.181 --> 00:04:32.173
- Where do you mean "go"?
00:04:32.173 --> 00:04:33.780
(Mom laughs)
00:04:33.780 --> 00:04:34.680
It shouldn't be this slow.
00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:36.510
- What is "trending now"?
00:04:36.510 --> 00:04:38.823
- It just gives you new
things that are popular.
00:04:38.823 --> 00:04:40.117
- So, I want new things.
00:04:40.117 --> 00:04:41.130
- "Peaky Blinders"?
00:04:41.130 --> 00:04:42.060
That's supposed to be good.
00:04:42.060 --> 00:04:42.893
- No, no.
00:04:51.189 --> 00:04:52.022
- [Mom] I don't know,
00:04:52.022 --> 00:04:54.050
it's like we didn't really
talk about the Holocaust.
00:04:59.520 --> 00:05:01.230
I guess I knew, of course,
in the back of my mind,
00:05:01.230 --> 00:05:03.213
that she came here after the war.
00:05:05.970 --> 00:05:06.803
I knew it all along,
00:05:06.803 --> 00:05:09.033
but I didn't really think about it.
00:05:13.380 --> 00:05:15.480
On my mother's side, we
didn't have anybody to visit.
00:05:15.480 --> 00:05:17.250
We visited my grandparents in Brooklyn,
00:05:17.250 --> 00:05:21.000
but there were no aunts
and uncles on her side.
00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:22.563
There was nobody else, really.
00:05:25.410 --> 00:05:27.480
We didn't ask many questions
when we were growing up,
00:05:27.480 --> 00:05:28.930
it was just not talked about.
00:05:31.650 --> 00:05:32.483
So...
00:05:34.998 --> 00:05:37.498
(vacuum hums)
00:05:46.260 --> 00:05:50.103
- [Grandson] Grandma, what happens next?
00:05:53.957 --> 00:05:56.457
(vacuum hums)
00:05:57.361 --> 00:06:00.194
(people cheering)
00:06:07.110 --> 00:06:10.762
- [Nina] The war broke
out September 1st, 1939.
00:06:10.762 --> 00:06:13.595
(people cheering)
00:06:17.118 --> 00:06:19.380
From the minute the Germans drove in,
00:06:19.380 --> 00:06:22.113
they started picking
up Jews in the street.
00:06:23.565 --> 00:06:26.580
(melancholic music)
00:06:26.580 --> 00:06:29.640
My father decided we're not staying here.
00:06:29.640 --> 00:06:34.200
He figured out somehow that
maybe if he went to a priest,
00:06:34.200 --> 00:06:36.690
and the priest would give us a paper
00:06:36.690 --> 00:06:39.843
saying that we are studying
to become Catholic,
00:06:40.830 --> 00:06:42.333
that that will save us.
00:06:43.740 --> 00:06:44.940
The only problem was
00:06:44.940 --> 00:06:48.390
that we really had to
pretend that we're not Jews,
00:06:48.390 --> 00:06:50.230
so we had to go to church
00:06:51.265 --> 00:06:52.164
(bell tolls)
00:06:52.164 --> 00:06:56.664
(person speaking in foreign language)
00:06:57.541 --> 00:07:01.170
(melancholic piano music)
00:07:01.170 --> 00:07:03.227
And all the Jews went to the ghetto,
00:07:03.227 --> 00:07:05.433
and it was bad news there.
00:07:06.895 --> 00:07:10.728
(melancholic music continues)
00:07:15.690 --> 00:07:17.040
When people used to die,
00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:20.220
they used to put the
corpse out in the street,
00:07:20.220 --> 00:07:22.770
and it would stay there till,
00:07:22.770 --> 00:07:26.416
I don't know who eventually
picked up the bodies.
00:07:26.416 --> 00:07:30.249
(melancholic music continues)
00:07:48.210 --> 00:07:50.100
- [Grandson] But you
were in a way privileged
00:07:50.100 --> 00:07:51.630
you were on the other side of the wall.
00:07:51.630 --> 00:07:52.680
You were Catholic.
00:07:52.680 --> 00:07:53.861
You were fake Catholic.
00:07:53.861 --> 00:07:55.230
- Yes, but it was not
such a terrific thing,
00:07:55.230 --> 00:07:57.063
because my father was known.
00:07:58.740 --> 00:08:02.103
And we started getting
blackmailers coming at night.
00:08:04.530 --> 00:08:06.300
They said, "If you don't have anything,
00:08:06.300 --> 00:08:08.280
we're going to send the Gestapo."
00:08:08.280 --> 00:08:11.013
And sure enough, they send the Gestapo.
00:08:12.900 --> 00:08:14.763
And they took my father away.
00:08:15.936 --> 00:08:19.436
(melancholic piano music)
00:08:22.080 --> 00:08:25.590
My sister now became
the head of the family.
00:08:25.590 --> 00:08:27.150
My mother was really scared,
00:08:27.150 --> 00:08:30.210
and my mother looked very Semitic.
00:08:30.210 --> 00:08:33.703
Whereas my sister and I, we didn't.
00:08:33.703 --> 00:08:35.760
(people cheering)
00:08:35.760 --> 00:08:38.133
She felt that we cannot stay.
00:08:39.930 --> 00:08:44.193
And she somehow got my
mother a job on the farm,
00:08:45.090 --> 00:08:47.253
and I was going to be a cowgirl.
00:08:48.390 --> 00:08:51.507
They gave me six cows
and a stick and "Go".
00:08:53.130 --> 00:08:55.380
After two weeks maybe,
00:08:55.380 --> 00:08:58.147
we got a note from my sister saying that,
00:08:58.147 --> 00:09:01.320
"I'm going towards Wolf to see
00:09:01.320 --> 00:09:05.313
if there's anybody left from our family.
00:09:06.480 --> 00:09:08.910
Love, Irena."
00:09:08.910 --> 00:09:09.780
That's the end.
00:09:09.780 --> 00:09:11.163
We never heard about her.
00:09:12.600 --> 00:09:14.463
Never heard from her.
00:09:15.450 --> 00:09:18.480
And after the war, my
parents went to Red Cross
00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:21.753
and the Yad Vashem and
all that, nothing ever.
00:09:25.710 --> 00:09:27.483
Could never find trace of her.
00:09:29.070 --> 00:09:30.870
- [Grandson] What do you
think happened to her?
00:09:30.870 --> 00:09:32.373
- She was probably shot.
00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:36.390
On the train, they might've asked them
00:09:36.390 --> 00:09:37.650
for papers or something,
00:09:37.650 --> 00:09:40.410
and something happened
that maybe was suspicious.
00:09:40.410 --> 00:09:41.640
I don't know.
00:09:41.640 --> 00:09:44.610
- Was there a moment when it dawned on you
00:09:44.610 --> 00:09:47.940
that Irena was never gonna come back?
00:09:47.940 --> 00:09:50.070
- I never thought she's never coming back.
00:09:50.070 --> 00:09:53.040
To me, she has disappeared, I mean,
00:09:53.040 --> 00:09:55.150
but she'll come back.
00:09:55.150 --> 00:09:59.400
(melancholic piano music)
00:09:59.400 --> 00:10:01.920
Many times after the war,
00:10:01.920 --> 00:10:05.220
if I would see somebody
that looked like her,
00:10:05.220 --> 00:10:08.583
I would follow them thinking
maybe it's her, you know?
00:10:09.690 --> 00:10:13.053
But after a while, it, you
know, you stop, and that's it.
00:10:13.902 --> 00:10:17.402
(melancholic piano music)
00:10:23.563 --> 00:10:25.740
I feel the way I feel.
00:10:25.740 --> 00:10:30.121
But that's nobody's business
how I feel, you know?
00:10:30.121 --> 00:10:31.980
And I don't analyze it.
00:10:31.980 --> 00:10:33.930
It's part of me, and that's what it is.
00:10:34.884 --> 00:10:36.311
Yeah.
00:10:36.311 --> 00:10:37.394
I don't know.
00:10:38.510 --> 00:10:40.927
(soft music)
00:10:48.540 --> 00:10:51.790
(soft music continues)
00:10:53.245 --> 00:10:56.162
(birdseed rattles)
00:11:06.810 --> 00:11:08.640
- [Grandson] Can you
describe any last memories
00:11:08.640 --> 00:11:09.780
with her from that time?
00:11:09.780 --> 00:11:11.598
Do you remember anything you did together?
00:11:11.598 --> 00:11:13.410
- [Nina] No, no.
00:11:13.410 --> 00:11:14.243
- [Grandson] Think about it.
00:11:14.243 --> 00:11:16.330
You must remember something
from the war together.
00:11:17.499 --> 00:11:19.830
- [Nina] No, I...
00:11:19.830 --> 00:11:22.630
- [Grandson] You don't remember
your last memory of her?
00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:28.113
- [Nina] No, I don't
think about it that way.
00:11:30.160 --> 00:11:32.040
- [Grandson] And I know I'm pushing here.
00:11:32.040 --> 00:11:33.450
I'm gonna stop in a second.
00:11:33.450 --> 00:11:34.950
But we've never talked about...
00:11:34.950 --> 00:11:36.720
I never even knew you had a sister,
00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:38.220
that's why I'm so interested in this.
00:11:38.220 --> 00:11:39.810
'Cause you never told us.
00:11:39.810 --> 00:11:41.453
- [Nina] No, well, look.
00:11:44.306 --> 00:11:46.243
(soft piano music)
00:11:46.243 --> 00:11:49.503
I didn't talk about that time of my life.
00:11:50.370 --> 00:11:52.920
First of all, nobody was interested.
00:11:52.920 --> 00:11:54.303
You didn't talk about it.
00:11:55.440 --> 00:11:59.370
(soft piano music continues)
00:11:59.370 --> 00:12:02.670
Two, I felt that if I
start telling my story
00:12:02.670 --> 00:12:04.650
the way it really happened,
00:12:04.650 --> 00:12:08.490
it was too depressing or too horrifying
00:12:08.490 --> 00:12:10.190
for the kids when they were small.
00:12:11.100 --> 00:12:14.130
So I felt, "Okay sometimes later."
00:12:14.130 --> 00:12:16.593
And later never came.
00:12:19.032 --> 00:12:20.010
- Good?
00:12:20.010 --> 00:12:20.843
Great.
00:12:26.872 --> 00:12:30.600
- [Instructor] Must be
getting a little firmer.
00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:33.150
Just take a couple of breaths here,
00:12:33.150 --> 00:12:35.266
just finding your towel.
00:12:35.266 --> 00:12:38.683
Push into your feet, drop your shoulders.
00:12:40.498 --> 00:12:41.331
- [Nina] Hello?
00:12:41.331 --> 00:12:43.050
- [Giselle] Hi, Nina. Giselle speaking.
00:12:43.050 --> 00:12:44.010
How are you?
00:12:44.010 --> 00:12:44.843
- Hi, honey.
00:12:44.843 --> 00:12:46.785
I'm in the middle of yoga now.
00:12:46.785 --> 00:12:48.027
Can I call you back?
00:12:48.027 --> 00:12:50.130
- [Giselle] Yes, you can enjoy your yoga.
00:12:50.130 --> 00:12:52.200
You have a beautiful, beautiful grandson.
00:12:52.200 --> 00:12:53.333
I'll talk to you later.
00:12:53.333 --> 00:12:55.592
- [Nina] Okay, hun. Thank you.
00:12:55.592 --> 00:12:58.262
- [Instructor] Right through
your hands to your hips
00:12:58.262 --> 00:12:59.095
Either one.
00:12:59.095 --> 00:13:02.260
If you reach your arms
forward, it's more force.
00:13:02.260 --> 00:13:06.460
Push into your lap and slowly lift up.
00:13:07.391 --> 00:13:09.068
Beautifully done.
00:13:09.068 --> 00:13:11.170
Arms up and take them down to your hips.
00:13:11.170 --> 00:13:13.050
Swing your hands around,
00:13:13.050 --> 00:13:18.050
holding on to your right
ankle and your right knee.
00:13:19.740 --> 00:13:21.030
- [Grandson] What would
you say is your lesson
00:13:21.030 --> 00:13:22.380
from what you went through?
00:13:25.500 --> 00:13:27.423
- [Nina] That people are inhuman.
00:13:28.710 --> 00:13:30.210
And if there is any God,
00:13:30.210 --> 00:13:32.853
I don't understand that
he would let that happen.
00:13:36.419 --> 00:13:41.336
(train chugs)
(soft music)
00:13:44.880 --> 00:13:48.849
We were now evacuated as Poles.
00:13:48.849 --> 00:13:50.460
(cars honking)
(people cheering)
00:13:50.460 --> 00:13:53.793
We got on the train, and
we ended up in Prague.
00:13:56.016 --> 00:13:57.120
(explosions booming)
00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:01.080
The Czechs decided to liberate
their town from the Germans
00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:03.952
because the Allies are very close.
00:14:03.952 --> 00:14:06.210
(cars honking)
00:14:06.210 --> 00:14:10.653
The Czechs poured tar on the Germans.
00:14:12.600 --> 00:14:14.823
Hung them and then lit the match.
00:14:16.418 --> 00:14:19.168
(dramatic music)
00:14:21.155 --> 00:14:22.770
(people laughing)
00:14:22.770 --> 00:14:25.093
I mean, this was terrible.
00:14:25.093 --> 00:14:26.700
I never...
00:14:26.700 --> 00:14:28.593
The smell of the burning flesh.
00:14:31.830 --> 00:14:34.440
- [Grandson] But you lost your sister,
00:14:34.440 --> 00:14:36.750
surely that's revenge to burn-
00:14:36.750 --> 00:14:37.583
- [Nina] What?
00:14:37.583 --> 00:14:38.910
- [Grandson] Isn't that a kind of revenge,
00:14:38.910 --> 00:14:41.157
something that they deserved?
00:14:41.157 --> 00:14:42.210
- No.
00:14:42.210 --> 00:14:43.680
No, I just...
00:14:43.680 --> 00:14:45.870
You don't do that to other human being.
00:14:45.870 --> 00:14:47.283
I mean, come on.
00:14:50.340 --> 00:14:54.360
We are all born little adorable children.
00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:56.580
What happens? What happens?
00:14:56.580 --> 00:14:58.930
What happens to people
that they can become
00:15:00.330 --> 00:15:01.560
worse than animals?
00:15:01.560 --> 00:15:04.203
Animals kill because they're hungry.
00:15:05.400 --> 00:15:06.233
But...
00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:08.033
Terrible.
00:15:08.033 --> 00:15:11.190
What people do to
people, that's beyond me.
00:15:11.190 --> 00:15:13.743
I don't care, German, Jew, whoever.
00:15:14.681 --> 00:15:17.931
(tense dramatic music)
00:15:21.386 --> 00:15:23.969
I don't know, it's human races.
00:15:24.990 --> 00:15:29.227
Maybe it's time for it to
disappear, and I don't know.
00:15:30.996 --> 00:15:34.633
You think the creatures from
outer space will be better?
00:15:36.827 --> 00:15:37.935
I don't know.
00:15:37.935 --> 00:15:41.268
(dramatic string music)
00:15:56.100 --> 00:15:56.933
- Hi, Nina.
00:15:56.933 --> 00:15:57.766
- Hi, hi.
00:16:02.545 --> 00:16:06.210
I have a feeling that you're
going to have a hard time
00:16:06.210 --> 00:16:11.210
with accepting the fact
that I'm going, I'm gone.
00:16:13.368 --> 00:16:16.440
(melancholic string music)
00:16:16.440 --> 00:16:18.753
And you know, I feel bad about it.
00:16:19.825 --> 00:16:23.940
But you know, it's a fact of life.
00:16:23.940 --> 00:16:25.353
That's what happens.
00:16:29.130 --> 00:16:30.486
My lead then, right?
00:16:30.486 --> 00:16:31.957
- [Person] Mhm.
00:16:31.957 --> 00:16:34.374
(soft music)
00:16:36.600 --> 00:16:39.090
- [Grandson] Your father had
five sisters with families,
00:16:39.090 --> 00:16:40.440
and all of them were killed.
00:16:40.440 --> 00:16:42.270
- [Nina] That's correct, yeah.
00:16:42.270 --> 00:16:43.500
- [Grandson] I didn't know that.
00:16:43.500 --> 00:16:44.550
- [Nina] Yeah.
00:16:44.550 --> 00:16:46.350
What do mean you didn't know that?
00:16:46.350 --> 00:16:47.670
Everybody...
00:16:47.670 --> 00:16:50.520
- [Grandson] So you were
one of a few members
00:16:50.520 --> 00:16:52.253
of the extended family that survived.
00:16:52.253 --> 00:16:53.550
- [Nina] That survived, yeah.
00:16:53.550 --> 00:16:54.933
My parents and I.
00:16:57.267 --> 00:16:59.684
(soft music)
00:17:00.780 --> 00:17:01.613
- [Grandson] I think growing up,
00:17:01.613 --> 00:17:03.093
I never really understood that.
00:17:05.464 --> 00:17:07.350
(melancholic music)
00:17:07.350 --> 00:17:10.320
- [Nina] No, because look,
when you're growing up,
00:17:10.320 --> 00:17:13.710
you're young, you don't
dwell on these things.
00:17:13.710 --> 00:17:17.100
The same thing, I didn't
dwell while it was happening.
00:17:17.100 --> 00:17:19.083
I didn't dwell on it.
00:17:19.950 --> 00:17:21.750
That's what was happening, you know?
00:17:22.920 --> 00:17:25.680
I'm a very straightforward person.
00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:28.740
That's what happens, and
you have to accept it.
00:17:28.740 --> 00:17:31.117
You don't like it, too bad.
00:17:36.243 --> 00:17:39.493
(camera shutter snaps)
00:17:40.882 --> 00:17:43.799
(people screaming)
00:17:49.164 --> 00:17:51.210
I came to America in 1951.
00:17:56.430 --> 00:17:58.350
My mother said, "Why are
you going to sit home?
00:17:58.350 --> 00:17:59.217
Go to the beach."
00:18:01.798 --> 00:18:04.050
There were two guys there, I
didn't even look their way,
00:18:04.050 --> 00:18:05.730
but they saw me.
00:18:05.730 --> 00:18:09.633
And they flipped the
coin, and grandpa won.
00:18:10.988 --> 00:18:14.400
(soft piano music)
00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:16.413
And we got married in '53.
00:18:18.870 --> 00:18:21.033
We had Linda first.
00:18:22.740 --> 00:18:24.813
Two years later, we had Larry.
00:18:25.651 --> 00:18:29.401
(soft piano music continues)
00:18:36.712 --> 00:18:40.462
(soft piano music continues)
00:18:49.313 --> 00:18:53.063
(soft piano music continues)
00:18:54.185 --> 00:18:55.470
(Nina laughs)
00:18:55.470 --> 00:18:56.386
- [Person] Happy birthday.
00:18:56.386 --> 00:18:58.755
- Thank you.
00:18:58.755 --> 00:18:59.771
Thank you.
00:18:59.771 --> 00:19:00.798
Hi.
00:19:00.798 --> 00:19:01.631
Hi.
00:19:03.932 --> 00:19:04.765
Hi!
- Hi!
00:19:06.528 --> 00:19:07.767
Hi!
00:19:07.767 --> 00:19:09.821
- I made a birthday card for you.
00:19:09.821 --> 00:19:10.654
- Yeah?
00:19:10.654 --> 00:19:11.487
Thank you!
00:19:12.570 --> 00:19:14.730
Grandchildren, I have six.
00:19:14.730 --> 00:19:16.803
And great-grandchildren, I have five.
00:19:18.996 --> 00:19:21.496
(Nina laughs)
00:19:25.314 --> 00:19:26.481
- Hi, Grandma!
00:19:27.968 --> 00:19:30.885
(soft piano music)
00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:37.970
(train honks)
00:19:37.970 --> 00:19:39.252
Hi, Nini.
00:19:39.252 --> 00:19:40.085
(person laughs)
00:19:40.085 --> 00:19:40.918
- Hi.
00:19:42.030 --> 00:19:44.250
Would I want her to be alive?
00:19:44.250 --> 00:19:45.083
Definitely.
00:19:45.960 --> 00:19:47.790
Would I want her to be in my life?
00:19:47.790 --> 00:19:48.623
Yes.
00:19:50.250 --> 00:19:51.630
But what can I do about it?
00:19:51.630 --> 00:19:53.220
There's nothing I can do.
00:19:53.220 --> 00:19:54.393
That's what happened.
00:19:55.710 --> 00:19:57.717
What's gone is gone.
00:19:57.717 --> 00:20:00.634
(soft piano music)
00:20:03.960 --> 00:20:04.950
- Well, thank you for having us.
00:20:04.950 --> 00:20:06.969
We had such a great time, and-
00:20:06.969 --> 00:20:08.910
- [Nina] No, it was very nice,
00:20:08.910 --> 00:20:10.945
except when it was annoying.
00:20:10.945 --> 00:20:13.445
(Nina laughs)
00:20:14.280 --> 00:20:16.110
You should come and visit me more often,
00:20:16.110 --> 00:20:17.670
not just for the movies.
00:20:17.670 --> 00:20:18.503
- [Grandson] I spent three days,
00:20:18.503 --> 00:20:20.190
I spent four days with you this week.
00:20:20.190 --> 00:20:23.760
- [Nina] Okay, well that's
going to last me how long?
00:20:23.760 --> 00:20:26.427
(Nina chuckles)
00:20:27.454 --> 00:20:30.537
(lighthearted music)
00:20:35.490 --> 00:20:37.410
- Grandma is 90.
00:20:37.410 --> 00:20:38.904
I had no idea.
00:20:38.904 --> 00:20:40.165
- 29, 29!
00:20:40.165 --> 00:20:41.910
(people laughing)
00:20:41.910 --> 00:20:43.560
- We were never allowed to know your age.
00:20:43.560 --> 00:20:44.522
- Never.
00:20:44.522 --> 00:20:46.364
(lighthearted music)
00:20:46.364 --> 00:20:51.031
♪ Frankie Laine, he was singing Jezebel ♪
00:20:52.860 --> 00:20:53.940
- In the wake of a breakup,
00:20:53.940 --> 00:20:55.593
you're the best one to call.
00:20:56.430 --> 00:20:59.883
To tell me to like, stop
crying and get back out there.
00:21:01.487 --> 00:21:06.487
♪ I walked up to the tallest
and the blondest girl ♪
00:21:09.800 --> 00:21:10.818
- We say in Hebrew...
00:21:10.818 --> 00:21:12.060
(person speaks in Hebrew)
00:21:12.060 --> 00:21:13.457
Till 120.
00:21:13.457 --> 00:21:14.290
- [Nina] Okay.
00:21:14.290 --> 00:21:15.930
- And all the best.
00:21:15.930 --> 00:21:16.800
Keep on kicking!
00:21:16.800 --> 00:21:18.083
- Make a wish?
00:21:18.083 --> 00:21:19.243
Okay.
00:21:19.243 --> 00:21:22.380
I wish that we should all
be together next year.
00:21:27.453 --> 00:21:30.277
(people cheering)
00:21:30.277 --> 00:21:33.360
(lighthearted music)
00:22:08.810 --> 00:22:11.060
(no audio)
00:22:22.920 --> 00:22:25.170
(no audio)