Willie Handler has worn many hats — hospital administrator, policy expert, consultant — but none as personal as his latest: author and witness to generational pain. What began as a gift for humor and fiction eventually led him to a deeper calling — writing a memoir that unlocked decades of buried trauma and forced him to confront what was never fully spoken.

After years of writing fiction and humor, he released Out From the Shadows, a memoir that pulled back the curtain on his childhood as the son of Holocaust survivors and unearthed decades of unspoken trauma.

In this powerful conversation, Willie shares how writing the book led him to unexpected places — including therapy, reflection, and a deeper understanding of intergenerational pain. Now, he’s taking on his next challenge with The Hidden Victims, an oral history project documenting the experiences of descendants of Holocaust survivors across the world.

https://williehandler.com/