Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 11 hours ago
Rabbi Leo Baeck looms large in German-Jewish history, but he began his career as a smalltown rabbi in present-day Poland. Baeck quickly earned a reputation for moral clarity and quiet resolve, even in the face of a powerful opposition. As World War I gave way to the rise of the Nazis, the pressures on German Jewry intensified, and Baeck was thrust into an impossible role: guiding a community through its most dangerous and devastating hour. This is the first chapter of a two-part story.
lbi.org/de/projects/podcast/episode-31
The Leo Baeck Collection in the LBI Archives includes over four linear feet of vital documents, correspondence, manuscripts, and photographs from Baeck’s estate and that of his granddaughter Marianne Dreyfus. He also appears as a correspondent in the archival collections of countless others ranging from Albert Einstein to his congregants, students, and colleagues.
Exile is a production of the Leo Baeck Institute, New York and Antica Productions. It’s narrated by Joshua Malina.
🎥 Courtesy of Jim Dreyfus
This episode was written by Ilan Goodman.
Our executive producers are Laura Regehr and Stuart Coxe.
Our producer is Emily Morantz.
Research and translation by Isabella Kempf.
Voice acting by Patrick Garrow.
Sound design and audio mix by Gaëtan Harris, with additional mixing by Philip Wilson.
Theme music by Oliver Wickham.
This episode of Exile is made possible in part by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, which is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Finance and the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future.
Rabbi Leo Baeck looms large in German-Jewish history, but he began his career as a smalltown rabbi in present-day Poland. Baeck quickly earned a reputation for moral clarity and quiet resolve, even in the face of a powerful opposition. As World War I gave way to the rise of the Nazis, the pressures on German Jewry intensified, and Baeck was thrust into an impossible role: guiding a community through its most dangerous and devastating hour. This is the first chapter of a two-part story.
lbi.org/de/projects/podcast/episode-31
The Leo Baeck Collection in the LBI Archives includes over four linear feet of vital documents, correspondence, manuscripts, and photographs from Baeck’s estate and that of his granddaughter Marianne Dreyfus. He also appears as a correspondent in the archival collections of countless others ranging from Albert Einstein to his congregants, students, and colleagues.
Exile is a production of the Leo Baeck Institute, New York and Antica Productions. It’s narrated by Joshua Malina.
🎥 Courtesy of Jim Dreyfus
This episode was written by Ilan Goodman.
Our executive producers are Laura Regehr and Stuart Coxe.
Our producer is Emily Morantz.
Research and translation by Isabella Kempf.
Voice acting by Patrick Garrow.
Sound design and audio mix by Gaëtan Harris, with additional mixing by Philip Wilson.
Theme music by Oliver Wickham.
This episode of Exile is made possible in part by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, which is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Finance and the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future.
