An Evening at the Atlanta History Center: Uncovering Stories of Survival and Resilience

We regularly host a series of author lectures at the History Center, and one of our recent events continues to resonate with me in the current moment. We were privileged to host Ted Blum, author of “Calculated Risks,” a work of creative historical nonfiction, and Bob Ratonyi, author of “From Darkness to Light: My Journey Through Nazism, Fascism, and Communism to Freedom,” both of whom brought deeply personal and historical perspectives.

Each author shared poignant stories of their families’ escape from Nazi-dominated Europe during and before both World Wars. Their dedication and perseverance in reconnecting with their roots added extra depth to the evening.

As part of the program, The Bremen, a Jewish museum and cultural center in Atlanta, had a genealogist on hand to help attendees research their own family histories, emphasizing the fact that we are all immigrants with unique family histories.

Ted grew up in Champaign, Illinois, and pieced together his story from his Hungarian grandparents’ memorabilia and historical artifacts. Inspired by discovering letters, tickets, and artwork while spending time at home during COVID, Ted enrolled in a creative writing class and spent time with Bob translating the Hungarian artifacts.

His paternal grandfather, Henry, left his home in the “quiet Austro-Hungarian village of Sedliska,” as Ted describes it. He fought in World War I and was taken prisoner of war. After years in prison and an arduous journey, he finally made it to New York on September 26, 1921.

Ted’s maternal grandfather, Martin Mandl, saw the atmosphere becoming toxic for Jews in Hungary as early as 1923, as the country was trying to recover from its losses in World War I. Martin wanted to leave Hungary and went to Paris to study metallurgy at the Sorbonne. Later, he met his wife, Elsa, who took the calculated risk of going to America on a tourist visa and, with a lot of luck, managed to convince his wife and their daughter Eva, Ted’s mother, to join them.

Bob’s book chronicles his childhood in war-torn countries through his college years in the 1950s. Born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1938, the year Adolf Hitler annexed Austria and a year before Germany invaded Poland, sparking World War II, Bob says his childhood was marked by “fear, upheaval and loss,” including losing his father to Jewish labor when he was just four years old. Bob’s mother was sent to a concentration camp in Austria when he was six and “forced to wear a yellow star and live without his parents.”

We loved having them both at the History Center to talk about their families’ incredible journeys from Europe to America. I encourage you to read their books and look back on your own family history.

The two authors approached their research into family history differently. Ted benefited from his family’s meticulous record-keeping, using artifacts and documents to piece together their past. Bob relied on interviews with relatives and his own memories. Their time at the History Center was a profound experience, highlighting the perseverance of the human spirit in times of emotional and physical turmoil.

Many thanks to Maria Saporta of the Saporta Report for masterfully moderating the panel, ensuring that the authors’ stories were told with clarity and genuine emotion.

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