1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey everyone, welcome to the podcast. I'm Eves 3 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:10,119 Speaker 1: and you're listening to This Day in History Class, a 4 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:12,879 Speaker 1: podcast that really takes to heart the phrase you learned 5 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:24,880 Speaker 1: something new every day. Today is January thirty one. The 6 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 1: day was January thirty one, nineteen thirty nine. Jewish teenager 7 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:34,000 Speaker 1: Rena Spiegel was living in Poland months before the outbreak 8 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 1: of World War Two when she wrote the first entry 9 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:40,880 Speaker 1: in her now published diary. Spiegel died in the Holocaust, 10 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:43,400 Speaker 1: but her diary has since shed light on her life 11 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: under Soviet and Nazi rule. Spiegel was born in a 12 00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 1: village in Poland in nine. Her parents were Russa and 13 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: Bernard Spiegel, and she had a younger sister named Arianna. 14 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:59,160 Speaker 1: In nineteen thirty eight, Arianna, a child actress, went to 15 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 1: live in Warsaw with Russa. In pursuit of her career, 16 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: Arena went to live with her grandparents in Semischl, a 17 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:09,679 Speaker 1: town in Poland. Arianna went back to Simischal that summer, 18 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: returning without her mother. On January one, nineteen thirty nine, 19 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: when she was fifteen years old, Spiegel began writing in 20 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 1: her diary. In her first diary entry, Spiegel wrote the 21 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: following in part, why did I decide to start a 22 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:28,360 Speaker 1: diary today? Has something important happened? Have I discovered that 23 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 1: my friends are keeping diaries of their own? No? I 24 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: just want a friend, somebody I can talk to about 25 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 1: my everyday worries and joys. Somebody who will feel what 26 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 1: I feel, believe what I say, and never reveal my secrets. 27 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:43,959 Speaker 1: No human being could ever be that kind of friend. 28 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:47,520 Speaker 1: She wrote about how her life used to be in Warsaw, 29 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: how she missed her mother, and how she felt like 30 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 1: she had no real home. She also wrote about her 31 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 1: school and classmates. As the start of World War Two loomed, 32 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: Spiegel continued to write in her diary about her friends, family, boys, sadness, nostalgia, 33 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 1: and war. She also wrote poems and drew in the diary. 34 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 1: But by September of nineteen thirty nine, Nazi Germany and 35 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 1: the Soviet Union occupied Poland, and the country was divided 36 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: between the two invaders, with the Nazis in the west 37 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 1: and the Soviets in the east. Rusa was stuck in 38 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:25,640 Speaker 1: Nazi controlled territory, while Arena and Ariana were on the 39 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: Soviet side. The two children and their grandfather left town, 40 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:34,240 Speaker 1: while their grandmothers stayed behind. Their father disappeared during the 41 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:39,200 Speaker 1: war and was presumed killed. As World War Two steadily intensified, 42 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:43,040 Speaker 1: Spiegel kept attending school in Simashal and fell in love 43 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:47,119 Speaker 1: with a boy named Zigmu Schwarzer. In nineteen forty one, 44 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:50,640 Speaker 1: days after her first kiss with Sparser, the Third Reich 45 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:54,960 Speaker 1: declared war on the Soviet Union. Arena and other Jewish 46 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 1: people began having to wear a white arm band with 47 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:00,239 Speaker 1: a blue star of David on it. The jar Men's 48 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: began establishing ghettos in Poland in July of nineteen forty two, 49 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:08,080 Speaker 1: as the Nazis murdered thousands of Jewish and Polish people, 50 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:11,960 Speaker 1: they set up a sealed ghetto in Simischal. Arena and 51 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:16,520 Speaker 1: her friends and relatives were ordered to stay in the ghetto. Zigmunt, 52 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:19,519 Speaker 1: who was working with the local resistance, managed to get 53 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:23,200 Speaker 1: Arena and Ariana out of the ghetto. He set Arena 54 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:25,079 Speaker 1: and his parents up in the attic of a house 55 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:28,640 Speaker 1: where his uncle lived. He took Arianna to a friend's father, 56 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:32,240 Speaker 1: and he took over Irania's diary, writing about his efforts 57 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:36,840 Speaker 1: to save his girlfriend and family. The Nazis executed Arena 58 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: and Spartzer's parents on July thirtieth, nineteen forty two, when 59 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: they found the attic hiding spot. Irenia was only eighteen 60 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:48,560 Speaker 1: years old when she was killed. Spartzer wrote the last 61 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 1: words in the diary. He wrote about the execution of 62 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:54,520 Speaker 1: Arena and his parents, expressing his anguish at their deaths. 63 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: Spartzer survived the Holocaust and eventually passed the diary to 64 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: Rootsa and Ariana, now named Elizabeth Bellock. The two women 65 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: had fled to the US after World War Two. The 66 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 1: nearly seven hundred page diaries stayed in a safe deposit 67 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: box in New York City for more than forty years. 68 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 1: It was published in Polish in and in twenty nineteen, 69 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:21,120 Speaker 1: the first full English translation of the diary was published. 70 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:25,040 Speaker 1: The diary is noted as a unique and well written 71 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:29,040 Speaker 1: personal account of everyday life under Soviet and Nazi occupation 72 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 1: in Poland. I'm Eves Jeff Coote, and hopefully you know 73 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 74 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:40,040 Speaker 1: Looking at for our content a little more sophisticated than 75 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,120 Speaker 1: cat memes in your feed. Connect with us on social 76 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 1: Media at t the I h C Podcast. If you 77 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: prefer something a little bit more formal, then you can 78 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: write us at this day at i heart media dot com. 79 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:58,240 Speaker 1: I hope you liked this show. We'll be back tomorrow 80 00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: with another episode. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 81 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:12,279 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 82 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.