Episode 121: Alaska's Jewish Pioneer Daughter

On August 4, 1869, a Jewish baby girl named Josie became Alaska’s first pioneer daughter. Josephine Rudolph was born in Sitka, Alaska to German immigrants, and returned to Germany when she was 6 years old. Seven decades later, her American birth saved her life when the Nazis came to power. Josie’s story takes us from the muddy frontier town of Sitka to Hitler youth parades in Nazi Germany and finally to postwar New York, where her family tried to find their place. It's a remarkable tale of the survival of one Jewish woman and her family, but it's also part of a much bigger story—about antisemitism, refugees, and settlement, about who belongs, and where. First we'll hear from Tom Kizzia, the journalist who reported Josie's story , and then from Susie Hoffman and Amy Weiss, Josie's great-granddaughters. You can find Can We Talk? on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or your favorite podcast app. We're also on YouTube ! Don't forget to

You can listen to Episode 121: Alaska's Jewish Pioneer Daughter online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Episode 121: Alaska's Jewish Pioneer Daughter is an episode from Can We Talk? by Jewish Women's Archive.

This episode is 24:57 long.

This episode was published on Dec 16, 2024.

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