394 Paula Nesoff: A Social Activist Born from the Realities of Life
About this episode
Paula Nesoff shares her journey as a social activist shaped by her parents' experiences as Holocaust survivors and her commitment to addressing social injustices.
As the daughter of Holocaust survivors, Paula, 77, understood early what it meant to live with absence. Her parents each lost their entire families eventually meeting after the war and emigrating to the United States with Paula. Paula read every book she could find about the Holocaust, asking herself: Why do people do this to one another? Her parents' understanding of history, trauma, and survival, as well as a distinct way of seeing the world, helped shape the direction of Paula’s life. Growing up in a lower-income neighborhood, Paula saw injustice everywhere. She tried to talk with people about her parents’ experiences, but their lack of engagement strengthened her determination to change the way people respond to inhumanity, illness, and suffering. Married in 1970 and a mother at 21, she and her husband supported each other as they completed their education while raising their son. Paula eventually earned a Master of Social Work degree and worked for 27 years teaching at a community college. Throughout her career, she has worked as a social worker, advocate, and community organizer. She advocated for housing for people with disabilities and her work at a community college…
Topics covered
- social activism
- Holocaust
- community organizing
- empowerment
- social work
Keywords
- social activism
- Holocaust
- empowerment
- social work
- community organizing
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