Like a lot of people, I’m glued to the Hulu series We Were the Lucky Ones, based on the book by Georgia Hunter, whose family members were Holocaust survivors, and tells the story of the Kurc family’s experiences during WW2 in Poland. As the granddaughter of Jews who came from Eastern Europe, I can only echo what many Jewish reviewers have said: that story could have been my father’s, could have been my family’s, could have been mine.
In many ways this story like all Holocaust stories is heartbreaking to watch. But, I am so engaged with the characters and the acting is so wonderful that I just want to keep watching in spite of how painful it is just to see what they’ll do. Here’s another thing: It is a relief to watch a story that centers not on the righteous gentiles’ experiences of helping the Jews during the Holocaust, as wonderful as those stories are, but focuses on the Jews’ experiences of the Holocaust as it unfolded, on the experiences of their everyday lives, of their family relationships, values, humor, their courage, love for each other and for life. They are not victims in this story, but heroes.
Finding Authentic Representation
I’m also amazed at how accurately the Jewish characters are portrayed. Nothing seems off to me like it often does in films about Jews—the Jewish humor too forced, the accents too Vaudeville. Of course, the actors are all Jews. (Finally!) Many of the film crew are Jewish, I gather, and it shows. I loved the moment in the first episode during the Seder where the now adult children cover their eyes while the father hides the afikomen like they would have done when they were young. We all have those memories. These screenwriters must have had them, too. Like many of the touches in this series, it was so authentic.
We Are the Lucky Ones opens with a scene of a Passover Seder, and on this Passover as I recount the story of the Jewish peoples’ exile and survival at my beautiful table with family, I will not forget for a minute that because of the strength of survivors throughout the generations, we, too, are the lucky ones.