Happy Birthday Israel,

Gabersdorf Girls & Mom!

Three years ago today, I did something I never thought I'd do. I unveiled a Holocaust monument in a remote town in the Czech Republic (photo below) dedicated to unseen victims of the Shoah. Growing up in New York, the Holocaust was the elephant in our room. READ MORE

Three years ago today, I did something I never thought I'd do. I unveiled a Holocaust monument in a remote town in the Czech Republic (photo below) dedicated to unseen victims of the Shoah. Growing up in New York, the Holocaust was the elephant in our room. READ MORE

What does

Freedom Mean to You?

I realize that’s a loaded question today. So on this eve of Passover, let's start with: What does slavery mean to you? After all, the Haggadah demands that in each generation, we're supposed to see ourselves as personally coming forth from Egypt. But that seemed like a tall order when I was a kid.
Sadly, that’s no longer the case. READ MORE

Dear Life,

I will make every moment matter.

That's what Gabersdorf girl Lola Grunbam Israel wrote when she was a 16-year-old victim of Nazi women's slave labor. Though whittled down to the bones, lice ridden and worked nearly to death, she found the strength to persevere by writing letters to"Life." READ MORE

What’s a pitching contest?

Think "The Voice" - minus the swivel chairs - meets "Mad Men." Sound scary? It was. But I'm a firm believer that growth happens when you leave your comfort zone. That's been my motto since day one, otherwise I would never have left the comfort zone of my journalism job, my home as I knew it and ventured into the unknown world of my mother's past, the Holocaust and film.
As Gloria Steinem says: "Feel the fear, and do it anyway." READ MORE

Happy International Women's Day!

To me, everyday is an opportunity to celebrate the indomitable spirit of women thanks to MY UNDERGROUND MOTHER. Whether interviewing my brave subjects (Gabersdorf girls after liberation above), listening to their courageous testimony as I edit, or meeting you at talks, film festivals, conferences and fundraisers -- stay tuned for upcoming dates -- I always feel inspired and empowered. READ MORE

New Year, New Us!

As you know, my mother was a member of the Israeli underground and army who fought for Israel's independence 70 years ago. To her, Israel represented the renewal of the Jewish people from the devastation of the Holocaust. I can't imagine how hopeful she must have felt celebrating her first Rosh Hashanah after liberation in Israel. Because I don't have a photo of her from that time, I searched for cards from that era for inspiration. I came across this image and it made me think of her. It's with that same optimistic spirit about the NEW YEAR that I'm excited to announce some major news. A new film title! After careful consideration, we realized we outgrew By A Thread. So we're rebranding.From now on, it's .... MY UNDERGROUND MOTHER
READ MORE

"After the Holocaust I vowed

I would never hate."

That's what survivor Goldie Cukier Finkelstein told me when I interviewed her last month. "Hate is a never-ending spiral that eats you up and destroys you."
Could you think of a more inspiring and fitting message for our times? That's why I'm asking you to please help me lift Goldie's voice -- and the dozens of other empowering women I've filmed READ MORE

“We never forgot who we were,

even during our darkest nights.”

That's what my mom's friend, Bella Jacubowitz Tovey (in the light coat, front row, center), told me when I asked her why she and my mom (light coat, braids, standing, center) joined a Zionist youth group after the Nazis invaded Poland. READ MORE

Holocaust Remembrance Week

Event at Manhattan College.

I'll share highlights of my latest trip to Israel, including filming Sonia Abiri (above), who found the large group portrait of Hanoar Hazioni in Sosnowiec, and Hadassah Cudzynowski, who giggled when she found her face in the picture -- right below my mother's armband! READ MORE

Click & Clink...

Thanks for a great 2017. Here's to Chai in '18! As we look head, I want to share my highlights from 2017: READ MORE

Thanks for a great 2017. Here's to Chai in '18! As we look head, I want to share my highlights from 2017: READ MORE

Shana Tovah!

Pictured above is of a group of HaNoar HaZioni scouts taken in the Sosnowiec ghetto in the fall of 1940. READ MORE

Happy Hanukkah!

Thank you for being my light and helping me illuminate an otherwise obscured story of sisterhood, survival and reinvention. READ MORE

THANK YOU for helping turn

2017 into a stellar year

for BY A THREAD!

Please make a tax-deductible donation TODAY so I can FINISH production, get my film to festivals and EMPOWER a new generation with this vital story of women who beats the odds in overlooked Nazi forced labor camps and whose courage & humanity will inspire us all in 2018 and beyond. READ MORE

Welcome to our first newsletter!

I thought I'd start by answering the question I get asked the most: What's the relevance of your story -- women's slave labor during the Holocaust -- to contemporary times? READ MORE

DONATE