Our Freedom Then and Now is a JW3 podcast marking eighty years since Liberation, exploring what freedom means today for a generation living in the long shadow of the Holocaust. Across intimate conversations, participants reflect on fear, survival, identity, and moral courage, discovering how the past shapes their sense of freedom in the present.
Bonus Episode Our Freedom Then and Now, Mikaela and Miriam Freedman
In this bonus episode of Our Freedom: Then and Now, Mikaela Agranati reflects on the life of survivor Miriam Freedman, who spent more than a year hiding in an impossibly confined space with her family. Mikaela explores how Miriam later turned to meditation to face the shadows of her past, and how knowing her has profoundly shaped Mikaela’s own journey of self-discovery.
Through Miriam’s resilience, Mikaela has learned what empathy can look like in practice: noticing others, creating space for their stories, and carrying forward the quiet strength of those who came before.
3 Dec 2025
Bonus Episode Our Freedom then and now; Josh reflects on Leon Greenman OBE
In this bonus episode of Our Freedom: Then and Now, Josh Rocker reflects on meeting survivor Leon Greenman when he was just seven years old, an encounter that shaped him in ways he only fully understands now. Josh traces Leon’s extraordinary post-war life, shaped by a promise he made in the camps: to warn the world about the dangers of fascism, no matter the cost.
Leon’s fierce commitment made him a target of the far right; a brick was once thrown through his window, forcing him to live behind wire mesh again, a haunting echo of his past. Through Josh’s eyes, we see how one survivor’s courage, clarity, and refusal to stay silent can leave an enduring mark on the next generation.
3 Dec 2025
Bonus Episode Our Freedom Then and now; Jack remembers Rebecca
In this bonus episode of Our Freedom: Then and Now, Jack Nicholls reflects on the life of Rebecca Groen from the Netherlands, a relative whose story has long been defined only by her death in Auschwitz. With so few details surviving, Jack sets out to rediscover who Rebecca was during her 71 years of life, hoping to bring back some of the everyday colour and humanity that has been lost over time.
Jack’s reflection is a gentle attempt to remember Rebecca as more than a victim; to acknowledge the full life she lived, not only the way her life ended.
3 Dec 2025
Bonus Episode Our Freedom Then and Now: Eitan connects with Rudy Kennedy
In this bonus episode of Our Freedom: Then and Now, Eitan reflects on his art piece and the life of Rudy Kennedy, whom he has chosen to commemorate. As a child, Eitan never felt able to ask the questions he wished to ask about Rudy’s past. Returning to the story now, as an adult, and reading Rudy’s unpublished memoirs has given him the chance to understand his life in a deeper, more personal way.
Eitan’s artwork uses everyday objects as figurines to tell Rudy’s story. A story of refusing to see himself as a victim, building a successful life after the war, and leading the fight for justice for former slave labourers. This episode is Eitan’s tribute to a man whose strength, determination, and integrity continue to inspire him.
3 Dec 2025
Bonus Episode Our Freedom Then and Now. Noa Geras remembers Lea Deutsch
In this bonus episode of Our Freedom: Then and Now, Noa Geras reflects on the life of Lea Deutsch, the celebrated child actress from Zagreb whose brilliance was extinguished by the Holocaust. Noa threads Lea’s story together with her own family history, including the shadows cast by the war in the 1990s and the ways her mother tried to shield her children from the harshness of that time.
Through Lea’s brief but luminous life, Noa explores how stories can travel across generations, shaping families far beyond their own time. For Noa and her family, Lea Deutsch has become a touchstone of strength, vulnerability, and the enduring need to protect the young from the world’s darkest chapters.
3 Dec 2025
Bonus Episode Our Freedom Then and Now. Marta remembers Zofiówka
In this bonus episode of Our Freedom: Then and Now, Marta Rybarczyk takes us to Zofiówka in Otwock; a place that holds layers of memory, loss, and unanswered questions. Through her reflection, Marta uncovers how landscapes can carry the echoes of those who once lived, suffered, and disappeared, and how returning to such a place becomes an act of quiet remembrance.
This is Marta’s story of honouring a site rather than a single person, and of exploring how the memory of a place can shape our understanding of freedom, responsibility, and the histories we inherit.
23 Nov 2025
Freedom from Fear
In this deeply personal episode on freedom from fear, the group reflects on growing up with silence, discovering their identity and heritage, and what it means to claim a story that was never fully spoken. They imagine what their ancestors might say if they were all gathered in the same room, a conversation across generations about fear, courage and belonging.
23 Nov 2025
Freedom to Act, Speak and Think
In this episode, the group explores the freedom to act, speak and think — from the joy of eating two puddings for breakfast to the responsibility to use our voices with courage. Through humour and honesty, they reflect on what it means to speak up, challenge injustice, and carry forward the moral clarity of the survivors they commemorate.
23 Nov 2025
Freedom of Belonging
In this episode, the group explores freedom as belonging ; the freedom to feel at home, to stand in your identity without fear, and to choose the communities that shape you. Through the stories of the survivors they commemorate, they reflect on what belonging meant during and after the Holocaust, how it is inherited across generations, and how questions of safety, identity and privilege continue to shape their own sense of place today.
23 Nov 2025
Freedom from Imprisonment
This episode looks at freedom from imprisonment, through the stories of survivors who endured camps and hiding. The group reflects on physical liberation, psychological healing, and the inner resilience that allowed people to hold onto their humanity.
23 Nov 2025
Our Freedom: Then and Now Trailer
Freedom Then and Now is a JW3 podcast marking eighty years since Liberation, exploring what freedom means today for a generation living in the long shadow of the Holocaust. Across intimate conversations, participants reflect on fear, survival, identity, and moral courage, discovering how the past shapes their sense of freedom in the present.
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