Beyond the Pale

GATES: I'M HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.

WELCOME TO "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'LL MEET ACTOR JEFF GOLDBLUM, RADIO HOST TERRY GROSS AND COMEDIAN MARC MARON... ALL THREE DESCEND FROM JEWISH IMMIGRANTS WHO RARELY SPOKE ABOUT THE PAST, LEAVING EACH WITH FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR ROOTS... GOLDBLUM: BOTH MY DAD AND MY MOM WERE NOUVEAU AMERICANS, AND FELT LIKE, "THAT'S ENOUGH OF THAT STORY.

LET'S START ALL OVER.

LET'S START FRESH."

GROSS: THEY DIDN'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT.

MAYBE THEY DIDN'T THINK I WOULD UNDERSTAND, THAT IT WOULD BE BEYOND MY COMPREHENSION.

MARON: BOTH MY GRANDPARENTS SPOKE YIDDISH AT TIMES.

I KNEW THAT THERE WAS A PAST IN THAT, 'CAUSE THEY, THEY'D SPEAK YIDDISH WHEN THEY DIDN'T WANT ME TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY WERE SAYING.

GATES: TO UNCOVER THEIR ROOTS, WE'VE USED EVERY TOOL AVAILABLE.

GENEALOGISTS COMBED THROUGH THE PAPER TRAIL THEIR ANCESTORS LEFT BEHIND, WHILE DNA EXPERTS UTILIZED THE LATEST ADVANCES IN GENETIC ANALYSIS TO REVEAL SECRETS HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD... GOLDBLUM: AMAZING!

WOW!

GATES: AND WE'VE COMPILED EVERYTHING INTO A BOOK OF LIFE.

A RECORD OF ALL OF OUR DISCOVERIES.

I BET THIS IS NOT HOW YOU IMAGINED YOUR ANCESTORS.

MARON: NO!

THIS IS COWBOY STUFF!

GROSS: I HAD NO IDEA.

THANK YOU FOR THIS!

GATES: JEFF, TERRY AND MARC KNOW THAT THEIR ROOTS TRACE BACK TO JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN EASTERN EUROPE.

BUT THAT'S ABOUT ALL THAT THEY KNOW.

BECAUSE WHEN THEIR FAMILIES LEFT THOSE COMMUNITIES, A GREAT DEAL OF HISTORY WAS EITHER LOST, DESTROYED, OR DELIBERATELY FORGOTTEN...

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'LL RESTORE THAT HISTORY, BRINGING THEM FACE TO FACE WITH ANCESTORS WITH WHOM THEY SHARE MUCH MORE THAN A RELIGIOUS FAITH.

(THEME MUSIC PLAYS).

♪ ♪ GATES: JEFF GOLDBLUM HAS BEEN A MOVIE STAR FOR FIVE DECADES.

YET IT'S HARD TO CHARACTERIZE HIS STYLE OF ACTING WITH ANY PRECISION... A MERCURIAL, INTUITIVE PERFORMER, AT HOME IN BLOCKBUSTERS AND IN THE ARTHOUSE.

HE'S BECOME A KIND OF CULT FIGURE, CELEBRATED FOR HIS ECCENTRIC, SOMETIMES SURREAL SENSIBILITY... AS WELL AS HIS INTENSE, INFECTIOUS CHARISMA.

BUT IN PERSON, THE MAIN THING THAT I NOTICED ABOUT JEFF IS SOMETHING QUITE SIMPLE AND ENDEARING: HIS ENTHUSIASM.

HE SEEMS TO TAKE JOY IN ALMOST EVERYTHING AROUND HIM.

IT'S A QUALITY HE SAYS HE INHERITED FROM HIS MOTHER... GOLDBLUM: SHE WAS PLAYFUL.

AND I CANNOT GET ENOUGH OF PLAY.

I'VE DEVOTED MY LIFE TO IT.

ACTING IS, AS YOU KNOW, IS THE SERIOUS BUSINESS OF PLAY.

AND I HAVE WORN OUT PEOPLE PLAYING.

AND SHE WAS, UH, SHE WAS A PLAYER.

AND SHE WAS FULL OF FUN AND, UH, YOU KNOW, DANCED AND SHE LIKED MUSIC AND SHE LIKED TO THINK OF HERSELF AS A WEAVER OF ENCHANTMENT AND CHARM.

GATES: JEFF'S MOTHER WASN'T ALL FUN AND GAMES, HOWEVER.

SHE WAS ALSO PROTECTIVE WITH A TOUGHNESS AND AN IRREVERENT STREAK THAT JEFF APPRECIATES.

GOLDBLUM: I WAS HAVING TROUBLE WITH, UM, DAVID, DAVID SCHWARTZ AT, UH, HEBREW SCHOOL.

AND, UH, HE WAS KIND OF GIVING ME A ROUGH TIME.

AND SHE SAID, "YOU HAVE TO LEARN TO FIGHT."

SO SHE TAUGHT ME THIS THING.

SHE WAS LIKE, UH, YOU KNOW, "YOU HAVE TO GO, 'OH, NO.'

BE, YOU HAVE TO, THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE IS A BIG THING.

SO, SO HERE'S WHAT YOU DO.

WHEN HE STARTS, JUST SAY, 'DAVID, NO, NO, NO, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?'

AND THEN WHACK!

AND THEN, DO IT LIKE THAT."

GATES: PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE.

GOLDBLUM: SO, WE PRACTICED.

WE PRACTICED LIKE THAT.

AND THEN I SAID, "WELL, HE, SO THIS NEXT, I'LL BET IT'S GOING TO BE A TOUGH WEEK.

I, I DREAD SEEING HIM THIS NEXT WEEK.

BUT HE ALWAYS SHOWS UP WITH HIS FRIEND, HIS KINDA BIG FRIEND BARRY REESE."

SHE SAYS, "DON'T YOU WORRY ABOUT BARRY REESE.

I'M GOING TO DRIVE YOU TO HEBREW SCHOOL AND I'LL TAKE CARE OF BARRY REESE."

SO WE GO TO HEBREW SCHOOL, AND I GO, I GO, "THERE THEY ARE.

THERE THEY, THEY'RE COMING TOGETHER.

THERE THEY ARE, TOGETHER."

SHE GOES, "OKAY.

YOU, YOU GO, YOU DO WHAT I TOLD YOU TO DO TO, UH, DAVID."

THEN SHE GOES, "BARRY!

BARRY, COME HERE!"

SHE JUST HOLDS BARRY REESE AS I GO, "DAVID, HEY".

I BLOODIED HIS... GATES: YOU REALLY DID IT?

GOLDBLUM: I DID.

I LOOSENED A TOOTH AND I BLOODIED HIS... GATES: DID YOU GET IN TROUBLE?

GOLDBLUM: NOBODY TATTLED BECAUSE I HAD A STORY TO TELL.

HE WAS, HE HAD DONE THIS TO ME.

I WAS RIGHTEOUSLY, UH, YOU KNOW, STANDING UP FOR MYSELF, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

GATES: IT'S A GOOD THING THAT JEFF ESCAPED PUNISHMENT AND STAYED IN HEBREW SCHOOL, BECAUSE IT WOULD ACTUALLY COME TO PLAY A ROLE IN HIS DEVELOPMENT AS AN ACTOR.

INDEED, JEFF TOLD ME THAT IT WAS DURING HIS BAR-MITZVAH THAT HE FIRST FELT HIS PROFESSIONAL CALLING... GOLDBLUM: I REMEMBER THE MUSICAL, YOU KNOW, YOU GO... (SINGING IN HEBREW) AND I REMEMBER THE TRAINING THAT I DID BEFORE, AND I REMEMBER THE JOY OF WORKING ON IT, WORKING IT UP, GETTING FAMILIAR WITH IT.

GATES: MM-HMM.

GOLDBLUM: AND LATER MY MOM CONFIDED IN ME SHE SAID, "YOU KNOW, YOU REALLY DID WELL IN THAT.

YOU."

AND SHE WAS THINKING OF IT AS A PERFORMANCE, TOO.

GATES: THIS IS YOUR DEBUT.

GOLDBLUM: A LITTLE BIT, OF SORTS.

AND SHE SAID, "YEAH, YOU, YOU WERE REALLY GOOD."

SHE SEEMED SURPRISED, AND LIKE, "YOU."

AND I, I THOUGHT, "YEAH, I KNOW.

I KIND OF, SOMETHING, I KIND OF LIKE THAT."

GATES: MY SECOND GUEST IS THE INIMITABLE TERRY GROSS, HOST OF ONE OF PUBLIC RADIO'S MOST POPULAR SHOWS... FOR MORE THAN FORTY YEARS AND OVER 13,000 INTERVIEWS, TERRY HAS BEEN CELEBRATED BY HER PEERS AND ADORED BY HER AUDIENCE.

THOUGH QUIET AND RESERVED IN PERSON, BEHIND THE MICROPHONE, TERRY SEEMS TO BE ATTUNED TO EVERYONE, FROM ARTISTS TO POLITICIANS, ACADEMICS TO TRENDSETTERS...

SO, I WAS SURPRISED TO LEARN THAT HER PROFESSIONAL LIFE BEGAN IN A PLACE WHERE SHE COULDN'T FIT IN AT ALL, AN EIGHTH GRADE CLASSROOM...

GROSS: I GOT MY BA IN ENGLISH WITH A TEACHING CERTIFICATE.

I WAS FIRED IN SIX WEEKS, SO I BLEW THAT REALLY QUICK.

GATES: WERE YOU REALLY FIRED IN SIX WEEKS?

GROSS: I WAS LITERALLY FIRED IN SIX WEEKS.

GATES: FOR WHAT?

GROSS: FOR, UM, NOT BEING ABLE TO KEEP CONTROL OF THE CLASS.

OR EVEN KEEP THEM IN THE CLASS.

GATES: HMM.

GROSS: I LIKE BEING IN SITUATIONS WHERE PEOPLE WANT TO BE THERE.

GATES: YEAH.

GROSS: AND I'M NOT VERY GOOD AT, LIKE, TELLING PEOPLE WHAT, YOU KNOW, LIKE, "SIT DOWN!"

OR "GET IN HERE!"

I'M JUST, I'M NOT THAT PERSON.

AND WHEN I WAS 21, I WAS SUPER NOT THAT PERSON.

GATES: AFTER LEAVING THE CLASSROOM, TERRY DIDN'T WASTE ANY TIME FINDING A "SITUATION" THAT BETTER SUITED HER PERSONALITY: THE FOLLOWING YEAR, WHILE LIVING IN BUFFALO, NEW YORK, SHE TUNED IN TO THE LOCAL UNIVERSITY RADIO STATION AND WAS IMMEDIATELY HOOKED.

SOON, SHE WAS VOLUNTEERING AT THE STATION HERSELF...

GROSS: I JUST LOVED IT.

IT WAS LIKE MAGIC.

GATES: MM-HMM.

GROSS: AND SO, LIKE, YOU TURN A KNOB AND A VOICE IS ON THE AIR.

AND IT COULD BE YOUR VOICE BEING ON THE AIR.

AND THEN I STARTED DOING INTERVIEWS AND I THOUGHT "WOW."

GATES: RIGHT.

GROSS: "I GET TO FIND OUT ABOUT PEOPLE.

I GET TO RELATE TO THEM ON A DIFFERENT LEVEL."

BECAUSE, AS YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU HAVE THE MICROPHONE AND YOU'RE DOING IT FOR A CAUSE, FOR YOUR AUDIENCE TO LEARN SOMETHING, IT GIVES YOU THE LICENSE TO ASK THINGS YOU OTHERWISE WOULDN'T ASK, AND SO AS A KIND OF SHY PERSON IT KIND OF OPENED UP THE DOORS TO, LIKE, PUT THE SHYNESS ASIDE AND SAY, "NO, I'M HERE FOR PROFESSIONAL REASONS AND I'M GOING TO ASK YOU STUFF."

GATES: ONCE SHE FIGURED OUT WHAT SHE WANTED TO DO, TERRY SAYS THAT HER PRIMARY OBSTACLE WAS HER PARENTS.

AT FIRST, THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO MAKE OF HER UNORTHODOX CAREER CHOICE, BUT ALL OF THAT CHANGED THE DAY THEY TURNED ON THEIR RADIO AND HEARD THEIR DAUGHTER'S TALENTS WITH THEIR OWN EARS...

GROSS: FROM BUFFALO, NEW YORK THIS IS TERRY GROSS FOR NPR.

I HAD A PIECE ON "ALL THINGS CONSIDERED".

AND IT GOT ON THE AIR, AND MY PARENTS, WHO WERE LIVING IN BROOKLYN, WERE ABLE TO HEAR IT.

AND THEY THOUGHT, "OH, THIS ISN'T JUST KIDDING."

LIKE, "THIS IS REAL."

AND FROM THAT POINT ON THEY WERE SUPER SUPPORTIVE IN EVERY WAY.

GATES: LIKE TERRY, MARC MARON IS A MASTER INTERVIEWER.

HIS PODCAST, "WTF", WHICH MIXES FREE-WHEELING CONVERSATIONS WITH CELEBRITY GUESTS AND INTENSE MONOLOGUES, IS A CULTURAL PHENOMENON, DOWNLOADED BY MILLIONS OF PEOPLE...

INCLUDING ME...

YET AS ANYONE WHO LISTENS TO HIM KNOWS, MARC'S SUCCESS BELIES A LIFETIME OF STRUGGLE.. STRETCHING BACK TO CHILDHOOD, WHEN HE FELT ALIENATED FROM HIS PARENTS AND TOOK IT OUT ON HIS TEACHERS... MARON: I WAS A LITTLE UNDISCIPLINED.

I DON'T THINK THAT MY PARENTS WERE VERY GOOD AT SORT OF, UH, WRANGLING ME IN, SO I THINK THAT WHEN I WENT TO SCHOOL, IT WAS LIKE BASICALLY A SHOWROOM, AND IT, IT WAS, I JUST NEEDED ATTENTION AND NEEDED TO BE DISRUPTIVE, AND I WAS EXPECTING A LOT FROM PEOPLE, I THINK.

GATES: SO, SCHOOL WAS "I'M GOING TO THE THEATER AND THIS IS MY AUDIENCE," RIGHT?

MARON: A LITTLE BIT, YEAH, YEAH.

AND I THINK IT WAS SOME SORT OF EMOTIONAL NEED THAT WASN'T BEING MET BY MY PARENTS, AND I NEEDED, YOU KNOW, AND I JUST, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK THAT I, I PULLED IT OUT OF MY TEACHERS BY MAKING THEM CRAZY.

GATES: MARC'S ANTICS EVENTUALLY LED HIM TO A REAL STAGE...

IN COLLEGE, HE DISCOVERED STAND-UP COMEDY AND BEGAN HONING AN ACT THAT WAS AGGRESSIVELY EDGY.

BUT AFTER HIS GRADUATION, MARC FOUND HIMSELF CONFRONTING THE REALITY OF THE COMEDY CLUB CIRCUIT AND A MOUNTING PROBLEM WITH DRUGS AND ALCOHOL... MARON: IT'S A DARK JOURNEY, YOU KNOW?

YOU'RE WAITING AROUND.

YOU'RE WAITING FOR YOUR NAME TO GET CALLED.

YOU'RE WAITING ALL NIGHT.

YOU'RE WATCHING THE AUDIENCE LEAVE.

YOU'RE DOING OPEN MICS.

YOU GET YOUR SHOT.

YOU GOT YOUR FIVE MINUTES OF JOKES, AND THERE'S, UH, WORN-OUT DRUNKS IN THE ROOM, BUT YOU KNOW I, I, SOMETHING ABOUT IT, I LOVED IT.

UH, BUT I DID PUT IT OFF UNTIL I GRADUATED.

I'D DONE AN UNDERGRADUATE, UH, A SEPARATE DEGREE IN DRUG USE AND COCAINE.

AND THEN I WENT TO, UH, LA AND DID MY MASTER'S IN COCAINE.

AND, AND THEN I LEFT.

GATES: EVENTUALLY, MARC WOULD FIND A PATH TO SOBRIETY, BUT HE COULDN'T MANAGE TO MAKE A LIVING AS A COMEDIAN.

BY 2009, HE WAS FACING BANKRUPTCY AND A DIVORCE.

SEEMINGLY OUT OF DESPERATION, HE BEGAN RECORDING A PODCAST IN HIS GARAGE AND HE CHANGED HIS ACT, OPENING UP ABOUT HIS STRUGGLES IN A WAY THAT TURNED HIS LIFE AND HIS CAREER, COMPLETELY AROUND.

MARON: IF YOU LISTEN TO THE FIRST HUNDRED "WTF'S", IT'S REALLY ME JUST HAVING CELEBRITIES OVER TO TALK ABOUT MY PROBLEMS, AND THAT'S SORT OF HOW I, I DEVELOPED MY STYLE.

AND I, I THINK I LEARNED, REALLY, HOW TO BE EMPATHETIC FROM DOING THE PODCAST.

I THINK, I DON'T THINK IT WAS SECOND NATURE TO ME BECAUSE I HAVE SUCH SELFISH PARENTS, AND I WAS VERY SELF-INVOLVED.

SO LIKE WHEN I TALK TO PEOPLE, I'M VERY OPENHEARTED BECAUSE I, YOU KNOW, I ALWAYS ASSUME THAT THEY, UH, YOU KNOW, KNOW MORE THAN ME AND CAN HELP ME SOMEHOW.

YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?

GATES: YEAH.

MY THREE GUESTS HAVE DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES AND CAME TO FAME BY DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT PATHS.

BUT THEY ALSO SHARE SOMETHING PROFOUND.

EACH HAS DEEP JEWISH ROOTS.

AND EACH TOLD ME THAT WHILE THEY FELT CONNECTED TO THEIR ANCESTORS CULTURALLY, THEY KNEW ALMOST NOTHING ABOUT THE LIVES THOSE ANCESTORS ACTUALLY HAD LIVED.

IT WAS TIME TO CHANGE THAT.

I STARTED WITH JEFF GOLDBLUM.

JEFF'S PARENTS WERE BOTH THE CHILDREN OF JEWISH IMMIGRANTS, BUT THEY SAW THEMSELVES AS AMERICANS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEIR PARENTS WERE SOMETIMES STRAINED.

AS A RESULT, JEFF KNOWS LITTLE ABOUT HIS GRANDPARENTS, EVEN THE ONE TO WHOM HE WAS CLOSEST: HIS MOTHER'S MOTHER, A WOMAN NAMED ANNA KATZ... GOLDBLUM: OF ANY OF THE GRANDPARENTS, SHE WAS THE ONE I KNEW AND HAD PROXIMITY WITH AND SPENT THE MOST TIME WITH.

BECAUSE MY DAD'S PARENTS, HE KIND OF, WE DIDN'T VISIT THEM MUCH.

UH, WE DIDN'T VISIT THEM MUCH.

UM, THE, BUT MY MOM'S MOM WOULD COME OVER ONCE A WEEK AND HAVE DINNER.

MY DAD WAS A LITTLE, HAD HIS FEELINGS ABOUT THAT.

GATES: "DO WE REALLY HAVE TO DO THIS AGAIN?!"

GOLDBLUM: IT WAS A LITTLE LIKE THAT.

WELL, WELL, ANNA WAS KIND OF, SHE WAS NOT LIKE MY MOTHER.

ANNA WAS KIND OF, "HMMMMM..." OH, I KNOW THE PHRASE MY MOM USED.

SHE SAID, "YOU KNOW, SHE EMBRACED OLD AGE."

GATES: ANNA MAY WELL HAVE EMBRACED OLD AGE BECAUSE HER YOUTH WAS SO CHALLENGING.

WHEN SHE WAS STILL A TEENAGER, SHE MARRIED JEFF'S GRANDFATHER, A STORE-OWNER NAMED SAM TEMELES, WHO WOULD FALL ON HARD TIMES.

IN 1939, SAM WAS INDICTED FOR SETTING FIRE TO A RENTAL HOME THAT HE OWNED IN WEIRTON, WEST VIRGINIA... GATES: SO DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS?

GOLDBLUM: ONLY ON ONE OCCASION, WHEN I WAS A KID, I, I THINK IT CAME UP.

MY MOM MENTIONED IT IN FRONT OF ANNA, AND SAID, "YEAH, WELL, OF COURSE THERE WAS THAT INCIDENT WITH THE ARSON.

WHATEVER HAPPENED WITH THAT, MOM?"

"OH, OH.

PLEA, PLEA, PLEA," HER MOM SAID, "NO."

GOT A LITTLE TEARY.

"DON'T, DON'T, DON'T, I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT THAT.

DON'T TALK ABOUT THAT."

GATES: NEWSPAPERS FROM THE TIME SUGGEST THAT JEFF'S GRANDFATHER WAS STRUGGLING FINANCIALLY AND PROSECUTORS BELIEVED HE HAD SET THE FIRE HOPING TO COLLECT INSURANCE MONEY.

WE'LL NEVER KNOW THE TRUTH, HOWEVER, BECAUSE THE CASE, TRAGICALLY, REACHED A PREMATURE CONCLUSION... GOLDBLUM: "SAM TEMELES, STRICKEN WHILE IN THE COURTROOM: DIED OF A HEART ATTACK WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT 9:45 AT HIS HOME ON WEIRTON HEIGHTS."

GATES: HE HAD A HEART ATTACK IN COURT.

GOLDBLUM: I DIDN'T KNOW THAT.

GATES: HE HAD THE HEART ATTACK IN COURT AND THEN HE DIES THAT NIGHT.

GOLDBLUM: WOW.

GATES: YOUR GRANDFATHER WAS NEVER CONVICTED OF THE CRIME AND HE INSISTED THAT HE WAS INNOCENT OF THE CHARGES AGAINST HIM.

GOLDBLUM: RIGHT.

AND THAT WAS THE ASSERTION, THAT IT WAS NOT TRUE.

GATES: SO WHAT DO YOU THINK?

WHAT'S YOUR FEELING?

GOLDBLUM: I DON'T KNOW.

I MEAN, WHAT YOU LOOK FOR WITH SOMEBODY WHO'S INNOCENT IS SOME KIND OF BEHAVIOR, RIGHT, WHERE YOU GO "ABSOLUTELY NOT."

YOU KNOW... GATES: OUTRAGE.

GOLDBLUM: OUTRAGE OF SOME KIND.

I NEVER GOT THAT FROM THEM.

AND WHO KNOWS, WAS HE DYING FROM THE STRESS OF BEING WRONGLY ACCUSED?

OR BECAUSE... GATES: THE EMBARRASSMENT OF BEING... GOLDBLUM: "I, I DID IT, AND I, I GOT CAUGHT.

I DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE."

GATES: YEAH.

GOLDBLUM: I DON'T KNOW.

GATES: SAM'S DEATH LEFT HIS WIFE ANNA WITH THREE CHILDREN TO RAISE.

SOON SHE WOULD RE-MARRY AND SAM'S STORY AND INDEED AN ENTIRE BRANCH OF JEFF'S FAMILY TREE, WOULD BE FORGOTTEN.

WE SET OUT TO RECOVER IT.

WE STARTED IN THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES, WHERE A NATURALIZATION RECORD FOR SAM'S FATHER, A MAN NAMED ABRAHAM TEMELES, GAVE US A CRUCIAL CLUE... GOLDBLUM: "I DO DECLARE THAT...

I WAS BORN ON THE 15TH DAY OF AUGUST 1860... MY LAST FOREIGN RESIDENCE WAS ZLOCZOW."

GATES: AUSTRIA.

GOLDBLUM: "AUSTRIA."

GATES: SO, JEFF, THAT'S WHERE THIS LINE OF YOUR FAMILY COMES FROM.

GOLDBLUM: OH!

GATES: THAT'S WHERE YOUR PEOPLE ARE FROM.

GOLDBLUM: WHAT IS IT NOW?

WHAT IS THIS PLACE NOW?

GATES: IT'S CURRENTLY LOCATED IN WESTERN UKRAINE.

GOLDBLUM: IN WESTERN UKRAINE?

GATES: THAT'S WHERE YOUR PEOPLE ARE FROM.

AND YOU CAN SEE A PHOTO OF IT ON THE LEFT FROM 1912.

GOLDBLUM: WOW.

GATES: THAT IS WHERE YOUR PEOPLE WALKED THE STREETS.

GOLDBLUM: WOW!

THAT IS SOMETHING.

WELL, I SHOULD GO THERE, SHOULDN'T I?

GATES: YEAH.

IT'S ROOTS.

GOLDBLUM: IT'S ROOTS!

GATES: YOU SAW ALEX HALEY, MAN.

THIS IS YOUR KUNTA KINTE TIME!

GOLDBLUM: THAT'S RIGHT.

GATES: SADLY, IF JEFF WERE TO VISIT ZLOCZOW TODAY, HE WOULD LIKELY FIND NO TRACE OF HIS ANCESTORS...

THE CITY'S ONCE-SIGNIFICANT JEWISH POPULATION WAS ALMOST ENTIRELY ERASED DURING THE HOLOCAUST...

MOREOVER, THEIR EXISTENCE PRIOR TO THAT TRAGEDY WAS A HARSH ONE.

FOR CENTURIES, ZLOCZOW WAS PART OF THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE AND ITS JEWISH RESIDENTS WERE SUBJECT TO A PERVASIVE ANTI-SEMITISM THAT LIMITED THEIR OPPORTUNITIES.

WHEN JEFF'S FAMILY LEFT, POVERTY HERE WAS WIDESPREAD AND THAT'S ALMOST CERTAINLY WHAT DROVE THEM AWAY, THOUGH WE CAN'T SAY FOR SURE... WHAT WE DO KNOW IS THAT THE DECISION TO LEAVE WASN'T MADE LIGHTLY.

RECORDS SHOW THAT HIS ANCESTORS UNDERTOOK AN IMMENSE EFFORT IN ORDER TO COME TO AMERICA... GOLDBLUM: "1911 CANADA BORDER CROSSING MANIFEST.

TEMELES, ABRAHAM.

RACE: HEBREW.

PASSAGE PAID BY: SELF.

SEAPORT AND DATE OF LANDING: HALIFAX, 8/11."

GATES: YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT?

GOLDBLUM: NO.

GATES: THIS IS THE RECORD OF THE BORDER CROSSING YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER MADE FROM CANADA TO THE UNITED STATES.

ALTHOUGH NO DOCUMENTATION EXISTS FOR EVERY STEP OF THE JOURNEY, HISTORIANS TELL US THAT A MIGRANT LIKE YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER WOULD HAVE STARTED OUT BY TRAVELING ACROSS EUROPE, LIKELY BY TRAIN, TO THE PORT OF ROTTERDAM, WHICH OF COURSE IS IN THE NETHERLANDS.

NOW, EVENTUALLY, AFTER TRAVELING 1,000 MILES, YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER WAS ALLOWED TO BOARD A SHIP SAILING TO HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA AND IT WAS CALLED THE "S.S.

VOLTURNO."

GOLDBLUM: OH, MY GOSH... GATES: AND YOU CAN SEE THAT SHIP, RIGHT THERE ON YOUR LEFT.

GOLDBLUM: REALLY?

HOLY CATS!

GATES: IT WAS A NOTORIOUSLY CHEAP SHIPPING LINE... GOLDBLUM: OH REALLY?

GATES: YEP, THAT FERRIED THOUSANDS OF MIGRANTS TO NORTH AMERICA.

GOLDBLUM: GEEZ, TO HALIFAX.

SO HE WENT THROUGH CAN, CANADA... GATES: HE WENT TO CANADA, LIKELY IN STEERAGE, OF COURSE.

GOLDBLUM: RIGHT, I SEE.

GATES: AND HE WAS FIFTY.

GOLDBLUM: FIFTY?

GATES: YEAH.

CAN YOU IMAGINE?

GOLDBLUM: YEAH.

WHICH, FIFTY IS THEN, THAT WAS THE NEW, THAT WAS THE NEW, UH, SEVENTY.

GATES: AND HE HAD GOOD TIMING, BECAUSE THAT SHIP?

IT CAUGHT FIRE AND SANK JUST TWO YEARS AFTER YOUR GRANDFATHER'S JOURNEY KILLING AROUND 140 OF THE PASSENGERS!

GOLDBLUM: AYE-YI-YI... GATES: AND MOSTLY JEWISH MIGRANTS.

GOLDBLUM: OH, MY GOSH.

IT'S JUST A RANDOM PIECE OF LUCK THAT I'M HERE AT ALL, I GUESS.

GATES: MUCH LIKE JEFF, TERRY GROSS' UPBRINGING PLACED HER AT A DISTANCE FROM HER JEWISH HERITAGE.

ALL FOUR OF HER GRANDPARENTS WERE BORN IN EASTERN EUROPE, BUT SHE ONLY REALLY KNEW HER MOTHER'S PARENTS, LOUIS AND BECKIE ABRAMS AND THEY WERE NOT FORTHCOMING ABOUT THEIR PAST.

GROSS: I'VE ALWAYS FELT VERY STRONGLY CULTURALLY JEWISH.

YOU KNOW, I WAS RAISED IN A JEWISH NEIGHBORHOOD.

I VACATIONED, WHEN I WAS A CHILD, IN THE CATSKILLS.

I MEAN, HOW JEWISH CAN YOU GET?

BUT I KNOW VERY LITTLE ABOUT MY ANCESTRY.

MY GRANDPARENTS, WHEN TALKING ABOUT WHERE THEY WERE FROM, THEY WOULDN'T SAY "I'M FROM THIS TOWN" OR, OR "RUSSIA/POLAND" OR WHATEVER.

THEY WOULD SAY "THE OLD COUNTRY."

GATES: YEAH.

RIGHT.

GROSS: SO I KNEW THEY WERE FROM THE OLD COUNTRY AND WHEN I WAS A KID I WAS WONDERING WHERE ON THE MAP EXACTLY IS THE OLD COUNTRY.

GATES: "CAN YOU SHOW ME THE OLD COUNTRY?"

(LAUGHS).

LOUIS AND BECKY IMMIGRATED TO AMERICA SEPARATELY IN THE EARLY 1900'S AND SETTLED IN NEW YORK CITY, WHERE LOUIS WORKED AS A TAILOR.

RECORDS SHOW THAT, FOR BOTH OF THEM, THE "OLD COUNTRY" WAS RUSSIA.

BUT RUSSIA, OF COURSE, WAS A HUGE EMPIRE WITH SHIFTING BOUNDARIES...

TRYING TO LEARN MORE, WE NOTICED THAT THE INSCRIPTION ON LOUIS' GRAVESTONE INDICATES THAT HIS HEBREW NAME WAS 'SCHMUEL LEIB'...

THIS NAME LED US TO A CENSUS ENTRY FROM THE YEAR 1897 FOR A RUSSIAN TOWN CALLED DIVIN...

GROSS: "ABRAM SON OF LEYBA, ABRAMCHIK, HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD; AGE: 39; OCCUPATION: TAILOR.

SHMUYEL-LEYB, SON, AGE 1.5."

GATES: THERE'S YOUR GRANDFATHER LOUIS ABRAMS, OR, RATHER, SCHMUYEL LEYB ABRAMCHIK, AT JUST ONE AND A HALF YEARS OLD, LISTED ALONGSIDE HIS PARENTS.

GROSS: WOW.

GATES: FIRST OF ALL, WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SEE THAT DOCUMENT?

GROSS: REMARKABLE.

AND, AND IT'S INTERESTING THAT HIS FATHER, THAT MY GRANDFATHER WHO WAS A TAILOR, THAT HIS FATHER WAS A TAILOR.

GATES: RIGHT.

HE PASSED IT ON.

GROSS: THEY HAD A TRADE, SO THEY HAD AN OCCUPATION.

AND THAT'S THE OCCUPATION MY GRANDFATHER HAD WHEN HE WAS IN AMERICA.

SO HE CAME HERE WITH, HE CAME HERE WITH A SKILL.

GATES: LOUIS LIKELY LEFT DIVIN WITH LITTLE MORE THAN HIS "SKILL"...

THE TOWN WAS LOCATED IN A PART OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE KNOWN AS "THE PALE OF SETTLEMENT", WHERE, BEGINNING IN THE LATE 1700S, RUSSIA CONFINED AND SEVERELY RESTRICTED ITS JEWISH POPULATION...

WITHIN THE PALE, JEWISH PEOPLE SUFFERED ALL SORTS OF HUMILIATING RESTRICTIONS.

THEY WERE PREVENTED FROM HOLDING GOVERNMENT POSITIONS, THEY WERE BARRED FROM OWNING FARMLAND, THEY WERE FORCED TO PAY ADDITIONAL TAXES, AND THEY WERE VULNERABLE TO VIOLENCE AT ANY TIME.

MOST ENDED UP IN LOW-PAYING TRADES AND MANY STRUGGLED JUST TO FEED THEIR FAMILIES...

BUT TERRY'S ANCESTORS FACED AN ADDITIONAL CHALLENGE.

GROSS: "KOBRINSKAYA STREET: LEYBA ABRAMCHIK, AGE: 51, PETTY BOURGEOIS JEW FROM SHTETL DIVIN.

TOTAL DAMAGE ESTIMATE IS 50 RUBLES.

HE RECEIVED EIGHT RUBLES OF FINANCIAL AID."

WHAT IS THE "DAMAGE ESTIMATE"?

GATES: THIS IS A LIST OF FAMILIES FROM DIVIN WHO RECEIVED FINANCIAL AID AFTER A FIRE ERUPTED ON AUGUST 10, 1872.

AND IT INCLUDES THE FAMILY OF YOUR GREAT- GREAT- GRANDFATHER LEYBA.

YOUR ANCESTORS' HOME WAS DESTROYED BY A FIRE.

GROSS: WOW.

GATES: ANY FAMILY STORIES ABOUT THIS?

NO FAMILY STORIES ABOUT THIS.

GROSS: NO, ARE YOU KIDDING?

NO.

NO.

GATES: SO CAN YOU IMAGINE LOSING YOUR HOME AND PRESUMABLY EVERYTHING THAT YOU OWNED IN IT?

GROSS: AND THEN WHAT?

GATES: AND THEN DEPENDING ON YOUR NEIGHBORS FOR AID.

GROSS: YEAH.

I WONDER HOW THEY RECOVERED FROM THAT?

GATES: AFTER THE FIRE, TERRY'S GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER HAD TO APPLY FOR PERMISSION TO REBUILD, WHICH MEANS THAT HIS FAMILY WAS LIKELY WITHOUT A HOME FOR ALMOST A YEAR!

NEVERTHELESS, THEY CHOSE TO REMAIN IN DIVIN AND INDEED WOULD STAY IN THE TOWN FOR ANOTHER GENERATION.

VIVIDLY DEMONSTRATING THAT AS HARD AS THEIR LIVES MAY HAVE BEEN, IT WAS NOT EASY TO LEAVE WHAT THEY HAD LONG CALLED HOME... A FACT THAT STRUCK TERRY DEEPLY.

GROSS: I ALWAYS WONDER HOW DID MY GREAT-GRANDPARENTS FEEL ABOUT MY GRANDPARENTS LEAVING THEM FOR AMERICA.

CAUSE THEY PROBABLY KNEW THEY WOULD NEVER SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN.

HOW DOES THAT FEEL?

GATES: RIGHT.

BUT, I THINK OF JEWISH TRADITION AS PEOPLE ENCOURAGING THE NEXT GENERATION.

GROSS: YEAH.

GATES: "WE HAVE TO ASPIRE.

THERE'S ANTI-SEMITISM OUT THERE.

WE HAVE TO STICK TOGETHER, BUT YOU HAVE TO SEEK OPPORTUNITY."

AND AMERICA WAS THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITY.

GROSS: YEAH.

GATES: EVERYBODY IN THAT SHTETL KNEW THAT.

GROSS: YEAH.

I WONDER HOW MUCH OF WHAT YOU'RE TELLING ME MY PARENTS KNEW.

GATES: HMM.

GROSS: I, YOU KNOW, I WISH THEY WERE HERE TO LEARN SOME OF THE THINGS THAT YOU'RE TELLING ME.

GATES: YEAH.

ME, TOO.

GROSS: IT'S, IT'S AMAZING.

GATES: LIKE TERRY AND JEFF, MARC MARON GREW UP KNOWING THAT HIS ROOTS WERE JEWISH AND THAT HIS ANCESTORS WERE LIKELY FROM POLAND OR RUSSIA.

BUT BEYOND THAT, HE SAID HIS FAMILY TREE WAS A MYSTERY.

WE FOCUSED FIRST ON THE MOST RECENT IMMIGRANT ON ANY OF HIS ANCESTRAL LINES: HIS MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER, A WOMAN NAMED GOLDA FEUER, WHOM MARC RECALLS WITH GREAT FONDNESS... MARON: I LOVED HER, AND SHE LOVED ME.

SHE WAS SO, UH, JUST SO, LIKE, SHE GOT SUCH A KICK OUT OF ME, AND YOU KNOW SHE WAS ALWAYS, YOU, YOU KNOW, SPOILING ME, AND SHE'D TAKE ME SHOPPING.

I REMEMBER WE'D PAST THAT NABISCO FACTORY, AND SHE'D SAY, LIKE, "CAN YOU SMELL THE COOKIES?"

AND I ALWAYS THOUGHT I COULD.

I DON'T THINK YOU COULD.

BUT, UH AND WE AND SHE'D TAKE ME, AND WE'D GO TO THE DELIS, AND WE'D EAT TOGETHER, AND SHE WAS VERY DOTING AND VERY, A VERY POWERFUL FORCE IN MY LIFE.

GATES: DID SHE EVER TALK ABOUT HER IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE?

MARON: NEVER.

I JUST, I, I THINK SHE JUST, ALL I KNEW WAS THAT SHE WAS LIKE THREE YEARS OLD OR SOMETHING WHEN SHE CAME.

GATES: UH-HUH.

MARON: AND I KNEW THAT, YOU KNOW, MY GRANDMOTHER, BOTH MY GRANDPARENTS SPOKE YIDDISH AT TIMES.

I KNEW THAT THEY HAD THAT, THERE, THERE WAS A PAST IN THAT, CAUSE THEY, THEY'D SPEAK YIDDISH WHEN THEY DIDN'T WANT ME TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY WERE SAYING.

GATES: RIGHT.

MARON: BUT I, I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HER IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE.

GATES: GOLDA'S EXPERIENCE IS SIMILAR TO THAT OF COUNTLESS JEWISH IMMIGRANTS.

IN JUNE OF 1920, WHEN SHE WAS 5 YEARS OLD, SHE BOARDED A SHIP CALLED THE "S.S. FINLAND" BOUND FOR NEW YORK, WITH HER WERE HER MOTHER MOLLY, HER GRANDMOTHER PERLA AND THREE OF HER SIBLINGS.

THAT'S THE SHIP THAT THEY ACTUALLY CAME TO AMERICA ON.

MARON: THAT'S CRAZY.

FROM... GATES: THIRTEEN DAYS IN STEERAGE.

MARON: I DON'T KNOW HOW THEY DID IT.

I DON'T KNOW HOW THEY DO THAT.

GATES: MMM.

MARON: JUST THE IDEA THAT LIKE YOU'RE GONNA LEAVE YOUR COUNTRY, YOU'RE GONNA PACK UP, EVERYBODY'S GONNA GO.

GATES: FOREVER.

MARON: FOREVER.

AND GET ON A BOAT.

ARE YOU KIDDING, A BOAT?

I CAN'T BE ON A BOAT FOR AN HOUR WITHOUT GETTING SICK.

LIKE, IT MUST'VE JUST BEEN, IN STEERAGE?

GATES: YEAH, IN STEERAGE WITH NO WINDOWS.

THAT'S WHY YOU GET SICK.

MARON: JUST, JUST FOR THIRTEEN DAYS!

BUT PEOPLE WANTED IT SO BAD.

GATES: OH YEAH.

MARON: THEY WANTED TO BE HERE SO BAD.

GATES: YEAH.

MARON: THAT'S CRAZY.

GATES: ACCORDING TO THE MANIFEST OF THE SHIP THAT BROUGHT THEM HERE, MARC'S FAMILY WAS FROM A TOWN CALLED DROHOBYCZ...

IN 1920, WHEN THEY EMIGRATED, DROHOBYCZ WAS PART OF THE NEWLY-FORMED REPUBLIC OF POLAND, BUT FOR OVER A CENTURY BEFORE THAT, DROHOBYCZ HAD BEEN WITHIN THE AUSTRIAN PROVINCE OF GALICIA AND WAS FAMED FOR SOMETHING THAT ISN'T USUALLY ASSOCIATED WITH JEWISH LIFE: OIL PRODUCTION!

INDEED, WHILE MY OTHER GUESTS' ANCESTORS HAD BEEN TRADESPEOPLE, RECORDS SHOWED THAT MARC'S GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER WORKED IN A PETROLEUM FACTORY... MARON: THAT'S CRAZY.

GATES: I BET THIS IS NOT HOW YOU IMAGINED YOUR ANCESTORS WORKING BACK IN THE OLD COUNTRY.

MARON: NO!

THIS IS COWBOY STUFF.

GATES: YEAH.

MARON: YOU DON'T THINK ABOUT POLISH OIL.

GATES: YOU THINK ABOUT JEWISH PEDDLERS.

MARON: SURE.

GATES: PEOPLE SELLING, BEING TAILORS.

MARON: YEAH.

YEAH.

GATES: OR SELLING THINGS.

MARON: ON A CART, ROLLING IT AROUND.

GATES: RIGHT.

YEAH.

MARON: OR DOING, I, WELL, WE GOT AN OIL WORKER.

GATES: AND GUESS WHAT?

IT'S ENTIRELY POSSIBLE THAT GENERATIONS OF YOUR FAMILY WORKED IN THE OIL INDUSTRY.

MARON: BEFORE HIM?

GATES: YEAH, IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.

EVEN BEFORE THE INDUSTRY EXPLODED IN THE 1850S, PEASANTS IN THE DISTRICT COLLECTED CRUDE OIL IN WOODEN BUCKETS TO SELL IN THE TOWN MARKET AS A LUBRICANT FOR WAGON WHEELS BEING DRAWN BY HORSES.

MARON: SO, THERE YOU GO.

SO, THERE'S THE, THE, THE, THE CART.

GATES: NOW, YOU GET THE CART.

MARON: YEAH.

YEAH.

WE GO, THEY, THEY SLOG THROUGH PUDDLES OF OIL.

GATES: YOU GOTTA GREASE THE, THE WHEELS, RIGHT?

MARON: YEAH.

THAT'S INTERESTING.

I HAD NO IDEA.

I, WELL, I, WHO, HOW COULD I HAVE?

GATES: MHMM.

MARON: THAT MY GREAT, GREAT GRAND-FATHER WAS A, UH, A, UH, WHAT DO THEY CALL IT?

A WILD CAT.

GATES: A WILD CAT RIGHT!

HAHAHA, THAT'S COOL.

MARON: A POLISH-JEWISH WILD CAT.

(LAUGHING).

THAT'S INCREDIBLE.

GATES: MARC WONDERED WHY HIS ANCESTORS WOULD CHOOSE TO LEAVE WHAT SEEMED TO BE A THRIVING TOWN, THE ANSWER IS BOUND UP IN THE ANTI-SEMITISM THAT SURROUNDED THE TOWN.

IN 1914, WORLD WAR I BROKE OUT, AND EASTERN GALICIA WAS INVADED BY RUSSIA.

JEWS WERE BEATEN, RAPED AND KILLED BY RUSSIAN SOLDIERS AND MANY OF THEIR HOMES WERE DESTROYED.

MOREOVER, THE WAR'S END BROUGHT NO PEACE, AS UKRAINIANS AND POLES BEGAN VYING FOR CONTROL OF THE REGION AND BOTH LABELLED JEWS AS TRAITORS.

IT'S NOT HARD TO IMAGINE WHY MARC'S GREAT-GRANDMOTHER MOLLY PACKED UP HER FAMILY AND LEFT.

MARON: THAT'S SCARY.

GATES: DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA THAT YOUR ANCESTORS HAD SUFFERED SO MUCH?

MARON: NO.

YOU, YOU KNOW THEY'RE, YOU, YOU SORT OF GET PREOCCUPIED WITH WORLD WAR II, SO, YOU KNOW, THE IDEA WAS LIKE DID ANYONE IN OUR FAMILY, YOU KNOW, DIE IN THE CAMPS OR YOU KNOW DID THEY HAVE TO FLEE?

GATES: UH-HUH.

MARON: AND THE, UH, ANSWER WAS ALWAYS NO, BUT THEY HAD TO, YOU KNOW, DECADES BEFORE.

GATES: YEAH.

DOES LEARNING ALL OF THIS CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR MOTHER?

THESE ARE YOUR MOTHER'S PEOPLE.

ALL THEIR EXPERIENCES SHAPED YOUR MOM.

MARON: YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH MY MOTHER REALLY KNOWS ABOUT THIS, YOU KNOW, 'CAUSE I KNOW THAT HER RELATIONSHIP WITH HER GRANDMOTHER, WHO WAS MOLLY, WAS DIFFICULT, YOU KNOW?

GATES: UH-HUH.

MARON: SHE REALLY THINKS THAT MOLLY, LIKE, SHE, SHE ALWAYS FELT THAT MOLLY MADE HER EAT TOO MUCH.

(LAUGHS).

MARON: AND, AND SHE JUST HAS MEMORIES OF HER BEING THIS, YOU KNOW, DIFFICULT PRE, PRESENCE IN HER LIFE, AND I, I WONDER IF SHE, IF SHE KNEW ABOUT THIS STUFF, IF THAT WOULD CHANGE HER, YOU KNOW, THE WAY SHE SEES IT ALL.

GATES: YEAH, BECAUSE HER GRANDMOTHER, I MEAN, PROBABLY NEVER HAD ENOUGH TO EAT, RIGHT?

MARON: RIGHT.

GATES: YOU KNOW?

MARON: RIGHT.

GATES: YEAH.

MARON: IT EXPANDS YOUR SENSE OF YOURSELF, BUT ALSO IT EXPANDS, YOU KNOW, THE, THE WEIGHT OF, YOU KNOW WHAT, WHAT I COME FROM.

GATES: I'D NOW TAKEN EACH OF MY GUESTS BACK TO JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN EASTERN EUROPE, IT WAS TIME TO CONSIDER THE HORROR THAT LARGELY DESTROYED THOSE COMMUNITIES: WORLD WAR II.

FOR JEFF GOLDBLUM, THE SUBJECT HIT ESPECIALLY CLOSE TO HOME, JEFF'S FATHER SERVED IN THE AMERICAN MILITARY DURING THE WAR AND LOST A BROTHER IN COMBAT... AND THOUGH JEFF REMEMBERS HIS FATHER AS A MILD MAN, LARGELY DEVOID OF RELIGIOUS FEELINGS, HE ALSO RECALLS THAT HE COULD DISPLAY INTENSE EMOTION IN THE FACE OF ANTI-SEMITISM... GOLDBLUM: I REMEMBER WE WERE AT A PLACE CALLED WEINSTEIN'S.

IT'S A FAMOUS KIND OF DELI RESTAURANT.

AND, UM, A POLICEMAN, UM, WAS OVERHEARD BY MY DAD, JUST TALKING WITH ANOTHER POLICEMAN, AND HE SAYS TO HIS COP FRIEND, HE SAYS, "WELL, THAT'S, THAT'S ONE SMART JEW."

YOU KNOW?

GATES: OH, UNH-UNH.

GOLDBLUM: MY DAD OVERHEARS THIS AND SAID, UH, "OFFICER?

OFFICER!

UH, WHAT DID YOU SAY?

NO, NO, NO, TELL ME WHAT YOU SAID.

I HEARD WHAT YOU SAID.

WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

AND, UH, LIKE THAT.

HE WAS RARELY... GATES: WOW... GOLDBLUM: HE WAS NOT, NOT THE CONFRONTATIONAL TYPE LIKE THAT.

BUT IT, IT WAS IMMEDIATE, IT WAS VERY POWERFUL.

GATES: AND WHAT DID THE COP SAY?

GOLDBLUM: THE COP WAS LIKE, "OKAY, SIR, SIR, SORRY.

I DIDN'T MEAN ANYTHING."

"UH- HUH, OKAY."

GATES: WOW.

YOU DIDN'T MESS WITH YOUR DAD.

GOLDBLUM: NO.

GATES: HE, HE DREW A LINE.

GOLDBLUM: WELL, MY DAD HAD SEEN, HAD GONE THROUGH ALL OF THAT THAT WE KNOW.

GATES: YEAH.

MM-HMM.

GOLDBLUM: AND HIS CULTURAL IDENTITY WAS DEEPLY, UM, FOUNDED IN JEWISHNESS.

GATES: THOUGH HIS IDENTITY MAY HAVE BEEN STRONGLY TIED TO HIS JEWISH ROOTS, JEFF'S FATHER PASSED ON VERY LITTLE INFORMATION ABOUT THOSE ROOTS.

WE NOW TRIED TO RECONSTRUCT THEM.

WE SOON FOCUSED ON JEFF'S GREAT-GRANDFATHER, A MAN NAMED ZELIK POVARTZIK... ZELIK IMMIGRATED TO AMERICA IN 1911 FROM A TOWN IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE KNOWN AS STAROBIN.

HE SETTLED IN PITTSBURG AND HE SEEMS TO HAVE HAD AN EXCELLENT SENSE OF TIMING.

BECAUSE, ACCORDING TO NEWSPAPER REPORTS, SOON AFTER HIS DEPARTURE, STAROBIN WAS ENGULFED BY A WAVE OF ANTI-SEMITIC VIOLENCE... GOLDBLUM: "THE FREQUENT PRACTICE OF INCENDIARIES TO SET FIRE TO JEWISH HOUSES, IS KEEPING THE LOCAL JEWS IN A STATE OF PANIC."

I WOULD WELL IMAGINE.

I WOULDN'T BE, I WOULD BE ALSO PANICKED.

"THE TOWNLETS STAROBIN, KRITCHEV AND STOV, INHABITED ALMOST ENTIRELY BY JEWS, HAVE BEEN DESTROYED BY FIRES."

GATES: BY SEPTEMBER 1912, WHEN THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED, YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER ZELIK HAD BEEN LIVING IN PITTSBURGH FOR JUST OVER A YEAR.

GOLDBLUM: OH, MY GOSH, HE ESCAPED JUST IN TIME.

GATES: HE LIKELY WOULD HAVE HAD ACCESS TO THIS ARTICLE, AND HE WOULD HAVE READ IT, KNOWING THAT HIS FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS, AND MAYBE EVEN FAMILY HAD BEEN AFFECTED BY THE VIOLENCE.

CAN YOU IMAGINE?

GOLDBLUM: NO... GATES: AND THE SENSE OF POWERLESSNESS?

YOU COULDN'T PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL AND SAY "YOU GUYS OKAY?"

GOLDBLUM: A DIFFERENT TIME.

NO, NOT, NOTHING LIKE THAT.

GATES: OF COURSE, ZELIK'S LOVED ONES BACK HOME WOULD SOON FACE SOMETHING FAR WORSE... ON JUNE 22, 1941, NAZI GERMANY INVADED RUSSIA AND STAROBIN WAS OCCUPIED ALMOST IMMEDIATELY.

WITHIN DAYS, GERMAN SOLDIERS BEGAN TO EXTERMINATE THE TOWN'S JEWISH POPULATION AND ALMOST ALL OF THEM VANISH FROM THE HISTORICAL RECORD, LEAVING US UNABLE TO SAY WHAT HAPPENED TO JEFF'S FAMILY... GOLDBLUM: WOW.

GATES: WHAT'S IT LIKE TO LEARN THAT?

GOLDBLUM: YOU KNOW, NOT UTTERLY SURPRISING, OF COURSE.

AND, UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S VERY SAD FOR, UH, HUMANITY, ALL OF US, YOU KNOW, THAT, UH, WE CAN DO THIS.

GATES: BUT WE DID FIND ONE EXCEPTION IN YOUR FAMILY.

WOULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

NOW, THIS DOCUMENT COMES FROM YAD VASHEM, WHICH OF COURSE IS THE HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL IN ISRAEL.

GOLDBLUM: I, I WENT THERE, YES.

GATES: COULD YOU PLEASE READ THE TRANSLATED SECTION?

GOLDBLUM: OKAY.

"FAMILY NAME: GOLIN.

FIRST NAME: ARON.

DATE OF BIRTH: 1915.

PLACE OF BIRTH: TUROV.

PLACE DURING THE WAR: THE SOVIET ARMED FORCES.

PLACE OF DEATH: RUSSIA.

DATE OF DEATH: MARCH, 1943.

CAUSE OF DEATH: SOLDIER."

GATES: ARON GOLIN.

YOU NEVER HEARD THAT NAME BEFORE?

GOLDBLUM: NEVER.

GATES: HE WAS YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER ZELIK'S GRAND-NEPHEW.

MEANING THAT HE WAS YOUR SECOND COUSIN ONCE REMOVED.

AND HE DIED FIGHTING IN THE SOVIET ARMY.

AND REMEMBER, THE RUSSIANS WERE ON THE SAME SIDE AS THE UNITED STATES FIGHTING THE GERMANS.

GOLDBLUM: YES.

GATES: HE DIED FIGHTING THE NAZIS IN OREL, A CITY IN WESTERN RUSSIA.

AND THERE'S HIS PICTURE.

GOLDBLUM: WOW.

OH, MY GOSH.

GATES: WHAT WOULD IT HAVE BEEN LIKE FOR YOUR FATHER TO LEARN THIS, DO YOU THINK?

GOLDBLUM: WOW.

GATES: YOU KNOW, THEY WERE IN THE SAME WAR AT THE SAME TIME.

YOUR FATHER GOES IN, IN '44 AND HE'S IN, IN '43.

GOLDBLUM: ISN'T THAT AMAZING?

GATES: YEAH.

GOLDBLUM: THEY CERTAINLY KNEW NOTHING OF EACH OTHER I'M SURE.

BUT, IT'S MOVING.

IT'S VERY MOVING.

GATES: LIKE JEFF, TERRY GROSS KNEW THAT SHE HAD RELATIVES WHO PERISHED IN WORLD WAR II, BUT SHE HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR INDIVIDUAL FATES.

HER ONLY CLUE WAS DISCOVERED DURING A VISIT THAT SHE AND HER PARENTS TOOK TO THE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM IN WASHINGTON, DC.

WHERE HER FATHER NOTICED A TELLING DETAIL IN ONE OF THE EXHIBITS...

GROSS: SUDDENLY WE COME TO A GATE FROM WHAT I THOUGHT WAS PRONOUNCED AS "TARNAUGH", CAUSE THAT'S HOW IT'S SPELLED, BUT I GUESS IT'S PRONOUNCED "TARNOOF"?

GATES: YES, IT IS.

GROSS: AND MY FATHER KNEW THAT HIS FATHER WAS FROM TARNOW, BUT HE HAD NO EVIDENCE REALLY OF WHAT IT WAS OR, YOU KNOW, THIS WAS THE ONLY CONCRETE THING I THINK HE'D EVER SEEN THAT YES, IT EXISTED.

GATES: THAT'S INCREDIBLE.

GROSS: AND HE JUST TEARED UP.

I MEAN, HE, IT WAS JUST LIKE, IT JUST HIT HIM, AND, YEAH.

HE, IT WAS, I'VE NEVER SEEN HIM TEAR UP IN AN INSTANCE LIKE THAT.

GATES: TARNOW IS A SMALL CITY IN MODERN-DAY POLAND...

BOTH OF TERRY'S PATERNAL GRANDPARENTS WERE BORN HERE IN THE 1880S.

WHEN THEY IMMIGRATED TO AMERICA, IN THE EARLY 1900S, EACH HAD SIBLINGS, PARENTS, AND EXTENDED FAMILY WHO CHOSE TO REMAIN BEHIND...

DECISIONS THAT WOULD PROVE FATEFUL.

ON SEPTEMBER 1ST, 1939, HITLER'S ARMIES INVADED POLAND.

TARNOW WAS QUICKLY OVERRUN, ITS JEWISH POPULATION, ROUGHLY 25,000 PEOPLE, INCLUDING MANY OF TERRY'S RELATIVES, SOON FOUND THEMSELVES IN A GHETTO AND ON JUNE 11TH, 1942, THE NAZIS LAUNCHED AN OPERATION AGAINST THAT GHETTO.

WE FOUND AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF WHAT HAPPENED NEXT...

GROSS: "THE SS CHARGED REPEATEDLY INTO THE CROWD, WHIPPING PEOPLE, SMASHING HEADS WITH RIFLE BUTTS, EVEN BAYONETING THEM, SHOTS KILLED RANDOM INDIVIDUALS.

HUNDREDS OF JEWS WERE DEAD EVEN BEFORE THEY REACHED THE SELECTION TABLES.

YOUNG CHILDREN FARED WORSE.

THEY SMASHED THEIR HEADS ON THE COBBLESTONES WHICH LINED THE MARKETPLACE.

THE PLACE RESEMBLED A SLAUGHTERHOUSE, WHERE THE VICTIMS WERE NOT CHICKENS OR CATTLE, BUT HELPLESS LITTLE CHILDREN."

UM, IT'S MORE SPECIFIC AND MORE GRAPHICALLY SPECIFIC THAN I IMAGINE BUT I ALWAYS SUSPECTED THAT THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED.

GATES: WITHIN A MATTER OF DAYS, OVER 7,000 JEWS HAD BEEN KILLED IN AND AROUND TARNOW AND MOST OF TERRY'S RELATIVES DISAPPEAR FROM THE HISTORICAL RECORD AT THIS POINT...

BUT NOT ALL.

WE WERE ABLE TO TRACE ONE OF THEM, A FIRST COUSIN ONCE REMOVED NAMED NATAN ZELLER, FROM TARNOW TO A FORCED LABOR CAMP IN POLAND... TO A CONCENTRATION CAMP KNOWN AS "FLOSSENBÜRG" IN BAVARIA...

GROSS: "NAME: ZELLER NATAN.

BIRTHDATE: OCTOBER 7TH, 1912.

NATIONALITY: POLISH JEW.

DIED ON MARCH 20, 1945 IN FLOSSENBURG."

THAT'S IN THE CAMP.

YEAH.

GATES: HE WAS 33 YEARS OLD.

GROSS: IT'S HORRIBLE.

IT'S HORRIBLE.

AND TO, I MEAN, WHAT MAKES IT MORE UPSETTING IS ALL THE SUFFERING HE HAD TO ENDURE BEFORE DYING.

GATES: MMMM.

GROSS: IT'S LIKE, IT'S LIVING THROUGH, IT'S LIVING THROUGH HELL KNOWING THAT IT'S GOING TO REMAIN HELL AND THEN YOU'LL DIE.

IT'S, IT'S AWFUL TO THINK ABOUT.

UM, AND, YOU KNOW, IT'S MADE EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST VERY SPECIFIC AND CONCRETE.

AND THIS ALL SPEAKS TO WHY THE GATE OF TARNOW IS IN THE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM.

GATES: YEAH.

AND WHY IT MOVED YOUR FATHER SO MUCH.

GROSS: YEAH.

IT'S HORRIFYING.

IT'S HORRIFYING.

GATES: HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?

IN A SENSE, YOU ONLY EXIST BECAUSE YOU GRANDPARENTS WERE SO DETERMINED TO GET OUT OF TARNOW.

GROSS: YEAH.

UM, I MEAN I ALWAYS FIGURED THAT MY GRANDPARENTS, MY MATERNAL AND PATERNAL GRANDPARENTS, GOT OUT WHEN THEY DID BECAUSE THEY KIND OF KNEW THEY NEEDED TO, THAT THINGS WERE BAD.

AND THEY HAD THE FORESIGHT, I ALWAYS ASK MYSELF WHAT, IF IT WAS TIME TO FLEE, WOULD I KNOW?

WOULD I HAVE THE COURAGE TO LEAVE?

BECAUSE I'M NOT A PHYSICALLY COURAGEOUS PERSON.

GATES: WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY SAW IN AMERICA?

GROSS: THEY SAW SOMETHING ELSE.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT ELSE WAS.

I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THEY KNEW THEY WERE GETTING THEMSELVES INTO.

BUT THEY KNEW, PROBABLY THEY KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING BETTER THAN WHAT THEY HAD AND THAT IT WAS WORTH TRYING.

AND THANK, THANK GOODNESS THEY DID.

GATES: THANK GOODNESS THEY DID.

GROSS: YEAH.

GATES: I WAS NOW NEARING THE END OF THE JOURNEY WITH MY GUESTS, BUT I HAD ONE FINAL STORY TO SHARE WITH MARC MARON... WE HAD FOUND A BRANCH OF HIS FATHER'S FAMILY TREE IN A PLACE THAT MOST PEOPLE DO NOT ASSOCIATE WITH JEWISH LIFE: SOUTH CAROLINA IN THE YEAR 1880!

MARON: "MORRIS MOSTOWITZ, 28, BAKER, ETTA, 27, BARNEY, 7."

GATES: YOUR FAMILY LIVED IN THE DEEP SOUTH.

MARON: I DIDN'T KNOW THAT.

GATES: MM-HMM.

MARON: THAT'S SURPRISING TO ME.

GATES: ON THE LEFT IS A PRESENT-DAY IMAGE OF THEIR BLOCK IN CHARLESTON, SO IT'S STILL THERE.

MARON: THAT'S CRAZY.

HE WAS A BAKER.

GATES: YEP.

THIS IS 15 YEARS AFTER THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR.

MARON: I CAN'T IMAGINE IT.

I, I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW HOW THEY FIT IN.

GATES: UH-HUH.

MARON: I DON'T KNOW WHY THEY CHOSE THERE.

IT'S SORTA INTERESTING.

GATES: MORRIS'S CHOICE ILLUMINATES A LITTLE-KNOWN CHAPTER IN JEWISH-AMERICAN HISTORY... BORN IN POLAND, HE IMMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES IN THE 1870S AND WAS PART OF A WAVE OF JEWISH PEOPLE WHO HEADED SOUTH, WHERE THE DEVASTATION WROUGHT BY THE CIVIL WAR HAD CREATED A NEED FOR TRADESMEN AND MERCHANTS.

MORRIS FILLED THAT NEED VERY WELL.

BY THE MID-1890S, HE WAS NO LONGER A BAKER, BUT A GROCER, WHO OWNED HIS OWN STORE.

AND HE AND HIS WIFE ETTA HAD A GROWING FAMILY, THEY WOULD ULTIMATELY HAVE AT LEAST TEN CHILDREN.

MORRIS' SON BARNEY WAS EVEN WORKING FOR HIM... MARON: IT'S, LIKE, INCREDIBLE.

GATES: AND ON THE LEFT IS A MAP AND AN IMAGE OF THE BUILDING WHERE THEY LIVED AND WORKED.

MARON: THAT'S WHERE THE STORE WAS?

GATES: UH-HUH.

HE WAS A PROMINENT FIGURE IN HIS COMMUNITY.

MARON: NO KIDDING.

GATES: AND HE HAD BUSINESSES IN THREE COUNTIES.

MARON: SO, HE'S A EARLY, UH, SUPERMARKET CHAIN?

GATES: HE WAS.

MARON: YEAH.

WELL, THAT'S A, THAT'S VERY IMPRESSIVE, AND MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER WORKED FOR HIM, FOR HIS FATHER?

GATES: YEAH.

MARON: AS A CLERK IN THE STORE?

GATES: YEAH, WHEN HE WAS 21, HE WAS A NEWLYWED.

HE'S WORKING FOR HIS FATHER.

MARON: WOW.

GATES: UNFORTUNATELY, MORRIS AND BARNEY'S WORKING RELATIONSHIP WOULD SOON DETERIORATE.

COURT RECORDS IN BEAUFORT COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA REVEAL THAT IN 1896, MORRIS WAS THE DEFENDANT IN A LAWSUIT OVER AN UNPAID LOAN... AND THE PLAINTIFF WAS HIS SON... MARON: SO, BARNEY WAS SUING HIS OLD MAN?

GATES: BARNEY LOANED MORRIS $1500 IN THE YEAR 1893, AND AT THE TIME THIS CASE WAS TRIED, THREE YEARS LATER, MORRIS STILL HADN'T PAID HIM BACK.

SO, BARNEY TOOK HIS FATHER TO COURT.

MARON: WELL, I WONDER WHAT THE BACKSTORY WAS.

I MEAN WAS IT A BUSINESS THING, OR WAS HE JUST, I MEAN I GUESS IT'S WEIRD.

WHEN YOU BORROW MONEY FROM YOUR KID, YOU KINDA THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU GOT IT COMING.

GATES: YEAH.

RIGHT?

MARON: UNTIL THE KID TAKES YOU TO COURT.

GATES: REMEMBER ALL THAT MILK AND CAKE?

MARON: EXACTLY.

YEAH, YOU OWE ME, PAL.

IT MAKES ME WONDER ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT, YOU KNOW, MORRIS WAS LIKE, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE TENSION WAS.

WHO WERE THESE MEN?

GATES: WE DON'T KNOW HOW MORRIS FELT ABOUT HIS SON'S LAWSUIT, BUT HE CANNOT HAVE BEEN HAPPY WITH ITS OUTCOME... A JUDGE RULED IN BARNEY'S FAVOR, AWARDING HIM AN AMOUNT THAT ROUGHLY EQUATES TO OVER $50,000 TODAY!

AND THIS WASN'T THE ONLY TIME THAT MORRIS HAD A PROBLEM WITH THE LAW... GATES: MARC, THESE ARE THE TITLE PAGES OF SOME OF THE MANY LEGAL TROUBLES THAT YOUR GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER FACED DURING THE 1880S AND THE 1890S, FROM ALLEGED HORSE THEFT TO ILLEGAL LIQUOR SALES.

MARON: GUY IS WORKING THE ANGLES.

HE HAD A HUSTLE GOING.

GATES: YEAH, BIG TIME.

MARON: YEAH.

WHAT A, YEAH.

YEAH.

GATES: YEAH.

YEAH, BUT HE WASN'T SO BRILLIANT AT IT, YOU KNOW?

HE WAS ENDING UP IN COURT.

MARON: I GUESS NOT.

I GUESS NOT.

GATES: IN FACT, MARC, THE PAGE WASN'T BIG ENOUGH TO PUT ALL THE CASES WE FOUND.

WE FOUND RECORDS AND MENTIONS OF A DOZEN CASES IN TOTAL, NINE OF WHICH YOUR GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER MORRIS LOST, UNFORTUNATELY, AND THAT'S JUST THE FILES THAT SURVIVED.

MARON: LIKE, SO HE WAS DEALING WITH QUESTIONABLE CHARACTERS AND, YOU KNOW, RUNNING SCAMS.

GATES: YEAH.

YOU GOT IT.

MARON: ALL RIGHT.

GATES: HOW DO YOU THINK MORRIS' SON BARNEY FELT ABOUT ALL OF THIS?

MARON: YEAH.

WELL, IT SOUNDS LIKE MORRIS WAS THE SHADY CHARACTER.

YOU KNOW NOT IN A DANGEROUS WAY, BUT YOU, YOU KNOW OBVIOUSLY, YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO LEND HIM MONEY.

GATES: NO.

MARON: IT WAS A BAD, UH, BAD RISK.

GATES: MORRIS EVENTUALLY ABANDONED THE SOUTH AND ALONG WITH MUCH OF HIS FAMILY, SETTLED IN NEW JERSEY, WHERE HE DIED IN 1921, HAVING DECLARED BANKRUPTCY.

LEAVING MARC TO WONDER AT THE LEGACY OF HIS HIGHLY UNUSUAL ANCESTOR... GATES: SO IT'S NOT THE TYPICAL RAGS TO RICHES STORY.

MARON: NO, IT'S A RAGS TO RICHES TO RAGS STORY.

I GUESS TEN KIDS IS PRETTY DEMANDING.

MAYBE HE HAD TO DO ALL THESE WEIRD SIDE THINGS TO UH, YOU KNOW, JUST TO KEEP UP.

GATES: DO YOU NOW FEEL A CONNECTION TO YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER, MORRIS?

MARON: I DO, A BIT.

I DO, A BIT.

IT SEEMS THAT THERE ARE, THERE ARE EMOTIONAL TRAITS, PHYSICAL TRAITS AND, UH, A KIND OF A MOMENTUM OF WILL.

FOR, FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, IT KIND OF TUMBLES DOWN THROUGH GENERATIONS.

AND YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE IT TUMBLES DOWN FROM, BUT THERE'S PROBABLY SOME COMPONENT OF MY PERSONALITY THAT GOES ALL THE WAY BACK TO, UH, MORRIS.

GATES: YEAH.

MARON: IT WOULDN'T BE UNUSUAL.

IT WOULD, IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE.

IT'S PROBABLY DILUTED.

GATES: NO, BUT IT'S TRUE.

MARON: YEAH.

GATES: THE PAPER TRAIL HAD NOW RUN OUT FOR MARC, TERRY, AND JEFF...

IT WAS TIME TO SHOW THEM THEIR FULL FAMILY TREES, COVERED WITH LINE AFTER LINE OF ANCESTORS, TRACING BACK TO JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN EASTERN EUROPE... AND DOTTED BY A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE WHO LEFT THOSE COMMUNITIES BEHIND...

ENABLING EACH OF MY GUESTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO REFLECT ON HOW THEIR OWN LIVES... MARON: LIKE, IT MAKES ME FEEL RUSSIAN.

GATES: HAD BEEN SO PROFOUNDLY SHAPED ALONG THE WAY... GOLDBLUM: WOW.

GROSS: IT'S A GIFT REALLY BECAUSE, I'M VERY INTERESTED IN HISTORY, BUT I'VE KNOWN VERY LITTLE ABOUT MY FAMILY HISTORY.

GATES: MMM-HMM.

GROSS: AND IT'S INTERESTING HOW YOU'VE KIND OF STITCHED ME TO IT, IN, IN A WAY THAT IS VERY MEANINGFUL TO, YOU KNOW, THE FAMILY HISTORY I DIDN'T KNOW I HAD.

GATES: DOES ANYTHING YOU'VE LEARNED TODAY AFFECT THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT BEING JEWISH, ABOUT YOUR JEWISH HERITAGE?

MARON: WELL, UH, I'M DEFINITELY A JEW.

GATES: NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT.

MARON: AND UH, YOU KNOW, IF, IF THERE'S A LIST BEING MADE, I'M ON IT.

GATES: YEAH, BEEN ON IT A LONG TIME, FOR A QUARTER OF A MILLENNIUM.

MARON: BUT I HAVE, YEAH.

BUT JUST, YEAH, SURE, I MEAN IT, IT, IT DOES RESONATE, YOU KNOW, UH, THAT THE FACT THAT NO MATTER HOW RELIGIOUS YOU ARE OR, WHAT MAKES YOU A JEW IN YOUR PARTICULAR LIFE, THE FACT THAT, THAT YOU ARE DEFINED, ON SOME LEVEL, UH, IN A VERY REAL WAY BY THE, BY THE REALITY OF ANTI-SEMITISM.

YOU KNOW OBVIOUSLY IT DOESN'T DEFINE ME BUT TO KNOW THAT IT'S THERE AND THAT IT'S BEEN THERE, AND IT WAS A PRIME MOVER, YOU KNOW, FOR MY FAMILY TO COME TO THIS COUNTRY AND, AND, WHY I'M HERE.

GATES: YEAH.

MARON: THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT THAT AWARENESS THAT IS, YOU KNOW, IS STILL AND YOU KNOW CURRENTLY TREMENDOUSLY IMPORTANT.

GOLDBLUM: KNOWING ALL THIS, AND MAKING IT MORE SPECIFIC, THESE TIES THAT I HAVE, COULD THIS BE A DAY WHEN I KIND OF MAKE A SHIFT AND, UH, YOU KNOW, GO BACK AND, UH AND EMBRACE, YOU KNOW, PROVIDING SOME NOURISHMENT?

GATES: WELL, NOW YOU HAVE THE DETAILS.

GOLDBLUM: IT'S AMAZING.

I CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH.

GATES: THAT'S THE END OF OUR SEARCH FOR THE ANCESTORS OF MARC, TERRY AND JEFF, JOIN ME NEXT TIME WHEN WE UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF THE PAST FOR NEW GUESTS ON ANOTHER EPISODE OF "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".

WEAVER: I HAVE A LOVELY NIECE WHO'S AFRAID YOU'LL FIND SOMETHING SCANDALOUS.

NARRATOR: NEXT TIME ON, "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".

SIGOURNEY WEAVER.

WEAVER: I CAN FEEL THE ENERGY.

NARRATOR: JUSTINA MACHADO.

MACHADO: I HAVE A BLANK SLATE.

NARRATOR: AND AMY RYAN.

RYAN: I'M ENGLISH, POLISH AND IRISH.

AS A KID I REFERRED TO MYSELF AS A "MUTT".

NARRATOR: THREE ACTORS... RYAN: YOU'RE KIDDING!

GATES: THAT'S TRUE!

NARRATOR: AND THE SECRETS THAT HID THEIR ANCESTRY... MACHADO: THAT'S INCREDIBLE!

NARRATOR: UNTIL NOW.

WEAVER: WELL DONE!

WE FOUND A SCANDAL, I'M SO GLAD.

NARRATOR: ON THE NEXT, "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".