Alanis Morissette learns her great-uncles died in the Holocaust in new TV special
nme.comAlanis Morissette has discovered that her great-uncles died in the Holocaust while appearing as a guest on Finding Your Roots.
A synopsis for the PBS show, hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr., reads: “In each episode, celebrities are presented with a “book of life” that is compiled with information researched by professional genealogists that allows them to view their ancestral histories, learn about familial connections and discover secrets about their lineage.”Morissette was one of the guests on the first episode of the show’s 10th season which aired on Tuesday (January 2).
The singer discovered that her great-uncles, Gyorgy and Sandor Feuerstein, died in the Holocaust.The ‘Ironic’ singer was aware that her grandfather, Imre Feuerstein of Hungarian and Jewish decent, was a Holocaust survivor and relocated his family — including Morissette’s then-six-year-old mother — from the Soviet Union to Ontario, Canada in 1953.Morrisette uncovered more about her mother’s family in Hungary and what is now Ukraine.
She also learned what happened to her two great uncles, Gyorgy and Sandor Feuerstein.After conducting research at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, Finding Your Roots discovered that Gyorgy and Sandor, who were thought to have been sent to “work camps” to serve in the Russian military in World War II, died in slave labor camps in Russia.“It’s unfathomable for me,” Morissette said, imagining the conditions her great-uncles were labouring in.
Read more on nme.com
