ENGLISH CORNER, CON LINDA JIMÉNEZ – This week’s trivia question:  What is the significance of the title of Genie’s movie: Between the Stone and the Flower?

Genie Milgrom was born in Havana Cuba into a Roman Catholic Family of Spanish Ancestry. In an unparalleled work of genealogy, she was able to fully document her unbroken maternal lineage going back as far as 1430 to pre-Inquisition Spain and Portugal, proving that she is a descendent of forced converts. Since then, she has dedicated her life to researching and transmitting information about the Crypto-Jews, and helping others in their journey to trace their own heritage.

She is the author of the book My 15 Grandmothers, as well as How I Found My 15 Grandmothers, A Step By Step Guide. Genie’s cookbook, Recipes of My 15 Grandmothers, contains family recipes that were passed down from generation to generation from the time of the Inquisition to the 20^th century.  Her historical novel Pyre to Fire juxtaposes the story of a Jewish family living in Spain at the time of the Inquisition and her own fascinating autobiography.

Genie writes for several online sites and her work has appeared publications around the world. In 2012 she received the Florida State Genealogical Society’s Genealogy Outstanding Achievement Award for the pioneering work she has done in Genealogy.

She has won a number of awards for her books and research, and is active in organizations that deal with genealogy and Crypto-Judaic issues. Genie is currently the Anousim Coordinator for Kulanu, the organization that was founded in 1994 to support isolated, emerging, and returning Jewish communities around the world. Genie is specifically working with communities in the Americas.

This week we’re speaking with her about her new documentary Between the Stone and the Flower. Directed by Roberto Otero, the film covers Genie’s decades-long journey to trace her Jewish heritage.  Research for the film was carried out in locations that touched Genie’s Crypto-Jewish heritage, including Cuba. Spain, Portugal, the Canary Islands, Cartagena,Colombia, Costa Rica, France, Key West and Miami,Florida.

In previous programs we spoke with Genie about different aspects of her work. You can listen to  these programs and watch the trailer of her new movie by clicking on the links below:

TRAILER–Between the Stone and the Flower

Genie Milgrom’s 15 Grandmothers

The Converso Project

Crypto-Jews in Latin America

Pyre to Fire