Transcript
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Thanks to TikTok ads, I was able to open up a business with my childhood friend and even hire employees. My name is Julian and I am one of the founders of the Snacks Lab. We are an exotic snack company. We import snacks from all over the world. We had over $100,000 in sales from our TikTok ads in the first month, so our orders went from five a day to over 250 orders a day. You definitely have to use TikTok ads.
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TikTok for business is helping owners like you reach new customers every day. Head over to get started.TikTok.com TikTok TikTok ads hello my friends, It's Professor Greg Jackson. Now you can see the live tour by land and by sea because we're planning a four night VIP cruise aboard the beautiful Celebrity Reflection. From May 18th to the 22nd, we'll sail from Fort Lauderdale to Key west and the Bahamas. While on board, I'll not only give a special private performance of my live show, the Unlikely Union, we'll also have a night of fun, history, trivia, a poolside party, nightly group dining together, excursions, and the ultimate book club meeting. Because if you don't know, I've been working on a book for the past two years and I can't think of a better way to celebrate its publication this spring than with my family, friends and the best history fans. So go to htdspodcast.com and click on Live Shows for more information or click the link in the Show Notes. Hope to see you on the road or at sea. It's likely Sunday, December 14, 1941. Or to put that another way, it's one of the eight days after December 14th in the year 5702 of the Hebrew Calendar. We're in Warsaw, Poland, in a neighborhood enclosed by a brick wall. The area is split along Poldln street, with a small section to the southeast and a large section to the north. What used to be a bustling, popular locale has now become a dark, cramped, dismal and downright dangerous place. This is all due to the Nazi regime forcing the city's Jews to relocate. And inside this walled off area of the city, Rabbi Kalonymos Shapira, a well known Hasidic leader in the Polish Jewish community, is hard at work. He's preparing for what might be one of the most important sermons of his life. On this Chanuka, or Hanukkah as it's often anglicized, we can only imagine his final preparations. Is this great rabbi scanning the pages of his Yiddish text, making last minute edits? Perhaps he's checking to see if he has any candles or oil for a proper menorah in this resource starved area? Or could he be reciting traditional afternoon prayers in the hopes that it will help him this evening? Whatever the unknown specifics, let's give the Rabbi some space to prepare while we better acquaint ourselves with the details of the situation this well respected man finds himself in. As you might have guessed, we're currently in the Warsaw ghetto. Established in October 1940, it was sealed off from the rest of the city only a month later. And now, in December 1941, the Warsaw ghetto houses roughly 460,000 people. To put that in perspective, an average of eight to 10 people are living in every single room. Not house, room. It's horrific. Life within the ghetto is marked by inevitable starvation and disease, often leading to death. If you manage to escape, according to a German proclamation likely painted on the ghetto wall, you are liable to the death penalty. And how do we know the details of this grim world? It's all thanks to the Oyneg Shabas archive. A Yiddish phrase, Oyneg Shabbos roughly translates to joy of the Sabbath, and in this case it refers to Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum's clandestine group. They meet on Saturdays, which is the Jewish Sabbath, and are cataloging secret records of life in the Ghetto before its liquidation and destruction. In 1943, Emmanuel and his team will bury their careful records in three metal milk cans, hoping someone will dig up the material after the war. Two of those caches of documents will be recovered. As for the third, it will likely be lost to history. But while the full tale of the devastation and resiliency of the Warsaw Ghetto will come in a later episode, let's not get ahead of ourselves right now. In December 1941, something special is happening. Though many Jews here rely on books, music, theater and more in their attempt to live something resembling a normal life, the festive moods and candlelightings of Hanukkah in 1940 are no more Ghetto resident Chaim Kaplan writes in his diary that this year very few Hanukkah candles were lit. But that doesn't mean the holiday will come and go without recognition. See, Hanukkah marks Jewish survival. It commemorates a Victory of a 2nd century BCE group of Jews known as the Maccabees, who, over their Seleucid oppressors at the time Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV had made it illegal for Jews to practice their faith. Being outwardly Jewish became punishable by death. As the fighting raged, Jewish leader Judas Maccabee succeeded in ousting Seleucid troops from the Second Temple in Jerusalem. In the process of reconsecrating the Temple, the Maccabees found that oil for a recovered golden menorah lasted eight days and nights instead of just one. It was an absolute miracle, taken as proof that God has always protected his people. The parallels between Maccabean bravery and Warsaw Jews bravery seem all too clear to Rabbi Shapira on this Hanukkah. I mean, being Jewish is punishable by death. Yeah. Unfortunately, the Rabbi realizes his people have been here before. In today's sermon, like many others by Rabbi Shapira, will be buried in the Oyneg Shabbos archive. And that's why you and I can experience this sermon right now. So come on, let's hear the Rabbi speak. We don't know where within the brick walled ghetto Rabbi Shapira is speaking, nor do we know how many congregants are present. But we do know that as he shares this ancient story of hope and survival, he holds the rapt attention of young children, the elderly, and every age in between. Almost certainly speaking in Yiddish, the Rabbi asks the crowd, why is it that one has his faith damaged by questioning God? Because of the suffering that Jews endure these days and not because of the suffering Jews have endured from time immemorial. Those who say that Jews never had to endure such torments and suffering are mistaken. Such torments were the fate of Jews during the destruction of the Temple. Rabbi Shapiro now transitions into a clearer articulation of the shared struggles of the Jewish people throughout history. The Great leader quotes many seminal Jewish texts. We don't have to unpack all of those, but just keep in mind that when he says you're, he's referring to God. And so he continues, the Greeks also attempted to make them forget your Torah and violate the decrees of your will. And they did this with tyranny and torture of Israel. But then the Jews knew that the purpose of all the physical suffering caused to them by the Greeks was to make them forget your Torah and stray away from your commandments. And this was was their main concern and their main source of suffering. Therefore, their faith grew stronger and God salvaged them because of their faith. And it is written in the Hanukkah liturgy, the distress of the people of Israel was about the Greeks trying to make them forget, etc. Meaning it was not the physical suffering that caused this distress, but rather the Greeks effort to destroy their faith in God. And this is why you, God, stood by them and saved them. And with that, the Rabbi concludes, hoping that his call to the historic relationship between the Jews and their benevolent God, especially during Hanukkah, have comforted his people. He hopes that it will encourage them to stay devout, to stay close to their faith in these troubling times, even when he himself has moments of uncertainty and doubt. We'll never know how Rabbi Shapiro's audience responded, but let's hope that the sermon brought a feeling of comfort and camaraderie, that perhaps in the short time this community of sufferers still has to live, just perhaps, there is still a flicker of joy and hope during Hanukkah of 1941. Welcome to history that doesn't suck. I'm your professor, Greg Jackson, and I'd like to tell you a. I know, not exactly a tale of holiday cheer. This is the reality of the Second World War and the Holocaust. Yet I would argue that the rabbi's story, heartbreaking and harrowing as it might be, doesn't have to be reduced to its saddest elements. It's also a story of a religious leader at his best, bringing solace, love, and a sense of worth to his community in the bleakest of times. And in that regard, his actions are as beautiful as the situation is harrowing. But having shined a light on this solemn Hanukkah. Yes, pun intended. It's time for us to pivot from Warsaw to Washington, or rather to the White House, as we carry on with this year's Hanukkah and Christmas special, where President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is lighting the National Christmas tree out on the South Lawn of the White House. Do you remember when we witnessed Calvin Coolidge inaugurating this Christmas tradition in last year's special? Yeah, it seems to have caught on. And this year, Franklin has a little extra Christmas surprise. Or a surprise guest, rather a bulldog, you might say. You know what? I won't completely ruin the surprise. You'll just have to wait to find out. So in keeping with our annual tradition and our specific stories, let me wish you a Merry Christmas, a happy Hanukkah, and happy holidays. And with that, let's bum a ride on Santa's sleigh back across the Atlantic and see about getting a special treat to the White House. Merry Christmas. Following the attack on Pearl harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States is entering this year's holidays as a belligerent nation. As we know from the last episode, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had no choice but to ask Congress to declare war on Imperial Japan the following day. And Congress obliged. So right now, America's war preparation is in full throttle, as it should be. There's no time to waste given this two front war. See, only three days after Congress declares war on Japan, Adolf Hitler decides to enter the fray. He announces Nazi Germany is also at war with the US on December 11. So needless to say, most Americans are feeling a little less festive this holiday season. And their president knows that's why, even as war preparations hit high gear, FDR wants to ensure that this Christmas season is something special for his countrymen. In fact, preparations were already underway for White House Christmas Spectacular even before Pearl Harbor. Now, I trust that you recall from our last HTDS Christmas special, episode 171 that President Calvin Coolidge lit the first national Christmas tree on the White House's south lawn in 1923. If not, maybe give yourself a double dose of holiday cheer. Go listen to that episode and come back to us in about a half hour. But either way, the key thing is that this became a White House tradition. And this year, Franklin has a truly special tree. See, just a little while back in late fall 1941, esteemed members of the Maine Development Commission and the town of Calais partnered with Maine's U.S. senator, Ralph Owen Brewster, to write to FDR offering a Christmas tree from St. Croix island, which sits right on the watery border of the US And Canada. It's a place of historic Christmas significance, the first celebration of Christmas in the New World. A shared observance between Catholics and Protestants was supposedly held near the island all the way back in 1604. So now this clique of far northern New England men would love to see one of this island's trees grace the White House. Hopeful as they were that FDR would show interest, the group was likely shocked to receive a semi prompt presidential reply on November 28, 1941. Though not a New Englander, Franklin is an upstate New Yorker whose family has long vacationed on Canada's Campobello island, which is only about 1,000ft from the state of Maine's shore. Franklin wrote back, we should be very happy indeed to have the Christmas tree from the island near Calias, Maine. It would be just like something from home. As you know, I have a 50 year familiarity with every inch of the St. Croix river up to and beyond Calais. By the way, the actual site of settlement of De Monts and Champlain has never been definitely proved. I wish you would get some members of the main historical society, probably with the aid of a New Brunswick historical society, to try to make a definite determination of this. There are several islands, including the one which forms the harbor of St. Andrews, New Brunswick, which claim the honor. As far as I know, no one has ever dug thoroughly to discover foundations, pewter ware or other traces. Such traces must exist. It would be a nice thought to have the Christmas tree from the city where the first Christmas observance on the northern coasts, United States, was held. Reeling from the events of Pearl harbor, yet overjoyed at the part they'll play in the national Christmas celebration, callous natives scrambled to secure the tree. It's December 9, 1941. We're on the American island of St. Croix, a small speck of land in the St. Croix river that divides the US State of Maine from Canada's New Brunswick. And right now, one of the island's two inhabitants, lighthouse keeper Elson Smith, is noticing a light shining across the water. It's coming from the US mainland from Red beach off the coast of Calais, Maine. And this what if by sea light means that someone is asking for a ferry to bring them out to the island? In no time at all, the spectacled Elson is carrying two guests aboard his boat, businessmen John Trimble and Arthur Unobsky. Arthur's involvement is really fun. A local leader in the community, he's also a Jewish Russian immigrant who, unsure of his actual birthday, has adopted December 25 as his day of celebration. The two locals are also accompanied by an unnamed photographer from the Augusta State Publicity Bureau. Yeah, this is a big deal for the state. Constance, who is Elson's wife and the only other person living on this island, will later remember how the group of men carefully selects a beautifully shaped tree about 18ft high and one of the very few left on the island. The photographer snaps a picture of Elson near the tree. Everyone is delighted by the gorgeous spruce, but Constance notes she only approves because this is for the White House. To quote her, if it hadn't been for a historical purpose, I would have felt quite Bad to have it cut down. And so the 18 foot tree, or possibly 12 foot tree sources conflict as usual from the very place where Christmas was supposedly first celebrated in North America is in the care of Maine's bawling Republican Senator Ralph Brewster. Soon it will make its way to the White House. But it's not the only, shall we say, entity making its way to the Presidential mansion this Christmas. It's now mid December 1941. While British Prime Minister Winston Churchill isn't happy that the US suffered a devastating attack at Pearl Harbor, I can't see say he isn't a little relieved that his American counterpart is finally able to be all in against Nazi and Japanese aggression. In fact, the British bulldog thinks that a face to face meeting might be in order. Something like their rendezvous in the waters near Newfoundland back in August, as we heard about in episode 189. Oh, so recent and yet a time that now feels like another life or universe. Winston writes to his pen pal turned wartime ally.