Holocaust Stories of
Champaign-Urbana and Beyond
Season 3
A special thank you to Elizabeth Hess and Robin Goettel, without whom this project would not be possible.
Season 3 is currently being released weekly on Sundays!
Check back each week for a new episode.
Episode 1: Lisa Libman - Child of Survivors
Lisa Libman has lived in the Champaign area since 1978, and has previously served as the president on both the Sinai Temple and Champaign-Urbana Jewish Federation boards. Lisa’s father and his family came over to the U.S.A. on one of the last ships to depart Europe in 1935 following a harrowing journey preparing paperwork and safely leaving Germany.
"The 50s was a time of growth and trying to put it aside and put it behind them. He [my father] really didn't talk much about it growing up and I regret not hearing the stories from him."
Episode 2: Rabbi Dovid Tiechtel - Descendant of Survivors
Rabbi Dovid is the founding director of the Chabad Campus for Jewish Life at U of Illinois, and has been serving as the Director and Senior Campus Rabbi for over 22 years. In this episode, he shares the story of grandfather Yissachar Shlomo Teichtel and other family members who suffered at the hands of the Nazis. He also talks about growing up as a first generation American surrounded by Holocaust survivors, and how he made his journey from New York to Champaign.
"No one can control what you think of yourself. There might be a lot of negative people around you - toxic people, antisemitism, negativity. Whatever it may be emotionally. But no one can control you. They may control the outside, but they can't control what you think of yourself."
Episode 3: Dr. Carrie Franke - Holocaust Educator
Dr. Carrie Franke is a dedicated advocate for Holocaust education and remembrance. She has served as volunteer at Auschwitz-Birkenau and at the Christian desk at Yad Vashem, Israel's national Holocaust Museum. Carrie is one of the current Co-Chairs of the CUJF Holocaust Education Center.
"January 27, 1945, is when Auschwitz was liberated. I held the book in my hand, hand-written, that recorded every living person that was still in the camps."
Episode 4: Courtney Smith - Holocaust Educator
This weeks episode features Courtney Smith, one of the current Co-Chairs of the Holocaust Education Center. In this episode, Courtney shares her journey from a train conductor and fire-fighter-EMT to Holocaust historian and educator. She also talks about her experience interviewing Holocaust survivors and documenting their stories.
"You don't have to be Jewish to be against anti-Semitism. You don't have to be black to be against racism."
Episode 5: Dr. Rachelle Grossman with students Katie Richardson and Anel Monroy-Villeda
This weeks episode features educator Dr. Rachelle Grossman, with two students Katie Richardson and Anel Monroy-Villeda. Katie is a student of Marketing and Comparative World Literature at UIUC and appreciator of literature of the 19-20th century. Anel is currently working towards a BS in Animal Sciences.
Dr. Grossman is a scholar of Jewish literature, with expertise in Yiddish, Holocaust studies, and Jewish Latin America. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Comparative and World Literature at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In Spring 2025, she taught “Responses to the Holocaust.” In this podcast, she reflects on the course with two of her students, Katie and Anel.
" I think it’s important to be vulnerable as a professor sometimes, that this is also my experience. Even as someone who has encountered this material many times, to be up front about that with students who are only learning about this maybe for the first time."