and with me is a special guest tonight, martin goldsmith, a journey of remembrance. he traces the root members of his own family took as they tried to flee the holocaust and were subsequently taken to auschwitz. his grandfather and uncle beth perrished there at that death camp. i want to start with the bad news then a get to this excellent book by martin goldsmith. rabbi, tell me about this -- what was your reaction when you heard about the fact that school kids were given an open question arnt parentally, was there a holocaust. >> well, actually, chris, first offal all, amen to what the president said last night about survivors and the unique role they play with young people in terms of giving hope and guidance for the future. the actual reality was a lot worse. it wasn't just one teacher. there were five teachers who collaborated on this project. there was someone within the district curriculum who reviewed it. we still don't know if this was just the ultimate stupidity or something worse. but 2,200 eighth graders in rialto were given 18 pages to look at, told to q

martin goldsmith traced the lives of his father and grandfather. it's the subject of a new book. martin, good of you to join us. you say that you felt the deep need to connect with that vanished generation of your family which was murdered a decade before you were born. why did you choose to trace the life of your grandfather and uncle to follow the path that led to their deaths witch. >> my parents made it to this country, they had survived because they were musicians with the jewish cultural association. they made it safely to america in 1941. by that time my father's father and his younger brother, my uncle, were held in camps in france. they wrote letters to my father. when i began to work on my first book, my father gave me the letters saying "you should probably learn about this." my father felt guilt not having been able to save his father and brother from their end in aalst witch and passed on some of that guilt to me. when my father died in 2009 and when my brother died of a heart attack less than a year later, having lost my father and brother, i decided to trace the ste

. >> joining us is martin goldsmith who retraced their lives, and to their tragic deaths. 's the basis of a new book: >> martin, good of you to join us. you say in the book you felt a need to connect with the vani vanished generation of your family murdered a decade before you were born. why did you choose to trace the life of your grandfather and uncle to trace the path that ultimately led to your grandparent's death. >> my parents survived in nazi germany because they were musicians. they made it safely to america in 1941. by that time my father's father and his younger brother were held in camps. they wrote letters to my father, and when i began work on the first book, my father gave me a stack of letters saying you should learn about this. my father heard guilt not saving his father and brother. i think he managed to pass on the guilt unknowingly and unwittingly to me. when my father died in 2009 and when my brother died of a heart attack less than a year later, having lost my father and brother i decided to trace the steps of my father's father trying to save my grandf