Robert Wolf on Survival, History, and the Fight Against Hate

Sponsored by Daniel McGhee and The Victory Team

In this powerful episode of Conversations with Rich Bennett, Rich sits down with Robert Wolf, author of the critically acclaimed book Not a Real Enemy: The True Story of a Hungarian Jewish Man's Fight for Freedom. Robert shares the incredible story of his father, Irvin Wolf, who survived the Holocaust and communist Hungary, escaping oppression multiple times to rebuild his life in the United States. This emotional conversation delves into resilience, the importance of preserving history, and the ongoing fight against hate. Sponsored by Daniel McGhee and The Victory Team, delivering luxury real estate services with a personal touch in Maryland.

Robert J. Wolf, MD – Author & Radiologist

Sponsor Message:

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Chapters

• 0:00 Celebrating 10 Years of Conversations with Rich Bennett
• 1:00 Introducing Robert Wolf and His Father’s Remarkable Story
• 2:21 Irvin Wolf’s Journey Through Nazi and Communist Hungary
• 7:23 The Importance of Holocaust Education
• 12:03 The Four Escapes and Miracles Along the Way
• 18:47 Lessons from Irvin Wolf’s Story
• 28:35 Why We Must Preserve History in Today’s World
• 38:18 Writing the Book: A Journey of Emotion and Discovery
• 48:57 Why You Should Read Not a Real Enemy Today
• 56:41 Fighting Anti-Semitism and Promoting Tolerance
• 59:00 Closing Thoughts and Call to Action

Transcript

Rich & Wendy 0:00
Hey, everyone is Rich Bennett. Can you believe it? The show is turning ten this year. I am so grateful for each and every one of you who've tuned in, shared an episode, or even joined the conversation over the years. You're the reason that this podcast has grown into what it is today. Together, we shared laughs, tears and moments that truly matter. So I want to thank you for being part of this journey. Let's make the next ten years even better. Coming to you from the Freedom Federal Credit Union Studios. Harford County Living presents conversations with Rich Bennett. 

Today, I'm going to get kind. 

No, no, no. The truth is. 

Rich Bennett 1:00
Thanks for joining the conversation where we explore the stories and experiences that shape our world. I'm your host, Rich Bennett, and today I'm honored to welcome Robert Wolf, a distinguished author whose work sheds light on one of the lesser known yet deeply impactful chapters of the Holocaust. Robert's critically acclaimed book, Not a Real Enemy The True Story of a Hungarian Jewish Man's Fight for Freedom, tells the incredible story of his father, Irvin Wolf, who endured unarmed vegetable hardship under Nazi and communist regimes in Hungary. This deeply personal and historical biography has garnered multiple awards, including the Nautilus Book Award and the reader's favorite Book award for 2023. Beyond his literary achievements, Robert brings a unique perspective shaped by his background in biology, psychology and a 34 year career in radiology. So join me as we delve into this remarkable story of survival, resilience and the enduring fight for freedom in the face of adversity and how we got to remember all of this stuff because people are trying to rewrite history. Robert and I were talking before we started and we got to learn from history. can't rewrite. So first of all, how's it going, Robert? 

Robert Wolf 2:21
Well, thank you. And thank you for having me as a guest. I appreciate it, Rich. 

Rich Bennett 2:24
Oh, my pleasure. So your father's story, would you set against the backdrop of some of history's most 

turbulent times? Let's face it. How did growing up influence and then facing the horrors of forced labor and persecution shape his worldview and identity? 

Robert Wolf 2:44
My father's. It's. You never know that. I'll go to the punch line. Dad ended up being an OB-GYN. He delivered 10,000 babies in the Detroit. 

Rich Bennett 2:52
Whoa. 

Robert Wolf 2:53
And that's called redemption. That's the punch line. So. And he was jovial and jolly. And by his demeanor, you would never know all that he had been through. So he was a Holocaust educator. But relative to my mom, he was a Holocaust educator. Like, all we want to do is practice medicine. That was his major goal. And then after enough times under persecution and dictatorships, he wanted to practice medicine in a free country. So he did finally get into medical school in Hungary. He had to redo his residency in Boston. He got into Beth Israel, which is unbelievable because I couldn't that's a Harvard affiliate that. Any specialty. And my mom worked research so to help pay their living expenses while Dad was a resident. It was a really a pittance what they made back then. Still not quite. Not a lot better. Cost of living increases, etc. However, in the long run they had to leave Boston. They came to Detroit because that's where the jobs were in the early sixties. Exciting year he started his new job. I was born in 62 and off he went. So you wouldn't know. You wouldn't unless you asked him. Now, when we visited Hungary in high school and we went to cemeteries, gravesites and his old home in his hometown of Jura, a small industrial town in Hungary, not far from Austria, he broke down and cried. And once I did the book, I could see why. And all those all those vivid memories we're talking about 1979 when I was there with my parents still under communist rule. So very depressing and very sad. But I see why they went back. And after my dad passed, my mom. 

Rich Bennett 4:19
Right. 

Robert Wolf 4:20
few times herself with. With her boyfriend. So. It was also hungry. And he's got his own book. You know, he came to the United States and then he went back to fight for the U.S. in Europe. And you may or may not know that about a half million Jewish men and women were for for the United States fighting in World War Two as well. So that's. 

Rich Bennett 4:39
Wow. 

Robert Wolf 4:39
known chapter as well. So he was a hero recently passed a few years ago at 95. God bless him. And my mom passed too. So that's what brought me to the book. We can talk about that in a minute. If you want the history of the book. But no, my dad was just he was remarkable. He was very resilient. And I think that his work took his mind off of all that trauma. I know a lot of people have PTSD from this kind of thing. I know Vietnam, Korea, 

Rich Bennett 5:04
Right. 

Robert Wolf 5:05
you don't even talk about those wars. And that's where we you know, we don't want to rewrite history. We want to include history as an important part of civilization, whether it's the Bible, which, you know, Old Testament, New Testament and what's been written and what's been documented, you can't just make stuff up. If you want to create history, then create history. You don't become an Elon Musk or a Bill Gates or. 

Rich Bennett 5:25
Right. 

Robert Wolf 5:26
Choose your poison. But, you know, don't don't rewrite it by making up things. And especially when it comes to hate and turning people against. 

Rich Bennett 5:33
Mm 

Robert Wolf 5:34
That's completely unacceptable. And it's just it's just not. It's not in the Torah. As a friend of mine says, you know, it's it's not it's not what we were taught. And that's for 95% of us. You know, I'm talking about the one percenters that are that are into violence, that are into, you know, the degradation of society and to protest just meaningless, mindless hate. And those people, I mean, never touch. But the people that are like you and I that care about the 

Rich Bennett 6:00
hmm. 

Robert Wolf 6:01
ongoing society and whether it's our national debt or peaceful streets. And you can see what's going on in other countries as far as synagogues being burnt, etc., We don't it's not acceptable. We don't want that. So. 

Rich Bennett 6:11
No. 

Robert Wolf 6:11
So I'm trying to educate in my own little corner and and I need help doing it. So that's why I'm doing a lot of podcasts and book presentations. And I've done some TV interviews back in the day, and I've been fortunate enough to do two book signings at the Holocaust Museum in your neighborhood in D.C., which is a real honor. 

Rich Bennett 6:28
Yeah. 

Robert Wolf 6:28
It's one thing to have your book in there. It's another thing to get called twice. And I could do that every day. Seeing the kids come through, the families of people visiting from foreign countries and talking to them about genocide, hate the Holocaust, persecution. It's such a great experience. And you walk away feeling good with that. And it's not for the money because that's tough to make as an author. But it is about spreading the message. So. 

Rich Bennett 6:54
That's one of the things I am happy to see is that some of the schools are taking their classes to like the Holocaust Museum and all of that. I think. I believe my daughter went, if I'm not mistaken, that one was a D.C. or Baltimore or maybe both. 

Robert Wolf 7:08
That's I think that's fantastic. And there's some awesome there's an awesome Holocaust museums around. 

Rich Bennett 7:13
Yeah. 

Robert Wolf 7:14
And I've spoken at a few of them. Illinois was a great a great spot and really top shelf place to do a presentation. And I've got a Long Island coming up in March and I've got. 

Rich Bennett 7:23
Oh. 

Robert Wolf 7:24
First university coming up in May in South Carolina, which is really hopefully I'll get more of those. But it's a dig to try to get these talks to Jakes and synagogues and I've done quite a few down here in Florida. It's well-received and probably not enough because the receiving audience here, the receptive audience here, would be tremendous. But it's just so hard. 

Rich Bennett 7:44
Right? 

Robert Wolf 7:45
A reach out to every synagogue in Florida or to every JCC in the country or whatever you want to. But I'm trying. I wish I had an assistant. I don't. I do it all myself. So 

Rich Bennett 7:54
Sure. 

Robert Wolf 7:54
maybe spend more time doing it. I've got a backlog of phone calls to make and emails, and they'll happen. It might take me another year or so, but I will be reaching out. So. 

Rich Bennett 8:04
I take it you're retired. 

Robert Wolf 8:06
That's a great that's a great question, because I'm on the verge now. I mean, I've been doing this 35 years, literally. I'm not. I'm working very part time. The good. 

Rich Bennett 8:15
Okay. 

Robert Wolf 8:16
Part time now for 19 years, which is that's kept me in the business and most of it's been from home, which is great, too. So. You know, telemedicine was invented by the radio. 

Rich Bennett 8:24
Right? 

Robert Wolf 8:25
Years ago. Now it's very popular. And anybody that can do it since the COVID, since the coronavirus epidemic. But yeah, not been our time for a long time and 35 years. And I just I'm only doing two days a week. But there's a commitment of being around for two days a week, and I'd rather spend my time 

Rich Bennett 8:42
hmm. 

Robert Wolf 8:42
promoting the book or doing talks or just living and more time in the gym, more time on a golf course. Life is short, life is fleeting. And it's another big lesson when I get to say it, is that our only commodity is time. You know, we talk. 

Rich Bennett 8:54
Yeah. 

Robert Wolf 8:55
Silver, real estate stocks, bonds, whatever, 

crypto. But the only thing that's the only commodity that we really have is time. So I'm trying to make the best of my time while I can. And I think you'd agree 35 years is quite a long time and they're so short of radiologists in this country. I can always go back, I suppose, but I dread the thought of credentialing and starting all over again and kind of thing. So. 

Rich Bennett 9:19
They're short on that. 

Robert Wolf 9:20
Yeah, Yeah. And that's going to be I think that's going to be nationwide. You know, we have our demographics is a growing a growing population and a growing elderly population. And part of that is improved surgeries and technology and medication. 

Rich Bennett 9:32
Okay. 

Robert Wolf 9:33
And so it's no surprise that, you know, in five, ten, 20 years, we're going to be short and maybe we still are, because, you know, there's a backlog. If you want to see a urologist, for example, which but, you know, it's a month wait or a two month wait in some cases, another cardiologist is like two, three or four months. So that's a sign that these these offices are full and. 

Rich Bennett 9:53
Yeah. 

Robert Wolf 9:53
Very difficult to see some, you know, MRI, not so much. I guess they make waves for imaging because imaging makes a lot of money. But even then, every time I go somewhere for imaging, I hear, you know, I tell my radiologist, they say, what, you want to work here? And I'm like, Nah, I'm not doing all that. And that's a sign that they're short. And, you know, the cases are stacking up and you may make good money doing it, but I don't need that kind of stress anymore. So. 

Rich Bennett 10:19
Yeah. I don't blame you one bit. You get out there, enjoy the golf course, travel around, talk about your book, teach people. I mean, you doing it, you're doing a lot, even as part time. But going around, touring the country, talking at these museums or talking to these people at the museums, it's making a difference. Hopefully it is. 

Robert Wolf 10:41
Hopefully it takes a while, But you know, it's always one guy that ruins up for everybody. You know, the October 7th attacks made my slippery slope go from here to here, you know, because 

Rich Bennett 10:50
Yeah. 

Robert Wolf 10:50
all this heat came out of the woodwork. But I can't even say it's slowing down. In some areas it is, but in some areas it's picking up. So I would love to do a talk. In Australia, I'm in talk, I'm in conversation with the connection in Ottawa, Canada and Canada is a is a brush fire. Now they're they're in trouble too. And. Hopefully a 

Rich Bennett 11:08
Really? 

Robert Wolf 11:09
book presentation at the JCC in Ottawa will see. You know, you can't get too excited about any one prospect because some come through, some fall through, some you get ghosted. I'd rather take a note and get ghosted, but getting ghosted is a part of the business and. part of life right now to the general, I'm finding out the hard way, whether it's medical or or just ordering something or whatever, you know, except making an oil change that's different. Like our guys, they they call you right back. You know, they got the caller I.D.. They get back 

Rich Bennett 11:37
Now. 

Robert Wolf 11:37
to you in 2 minutes and you know, they're not going to lose business and then they try to get you on the next day and then you always get that phone call. What is it now and how much is it going to cost me and how long is it going to take? You know, I'm saying so. 

Rich Bennett 11:50
Isn't that the truth? Who knows? Maybe they'll start trying to sell you the extended warranty to. 

Robert Wolf 11:56
Not at this point with my car, but probably the next one. So if I can afford the next one, you know, we'll see. That's a. All right. 

Rich Bennett 12:03
When was when was it that your father actually moved here to United States from Hungary? 

Robert Wolf 12:07
So my dad was a four time escape artist. That's part of the intrigue of. 

Rich Bennett 12:11
Oh, 

Robert Wolf 12:12
As they was a four time escape artisan. There was at least 20 miracles in the book, how he got into medical school, how he found out about what happened to his parents. His last escape and my mom's only escape was in 1956, after the Hungarian Revolution, the little known Hungarian revolution, which was two weeks, two and a half weeks. 3000 

Rich Bennett 12:28
really? 

Robert Wolf 12:28
people died. Many, many refugees and many injured. A lot of young people, a lot of college kids and and very young people. And especially guns versus tanks. I mean, it was guns versus guns and sniper versus guns. But then the Soviets brought in tanks, a lot of injuries, a lot of a lot of destruction of property. And my mom and dad were front runners. It was all began already when this happened in 1956. Layton, 56. And he had a double down as a trauma surgeon. So he was working 24 seven for two weeks, doing as OBGYN duties during the day and operating and and being a general surgeon at night because there's a lot of cross training back then and, and my mom around the blood bank as a medical student. So as. So and then they just had enough at at the end of that war people were were leaving in droves and they'd already had at the persecution of the Jews, Nazi Hungary, communist Hungary, two wars. And so they took a chance and they left. So they left in the end of 56, soon after the Hungarian Revolution. And they arrived in United States in 1957. They had a very horrendous, horrific north North Atlantic boat ride from Germany, ironically, to New York City. So not long in January. And the captain even said he's never seen the world, the the waters, the this choppy and this turbulent. My dad got sick and this and that. And they put the men down in the bottom, in the bottom deck. And of course, there was leaking in the hull. And so there's water on the bottom. 

Rich Bennett 13:58
Oh, God. 

Robert Wolf 13:59
It was a U.S. Army boat. I forget the name of it, but I did my research on it back in the day. I forget the name of the boat, but thank God they had transportation to get over a miracle from point A to B to see, even at the end of the journey and 

Rich Bennett 14:11
Right. 

Robert Wolf 14:12
antisemitism throughout the guy helping them, this renegade guy helping them escape, and their final step, which a couple of times they had to abort. That's another. It's amazing stories, too. They had a crying kid with them on, so they had to abort them. And meanwhile the Russians are the Russians are are dropping big trees on the main roads and and all the the pathways to get out. But they snuck them through farms and mud and and sludge with Soviet lights over them and plane, you know, surveillance planes and lights all around. And so whenever those came around, they had to stop their movement, hide in the mud. Hold still. No squeaky clothes, no crying kids. You had to be dead quiet. And they made it. So they had help from a priest, too. So that was so weird. 56. And then made it to Vienna miraculously. And then finally to to Germany and then to the United States. So 56. 57. 

Rich Bennett 15:04
Wow. Yeah. The thing is, everything you just described there, people don't realize, especially in this country, how easy they have it nowadays. I mean, everything they went through to get here. And my first thought when you talked about that leaky boat ride was how devastating Nick had to be, but could not have been as devastating as it was from the country they left. They were going through. 

Robert Wolf 15:32
Yeah. I mean, his first escape was from the forced labor camp in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the mountains with his friend Frank, and very harrowing escape. But they thought they were on a death march. They had already been abused enough, beaten, tortured. Needless, sometimes needless tasks, shot unarmed. The Jewish guys were unarmed and shot at by Soviet planes whenever they were in the area and saw these groups of men. And they were unarmed. I mean, and so the and starving all the time and always scrounging for food and living in and barns and stables and really crappy doors, doubling up in bunks and things like that. So when they were out and his first escape was during what they thought was a death march and they the little scant news that they got, they were understanding that the war was coming to an end, at least their part of it. And they didn't know whether to escape to Hungary and to stay in Hungary or to go to Austria or it depends on who won the war, you know, and. 

Rich Bennett 16:24
Right? 

Robert Wolf 16:25
felt like you were screwed anyway. And that goes back to World War One. We talk about Horthy, the red terror, the white terror. This is, you know, early twenties after World War One. And if you felt that if you were a Jew, you were screwed, you know, and then 

Rich Bennett 16:38
Mm hmm. 

Robert Wolf 16:39
fortunately. But and then, of course, it got worse with the rise of fascism and and then the genocide of course, half a million, approximately half a million Hungarians in a very short period of time were killed. My dad was lucky. He was young. He was helped. You know, he was useful. And some of his tasks are so arduous that even makes sense. And sometimes it was things like building runways and then digging trenches, digging foxholes, digging, putting, putting landmines in holes. And and while they're doing it in these deep holes, while they're digging, they get urinated on by the guards. So that was an of abuse. But they would take that over a beating. So they so they kind of went with it. And I mean, just the human the human treatment of the other human and this is 8000 years ago whatever we're talking and now things haven't changed much except that the way people have to learn to torture each other, to maim, to punish each other, to persecute. That's changed. That's evolved. But still, it's just so saddening. How humanity is so means so cruel to each other. Where we. 

Rich Bennett 17:39
Yeah. 

Robert Wolf 17:40
We should be on the same team already, you know, because we somebody said, I'm online about a year or two ago on social media that all our malfeasance, including code, including our wars, including terrorism, has set humankind back 400 years. And it's a good argument. I mean. If we were 400 years ahead with our technology, we'd be the Jetsons now. We wouldn't be 

Rich Bennett 17:59
Yeah. 

Robert Wolf 17:59
talking about drones flying over airports. We would be in those drones going from point A to B with no traffic, for example. 

Rich Bennett 18:06
Exactly. 

Robert Wolf 18:06
No gas expenditure, you know, that kind of thing. So anyway, so and it certainly set my parents back. My dad always told me he lost ten years of his life because forced labor camp, having to not getting into medical school right away because he was Jewish, finally getting in, which was another. And then having to redo his residency another three or four years and then starting all over again. So he literally lost ten years of his own life to all this malfeasance and and big delay a game penalty. So but needless to say, he got through it and so did my mom. And they educated about it. And it never really affected me. For my first half of my life, I never really thought that much about it, but more so the second half, especially after my mom passed away and. 

Rich Bennett 18:47
Right. 

Robert Wolf 18:48
And that's part of this and that's why I'm here. This is my charge as. 

Rich Bennett 18:53
You said he escaped four times. 

Robert Wolf 18:55
He did. So that was number one. So Brumley, you know, Chris Berman from ESPN, rumbling and stumbling in the thicket, the wintry thicket hiding in bushes and shrubs. A third guy tried to escape with he and his friend. He and his friend Frank were supposed to separate a miracle story they did with the end of that escape or part of it. And the third guy got caught. So they're hiding and they're listening to them beat this guy and drag them out, dragging them back to the line or whatever. Dogs. And they risk their lives with the with the prickly bushes and the possibility of wolves and coyote. We talked about coyote before in the wilderness, things that can haunt them, too. So after hours of waiting in the dark, they finally got out of there and and they ended up heading towards Budapest, which brings the rings. The point we always talk about the light at the end of the tunnel when he escaped. First of all, the second second thoughts when he was on the run and hiding. Why did I do this is the. 

Rich Bennett 19:48
Right. 

Robert Wolf 19:48
We're done. And also, what is your next meal going to come from? Where are you walking to? Where are you going to sleep? Where are you going to get your next job, you know. Who's going to kill me next? Because you've got those stupid yellow bands on the levers. Have these yellow bands and these stupid hats. But no, but no guns. Where where is the average that the Jewish civilians have the the yellow stars? So the second escape was it's not wasn't is prolonged, but it was split second timing. A lot of luck the hand of God. And it was in front of the Nazi headquarters in Budapest and one of those cases where cigarettes. Believe it or not, saved their life. A pack of cigarettes. 

Rich Bennett 20:28
Okay. 

Robert Wolf 20:28
That was the teaser. So I'm going to just teach you with that one. But that's an amazing escape. And when the first time I read my dad's book, I don't know, 30 years ago, I only remember the first escape. I didn't remember the rest of the stuff. The other three escapes and he had a missed escape and literally 15 other miracles that I just didn't remember. And so the stories were so amazing. I couldn't leave it on a computer, couldn't leave it on it on a disk, on a piece of paper. So I had to share with the world this 

Rich Bennett 20:53
Right. 

Robert Wolf 20:53
escape. A medical student got out of communist Hungary, made it all the way to October. Yet not to Vienna, but to Austria, to the border, arguing with an armed Russian soldier gets away with it and bluffed his way through of it, ironically, saying that he was he was supposed to go to a hospital to fix X-ray equipment and the guy called him out on it. And my dad called the Russian soldier out and said, go ahead, call up the administrator there. See? See how receptive your phone call is going to be? And so my dad was and then he changed his mind. He turned around and came back and nobody missed him. And the next night he was on call Saturday night. So and then the fourth one was the ultimate, my mom and dad leaving the country. 

Rich Bennett 21:30
Right. 

Robert Wolf 21:30
And you could consider that multiple escapes because they had to do multiple attempts. But we'll call it we'll just call it one escape. 

Rich Bennett 21:37
What do you think actually gave him the courage and the strength to take such a risk? 

Robert Wolf 21:41
That's a great question. That's a great question. I mean, his risk tolerance just went up over time, like after that 

Rich Bennett 21:48
Right, 

Robert Wolf 21:48
escape. They just wanted to be free. So I don't think they thought twice about it. In fact, he might have eaten it up. I never really got to ask him about it. Some people like to be James Bond. You know, some people like to be whatever the show. Mission Impossible. I guess my dad, he had no choice. I mean, you know, to survive. This is what you had to do. 

Rich Bennett 22:08
right, 

Robert Wolf 22:08
But the title. So that's a great question, too. It's on the title, Not a Real Enemy was My Dad. The night before their final escape from the country, my dad snuck into the medical office. Between security guys, we had gotten caught there. It would have been a nightmare for him then that what we got now probably arrested. But I want to review this dossier and see what the Soviets said about him. Because in case he got arrested or caught, he would want to make sure he had a clean slate, clean file. So in the rubble, because the war was it was over, just over, and they hadn't cleaned up yet. He finds his dossier and they call it they described him as not a real enemy in the in the Russian air in the Russians arrogance. But the fact is, as my my co-author, Janis, was amazing. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be here. She she points out that he was a real enemy, and so was my mom. They loved Mother Hungary, but they hated Nazi Hungary. They hated Communist Hungary. So they left. And the country. If I'd been, let's say, rescued by the Americans rather than the Soviets at the end of World War Two, we wouldn't be here either. I'd probably been 

Rich Bennett 23:06
right. 

Robert Wolf 23:06
raised in Hungary, and they would've been happy in their home, in their home hometown and their home area. So they called him not a real enemy, but he really was because they lost two good people, a medical student and a doctor. And that's too bad. It too bad for you. So not a real enemy. And actually the theme the theme resonates throughout the book because my dad was not a real enemy of anybody, but he's always on the run and just trying to survive. 

Rich Bennett 23:30
All right. I have a question for you, and I know your answer is going to be very long for this, which is good. 

Robert Wolf 23:36
I'll try to shorten them up. 

Rich Bennett 23:38
No, no, no, no, 

Robert Wolf 23:38
lot to talk about so that 

Rich Bennett 23:40
no, no, no. 

Robert Wolf 23:40
I. 

Rich Bennett 23:41
You to. 

As long as you weren't on this. 

Robert Wolf 23:45
All right. 

Rich Bennett 23:46
What lessons from his story do you think are most urgent for us to learn in today's current climate? 

Robert Wolf 23:56
Well, there are so many. I mean, integrity is a good start. If my dad didn't and we talk about this in my book presentations. If my dad didn't have integrity and his and his friends didn't have integrity, if they didn't play as a team, then he wouldn't survive. So. So there's that determination, as is a big theme, you know, and we've all had our ups and downs. There's a lot of people in this country and throughout the world that are less fortunate than you and I. I have to it makes me learn to appreciate that. But even when I'm down in my lowest, my lowest low, I got to think of my dad story and say, because a lot of people that read the book say they put themselves in my dad's place. And then when they get done with the story, they say the same thing that I'm determined to make my life better. I'm determined not to live in the abyss. So So there's that redemption we talked about. Do something like for me, it's talk about this book trying to fight anti-Semitism, Give some back to the community. 10% of my proceeds, by the way, are going to the U.S. Holocaust Museum in D.C.. That's right. 

Rich Bennett 24:51
Really. 

Robert Wolf 24:52
That's for my mom. That's for my family. That's for and that's in perpetuity. It's in my trust. And we also give back to the community is another lesson that that you would get from that 

honesty. Hope is another It's another big message. There's hope for this country. I'm appalled at what's going on with the protests. It's okay to protest, but not to call for genocide or destruction of other. 

Rich Bennett 25:13
No. 

Robert Wolf 25:13
Country. So my dad's twist is different. So it just points out how the Holocaust affected some people, but in a different way. You know, he wasn't in some cushy desk office or he wasn't a pianist or he wasn't Schindler's accountant. Those are all interesting stories. But he was an escape artist. He was forced labor and. And so determination. Just, I don't know the hand of God. If it doesn't help you be a little more spiritual, a little more religious, a little religion never hurt anybody. And I'm not preaching 

Rich Bennett 25:45
Oh, 

Robert Wolf 25:46
Judaism, but I am preaching Judeo-Christian values. And 

Rich Bennett 25:49
right. 

Robert Wolf 25:49
I'd like to get the Muslim community more involved with that. I know a lot of Hindus that I know and people in India that support the cause, but some don't. And the Muslim community, one of my best friends is Muslim. I know I've got a lot of Muslim friends, 

Rich Bennett 26:01
Right. 

Robert Wolf 26:01
in fact, you know, So there is that tolerance. A big lesson was just we did this. We did a book presentation at a Greek Orthodox church with one of my best friends as the priest from I have known him from ninth grade and one of my best friends from college since freshman year. So he was my assistant. He helped me do the book talk there. So we had a Jewish guy and a muslim guy and an all Greek. Ah, sorry, Russia's young Greek Orthodox Church in Arizona. And that was a fantastic experience. So that kind of thing. Tolerance, acceptance. Just be just be a good person. Be yourself. And accountability is another thing. You know, if you don't like what's happening in your life or you don't like your job or you don't like what's going on, then then pivot. You don't change. Do something else. Write a book, write a novel, write a play, write an opera of poems, Go to the museum, go to a movie. Spend more time with your family. Pick up a new hobby. Don't just sit there and gripe and complain about what your life is. And especially don't convert it into hatred for other people. 

Rich Bennett 27:03
Right. 

Robert Wolf 27:04
And, you know, so especially in the United States, I mean, we supposed to be the most tolerant country in the world. And some days I wonder. But the lesson that we complain about politics and the government and governmental secrets and that kind of thing. But But we talk about when we compare that to the Nazis and the communists. It doesn't even need a discussion. We still have a good and we're spoiled in this country, and I wish people would appreciate that. Some do, some don't. I know I do. I'm very grateful. We complain we got to wait at McDonald's for 5 minutes or the Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks for an extra 5 minutes or if there's a traffic jam. I'm not crazy about traffic jams either, but. But, you know, the but we complain about things that we shouldn't be. And the book really makes you realize that there's than food shelter recording for us. 

Rich Bennett 27:55
Yeah. 

Robert Wolf 27:55
Job and a few days off for vacation and some enjoyment, whether it's music, sports. But for my dad and my mom and sometimes some points food, clothing and shelter where everything so. And I know there's quite a few lessons already, quite a few messages, but that's that's what I left me with. And also, whatever happened to my dad could happen. Any one of us. You. 

Rich Bennett 28:17
Right. 

Robert Wolf 28:18
It could be a bad neighbor, a bad local government, a bad federal government, bad foreign government, A natural. You or I could end up in the same boat where you're running and you've got no place to go back to to live. You don't have a job and you're looking for scrounging for food. And we see that, unfortunately, with the homeless people in this country for. 

Rich Bennett 28:35
Yeah. 

Robert Wolf 28:36
And and people that are repressed in other countries, including Gaza. I mean, who knows what? Who knows what's going on there now, but and who knows how they were treated beforehand. But we're back to the axis of evil, Iran, North Korea. Whoever the third name, you're poisoned on the third one. China. Russia. They haven't changed much, apparently. 

Rich Bennett 28:57
You're listening in on the conversations with Rich Bennett. We'll be right back. 

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Robert Wolf 30:02
Well, it's been a six year project, so 

Rich Bennett 30:04
Wow. 

Robert Wolf 30:05
may I'm going to I'll give you the history of the book real quick. My 

Rich Bennett 30:07
Okay. 

Robert Wolf 30:08
mom wrote their autobiography in the seventies and we're talking about, you know, thirties, forties and fifties. They wrote the stories as though that had happened the previous day. They were sharp educators. They were details were meticulous things about the sights, the sounds, the smell, the way the table was set, the fear, all of that. So very And so they went from paper and pencil to typewriter to a computer. Flash forward 1997. My dad passed away. Unfortunately, 2016, my mom passed away, unfortunately. Now, the book was on a disk and a historian friend of the family handed me the disk and said, You've got to really read this. I didn't think much of it at the time because I spent a year thinking of my mom's affairs, another year in retirement, which was a nice year. And then a friend of mine from Michigan asked me to help him with a part time job reading x rays, an ultrasound from home. Even those in Massachusetts at the time. And I'm still doing that job until I'm well, yeah, I'm retiring, I hope. For various reasons. 

Rich Bennett 31:10
Right? 

Robert Wolf 31:10
But 

Rich Bennett 31:11
Yeah. 

Robert Wolf 31:11
anyway, I stopped doing that job. But what that did that job brought me to the book, brought me to the desk. It sort of summoned me. I'm saying this in a corny way, like Superman's kryptonite. You know, it's it's summoned me. And so we have two screens as a radiologist. I still have them. The left screen is the patient to the patient work list. On the right screen are the images. So between cases, the left screen was my dad's autobiography, and the right screen was me doing his biography. So most and I try to do it as with much fidelity as possible, with exception of some broken English and a lot of research, at least on my end, but also my co-authors and historians that we hired and on and on. So yeah, and I dictated the whole thing, autobiography to biography, and it was a slow start. So we're talking about 2018. So that's when I started this project about six years ago. It took about a year and then it was a straight, boring biography point. A dad was born on, you know, a blah blah, blah. At point A to B to C, we got we failed. We tried to query some agents and publishers. Nothing really amounted to much thought about self-publishing. But before that I sent the book to a couple of beta readers and also. 

Rich Bennett 32:17
Right? 

Robert Wolf 32:17
The tenor in Rhode Island. Fantastic lady. She's one of she's got a couple of books that have won multiple awards. She helped steer me to Janice Harper, who was my co-author, who I wouldn't be here if it weren't for her. Either. She did a 

Rich Bennett 32:29
Mm 

Robert Wolf 32:29
fantastic 

Rich Bennett 32:29
hmm. 

Robert Wolf 32:30
job with the book. So a year and change later with her, a lot of research, a lot of phone calls, a lot of a lot of sweat. And Janice turned the book into something special. It was more of a novel, and we had to make up a few names and embellish a few things. But all based on what my dad had said in his autobiography. So. And now it's got it's got parallel stories, converging stories, letters to and from home conversations. And you really feel the you really feel the the anxiety. You feel the the heat during the escapes and. And. 

Rich Bennett 33:01
Yeah. 

Robert Wolf 33:01
Some of the times when he was just hiding. Not necessarily escaping, but hiding. So. 

Rich Bennett 33:06
How how many times, especially when you are reading their autobiography and you're going through everything. How many times did you just start tearing up because it was just so hard to read? 

Robert Wolf 33:17
Another great question. You know, sometimes if you flow, some people stall out. Like once I got going with this project I was doing, I was up to five, ten pages a day. Plus I was moving to Florida. We're talking about 

Rich Bennett 33:27
Right. 

Robert Wolf 33:27
2019. So I wanted to have the first part done before I had to wrap up all my computer work because, you know, you lose momentum, of course. But I had to walk away when I did the chapter on my my grandparents. I never met my dad's parents being killed at Auschwitz. And we describe and there was eyewitness and other miracle. Months after the war, my dad met and she recognized my dad, actually. And she was an eyewitness at Auschwitz as to what happened to his parents. So another miracle that she even saw what happened. But when we describe it and the reality of it, I had to walk away from the project for at least a week. So in part two, I didn't do part two. We end the book in Vienna, but my dad went on to some other time in the United States all the way into the seventies. That could be a second book. It would be shorter and not as harrowing. But right now I'm still working on on this project because it's. 

Rich Bennett 34:16
Right. 

Robert Wolf 34:18
But yeah, in all the miracles. And like, I lost my train of thought there. But yeah. Oh, when they talk about me being born that made me, you know, that made me very emotional to. 

Rich Bennett 34:30
Right. 

Robert Wolf 34:30
And a few other stories in between. It just it's emotional. You can't read this book and not feel emotions. If you do, then you should be a dictator or a communist leader or something like that. Because for most humans, if you get this story, if you realize what's going on, then it's an emotional book. 

Rich Bennett 34:48
So to you, what's the most impactful part of the book for you? 

Robert Wolf 34:56
For me is my dad's resilience. And and like I said, if you knew my dad, if you knew how, how jolly he was jovial, his demeanour, loved his work. Would it work till the day? Until the day he died? I never had that. I mean, I had this ideal thing of radiology. I loved what I was doing for the probably the first half of my career, and that kind of changed my dad's. My dad's love for medicine. I've never seen anybody love medicine as much. And believe me, I've met a lot of doctors in my lifetime. So. 

Rich Bennett 35:23
Yeah. 

Robert Wolf 35:24
That's so that is is very inspiring to me. And the motivation was there that it's the whole story of it all the whole the fighting and then you know, my parents wrote the book like they knew I was going to do this. And don't you hate it when your parents are right? I mean. I was never a writer. I was never a writer. I mean, I had to help write papers. You know, was as a resident or as a fellow. And but it was always under the guidance of an attending. But as me as a writer, and you'd say, this guy would never. Plus, I didn't care about the Holocaust that much the first half of my life, but it's been my charge now the last few years. So I guess my actions and and trying to sell the book and discuss what we're discussing. I guess that's what that's my that's my. That's my speed, I suppose. But, um. Yeah, it's the whole book. But the escapes, my dad's integrity, it's. It's just amazing. And he didn't do anything wrong. He was just Jewish, that's all. And him and his friends and his parents and family and a half a million other Hungarians, you know, they're just Jewish people. 

Rich Bennett 36:23
Right. 

Robert Wolf 36:24
So before that. But when the war you know, when the persecution was accepted picking up, they couldn't even have a radio. They couldn't listen to the radio. 

Rich Bennett 36:30
Got. 

Robert Wolf 36:30
But my dad's parents were defiant. They had a radio. They listened. They caught the BBC news when they could. He had my my his dad was a dentist. I was obviously a threat to society. My mom's grandfather was a rabbi. Also perished at Auschwitz, also a real threat to society, a rabbi. But as a dentist he had gold for the fillings. So he had gold sheets of gold in certain certain places. Christian. 

Rich Bennett 36:52
Oh. 

Robert Wolf 36:53
In the walls and that kind of thing. Real impressive how they anticipated what was going to happen to them. 

Rich Bennett 36:58
Wow. 

Robert Wolf 36:58
Jenna with pride and dignity. I guess that's another lesson is that, you know, if you're going to kill me, I'm going to try to show pride. I'm not going to. But please don't tell me you don't have the right to kill me or to tell me what to do or where to stand. Like my poor dad had to. So. But pride, dignity, a big part of it, too. 

Rich Bennett 37:16
What do you think your parents would say to you if they read the book right now? 

Robert Wolf 37:20
I know my mom would say I'm going to. This once in a while with my Hungarian accent. It's not the greatest, but I don't speak Hungarian. But I can hear my mom saying, You couldn't do this while you were still alive. And I love that. And that's exactly what she would say, you know, helicopter. Then I'd say, 

Rich Bennett 37:39
Yeah. 

Robert Wolf 37:39
Mom, at least it's out. So I'm hoping if they can see me from the heavens, you know, I think that they would be pleased. My dad, I think he'd be pleased with that. He would. Maybe I'd get more details from them. That's that would be my regret that I didn't get to it sooner. But, you know, I had a career and a family and. 

Rich Bennett 37:57
Yeah. 

Robert Wolf 37:58
So my dad would probably just pat me on the back and say, You know, Robbie, you did a good job or. And when he said about medicine to me, which is I'm sorry, he said, Don't do it for the money, you know, it's so. And he was right. Do it because you love it. Because there's more. 

Rich Bennett 38:13
Right. 

Robert Wolf 38:13
Lot more to life than making money, which I know we already said. 

Rich Bennett 38:16
I think they both be very proud of you. 

Robert Wolf 38:18
I appreciate 

Rich Bennett 38:19
Without 

Robert Wolf 38:19
that. 

Rich Bennett 38:19
a. 

Robert Wolf 38:20
And in a way, I hope they are. And if you believe in heaven and you get up there and we're all, you know, sucking on a Bloody Mary and sitting under parasols on the clouds and, you know, God comes and shakes our hand every day and, you know, you with all your loved ones, your favorite hundred people, your favorite 500 people that you've known in your lifetime, that's the ideal part of heaven. I mean, I don't know if it's, but we'd all be. So if I go to reconvene with them, you know, the first thing they probably say is you left out this, you left out that. And here's the irony, too, is my mom wrote about six pages or eight pages of her story during the Holocaust, and it wasn't nearly as harrowing. She was hiding a lot, I mean, in farms and in Christian homes. A mom and a grandmother, but she didn't. She wasn't running around like a chicken with her head cut off. Throughout most of the war. So she didn't really. So the irony is she was more of a Holocaust educator, yet she didn't document her history as much as my dad. And, you know, I think it reminds me of Superman again, like the way that Jor-El is father. Before Krypton explodes, they send him off in a spaceship and they teach him all that they know. And my dad kind of did this, too, with the book. I think they meant it for me, hoping that I would get the story out. Or maybe not. I can't read his mind on that, but thinking maybe that I would. And sure enough, they were right. So. 

Rich Bennett 39:37
Makes me wonder now how many people people back then we're writing stuff down, journaling and all that that a a lot of us still haven't found yet. Right. 

Robert Wolf 39:50
Such a great point because that doesn't come up that often. First of all, there were people that never survived and they all have stories and they might have been in Auschwitz or other concentration camps for months, which I can't imagine starving and being treated like that. All the disease, dysentery, cholera, whatever, for four months at a time. You're better off. Just kill me now and fortunately, from my dad's parents, they weren't around that long. So I hate to see people murdered. But if you're going to be in a place like that, you know, kill me now, because I don't want. I don't want to see other suffer. Other people suffer. 

So there's that. We've the question again, because I do have a few parts to the answer. 

Rich Bennett 40:30
No, I was just wondering how many people from back then were journaling and keeping records that still haven't been discovered. 

Robert Wolf 40:37
So there's non 

Rich Bennett 40:37
Right. 

Robert Wolf 40:37
survivors? Probably not. All right. So that's that's it's not just 6 million Jewish people. There's Armenians, LGBTQ, 

Rich Bennett 40:44
Yeah. 

Robert Wolf 40:45
disabled 

Rich Bennett 40:45
Right. 

Robert Wolf 40:46
and the elderly and babies. 50 million people died in World War Two total. So it's not just so and they probably all have a story. Some people have PTSD, so they might have had a great story, but they didn't want to talk about it. They didn't want to tell their kids. They 

Rich Bennett 40:59
Right. 

Robert Wolf 41:00
want to tell the grandkids and that. So there's that subsection, too. I'm sure there's plenty of memoirs and plenty of people that did what my dad did. And those things are collecting dust in some attic and maybe people will find it over time. My publisher and the Amsterdam publishers, that's all they do, is Holocaust related books. But they all 

Rich Bennett 41:18
Yeah. 

Robert Wolf 41:18
have a different twist, like mine covers Communist Nazi Hungary, communist Hungary and escapes somebody else. It's about music, somebody else. It's about food or the Red Hat at Auschwitz, which is a popular book. They all have their own little themes, but they're all part of the centered around the Holocaust and Holocaust 

Rich Bennett 41:36
Yeah. 

Robert Wolf 41:36
survivors. And my publisher's busy. She's getting new books put out all the time, so it's good to see. But too. And of course, you know that the population of survivors now is dwindling slowly, purely because of, you know, because of age and and illness. So but it's it's more than you would think. But obviously, who knows what the percentages are. But I'm sure there's a lot more to go and I hope. 

Rich Bennett 41:59
Letters. 

Robert Wolf 42:00
What's up? 

Rich Bennett 42:01
In the letters to. 

Robert Wolf 42:02
The letters would be good. I mean, anything helps. My dad did it. He made it easy for me. I mean, they they wrote detail by detail. So I just had to sort of mimic it. And when I saw how amazing the stories were, I just like I said, I couldn't just leave it on a disk or a computer. I wanted to share it and make my co-author. She was proud, proud and honored to to help me with it. And she did Amazing job, of course, like I said. 

Rich Bennett 42:27
So with this book and when it comes to books like this, so sometimes I hate asking this question because most of the time the answer really pisses me off. 

Is it in schools? And if it isn't, why not? 

Robert Wolf 42:44
Well, like I said, first of all, I'm working by myself. I have no assistance. 

Rich Bennett 42:47
Okay. 

Robert Wolf 42:48
I would call every university if I could. It's a fickle business. I've reached out to University of Miami. I've reached out to superstars Tom Hanks, Adrien Brody, Natasha and Natasha. Leone. I think her name is She's 

Rich Bennett 43:02
Right? 

Robert Wolf 43:03
Aryan. I have my first, I'm proud to say, of my first university talk next year at the University of South Carolina in Beaufort, Beaufort. I'm always pronouncing that wrong. I'm very honored. And that was connection was through and sometimes connections. I mean, there's no doubt. 

Rich Bennett 43:17
Right. 

Robert Wolf 43:17
And that was through a high school connection. A kid that was on my swim team with me that was two years younger than me, and I was captain of the team two years in a row. And he said he remembered what I was like and he said I was a good guy, which is and look what that bought me about big talk. It's going to be streamed to to other campuses from that from that campus. 

Rich Bennett 43:34
No. 

Robert Wolf 43:34
I really look forward to that. So it's not it's I sent them the books already and there will be a book signing after that talk. So that that's an icebreaker. I'd love to do high school. I don't think there's there's any reason we couldn't do high school. 

Rich Bennett 43:47
It's. 

Robert Wolf 43:47
Eighth grade. And but first, I've got to reach out to synagogues and people that are now in my age range are grandparents to these kids to educate. 

Rich Bennett 43:57
Yeah. 

Robert Wolf 43:57
If I could get more book presentations around the country. It doesn't have to be at universities necessarily, because inevitably there are kids that attend these, including like the Greek Orthodox Church and other places too. The last one I did was it was well-received. I sold all my books. I didn't bring many. It was a synagogue, but I sold them all. And then there was a group of kids that had Sunday school or something. And and the lady in the synagogue brought them in for me with me for a couple of minutes to discuss it. So little. Slowly but surely, Yeshiva schools, Holocaust history, education. There's a place for these. You know, I pitched I've queried a lot of people. One was a lady who was working in the under the Biden administration in the fight against hate. So I lost her. She's too busy. Anyway, So, you know, I had the Houston the Houston Holocaust Museum, which the ball got dropped inadvertently because the librarian that I was working with quit and he dropped the ball with the with everything we're going to do. So once he left, they didn't know I was doing a talk there. And I'm trying to revive that presentation. So it's a very fickle business. I reached 

Rich Bennett 45:00
Yeah, 

Robert Wolf 45:00
out to the Holocaust Museum in L.A. and they were under construction. They were doing a renovation or whatever, so now they're out of it. So but I haven't had time to call. And, you know, life still gets in the way. I still have things to do and 

Rich Bennett 45:12
right. 

Robert Wolf 45:12
I've got to prioritize. You know, we all got to go to the grocery store and do our laundry and everything else. So. But it's on the list. And I'm going to call the University of Miami again. My Tufts has been very receptive. So the book is on the shelves at my alma mater, Tufts. But I haven't had a book talk there, which would be great. I'd be, know, the Woody Allen packed the place like you did Nanny, all University of Wisconsin or wherever the place will. 

Rich Bennett 45:33
Uh huh. 

Robert Wolf 45:34
And he says, Oh, college audiences are terrific. I'm just paraphrasing, but I love that. I'd love to do the colleges. And it's nice that I'm breaking the ice. It's it's a little feather in my cap. You must realize that you're going to get a small percentage of receptions and invites. So that's why in the meantime, I'm podcasting because I'm still reaching a lot of people. And I and I can't stress enough that I want the book taught in the classroom and and not taken off the shelves. They may check the Old Testament in the Bible off the shelves, but we're going to replace it with books like mine and continue to say that. So we're not changing history here. We're trying to we're trying to. 

Rich Bennett 46:10
Educate people. 

Robert Wolf 46:11
Educate people about what really happened. 

Rich Bennett 46:13
Yeah. I think you should definitely be in all the high schools, universities. It should definitely be in the libraries. 

Robert Wolf 46:20
Yeah, it's an it's an a long while. It's in the Long Island library system. It's in my 

Rich Bennett 46:23
Oh, is it? 

Robert Wolf 46:23
hometown library. And, you know, it's in a handful of Barnes and Noble. But when you walk in, you say, Oh, great, my books on the Barnes Noble shelves, but you walk into Barnes Noble's thousands of books. 

Rich Bennett 46:33
Right. 

Robert Wolf 46:33
Going to buy my book here, but I've done book signings at our local Barnes Noble, but the next nearest one, the guy he called he called the manager of the next one and said this was a great signing and that's a nice book, etc., etc.. And I went by three times and I never got I never got an official invite. So it's just like that. I mean, it's across the across the state and Naples would be a great potential. All my Midwestern people, I'm reaching out. I've I've got a 100, probably a hundred phone numbers and emails to call and reach out to that. Slowly but surely I'm getting to them. But I'm always these fires we have to put out all the time, sort of, you know, put me behind. So another reason to retire, you know, just to free up a few hours a day, not a lot, but it helps, you know. 

Rich Bennett 47:17
Yeah. I don't know if you could do this or. Well, I guess you could, but have you ever considered, like, a TED talk? 

Robert Wolf 47:28
I don't even know what that means technologically. I'm a guerrilla. 

Rich Bennett 47:31
I So TEDTalks or something you see on YouTube a lot. You get a lot of the speakers I go into, but I don't know if something like I don't know if they do it for authors or just like motivational speaking. 

Robert Wolf 47:45
I kind of know. I mean, I kind of know what it is, but to me, it talk. A talk, a presentation. 

Rich Bennett 47:49
Yeah. 

Robert Wolf 47:51
I don't give it a label, you know. But I like to job and correct It's so from now on call it a presentation. But I'm already enough. I'm talking all the time. I'm dictating. I'm writing them, calling people. So but book presentations are a big part of it, and I'll continue to do them while my health holds up and I can like. 

Rich Bennett 48:10
Yeah, 

Robert Wolf 48:10
I don't know. Another reason I'm retiring, I had some health issues this year and who knows how much time you have. We're back to this time as your only commodity, and I'd like to enjoy the next couple of years if I if I get it. You know, you never know when the ball's going to drop on. So and but in the meantime, I know I'm not wasting time by sharing my dad's story and 

Rich Bennett 48:29
right. 

Robert Wolf 48:29
if I if it reaches one person a day, ten people a day, I will have done my job. 

Rich Bennett 48:35
Oh, absolutely. So with this book. 

Tell you more or less did in the whole conversation, but just in a brief statement here, tell everybody why they need to purchase this. Read it and then have other people read it as well. 

Robert Wolf 48:57
Well, if you're if you're appalled by what's going on in the world, it's a good read. It's not it's not a dull book. It's an adventure. It's my dad's biography. And it's a history of Hungary. Little known Hungary from the end of World War One to the end of from World War One to the end of the American Revolution in 56. So it combines a lot of things. You'll learn something about Hungary. Learn about the Holocaust because there is history included in it. 

Rich Bennett 49:20
Mm hmm. 

Robert Wolf 49:20
Includes Poland, land for land for people. Deal earlier on in the war. Again, integrity. The feeling of people will empathize with my father. But in my case and many others, you'll be you'll be him. You'll put yourself in his place just like you would at the movies. And again, what happened to my dad could happen to any one of us. I want this country and the free world to appreciate how we are free before God forbid, it changes. I hope it never does in the United States. But Canada is one of our best friends when our best neighbors don't like seeing what's going on there. Of course, Europe, Israel and even Ukraine. I mean, Ukraine should have ended a long time ago. I call the Ukraine war the Hungarian Revolution on steroids because it's on and on and on and the Hungarians were lucky that the war ended in 56, over a short period of time, that no, no more more people didn't get hurt or killed. But on the other 

Rich Bennett 50:14
Right. 

Robert Wolf 50:14
hand, they weren't they had to suffer through the communist regime for decades afterwards. And I just want people in this country and to know that we have a pretty good here. And you'll be entertained by this book. Yeah. It's not a lot of people say they can't put it down, including myself. But of course, the times when you're going to shed a tear or you hear about this, you read about the bad stories. Sure, you can walk away for a while. And that's that's the idea of writing this. It's to 

Rich Bennett 50:40
Yeah. 

Robert Wolf 50:40
to create, to get emotions, to stir up emotions, to get people to. And love it when people say this changed how I think and. 

Rich Bennett 50:47
Good. 

Robert Wolf 50:48
Remarkable, too. But ultimately, yeah, one person tells another, another person gets me a podcast, another person tells another, Let's do a book presentation. I went to London for genealogy Society. I'm not a genealogist. Of course I slept in because the time changed. I missed the Hungarian day. And I only sold like two or three books, so I slept over like 20. And the shipping back was so expensive. But I got to book presentations here in Florida because of that. So. 

Rich Bennett 51:14
Oh, wow. 

Robert Wolf 51:16
Networking and connectivity are a big part of it. So I'm going to plug away at these podcasts. So I've got another, I don't know, ten or 11 scheduled so far. 

Rich Bennett 51:23
Good. 

Robert Wolf 51:24
And, you know, the presentations that takes work, the travel and everything, but you got to get them first. And that's what I'm really trying to do. So not a real enemy. It's all I get is what? What have you done for me lately? Not a real enemy for a war. It's hard to believe, and I don't. I don't know what to do with that. I'm proud. If it weren't for my co-author, it wouldn't happen. And but it's it means a lot that people in the know, people that are important know the quality of the work and the importance of the work. But if it doesn't help me fight anti-Semitism, then it doesn't mean anything. So I. 

Rich Bennett 51:56
Right? 

Robert Wolf 51:57
Four escapes, four awards, 20 miracles. What? What have you done for me lately? I mean, I've done a hundred presentations like this. I mean, I'm serious, guy, about promoting peace, promoting tolerance and brotherhood without sounding like MLK. You know, I have a dream. 

Rich Bennett 52:15
Right. 

Robert Wolf 52:16
You know, it's a great speech, right? But he got killed. He didn't. And way too soon before he got to get his message across. 

Rich Bennett 52:21
hmm. 

Robert Wolf 52:21
Same with Gandhi. And these are my heroes. And Moses and Moses, you know, he wasn't killed, but he was punished. He couldn't cross over to the Holy Land at the end of his at the end of his journey. And yet he helped so many people get, you know, become free, of course, with 

Rich Bennett 52:35
hmm. 

Robert Wolf 52:35
the hand of God, of course. But so I think people should follow those guys more than I don't I don't pretend to be any of them, but their message means a lot more to me than bouncing boobs on tik-tok or a bouncing boobs on Instagram or whatever. Boobs over books. I always like to joke about that because, you know, myself included, you get distracted, Oh, I'm not going to buy this book. I'm looking at this pretty girl, you know, and it's crazy. But that's and then, you know, I have to distinguish I have to to put my book ahead, of course, Hulu, Netflix, video game. 

Rich Bennett 53:07
Right. 

Robert Wolf 53:07
Activity, family activity, golf, fitness, all that. So it's not the entertainment dollar, it's the entertainment time. And not everybody reads books. I get that. We have it on audio, which is I'm proud to say we 

Rich Bennett 53:19
I was 

Robert Wolf 53:19
all 

Rich Bennett 53:19
about 

Robert Wolf 53:19
get. 

Rich Bennett 53:19
to ask you that. 

Robert Wolf 53:20
And also yeah you still it's it's worth plugging away at because another book but also not everybody reads books about the Holocaust. Some people are disturbed about it, some people are fascinated. But this is a combination of everything. It's a it's an exciting adventure above all. So and like I said, I couldn't leave it on the shelves. I had to. 

Rich Bennett 53:38
Right. 

Those of you listening, make sure you get it. Not a real enemy. After you read it, leave a full review. Whether it be on Amazon, Barnes Noble or wherever you can. The good reads. Buy it for a friend. Let's. Let's get the word out there. Spread the word. Robert, before I get to my last question. Is there anything you would like to add, including your website? Of course. 

Robert Wolf 54:03
Yeah. So not a real enemy. But like you said, it's available at Amazon. That's the easiest link, but it's also available at Barnes Noble at Walmart. My alma mater, Tufts University. It's on the bookshelves and in the library there. It's that for Holocaust museums, the one in D.C. where I've done the. To present the two book signings. Illinois where I did a presentation. Michigan. The Zuckerman the Zuckerman Center which is a beautiful Holocaust museum and my home state and Long Island where I've got the talk coming up. So hopefully many more to come. My website, you can Google me. Robert J. Wolf, M.D., You can Google not a real enemy where you'll find us right away. I'm on social media, very active on Facebook or Metta. I've got an author site too, but rival for Not Real Enemy X, which is formerly Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn. My website is Robert J. Wolf, M.D. dot com. And there's a lot of good stuff in there. I've got like this is my 70 something podcast. We've got a lot of podcast. TV interviews are in there, plus some history if you want to if you want to learn a little more about the hunger and evolution of World War Two, some brief videos to help. It's a loaded, loaded website and I'm very proud and one of my friends helped me with that. I've like I said, I'm a tech guerrilla, so I've had help across the board with all the stuff. I can learn it, teach it to me once, but I can't, you know, I just it's a learning experience every day. I've been learning something for the last six years, so. 

Rich Bennett 55:32
It never changes. I mean, it's always changing. 

Robert Wolf 55:35
I can't keep up with it. I mean, that's what I know, the technology for being a physician. And I got a great music list. 

Rich Bennett 55:39
Yeah. 

Robert Wolf 55:40
I can. I can buy it. You know, you teach me one so I can get it. But when new stuff comes up, podcasts that are difficult, extra intake things, I mean, it gets I do it, but it's sometimes it's tricky. Sometimes the link doesn't work and I don't know what to do with it and. 

Rich Bennett 55:56
Yup. 

Robert Wolf 55:56
It's not working, blah, blah, blah. And they don't believe you. It's like, well, I guess it's not meant to be. And that my very first podcast through Pod Match that happened where we couldn't get the audio visual right and twice and we just bailed and but the guy on the other end I don't think was very tech savvy either, unfortunately. So most of you, most of the hosts that have experience now know what to do to troubleshoot not. 

Rich Bennett 56:17
Right. Oh. 

Robert Wolf 56:19
But not a real enemy. You can find it. You can reach out to me. Please. Like I said, reviews are welcome. And I know that's. And please help me fight anti-Semitism. 

Rich Bennett 56:31
That was my last question. So with all everybody listening today, how can they help support the continued fight against anti-Semitism and prejudice? 

Robert Wolf 56:41
Reviews help, of course. More podcasts. More book presentations. More book talks. Classroom especially. I love talking to professors and educators at any level about it because they're going to know other educators. So know if we all pull together like the Pink Floyd line, if we all pull together as a team. I love Pink Floyd, so that I'd like to see more of that and one person at a time. 100 people at a time. The more they hear about it, and not just my book, if you like the book, there's other great books from Amsterdam publishers besides mine, but read mine first because. I'm kidding. There's so many good books and award winning and fine writers, and if you can get through it, you can get past the the bad parts because, you know, a good book is going to have sad parts and good parts. 

Rich Bennett 57:29
Well, it's got to 

Robert Wolf 57:29
Happy endings. But yeah, that's how you can help, is just recruit other people to help me educate about the subject matter. You won't be bored. We do a 1520 minute presentation. I do a quick introduction. I ask the audience a few questions, do the presentation question and answer and book signing. You know, we're in and out an hour, hour and a half. If it's an hour and a half or more. I love it because that means people are engaging, they're asking the questions, and that's what you want. That's that's what you want. So one guy bought five books. My first customer bought five hardbacks. He had won money at the casino five hardback boom, 100 bucks. Those my first I saved the $100 bill, so 

Rich Bennett 58:05
How? 

Robert Wolf 58:05
and I saved my first payment out of Canada. I sold very few books in Canada, but one to our waitress. Ironically, at my first sale, England. I saved the currency there, but most of it is through Amazon and in book talks. You know, of course these book presentations you schlep a few with you and hopefully you sell some, but you get the message across. So and it's clear. 

Rich Bennett 58:28
And it's important. It's an important message. So those of you listening again, make sure you get it. If you want Robert to come speak at your college or whatever, or high school or anywhere, 

Robert Wolf 58:40
I never say no. 

Rich Bennett 58:42
that's very good. 

Robert Wolf 58:43
Lives. I'm healthy and I can walk. I will not say no. 

Rich Bennett 58:46
Well, you don't want to walk all the way up to Marilyn. 

Robert Wolf 58:48
I'll fly, though. It's an easy flight. 3 hours it's the Reagan is great and yeah Lauderdale to Reagan boom. So not a problem. 

Rich Bennett 58:57
Robert, thanks a lot. 

Robert Wolf 58:58
Thanks. I 

Rich Bennett 58:58
You 

Robert Wolf 58:58
appreciate 

Rich Bennett 58:59
too. 

Robert Wolf 58:59
you having me. So nice meeting you. It was a pleasure. Thank you so much. 

Rich Bennett 59:03
Thank you for listening to the conversations with Rich Bennett. I hope you enjoy today's episode and learn something from it as I did. If you'd like to hear more conversations like this, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. And if you have a moment, I'd love if you could leave a review. It helps us reach more listeners and share more incredible stories. Don't forget to connect with us on social media or visit our website at conversations with Rich Bennett dot com for updates, giveaways and more. Until next time, take care, be kind and keep the conversations going.