Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Join journalist Matti Friedman and Abigail Pogrebin for a conversation about heroism, Jewish memory, and one of the strangest stories of WWII — and Friedman’s new book, Out of the Sky: Heroism and Rebirth in Nazi Europe.
In 1944, a team of young women and men who had escaped the Holocaust made the inconceivable choice to parachute back into Nazi-occupied Europe under the cover of a British military operation. By the end of the mission, not a single Nazi was harmed and not a single Jew was saved, and many of the parachutists died in the process — yet their story would become one of Israel’s founding myths. What happened? And what made them heroes? Using thousands of original documents from once-secret files, manuscripts, memoirs, and unpublished letters, Matti Friedman follows four of the parachutists from the spring of 1944 to the operation’s dramatic end that winter — telling a gripping and surprising tale of a forgotten moment, demonstrating how storytelling itself can have a power even greater than warfare.
Hear Friedman discuss this strange and fascinating story: a conversation exploring the line between myth and reality, heroism and futility, and how it resonates in our own time.
Mar 23, 2026
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Join journalist Matti Friedman and Abigail Pogrebin for a conversation about heroism, Jewish memory, and one of the strangest stories of WWII — and Friedman’s new book, Out of the Sky: Heroism and Rebirth in Nazi Europe.
In 1944, a team of young women and men who had escaped the Holocaust made the inconceivable choice to parachute back into Nazi-occupied Europe under the cover of a British military operation. By the end of the mission, not a single Nazi was harmed and not a single Jew was saved, and many of the parachutists died in the process — yet their story would become one of Israel’s founding myths. What happened? And what made them heroes? Using thousands of original documents from once-secret files, manuscripts, memoirs, and unpublished letters, Matti Friedman follows four of the parachutists from the spring of 1944 to the operation’s dramatic end that winter — telling a gripping and surprising tale of a forgotten moment, demonstrating how storytelling itself can have a power even greater than warfare.
Hear Friedman discuss this strange and fascinating story: a conversation exploring the line between myth and reality, heroism and futility, and how it resonates in our own time.
Mar 23, 2026
Your support helps us continue creating online content for our community. Donate now: 92NY.org/Donate
Facebook: facebook.com/92ndStreetY
Instagram: Instagram.com/92ndStreetY
TikTok: tiktok.com/@92ndstreety
Archives: 92ny.org/archives
