The Bodon Family Secret
Jean Bodon is a dark, slight man, with a soothing French accent and wide, kind smile. He is easily someone you could sit and listen to for hours. And with a story like his, there’s no reason not to.
Growing up Bodon heard stories of his father’s, Jan Bodon, experience during World War II. The elder Bodon was a fighter with the Czech resistance after the Nazis took over his native Czechoslovakia. He even trained with the elite group that would eventually assasinate the third most powerful Nazi leader, Reinhard Heydrich. As a boy Jean Bodon listened to his father’s tales but, at the time, they seemed no more interesting than what he found in history textbooks. It wasn’t until Bodon discovered the secret his father had been keeping that he made an emotional connection with the stories. His father’s family name wasn’t Bodon … it was Weinberger and the Weinberger’s were Jews. Bodon also found out a large portion of the Bodons (Weinbergers) died in the Holocaust.
Jean Bodon has spent years rediscovering his father’s family. He says the discovery his father was Jewish (a fact Jan Bodon kept from his fellow Czech resistance fighters) has made so many things make sense. And while some might think the discovery of a secret this monumental could make a person bitter, Bodon is anything but. He says so many Jews living in Eastern Europe were terrified the Holocaust might happen again that he doesn’t find it surprising that Jews like his family (who had suffered so much) would want to hide their heritage away.
Bodon has produced a movie about the Czech resistance during WWII, and his father’s place in it. It’s called “Howling with the Angels”. It’s being shown on Czech national television during December, Bodon says to give the Czech people a glimpse into a part of their history swept aside during Communist rule.
President Trump commutes the prison sentence of George Santos
The disgraced New York Republican was sentenced to more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty to a litany of federal charges, including wire fraud and identity theft.
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow National Guard deployment in Illinois
The Trump administration filed an appeal to the Supreme Court on Friday, asking it to lift lower-court rulings blocking Trump from deploying National Guard troops in Illinois.
What we know about the devastating storm in Western Alaska
The remnant of Typhoon Halong slammed the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, an area in Western Alaska hundreds of miles from the U.S. road system. More than a thousand people are displaced.
Prince Andrew drops Duke of York title as Epstein fallout continues
Prince Andrew has agreed with King Charles to stop using his Duke of York title, as scrutiny over his past connection to Jeffrey Epstein persists.
OpenAI blocks MLK Jr. videos on Sora after ‘disrespectful depictions’
OpenAI is preventing people from making AI videos of King on its Sora app after the estate of the civil rights leader complained about the spread of offensive and vulgar portrayals.
Katrina changed how jails deal with natural disasters. 20 years later, challenges remain
A survivor tells his experience of being jailed in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, while officials and experts look at jails and natural disasters today.
