Nazis, war, and trauma – I learn a lot more about my family history

Nazis, war, and trauma – I learn a lot more about my family history

From The Mario Rosenstock Podcast by Mario Rosenstock

May 19, 2026 · 29 min

About this episode

Mario Rosenstock explores his family history and the impact of WW2 on his upbringing.

A couple of episodes back Gerry Mullins told me the fascinating story of Jonathon swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels, which is still by far the most successful book ever published by an Irish author. It was full of dangerous political commentary, so Swift was never able to put his name to it during his lifetime.  Today we have cancel culture, but back then people were ‘pilloried’ – tied up in wooden stocks, publicly shamed, and sometimes had parts of their body cut off, a fate that Swift ran the risk of meeting. It’s a fascinating story and if you haven’t heard that episode be sure to check it out. But Gerry also shared some other eye-opening pieces of history with me – about my own family. Stories about my German grandfather, my Irish grandmother, what they went through during WW2, and how their experiences may have had an impact on my own upbringing. This was all new information to me and in this episode you’ll hear me learning some very poignant facts about my family, for the very first time.

People in this episode

Host: Mario Rosenstock

Guest: Gerry Mullins

Topics covered

  • family history
  • WW2
  • Irish history
  • German history
  • cancel culture
  • personal trauma

Keywords

  • family history
  • WW2
  • Gerry Mullins
  • Jonathon Swift
  • Irish grandmother
  • German grandfather
  • cancel culture

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Gulliver’s Travels

Places: Germany, Ireland

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