Helene Johnson
Ep. 29 — A second generation holocaust survivor stops carrying the weight of her father’s suffering and starts living life to the fullest / Helene Johnson, President & CEO, Bid2Win. When Helene Johnson was just six years old, she decided to get to the bottom of her beloved father’s bouts of anger and sadness. Johnson demanded a full account of what her dad had been through for five years in Nazi captivity. Obedient to her command, Johnson’s dad told her not only everything that had happened to him and his family but also what he’d seen happening to others in the Nazi concentration camps. Neither father nor daughter realized at that moment the devastating impact those stories would have on Johnson. She became captive to fear in all aspects of her daily life, work, and even worship. “It made me extremely afraid to be in crowds. I'm afraid to go on the Metro, which would have been nice today for work, but I just can't do it,” says Johnson. “I can't take being closed in and not having any chance to escape. When I go into stadiums or concerts or even the movie theater, I have to look for the exit and I have to know that there's a way to escape . . . To this day, I cannot go into a synagogue on the Jewish holidays. I did when my kids were little and I was freaked out, totally, every time.” Johnson spent much of her adulthood trapped in her own shadow of fear and self-doubt, all the while building an impressive career in government contracting. Recently, after Johnson’s beloved dad passed away, she noticed a gradual change in herself. It’s a change that has given her new life, soul, and spirit. Johnson’s story is a reminder of the multi-generational toll of the Holocaust. These stories are vital to prevent such events from ever happening again. A Pew Research Center survey released this week shows that, "Most U.S. adults know what the Holocaust was and approximately when it happened, but fewer than half can correctly answer multiple-choice questions about the number of Jews who were murdered or the way Adolf Hitler came to power.” And the survey revealed that fewer than 50% know that nearly 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. A New York Times story last week reported a disturbing rise in Neo-Nazi threats, “particularly from adherents who cluster in small cells organized under the auspices of a larger group that spreads violent ideology.” The report compared this trend in decentralization of the movement to al-globally dispersed radicalization and terrorism through small cells “or even lone wolves who would be inspired to plot their own attacks. Tanscript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: Helene Johnson was just six years old when she asked her father, a Holocaust survivor, to tell her exactly what he had been through during five years in Nazi captivity. Her dad took her request seriously. He told her everything that had happened to him and his family. It may not have been a very wise move, either for her to ask him or for him to tell her at that young age. His story had a harsh impact on her childhood, and in fact, her whole life. Johnson spent much of her adulthood as a second generation Holocaust Survivor, captive in her own shadow of fear and self-doubt, all the while building an impressive career in government contracting. Chitra Ragavan: Hello everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan and this is When It Mattered. This episode is brought to you by Goodstory, an advisory firm helping technology startups find their narrative. Chitra Ragavan: Recently, after Helene Johnson's beloved dad passed away, she noticed a gradual change in herself. It's a change that has given her new life, soul and spirit. Here to tell us more about what happened is Helene Johnson. She's president and CEO of Bid2Win, a Washington D.C. area consulting firm that's helping companies bid for and win federal contracts. Helene, welcome to the podcast. Helene Johnson: Hi, thank you. It's nice to be here.