Irene Zisblatt ('The Last Days'); Dovid Mermelstein Z''L (from archive)

Interview with Irene Zisblatt, who was one of the participants in the film The Last Days, released in 1998, about the Holocaust in Hungary. The Yiddish Voice spoke to Irene recently (late June 2021) via Zoom. Irene was born in Polena, Czechoslovakia, which was in Hungary during WWII and is now in Ukraine. Irene survived the Holocaust, including Auschwitz, as she describes in the film and to some degree in the interview. The film The Last Days, was originally released on DVD in 1998. It was rereleased in 2021 in a restored print on Blu-Ray disk and also through Netflix. Info:

• The Last Days (1998) on Netflix
• The Last Days (1998) Wikipedia page

From our archive: 2015 interview with Dovid Mermelstein, who died the previous day (Tuesday, July 6, 2021). The Yiddish Voice spoke to Dovid in Miami, FL, in August 2015 and aired the interview shortly thereafter. Dovid was born in Kivjazd, Czechoslovakia, which was in Hungary during WWII and is now in Ukraine. He survived the Holocaust, including Auschwitz and Ebensee. In recent decades, he was a leader of the survivors in the Miami, FL, area and an internationally known activist on behalf of survivors in order to get restitution from the US government for property looted from Hungarian Jews during the war, as well as serving as a vocal critic of the Claims Conference on behalf of his fellow survivors. Info:

• Times of Israel article: David Mermelstein, Holocaust survivor and restitution champion, dies at 92
• Miami Herald obituary (via Legacy.com): David Mermelstein 1928 - 2021
• Forward article: David Mermelstein, Holocaust survivor who fought Nazi-era insurance companies, dies at 92

• Music:
  • Cookie Segelstein (violin), Pete Sokolow (piano): Hora Serba (instrumental, excerpt)
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: June 7, 2021