Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth Interview with Linda Ambrus Broenniman, Author of “The Politzer Saga”.
Linda Ambrus Broenniman has quite a fascinating and important story to tell. She and her 6 siblings were raised by her parents, Julian and Clare Ambrus, who were highly respected doctors in Buffalo, New York.
Although she and her siblings were given very few details of her family history, she knew that her parents had immigrated to America from Hungary in 1949, and her paternal grandmother came from Hungary to live with them in 1956. And she knew that her parents were Catholic, and that’s how she was raised.
Then, in 1983, at the age of 27, she learned, quite by accident, that her father and his family were Jewish. Then a miracle happened. Following a house fire in 2011, a box full of important documents and photographs, that had been hidden away, somehow survived. The contents of that box launched Linda on a quest – an intensive search to uncover her family history, through a meticulous and arduous process of examining gravestones, newspaper ads and a myriad of government, school and synagogue records.
Her search for the truth, beginning in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the 1700’s, ultimately allowed her to piece together the astonishing saga of her Jewish ancestors – the Politzer family – a family of doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, writers, musicians, art collectors, and philanthropists. She learned of their remarkable struggles, bravery and resilience in surviving religious persecution, wars, epidemics, economic upheavals, and of course, the Holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany in World War 2.
Linda Ambrus Broenniman has written a compelling book, entitled “The Politzer Saga”, which not only honors the memories of her lost family and shows us how finding our roots can help anchor your own place in the world. But more importantly, she’s illuminated the history of the Jewish community in Hungary over 300 years, showing us the destructive power of hatred, dehumanization, and injustice – a powerful story encompassing issues that, sadly, still resonate today. The Politzer Saga is also the subject of a permanent Exhibit which was launched in August 2021 at the Rumbach Synagogue in Budapest.
Harvey Brownstone is a retired judge of the Ontario Court of Justice and was the first openly gay judge in Canada. He is also the bestselling author of “Tug of War: A Judge’s Verdict on Separation, Custody Battles and the Bitter Realities of Family Court” and hosted “Family Matters with Justice Harvey Brownstone,” a television talk show on matters involving the family justice system.
After a distinguished legal career, Harvey was appointed a judge at the age of 38 in 1995. He has presided in family and criminal courts. He has been a trailblazer in several ways. He was the first openly gay judge in Canada. He was the first sitting judge in the world to write a national best seller and to host a TV talk show.
Harvey has been a role model and icon in the LGBTQ community. When same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada in 2003, he was the only judge to make himself publicly available to officiate at weddings for lesbian and gay couples travelling to Toronto from all over the world to get married. In 2007, he officiated at the wedding of Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer, the American couple whose marriage triggered the 2013 United States Supreme Court decision overturning the definition of “spouse” in the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
In February 2021, Harvey launched his online talk show “Harvey Brownstone Interviews” on his own YouTube channel. He saw this as an interesting hobby. Within several months, the show attracted hundreds of thousands – and then eventually, millions – of viewers. Because of the overwhelming success of the show, Harvey decided to retire from the judiciary on December 31, 2021 after having presided as a full-time judge for 26 1/2 years. Free from the constraints imposed upon judges regarding the expression of opinions and the endorsement of private enterprise, Harvey now happily devotes his full-time attention to hosting “Harvey Brownstone Interviews” as a regular member of the public – albeit one with a rather illustrious and unique career history.
Watch Linda Ambrus Broenniman on Harvey Brownstone Interviews on Youtube here:
The official website for Harvey Brownstone Interviews may be found at https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com
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For more information about Harvey Brownstone, here’s his Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Brownstone