Daniela Gerson is an award-winning reporter based in Los Angeles as well as an associate professor of journalism. When I read his new book, Wanderers: A Story of Exile, Survival and Unexpected Love in the Shadow of World War III found that his grandparents’ (and his wife’s) travels from Europe overlapped in some ways, albeit at different times – and although I never researched my roots in depth, I found Gerson’s findings both familiar and interesting.
I knew I had to interview him.
Susan K. Perry: To begin with, let me say that I can’t count how many times your book has given me the chills and chills. Not only, I’m sure, because I can personally relate to some of your stories, but also because of your gifted ability to weave together so many different strands of thought, emotion, and history into an intelligent and compassionate whole. Can you guess how long this book took you from the first idea to the day the book was actually published?
Daniela Gerson: Five years ago, in April, I wrote essay for New York Times about the history of his late father’s escape. During editing, when I told my editor that my wife and I were once from the same town in Poland, she replied, “Now that’s a book.”
SKP: Was it your early connection with your wife Talia and her Eastern European family history that led you to do the exhaustive research that resulted in your book? Is it possible that your ancestors and his knew each other in the same town?
DG: At that time, even my editor did not know the extent of this event, and neither do we: our grandparents survived in the Soviet Union by deportation to Siberia. They were part of the largest group of Jews to survive the Holocaust.
And beyond the inclusive history, when we started reporting, we found that there were all kinds of personal connections. Russia then launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and what began as personal reconnaissance was in modern war-torn territory.
SKP: I especially like the last paragraph after your afterword, where you express your hope that your children and Talia will take something expansive and heartwarming from these pages. all immigrants fleeing persecution. I love that you want them to “learn not to accept any narrative as the ultimate truth.” I also tried to write about myself and teach my children to feel part of the larger world and not get stuck in rigid mindsets. Do you have any thoughts to add on this?
DG: Our grandparents never spoke about the suffering of the Poles in Zamosc during the Nazi era, but how could they when their families in concentration camp? But when we are two generations removed, we can examine parts of history that we may not have learned about ourselves.
