Growing up, Allan Novak assumed his family was fairly ordinary: modest, witty, hardworking Jewish immigrants who found a new live in Canada after the war. That his mother was one of four sibling survivors was noteworthy, but the outside world did not take notice.
That is, until the siblings all began reaching the age of 100.
Once Holocaust foundations and media outlets (including this one) discovered the story of the world’s oldest survivor siblings living in Winnipeg, Novak—a veteran director who worked with Canadian comedy icons in the 1980s and ’90s—decided to turn the camera on his own family. The result is a 30-minute documentary called Crossing the River: From Poland to Paradise, featuring intimate and insightful interviews with his aunts, uncle and mother, the youngest of whom is now 96-years-old. The film has been touring the festival circuit this year and is currently available on-demand.
Novak sat down to share his family’s remarkable story with his longtime friend and collaborator, Ralph Benmergui, on the latest episode of Not That Kind of Rabbi. Listen and subscribe to the show above.
Credits
- Host: Ralph Benmergui
- Producer: Michael Fraiman
- Music: Yevhen Onoychenko
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