CHARLIE SCHEIDT’S BOOK ON TRAUMA AND LEGACY
A box of forgotten letters. A family history waiting decades to be uncovered.
This week on “Ira’s Everything Bagel,” Ira sits down with Charlie Scheidt, co-author (with Kat Rohrer) of Inheritance: Love, Loss, and the Legacy of the Holocaust, for a deeply personal conversation about family memory, trauma, and the responsibility of telling difficult stories.
Charlie recounts the moment in 1988 when his mother revealed the existence of a trove of family papers and letters written by relatives fleeing Nazi persecution during the the Holocaust. For decades, the documents sat largely untouched as he grappled with their emotional weight.
Everything changed during a 2009 trip to Frankfurt, when Charlie realized the time had come to confront the past—not only for his own family, but for future generations.
In this episode, Charlie discusses:
The powerful first-person letters written by refugees escaping Nazi Europe
Why many survivor families avoided talking about the past
His surprising collaboration with filmmaker Kat Rohrer—whose grandfather had been a committed Nazi
Their research trips beginning in 2016 to uncover missing pieces of family history
The emotional challenges of confronting generational trauma
How different branches of his family coped with exile and identity
The reactions of relatives when he began writing the book
And what he hopes readers will ultimately take away from these stories
Charlie also reflects on growing up in a tight-knit German-Jewish refugee community in New York and leading Roland Foods—the company founded by his parents—for nearly five decades before dedicating his time to supporting refugee advocacy and humanitarian causes.
This is a moving conversation about memory, resilience, and why preserving personal histories matters now more than ever.
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ABOUT CHARLIE:
Charlie Scheidt was born in New York City to parents who had escaped Nazi-occupied Europe. Growing up in a close-knit, German-Jewish refugee community, Charlie witnessed firsthand the traumatic effects of persecution and exile. Following his father’s untimely death, Charlie stepped in to lead Roland Foods, the business his parents had founded, honoring their legacy and growing it into the leading imported specialty food company. After nearly five decades as CEO, Charlie retired and turned his focus to supporting universities and NGOs that advocate for refugee rights. He and his wife split their time between New York City and Upstate New York, spending as much time as they can with their children and grandchildren.