Best of Exile: Jackie Gerlich - The Road From Vienna to Oz
As we prepare our fifth season of Exile, we’re looking back at our favorite episodes from seasons 1-4. Each re-release brings back a unique, fascinating, and often heart-wrenching story from the Leo Baeck Institute Archives.
Leo Fuks is a born performer. So when, in 1936, a vaudeville impresario shows up to recruit him, 10-year-old Leo is more than happy to join his troupe, and his parents reluctantly agree. As Leo, now known as Jackie Gerlich, travels the world and dips his toes into Hollywood, his family is left behind to grapple with the terror of rising antisemitism in Vienna. After years without contact, Leo’s mother is shocked to see her son dancing on screen in The Wizard of Oz—and she resolves to do everything she can to get her son back.
Learn more at www.lbi.org/gerlich.
Exile is a production of the Leo Baeck Institute, New York and Antica Productions.
It’s narrated by Mandy Patinkin. This episode was produced by Emily Morantz.
Our executive Producers are Laura Regehr, Rami Tzabar, Stuart Coxe, and Bernie Blum. Our associate producer is Emily Morantz. Research and translation by Isabella Kempf. Voice acting by Cyrus Lane. Sound design and audio mix by Philip Wilson. Theme music by Oliver Wickham.
Special thanks to the Bentley Historical Library and the Syracuse University Special Collections Research Centre.
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.
Exile
Welcome to Exile, a podcast about Jewish lives under the shadow of fascism. Narrated by award-winning screen and stage actor, Mandy Patinkin. Untold stories and firsthand accounts drawn from intimate letters, diaries and interviews found in the Leo Baeck Institute’s vast archive. Each episode, a story of beauty and danger that brings history to life. Because the past is always present.
Starting November 1, episodes are released weekly every Tuesday.
The Leo Baeck Institute, New York | Berlin is a research library and archive focused on the history of German-speaking Jews.
Antica Productions produces award-winning non-fiction podcasts, films and series which inform and inspire audiences around the world.
- No. of episodes: 44
- Latest episode: 2025-04-29
- Society & Culture History
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