Gratitude in a Minute takes you on a journey of gratitude, forgiveness, kindness and love. It began with a family’s horrific story of survival amid the inhumanity of the Holocaust, but ended in a tale of being grateful for every day and every thing with which we are blessed. Whatever situation you find yourself in, Gratitude in a Minute will help you keep what’s important in the forefront of your mind. We are all heroes of our own lives, and we all have so much to be grateful for.
Gratitude in a Minute is hosted by Karen Treiger, author of “My Soul is Filled with Joy.” After 18 years of practicing law in Seattle, Karen felt an unmistakable call to explore the story of her in-laws, Sam and Esther Goldberg. Educated at Barnard College and New York University Law School --where she was editor-in-chief of NYU Law Review -- Treiger made the momentous decision to retire from her law practice and pull together the threads of a family story she had heard for many years.
The result of her three-year inquiry is the widely praised book, “My Soul is Filled with Joy: A Holocaust Story.” In it, Treiger chronicles both Sam and Esther Goldberg's journey, including Sam’s escape from the death camp Treblinka, as well as her family’s experiences in Poland when they retraced the path from Treblinka to the pit in the Polish forest where they hid until their liberation. As Treiger became invigorated and inspired by the people she encountered, Sam and Esther’s story became her story too.
Since the book’s publication, Treiger has crisscrossed the country to bring this compelling story to a wide audience. In June she traveled to Poland to launch the Polish translation of the book and spoke at the Warsaw Museum of Ethnography and at the Krakow Jewish Festival. She has been named to the Jewish Book Council Author’s Network, the Seattle Holocaust Center for Humanity Speaker’s Bureau, and the University of Washington Advisory Council for the Extension Writing Program. Her perspectives have been shared in the Forward and the Jewish Press.
My Soul is Filled with Joy: A Holocaust Story, tells the tale of my in-laws, Sam and Esther Goldberg, as they survived the Holocaust and my odyssey of writing the book.
Message from your host, Karen Treiger
My life changed the day I stared into a forest pit in Poland where my in-laws "lived" - hiding from the Nazis. With resilience that I can only dream of, Sam and Esther Goldberg survived the Holocaust and in 1949 moved to the United States, starting life anew.
After my Poland visit, I was humbled. I made a conscious decision to appreciate my life in a new way. I now strive to live life with more kindness and with an open-heart, full of gratitude.
I nourish myself each day by appreciating the people that I love and having gratitude for, among other things, my warm bed, my fridge full of food, and my closet full of clothes. Sam and Esther had none of these during the war.
Come with me on this journey towards a more grateful life. Let's live life and mean it.
PNWA NANCY PEARL AWARD FOR BEST MEMOIR (SEPTEMBER 2019)
BRONZE MEDAL AWARD FROM THE INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER'S ASSOC. (WORLD HISTORY) (APRIL 2019)