On Broadway

GATES: I'M HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR., WELCOME TO "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'LL TRAVEL TO NEW YORK TO MEET BROADWAY LEGENDS AUDRA MCDONALD AND MANDY PATINKIN.

TWO STARS WHO'VE SHAPED THE FACE OF AMERICAN THEATER; ALL THE WHILE KNOWING LITTLE ABOUT THE ANCESTORS WHO SHAPED THEM.

PATINKIN: IT WAS A MYSTERY TO ME.

IT WAS, UH, SO HIDDEN, SO, SO UNNECESSARILY HIDDEN.

CRAZY.

MCDONALD: THE BUTTERFLIES I'VE BEEN EXPERIENCING LEADING UP TO TODAY, IS THAT I'M GONNA MEET SOME PEOPLE TODAY, SOME PEOPLE THAT ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO ME.

GATES: YEAH.

MCDONALD: I'M GONNA MEET MY FAMILY.

GATES: TO UNCOVER THEIR ROOTS, WE'VE USED EVERY TOOL AVAILABLE... GENEALOGISTS HELPED STITCH TOGETHER THE PAST FROM THE PAPER TRAIL THEIR ANCESTORS LEFT BEHIND.

MCDONALD: OH MY GOSH!

GATES: WHILE DNA EXPERTS UTILIZED THE LATEST ADVANCES IN GENETIC ANALYSIS TO REVEAL SECRETS HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD.

PATINKIN: WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW.

GATES: AND WE'VE COMPILED IT ALL INTO A BOOK OF LIFE.

A RECORD OF ALL OF OUR DISCOVERIES.

MCDONALD: THAT'S BEAUTIFUL.

WHOO.

PATINKIN: IT'S JUST WILD.

GATES: AND A WINDOW INTO THE HIDDEN PAST... MCDONALD: TALK ABOUT RESPECTING YOUR ELDERS.

I RESPECTED THEM ANYWAY, BUT.

GATES: OH, YEAH.

NOW.

MCDONALD: I, I BOW, AND I THANK THEM AGAIN AND AGAIN.

PATINKIN: I FEEL MORE ALIVE FROM THIS JOURNEY THAN I EVER IMAGINED.

GATES: MANDY AND AUDRA HAVE BEEN ENTERTAINING THE WORLD FOR DECADES; GIVING VOICE TO SOME OF GREATEST ROLES EVER CREATED...

IN THIS EPISODE, THEY'RE GOING TO MEET A CAST OF CHARACTERS EVERY BIT AS DRAMATIC AS THE PEOPLE THEY'VE PLAYED ON STAGE, BUT THESE CHARACTERS HAVE LONG BEEN HIDDEN IN THE BRANCHES OF THEIR FAMILY TREES.

(THEME MUSIC PLAYS) ♪ ♪ (OVERLAPPING CHATTER) GATES: AUDRA MCDONALD IS A BROADWAY ICON.

SHE'S WON SIX TONY AWARDS FOR PERFORMANCE, MORE THAN ANY OTHER ACTOR IN HISTORY, AND IS BLESSED WITH A VOICE THAT HAS TO BE HEARD TO BE BELIEVED... ♪ MCDONALD: SO HUSH LITTLE BABY, ♪ ♪ DON'T YOU CRY.

♪ ♪ GATES: BUT AUDRA'S TALENTS WEREN'T ALWAYS OBVIOUS TO THE WORLD...

HER JOURNEY BEGAN IN A VERY UNEXPECTED PLACE, "ROGER ROCKA'S GOOD COMPANY PLAYERS", A LOCAL THEATER IN HER HOMETOWN OF FRESNO, CALIFORNIA... HOW DID YOU END UP THERE?

MCDONALD: MY PARENTS.

UM, I, THEY WENT TO SEE A SHOW THERE.

IT WAS A DINNER THEATRE WHERE UM, THEY WOULD HAVE, UM, UH, A LITTLE CABARET THAT WOULD HAPPEN BEFORE, UM, THE MAIN MUSICAL.

SO, YOU'D GO THERE, YOU'D EAT DINNER, AND THEN THIS, LIKE, "MICKEY MOUSE CLUB" TYPE CABARET OF KIDS WOULD COME ON AND PERFORM.

AND SO, MY PARENTS WENT, AND I THINK THEY WERE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING, SOME SORT OF OUTLET FOR ME.

UM, I DON'T THINK THEY WENT TO THAT, THE SHOW THAT NIGHT LOOKING FOR AN OUTLET FOR ME, BUT IT WAS ON THEIR MINDS, AND UM, I KNOW THAT THERE HAD BEEN SOME SUGGESTIONS OF MAYBE MEDICATION FOR THEIR HYPERACTIVE CHILD AND WHATNOT, AND THEY SAW THIS JUNIOR TROUPE PERFORMING, UM, AND MY MOM SAID THAT THEY BOTH JUST LOOKED AT EACH OTHER, AND THEY SAID, "AUDRA.

MAYBE THIS IS SOMETHING SHE COULD DO."

GATES: AUDRA'S PARENTS KNEW WHAT THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT.

THOUGH THEIR DAUGHTER WAS ONLY NINE YEARS OLD, SHE WAS MORE THAN READY TO PERFORM.

♪ MCDONALD: SOMETIMES I WONDER ♪ ♪ WHERE I'VE BEEN ♪ ♪ WHO I AM ♪ ♪ DO I FIT IN?

♪♪ GATES: AUDRA'S ABILITY, IN NO SMALL PART, LIKELY DERIVED FROM THE FACT THAT HER PARENTS SHARED HER INTERESTS.

MCDONALD: THERE JUST NEVER WASN'T MUSIC IN MY HOUSE, AND IN MY LIFE.

MY DAD STARTED OUT AS A MUSIC TEACHER IN-IN HIGH SCHOOL, AND HE HAD A JAZZ BAND, AND HE PLAYED A TON OF INSTRUMENTS.

HE WOULD SIT DOWN AT THE PIANO, AND JUST PLAY THESE REALLY CRUNCHY, FUN JAZZ CHORDS WITH THESE HUGE HANDS.

YOU'D JUST HEAR, LIKE... [MIMICS PIANO SOUND].

I MEAN, THERE JUST WAS, AND MY MOM WOULD PLAY BACH, AND-AND SING, AND SHE SANG IN THE CHOIR.

IT WAS JUST, YEAH, MUSIC ALL THE TIME.

GATES: THAT SOUNDS WONDERFUL.

MCDONALD: YEAH.

GATES: HER PARENTS INFLUENCE PAID OFF IN A BIG WAY.

ONCE YOUNG AUDRA WAS ONSTAGE, SHE'D PROVE TO BE AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE.

WITHIN A DECADE, SHE'D ENROLL AT JUILLIARD, THE LEGENDARY MUSIC SCHOOL IN NEW YORK CITY AND BY THE TIME SHE WAS 23, SHE'D WON HER FIRST TONY...

BUT FOR ALL SHE'S ACCOMPLISHED, AUDRA'S NEVER LOST SIGHT OF HER ROOTS...

INDEED, SHE TOLD ME THAT ONE OF THE MOST GRATIFYING MOMENTS OF HER CAREER CAME IN 2018 WHEN HER HIGH SCHOOL IN FRESNO RENAMED ITS THEATER AFTER HER.

A DECISION THAT STILL SURPRISES HER TODAY.

MCDONALD: I, I WAS JUST LIKE WHY?

(LAUGHS).

UM, FOR ME, I'M STILL THAT, YOU KNOW, 15, 16, 17-YEAR-OLD GIRL IN THERE, TRYING TO LEARN MY PARTS, YOU KNOW, RUNNING AROUND AND DOING SILLY THINGS IN THE, IN THE DRESSING ROOMS, AND I'M STILL, LIKE, A KID.

I'M STILL A SPAZZY KID... GATES: RIGHT.

MCDONALD: YOU KNOW, DREAMING OF BEING ON BROADWAY ONE DAY.

SO, IT WAS AN INCREDIBLE HONOR TO HAVE THEM NAME THE-THE SCHOOL THEATER AFTER ME.

I, UM, AND I HOPE THAT MY NAME ON THAT BUILDING IN, WHY AM I GETTING EMOTIONAL ALREADY, INSPIRES THESE KIDS, YOU KNOW?

SHE'S FROM FRESNO, SHE WAS A SPAZ, BUT SHE WANTED TO BE ON BROADWAY, AND SHE DID IT.

GATES: YEAH.

MCDONALD: SO, OKAY, AND THEN, I WANT THEM TO, LIKE, SAY, THAT'LL BE ME, AND WHAT PART OF THE CAMPUS ARE THEY GONNA NAME AFTER ME WHEN THAT HAPPENS?

GATES: RIGHT.

MCDONALD: AND THAT'S WHAT I WANT... GATES: YEAH.

MCDONALD: TO HAVE THAT NAME INSPIRE.

GATES: MY SECOND GUEST IS BELOVED ACTOR MANDY PATINKIN... MANDY CAME TO FAME ON BROADWAY, WINNING A TONY FOR "EVITA" AND CONTRIBUTING MIGHTILY TO "SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE" PULITZER PRIZE FOR DRAMA...

THE COMPOSER STEPHEN SONDHEIM ONCE SAID THAT MANDY'S VOICE WAS "A GIFT FROM GOD".

♪ PATINKIN: HOWEVER YOU LIVE THERE'S A PART OF YOU ♪ ♪ ALWAYS STANDING BY, MAPPING OUT THE SKY ♪ ♪ GATES: SONDHEIM SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN RIGHT, ON MULTIPLE LEVELS.

MANDY TOLD ME THAT HE FIRST FELT DRAWN TO SINGING IN THE CHICAGO SYNAGOGUE WHERE HE SPENT MUCH OF HIS CHILDHOOD... PATINKIN: I WAS THERE SINCE I CAN REMEMBER AND ALL THE OLD MEN WHO ARE NOW YOUNGER THAN I AM NOW.

GATES: RIGHT.

PATINKIN: WHEN I WAS LITTLE, THEY WERE MUCH OLDER, AND THEY WOULD ALL, YOU KNOW, PRAY AND MOVE AND ROCK BACK AND FORTH, BUT THE SOUND OF THE PRAYER AND THE SOUND OF THE SINGING, THE CRY AND THE VOICE, UH, IS SOMETHING THAT GOT IN MY BONES WHEN I WAS A KID.

GATES: YEAH.

PATINKIN: LIKE US I REMEMBER MY UNCLE HAROLD DRAY, WHO SANG IN THE TEMPLE CHOIR, WHO HAD THIS BIG BASS VOICE, YOU KNOW?

(SINGING BASS IN HEBREW).

AND I WENT, "OH GOD, I WANT TO SING LIKE UNCLE HAROLD."

GATES: THOUGH MANDY WOULD SOON BE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE CHOIR HIMSELF, GROWING UP, THAT WAS ONE OF THE FEW PLACES HE EXCELLED.

HE WAS A POOR STUDENT AND, BY HIS OWN ACCOUNT, A TROUBLE-MAKER.

BUT THAT ALL CHANGED WHEN HE GOT INVOLVED IN A COMMUNITY THEATER GROUP WHEN HE WAS A TEENAGER... PATINKIN: I JUST HATED SCHOOL.

SCHOOL HAD NOTHING FOR ME, AND I... MY SISTER WAS GREAT AT IT, AND I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WAS GONNA DO.

AND BOB CONDOR WAS THE GUY WHO DID THE LOCAL PLAYS AT THE YOUTH CENTER AND THE PLAY WE WERE DOING WAS "CAROUSEL".

GATES: WOW.

PATINKIN: AND UH BOB SAT THERE, AND ALL OF US THIRTEEN; TO SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLDS SAT HERE, AND HE SAID, "WHAT'S THE PLAY ABOUT?"

WE ALL RAISED OUR HANDS.

"ABOUT A GUY WHO MAKES A MISTAKE, ABOUT A GUY WHO GETS A SECOND CHANCE, ABOUT A GUY WHO GOES TO HEAVEN, ABOUT A GUY, ABOUT A GUY, ABOUT A GUY."

AND HE SAID, "I THINK YOU'RE ALL RIGHT, I THINK IT'S ABOUT ALL THOSE THINGS.

HE SAID I ALSO THINK IT'S ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE."

"I THINK IT'S ABOUT IF YOU LOVE SOMEONE, TELL THEM."

GATES: HUH.

PATINKIN: AND-AND THAT'S WHAT I DID AT THAT MOMENT.

I WENT, "HUH."

MY PARENTS WERE GOOD PEOPLE.

THEY SAID GOOD THINGS AT THE DINNER TABLE.

THE RABBI MADE INTERESTING SERMONS, BUT I NEVER HEARD ANYTHING SO SIMPLE AND AVAILABLE.

GATES: RIGHT.

PATINKIN: AND I SAID IF THAT'S WHAT THIS THING CALLED THEATER CAN DO AND SAY, I'M GOING FOR THE RIDE.

GATES: MANDY HAS BEEN ON THAT "RIDE," EVER SINCE.

BUILDING AN INCREDIBLY FRUITFUL CAREER ON STAGE AND SCREEN AND AS A RECORDING ARTIST.

BUT THE DEFINING EVENT OF MANDY'S LIFE OCCURRED FAR FROM PUBLIC VIEW.

HIS FATHER, LESTER PATINKIN, SUSTAINED A HEAD INJURY AS A YOUNG MAN AND SUFFERED TERRIBLE HEADACHES DURING MANDY'S CHILDHOOD.

THEN, WHEN MANDY WAS EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD, LESTER WAS DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER AND MANDY RECEIVED A PHONE CALL THAT WOULD LEAVE HIM FOREVER CHANGED.

PATINKIN: AND IT WAS MY MOM AND MY SISTER, AND THEY SAID, "DADDY'S SICK, AND WE NEED YOU TO KEEP A PROMISE."

"WHAT'S THAT PROMISE?"

"WE'RE NOT GONNA TELL HIM WHAT'S WRONG."

"WHY?"

"BECAUSE WE'RE WORRIED THAT IF DADDY FINDS OUT HE HAS SOMETHING THAT WILL TAKE HIS LIFE, THAT HE WILL TAKE HIS LIFE BEFORE IT'S TIME."

GATES: OH.

PATINKIN: BECAUSE OF THE SUFFERING HE WENT THROUGH OVER, WHEN HE HURT HIS HEAD AND HE HAD THOSE HEADACHES.

GATES: WHEN HE HURT HIS, HIS NECK.

RIGHT.

PATINKIN: HE NEVER WANTED TO GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN, AND I SAID TO MYSELF, AS THAT 18-YEAR-OLD BOY, THAT'S NOT RIGHT.

GATES: UH-HUH.

PATINKIN: THAT'S NOT MY DAD.

HE'S NOT GONNA HURT HIMSELF, AND I WAS TOLD BY ALL THE ADULTS, MY MOTHER, MY FATHER'S TWO SISTERS, THE DOCTOR, WE NEED TO DO THIS FOR YOUR FATHER'S WELL BEING, AND I HAD TO PLAY ALONG.

AND I BELIEVE, TO THIS DAY, IT WAS HARMFUL TO ALL OF US.

GATES: BUT THEY MEANT WELL.

PATINKIN: THEY MEANT WELL.

I'M TOTALLY FORGIVING OF THEM, BUT IT INFORMED MY RUTHLESSNESS ABOUT THE TRUTH TO A FAULT, SO THAT WHEN I DO MY WORK, OR WHEN I HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH-WITH A LOVED ONE OR A, OR ANYTHING THAT'S OF IMPORT...

I CAN'T NOT BE TRUTHFUL.

GATES: UH-HUH.

I UNDERSTAND.

PATINKIN: AND SO PEOPLE WILL SAY TO YOU, BUT YOU'RE AN ACTOR, YOU, YOU'RE, YOU'RE, YOUR PROFESSION IS TO LIE.

YOU, YOU, YOU, THAT'S WHAT YOU DO PROFESSIONALLY.

I MAKE IT TRUTHFUL.

GATES: RIGHT.

PATINKIN: I CONNECT IT TO SOMETHING I'VE LIVED, IMAGINED, DREAMED ABOUT, KNOWN, OR WISHED FOR.

AND, AND I TAKE IT HOME.

I'M NOT LIKE OTHER GREAT ACTORS THAT I KNOW THAT LEAVE IT AT THE, AT THE SHOP.

I DON'T KNOW HOW TO.

SO, I TAKE IT HOME.

SO, I LIVE IT, AND SOMETIMES I LIVE IT FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.

GATES: MMM.

PATINKIN: AND IF YOU PICK THE RIGHT PARTS, IT'S A GOOD THING.

GATES: YEAH.

PATINKIN: YOU KNOW?

GATES: MY TWO GUESTS KNOW THEMSELVES WELL.

BOTH HAVE REALIZED THEIR CHILDHOOD DREAMS AND BOTH HAVE A LARGE MEASURE OF CONFIDENCE THAT FLOWS FROM THAT SUCCESS...

BUT WHEN IT COMES TO THEIR ROOTS, THEIR SELF KNOWLEDGE REACHED IT'S LIMITS.

EACH TOLD ME THEY KNEW LITTLE ABOUT ENTIRE BRANCHES OF THEIR FAMILY TREES.

IT WAS TIME TO PROVIDE SOME ANSWERS.

I STARTED WITH MANDY AND WITH HIS MOTHER, DORIS SINTON, WITH WHOM HE HAD A SOMETIMES TROUBLED, BUT DEEPLY LOVING RELATIONSHIP... PATINKIN: I'M PROBABLY MORE LIKE MY MOTHER THAN I WISH TO BE AT TIMES.

GATES: AREN'T WE ALL?

PATINKIN: I GUESS SO.

SHE STRUGGLED.

SHE HAD A DIFFICULT LIFE, AND "HURT PEOPLE HURT PEOPLE".

GATES: YES.

PATINKIN: SHE WAS VERY CRITICAL.

SHE WOULD SOMETIMES SEE THESE PERFORMANCES, "NOT SO GOOD."

YOU KNOW?

GATES: YOU'D SAY, MOM, WHAT'D YOU REALLY THINK?

PATINKIN: YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, WHAT'D YOU REALLY?

BUT IT'S THAT QUALITY THAT I THINK MAKES THOSE OF US THAT JUST KEEP GOING WORK HARDER.

GATES: UH-HUH.

PATINKIN: AND UH, I, I MISS, UH, I JUST MISS HER.

GATES: THE ORIGINS OF DORIS'S "STRUGGLES" WERE NO MYSTERY.

THEY STEMMED FROM HER CHILDHOOD HOME.

HER PARENTS DIVORCED SOMETIME AFTER HER FIFTEENTH BIRTHDAY AND DORIS WAS NEVER ABLE TO FORGIVE HER FATHER, MANDY'S GRANDFATHER, FOR DESTROYING THE MARRIAGE... WHAT DID YOUR MOM TELL YOU ABOUT WHY THEY SPLIT UP?

PATINKIN: THAT HE WAS A WOMANIZER, UH, THAT HE WAS A GAMBLER.

UH, AND AND TO JUST SHOW, YOU KNOW, HOW LITTLE REGARD WAS GIVEN TO HIM, IS, UH, I HAD A PET TURTLE, AND IT DIED AND I SAID, "MY TURTLE DIED," AND MY MOM SAID, "SOMETHING ELSE DIED TODAY."

"WHAT?"

"YOUR GRANDPA FRED."

GATES: HUH.

PATINKIN: AND THAT WAS THAT.

GATES: OH MY GOD.

PATINKIN: I MEAN THAT WAS IT, AND-AND-AND... GATES: A LOT OF PAIN THERE, MAN.

PATINKIN: A LOT OF PAIN.

GATES: PAIN AND ANGER.

PATINKIN: PAIN AND ANGER, SO I KNEW THAT MY UNCLE KAL, MY MOTHER'S YOUNGEST SIBLING, WHO I LOVED AND ADORED, LOVED HIS FATHER.

GATES: UH-HUH.

PATINKIN: AND HE HAD A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS FATHER, BUT HE NEVER SHARED IT WITH ME.

GATES: AH.

PATINKIN: AND, UH, I'M GLAD HE HAD THE RELATIONSHIP BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, I-I-I HAD EIGHTEEN YEARS WITH MY FATHER, AND I'M SO THRILLED I HAD THOSE.

GATES: YEAH, OF COURSE.

MANDY TOLD ME THAT HE ONLY RECALLS MEETING HIS GRANDFATHER ONCE AND THAT HE KNOWS NOTHING AT ALL ABOUT FRED'S ROOTS.

WE BEGAN TO RECONSTRUCT THOSE ROOTS, STARTING WITH THE PASSENGER LIST FOR A SHIP THAT ARRIVED IN NEW YORK HARBOR ON JULY 27TH, 1900.

ON BOARD WAS FRED'S FATHER, MANDY'S GREAT-GRANDFATHER, A MAN NAMED KARL, OR KALMAN, SNITOVSKY.

PATINKIN: WOW.

GATES: THIS IS THE "SS GROSSER KURFÜRST".

PATINKIN: THAT IS THE BOAT?

GATES: THAT IS THE BOAT, BABY.

PATINKIN: OH MY LORD.

GATES: THAT IS THE BOAT YOUR ANCESTOR CAME ON.

PATINKIN: OH GOD.

GATES: AND THIS IS THE 1900 ARRIVAL RECORD.

COULD YOU PLEASE READ THE TRANSCRIBED SECTION?

PATINKIN: "KALMEN SNITOWSKI, AGE, 27, MARRIED.

NATIONALITY: RUSSIAN."

GATES: THIS IS THE VERY MOMENT THAT YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER ARRIVED IN AMERICA.

PATINKIN: WOW.

WOW, WOW, WOW.

GATES: CAN YOU IMAGINE MAKING THAT JOURNEY, MAN?

PATINKIN: I CAN'T.

I CANNOT.

I HATE BOATS.

I GET SICK INSTANTLY.

UH, AND THE IDEA OF GOING ACROSS THE WHOLE OCEAN.

INCREDIBLE.

GATES: THIS RECORD INDICATES THAT BEFORE IMMIGRATING, KARL LIVED IN THE TOWN OF PRUZANY IN WHAT WAS THEN PART OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE AND IS NOW IN BELARUS.

THIS REGION, AND ESPECIALLY ITS JEWISH POPULATION, WERE DEVASTATED DURING WORLD WAR II AND OUR RESEARCHERS ARE OFTEN UNABLE TO FIND ANY TRACE OF PEOPLE WHO LIVED WITHIN IT.

BUT IN MANDY'S CASE, WE GOT LUCKY.

THE ARCHIVES OF BELARUS HOLD A MILITARY DRAFT CERTIFICATE FOR HIS GREAT-GRANDFATHER, FILED IN THE YEAR 1892... PATINKIN: "HEIGHT, ABOUT 5 FEET 4 INCHES, HAIR, BLOND, EYES, GREY-BLUE, NOSE, MOUTH, AND CHIN ARE USUAL, FACE IS CLEAN.

NO SPECIFIC FEATURES."

NO FEATURES.

GATES: MANDY, THAT IS A DESCRIPTION OF YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER KARL AT THE AGE OF NINETEEN YEARS OLD, REGISTERING FOR THE DRAFT.

PATINKIN: WOW.

GATES: UH, CAN YOU IMAGINE HIM FROM THOSE DETAILS?

I LIKE "FACE IS CLEAN."

PATINKIN: WELL, I DO REMEMBER SEEING GRANDPA FRED UH, AND THAT'S THE COLORING GRANDPA FRED HAD.

I REMEMBER HIM, SPECIFICALLY, I REMEMBER THAT ONE VISIT.

GATES: WOW.

PATINKIN: AND HE HAD THAT KIND OF BLONDISH HAIR.

I'M PRETTY SURE HE HAD BLUE EYES.

HE HAD, WELL, SOMEBODY HAD TO HAVE BLUE EYES 'CAUSE MY SISTER HAD BLUE EYES.

GATES: SO THERE YOU GO.

AND THIS DOCUMENT ALSO TELLS US THE NAME OF KARL'S/KALMAN'S FATHER.

SO, YOU JUST MET YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

HIS NAME WAS YANKEL SNITOVSKY.

PATINKIN: I LOVE THAT I HAD A GRANDFATHER NAMED YANKEL.

GATES: ISN'T THAT GREAT?

PATINKIN: IT IS GREAT.

GATES: THIS RECORD WOULD PROVE TO BE A GENEALOGICAL TREASURE CHEST.

IT NOT ONLY LISTS KARL'S FATHER'S NAME, IT ALSO TOLD US THAT HE DID NOT ORIGINALLY HAIL FROM PRUZANY.

INSTEAD, HIS ROOTS LAY IN A NEARBY SHTETL CALLED "DRAHICHYN".

AND THAT, MANDY, IS YOUR ANCESTRAL HOMETOWN, DRAHICHYN.

PATINKIN: DRAHICHYN.

GATES: YOUR PEOPLE ARE FROM DRAHICHYN.

PATINKIN: IT'S JUST WILD.

GATES: AND YOU CAN SEE IT.

THERE ARE PHOTOGRAPHS OF... PATINKIN: AND THIS IS DRAHICHYN THEN?

GATES: YES.

UH, DRAHICHYN'S JEWISH COMMUNITY, YOU READY FOR THIS?

PATINKIN: YES.

YES.

GATES: DATES BACK AT LEAST TO 1652.

PATINKIN: WOW.

GATES: AND SHAKESPEARE DIES IN 1616, JUST TO PUT IT IN PERSPECTIVE.

PATINKIN: YEAH.

YEAH.

YEAH.

YEAH.

GATES: SO, WHAT'S IT LIKE TO LEARN THESE THINGS?

PATINKIN: IT'S A WARM FEELING.

GATES: UH-HUH.

PATINKIN: IT'S A GOOD FEELING.

BECAUSE I LIVE IN MY IMAGINATION, I WILL TAKE IT WITH ME AND IMAGINE HAVING KNOWN THEM OR THEIR LIVES.

GATES: UH-HUH.

PATINKIN: UH, I JUST LOVE IT.

GATES: MANDY'S JOY WAS PALPABLE, BUT IN IMAGINING HIS ANCESTORS' LIVES, HE WAS ALSO FORCED TO CONFRONT THE FACT THAT THOSE LIVES WERE NOT EASY.

DRAHICHYN WAS LOCATED IN WHAT WAS KNOWN AS THE PALE OF SETTLEMENT, WHERE RUSSIAN EMPIRE CONFINED MOST OF ITS JEWISH POPULATION.

JEWISH PEOPLE IN THE PALE WERE SEVERELY RESTRICTED WHEN IT CAME TO OWNING FARMLAND OR PURSUING HIGHER EDUCATION.

MOST ENDED UP AS TRADESPEOPLE, STRUGGLING TO MAKE A LIVING AND WERE SUBJECT TO THE CONSTANT THREAT OF VIOLENT, AND SOMETIMES DEADLY, DISCRIMINATION.

NEVERTHELESS, MANDY'S ANCESTORS REMAINED IN THEIR TOWN AND ENDURED.

INDEED, WE FOUND RECORDS ALLOWING US TO TRACE HIS MOTHER'S FAMILY BACK THREE GENERATIONS IN DRAHICHYN, IDENTIFYING TWO OF MANDY'S 3RD GREAT-GRANDFATHERS BY NAME... AND COMPELLING MANDY TO RE-THINK HIS RELATIONSHIP TO HIS MOTHER'S FAMILY... PATINKIN: I WILL LOOK AT THIS OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND MEMORIZE THEIR NAMES AND PRETEND THAT I HAD A, A LIFE HISTORY WITH THEM BECAUSE WHY NOT?

BECAUSE MY FAVORITE LINE IN ALL OF LITERATURE WAS ACTUALLY, I'M NOT SURE WHERE HE GOT IT, BUT IT'S FROM OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN'S LIBRETTO OF THE MUSICAL "CAROUSEL", AND THE LINE IS, "AS LONG AS THERE'S ONE PERSON ON EARTH WHO REMEMBERS YOU, IT ISN'T OVER."

GATES: THAT'S THE MOTTO OF THIS WHOLE SERIES.

PATINKIN: SO, YOU HAVE GIVEN ME THEIR MEMORY.

GATES: WHAT WOULD YOUR MOM THINK OF THIS, HAD SHE BEEN ALIVE TO SEE IT?

PATINKIN: I THINK SHE WOULD'VE FOUND A WAY TO FORGIVE HER FATHER.

GATES: REALLY?

PATINKIN: YES, BECAUSE I JUST THINK SHE WOULD'VE SEEN THAT HE, TOO, CAME FROM PEOPLE WHO STRUGGLED SO HARD TO GET HERE.

GATES: RIGHT.

PATINKIN: AND THAT PEOPLE MAKE MISTAKES.

GATES: RIGHT.

PATINKIN: AND THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE BEST FRIENDS, BUT DON'T ERASE A LIFE.

GATES: I BELIEVE THAT, TOO.

I THINK THAT'S BEAUTIFUL.

PATINKIN: WHAT A GIFT.

THANK YOU.

MCDONALD: I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO SEE JUST, LIKE, HOW FAR BACK YOU CAN GO.

GATES: MUCH LIKE MANDY, AUDRA MCDONALD WAS ABOUT TO EXPLORE, FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME, AN ENTIRE BRANCH OF HER MOTHER'S FAMILY TREE.

WE STARTED WITH THE PART OF IT THAT SHE KNEW BEST; HER MATERNAL GRANDFATHER, THOMAS HARDY JONES.

BORN INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE JIM CROW ERA, THOMAS HAD A DISTINGUISHED CAREER AS AN EDUCATOR AT A SERIES OF HISTORICALLY BLACK INSTITUTIONS.

HE LEFT A POWERFUL IMPRESSION ON AUDRA.

BOTH FOR HIS WIDE-RANGING INTELLECT AND HIS PASSION FOR ALL THINGS AFRICAN... MCDONALD: MY MEMORIES ARE OF GRANDDADDY, UM, BEING JUST THIS VERY, VERY SMART MAN, UM, WOULD SPOUT LATIN AT US, AND-AND... OR HE WOULD SAY SOMETHING IN SPANISH.

I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW MANY LANGUAGES HE SPOKE.

UM, HE HAD THIS OFFICE IN THE BASEMENT OF HIS HOUSE THAT WAS, I MEAN, JUST, I KNOW THERE WERE WALLS, BUT I DON'T THINK I EVER SAW THEM, 'CAUSE JUST BOOKS, AND DOCUMENTS EVERYWHERE, AND PICTURES OF, I REMEMBER, HE HAD THESE POSTERS OF AFRICAN KINGS, AND-AND WHAT NOT ON THE WALLS AS WELL.

GATES: HE WAS A RACE MAN.

MCDONALD: YES.

GATES: THOUGH THOMAS IS MUCH-REVERED WITHIN AUDRA'S FAMILY, THE SHAPING FORCE IN HIS LIFE HAD BEEN FORGOTTEN.

THOMAS' FATHER, AUDRA'S GREAT-GRANDFATHER, WAS A MAN NAMED CLARENCE JONES.

AFTER STINTS AS A MINER AND CHAUFFEUR, CLARENCE SUPPORTED HIS FAMILY AND PAID FOR HIS SON'S EDUCATION, BY WORKING IN THE LOCKER ROOM OF A SEGREGATED GOLF CLUB IN ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, WHERE IT SEEMS HE SOMEHOW MANAGED TO THRIVE... MCDONALD: "HE'S AS NECESSARY AS A PUTTER OR A BALL.

HE'S THE 19TH HOLE.

CLARENCE IS THE FELLOW WHO RUNS THE LOCKER ROOM AT THIS CLUB.

HE'S A NURSEMAID, BARTENDER, SHOE SHINER, STORY TELLER, CRYING TOWEL, MATCHMAKER, GAMBLER AND GOOD FRIEND ALL ROLLED INTO ONE.

A REAL MAGICIAN.

WHEREVER YOU GO AROUND THE NATION'S CAPITAL, GOLFERS ASK ABOUT CLARENCE."

GATES: YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER CLARENCE WAS AN INSTITUTION AT THE WASHINGTON GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB, AND WHAT'S IT LIKE TO READ THAT PIECE?

MCDONALD: I'M SO PROUD OF HIM.

I MEAN, I, I, I MEAN, I, WHAT, WHAT I'M RECOGNIZING IN THIS IS MY GRANDFATHER'S PERSONALITY.

GATES: UH-HUH.

MCDONALD: I CAN SEE, I CAN SEE THAT IN THE WAY THAT HIS FATHER IS BEING DESCRIBED, BECAUSE, UM, MY GRANDFATHER WAS AN INCREDIBLY CHARMING, FUNNY, WITTY, UM... GATES: SELF-ASSURED.

MCDONALD: SELF-ASSURED, RACONTEUR, I MEAN, HE WAS ALL OF THOSE THINGS.

SO, TO SEE THAT HE OBVIOUSLY GOT THIS FROM HIS FATHER... GATES: YEAH.

MCDONALD: IS, I, I SEE IT, I SEE IT RIGHT HERE.

THAT'S AMAZING.

GATES: THE "WASHINGTON GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB" WAS VIRGINIA'S FIRST GOLF CLUB AND IT WAS ALREADY ILLUSTRIOUS WHEN CLARENCE JOINED ITS STAFF IN 1918.

AT THE TIME, OF COURSE, IT WAS ALSO AN ALL-WHITE CLUB, WITH NO BLACK MEMBERS ALLOWED.

SO WHILE CLARENCE WAS FREE TO WALK ITS GREENS AS AN EMPLOYEE, HE COULDN'T PLAY ON THEM.

MCDONALD: THERE'S A PART OF ME THAT'S, YOU KNOW, THIS AMAZING, AND PROUD OF MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER, BUT, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A PART OF ME THAT-THAT HURTS FOR HIM, TOO.

GATES: OH, YEAH.

WHAT'S IT LIKE TO KNOW THIS, TO KNOW THIS ASPECT OF YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER?

MCDONALD: UH, I MEAN, I'M THRILLED TO KNOW IT, KNOW, KNOW HIM AND KNOW HE WAS SPECIAL ENOUGH THAT THEY HAD TO WRITE AN ARTICLE ABOUT HIM.

GATES: YEAH.

"EVERY CLUB... MCDONALD: YEAH.

GATES: "NEEDS CLARENCE."

MCDONALD: NEEDS HIM, YOU KNOW, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I THINK ABOUT WHAT HE COULD'VE BEEN IF HE HAD BEEN AFFORDED OPPORTUNITIES.

GATES: YEAH.

BUT HE MADE SURE HIS SON COULD GO TO COLLEGE.

MCDONALD: ABSOLUTELY AND HIS, AND HIS SON REALIZED DREAMS THAT I DON'T THINK HE COULD'VE REALIZED...

BUT HE-HE REALIZED THEM BECAUSE OF HIS FATHER.

GATES: WE SET OUT TO TRACE CLARENCE'S ROOTS, BUT WE QUICKLY HIT A WALL.

WE BELIEVE THAT HIS PARENTS, LEMUEL JONES AND MARTHA KEMP, WERE BOTH BORN IN WASHINGTON, DC, SOON AFTER THE CIVIL WAR.

BUT WE COULD GET NO FURTHER.

THEIR PARENTS WERE ALMOST CERTAINLY ENSLAVED AND TRACING AFRICAN AMERICAN FAMILIES BACK INTO SLAVERY IS EXTRAORDINARILY DIFFICULT BECAUSE ENSLAVED PEOPLE WERE RARELY LISTED BY NAME IN FEDERAL RECORDS.

SO, BEYOND LEMUEL AND MARTHA, AUDRA'S JONES LINE IS A MYSTERY.

HOWEVER, TURNING TO ANOTHER BRANCH OF HER MATERNAL TREE, WE FARED BETTER.

WE WERE ABLE TO IDENTIFY AUDRA'S THIRD GREAT-GRANDPARENTS, CROSKY HAYWOOD AND AMANDA KELLOGG.

BOTH OF WHOM WERE ALMOST CERTAINLY BORN INTO SLAVERY... GATES: HAVE YOU THOUGHT MUCH ABOUT YOUR ENSLAVED ANCESTORS, WHAT THEY MUST HAVE GONE THROUGH, WHAT THAT MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE?

MCDONALD: I, OH, ALWAYS, JUST THE RESILIENCE THAT THEY HAD TO HAVE HAD TO SUR, I COULD NEVER HAVE SURVIVED THAT.

GATES: NO, ME EITHER.

NO, I TELL MY STUDENTS, I WOULD'VE FLUNKED SLAVERY, YOU KNOW?

YOU KNOW... MCDONALD: GOT JUST A BIG, OLD F. GATES: IT'S TOO HARD.

YOU SEE THOSE SLAVE CABINS?

MCDONALD: NO RUNNING WATER, NO ANYTHING, AND-AND KNOWING, ESPECIALLY, YOU KNOW, I, I, WHEN I WAS PREGNANT WITH, UH, MY-MY LITTLE ONE, AND THINKING, YOU KNOW, IF I WERE ENSLAVED, THIS CHILD WOULD NOT BELONG TO ME.

GATES: YEAH.

THAT'S RIGHT.

MCDONALD: AND WHO KNOWS IF I WOULD BE ABLE TO KEEP MY BABY, OR IF THEY WOULD TAKE HER AWAY, OR, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, SO I, THE RESILIENCE, I JUST... GATES: CROSKY AND AMANDA WERE RESILIENT INDEED.

THEY WERE BOTH BORN SOMETIME IN THE EARLY 1840S...

MEANING THAT THEY LIKELY LIVED THE FIRST TWENTY YEARS OF THEIR LIVES IN BONDAGE.

THE EXPERIENCE, HOWEVER, DID NOT BREAK THEM.

IN THE 1870 CENSUS FOR FORSYTH COUNTY, GEORGIA, WE FOUND THEM ON A FARM, RAISING A FAMILY TOGETHER.

MCDONALD: "CROSKY HAYWOOD, 27, FARMHAND.

VALUE OF PERSONAL ESTATE: $100.

AMANDA, 25.

CHARLES, 4.

HIRAM, 2."

WOW.

GATES: THIS IS FIVE YEARS AFTER THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR.

MCDONALD: LOOK WHAT THEY DID.

LOOK AT WHAT THEY ACHIEVED.

SORRY, THAT'S WHAT I THINK.

GOOD FOR THEM.

GATES: GOOD FOR THEM.

MCDONALD: LOOK WHERE THEY STARTED, LOOK WHERE THEY ENDED UP, AND THAT THEIR CHILDREN WERE BORN FREE... GATES: YEAH.

MCDONALD: AND THEY MADE SOMETHING.

GATES: THEY ARE THE FOUNDATION.

MCDONALD: YEAH.

GATES: THAT'S THE ROOT OF YOUR TREE.

MCDONALD: YEAH.

THAT'S BEAUTIFUL.

GATES: WE WERE NOT DONE WITH THIS LINE OF AUDRA'S FAMILY.

THERE WAS A FINAL PIECE OF RESEARCH TO SHARE.

MOVING BACK ONE MORE GENERATION, WE CAME TO HER AMANDA'S PARENTS... EDMUND AND HANNAH KELLOGG.

AND AS WE SEARCHED FOR EVIDENCE OF THEIR LIVES, WE FOUND SOMETHING THAT WE HAD BEEN UNABLE TO FIND FOR ANY OF AUDRA'S OTHER ENSLAVED ANCESTORS: A DOCUMENT.

THE 1860 CENSUS CONTAINS A SLAVE SCHEDULE FOR A WHITE PLANTER NAMED "GEORGE KELLOGG," WHICH, BY CONVENTION, LISTS KELLOGG'S ENSLAVED PEOPLE, NOT BY NAME, BUT BY GENDER, COLOR, AND AGE.

AND THESE SCANT DETAILS ALLOWED AUDRA TO REACH A POWERFUL CONCLUSION.

GATES: NOW, REMEMBER, THIS CENSUS IS TAKEN IN 1860.

SO, EDMUND WOULD'VE BEEN IN HIS 50S.

MCDONALD: RIGHT.

GATES: WHILE YOUR FOURTH-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER HANNAH WOULD'VE BEEN IN HER 40S, OKAY?

TELL ME WHAT YOU READ.

MCDONALD: "MALE AGE 58, FEMALE AGE 45."

WOW.

IT'S SUCH A MIXTURE OF FEELINGS, 'CAUSE YOU WANT TO FIND THEM.

I, YOU KNOW, I WAS HOPING YOU COULD GET BACK AS FAR AS YOU GUYS COULD, AND THAT'S WONDERFUL, BUT THEN IT'S LIKE, AND HERE THEY ARE, LISTED AS PROPERTY.

GATES: MMM-HMM.

MCDONALD: EVEN THOUGH YOU KNOW IT, AND IT'S A PART OF OUR HISTORY, AND WE KNOW IT, IT'S SO, IT'S SO, IT'S INTERESTING TO SEE IT IN LITERALLY BLACK AND WHITE.

GATES: OH YEAH.

YEAH.

MCDONALD: IT'S AMAZING.

WOW.

THIS IS INCREDIBLE.

BOY, I CANNOT WAIT TO SHARE THIS, UM, OBVIOUSLY WITH MY FAMILY, BUT ESPECIALLY, UM, I MEAN, MY MOM, ESPECIALLY, AND MY DAUGHTERS.

GATES: WE HAD ALREADY INTRODUCED MANDY PATINKIN TO ANCESTORS ON HIS MOTHER'S FAMILY TREE WHO CAME TO AMERICA FROM THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE AND MADE A LIFE FOR THEMSELVES.

NOW, TURNING TO MANDY'S FATHER'S ROOTS, WE ENCOUNTERED PEOPLE FROM THE SAME PART OF THE WORLD WHO HAD A RADICALLY DIFFERENT FATE.

WE STARTED WITH HIS PATERNAL GRANDMOTHER, CELIA PINKOVITCH, WHOM MANDY KNEW WELL AND REMEMBERS VERY FONDLY... PATINKIN: WE LOVED HER.

SHE DECIDED NEVER TO REALLY LEARN ENGLISH VERY WELL.

GATES: UH-HUH.

PATINKIN: NEVER TO WRITE.

UH, SHE WOULD ALWAYS TALK LIKE THIS, "MANDY."

AND YOU'D, YOU'D, YOU'D HEAR, UH, YOU'D, YOU'D, YOU'D KNOCK.

(KNOCKING).

"WHO IS IT?"

IT'S MANDY.

"WAIT A MINUTE."

IT'S MANDY.

GRANDMA, IT'S, IT'S MANDY.

"WAIT A MINUTE, IDA, IDA."

SHE LIVED WITH HER DAUGHTER, IDA.

I'D OPEN THE DOOR AND SHE'D LOOK AT ME... "WHAT DO YOU, WHAT DO YOU WANT?

IT'S MANDY, LESTER'S SON.

"OF COURSE, YOU ARE, I KNOW IT."

GATES: THAT'S GREAT.

PATINKIN: BUT, SHE WAS JUST A CHARACTER, AND I'M GLAD I HAD HER.

SHE WAS REALLY ENTERTAINING IN HER WAYS.

GATES: CELIA LIVED UNTIL 1977.

BUT HER HUSBAND, MANDY'S GRANDFATHER MAX PATINKIN, DIED IN A CAR ACCIDENT BEFORE MANDY WAS BORN.

AS A RESULT, MANDY KNOWS FAR LESS ABOUT HIS GRANDFATHER THAN HE DOES ABOUT HIS GRANDMOTHER AND AS WE DUG INTO MAX'S ROOTS, WE UNCOVERED A SERIES OF STORIES THAT HAD NOT BEEN PASSED DOWN...

THE FIRST BEGAN WITH THE PASSENGER RECORD FOR A SHIP THAT ARRIVED IN NEW YORK IN MARCH OF 1906... PATINKIN: "NAME, MENDEL PATINKE, 18, OCCUPATION, SADDLER, WHETHER IN POSSESSION OF $50, AND IF LESS, HOW MUCH, $3, WHETHER GOING TO JOIN A RELATIVE, BROTHER DAVID PATINKE, 264 CHERRY STREET, NEW YORK."

GATES: SO, MANDY, YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE MOMENT YOUR PATERNAL GRANDFATHER STEPPED FOOT ON AMERICAN SOIL FOR THE FIRST TIME.

PATINKIN: WOW.

INCREDIBLE.

GATES: MENDEL WAS EIGHTEEN WHEN HE CAME TO AMERICA.

HE HAD THREE BUCKS TO HIS NAME.

THAT'S ABOUT $90 TODAY.

PATINKIN: WOW.

GATES: CAN YOU IMAGINE?

PATINKIN: AND HE ALREADY HAD A BROTHER, DAVID, HERE, WHO I DON'T KNOW WHO DAVID WAS.

GATES: WELL, AS YOU COULD SEE, YOUR GRANDFATHER WAS NOT THE FIRST PATINKIN TO COME OVER.

PATINKIN: NO.

GATES: HIS BROTHER DAVID HAD COME OVER AND SETTLED IN NEW YORK BY THE TIME MENDEL MADE HIS JOURNEY.

UH... PATINKIN: I WAS ALWAYS TOLD IT WAS GRANDPA MAX, MENDEL'S THE FIRST, BUT THIS IS NEWS.

GATES: DAVID PATINKIN IS MANDY'S GREAT UNCLE, BUT THERE'S A REASON THAT MANDY NEVER MET HIM...

WHILE MAX REMAINED IN AMERICA AND BECAME A PROSPEROUS BUSINESSMAN, DAVID ULTIMATELY DECIDED TO RETURN TO A SHTETL KNOWN AS SOKOLY IN WHAT IS NOW POLAND.

THE DECISION WOULD HAVE DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES.

PATINKIN: "IT IS TOLD OF RAV LEIBEL DOMBROVER, WHO HAD RABBINIC ORDINATION, THAT HIS SON, DAVID PATINKA, WAS WELL-ESTABLISHED AND THE OWNER OF A WORKSHOP FOR PROCESSING WOOL IN ONE OF THE VILLAGES, NOT FAR FROM SOKOLY, WHERE HE LIVED WITH HIS WIFE BASHKA AND THEIR FIVE CHILDREN.

ONE NIGHT, ROBBERS ATTACKED THEIR HOUSE.

THEY MURDERED DAVID, HIS WIFE, AND TWO OF HIS CHILDREN.

AT THAT TIME, THE REST OF THE CHILDREN WERE VISITING RELATIVES AND WERE THUS SAVED FROM DEATH."

WOW.

GATES: HE AND HIS WIFE, BASHKA, AND TWO OF THEIR CHILDREN WERE MURDERED DURING A ROBBERY.

PATINKIN: WOW.

THEY WERE HERE AND THEY LEFT.

GATES: AND THEY LEFT.

DAVID WAS SURVIVED BY THREE OF HIS CHILDREN, INCLUDING TWO BOYS, CHAIM AND LEJZOR.

WE WONDERED WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM AFTER THE MURDERS AND FOUND ONE OF THEM ON A SHIP, HEADING TO A FAMILIAR PLACE.

PATINKIN: "CHAIM PATINKA, AGE, 23, RACE, HEBREW.

WHETHER GOING TO JOIN A RELATIVE, UNCLE, MAX PATINKIN, CHICAGO."

GATES: IN MARCH OF 1939, CHAIM CAME TO THE UNITED STATES, LISTING YOUR GRANDFATHER, HIS UNCLE, AS THE PERSON HE WAS JOINING HERE.

IN AMERICA, HE WAS KNOWN AS "HAROLD PATINKA."

PATINKIN: OKAY, THAT, HE LIVED ACROSS THE STREET FROM US.

WOW.

GATES: AND MANDY, IT'S VERY LIKELY THAT YOUR GRANDFATHER PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE IN BRINGING HIS NEPHEW OVER.

PATINKIN: BRINGING, I'M SURE HE DID.

GATES: AT THE TIME, AMERICA'S IMMIGRATION LAWS PLACED QUOTAS ON THE TOTAL NUMBER OF IMMIGRANTS ALLOWED ENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES EACH YEAR FROM EACH COUNTRY.

THOSE ON THE QUOTA LIST OFTEN WAITED YEARS BEFORE THEY COULD FINALLY EMIGRATE, AND IT WAS IMPERATIVE THAT THEY HAD SOMEONE ALREADY LIVING IN THE UNITED STATES.

PATINKIN: YEAH.

GATES: LIKE YOUR GRANDFATHER MAX, TO VOUCH FOR THEM.

SO, IN A SENSE, HISTORY CAME FULL CIRCLE.

PATINKIN: AMAZING.

GATES: THOUGH CHAIM WAS NOW SAFE, HIS BROTHER WAS NOT.

LEJZOR REMAINED IN EUROPE AS WORLD WAR II APPROACHED... AND HE, ALONG WITH HIS WIFE AND CHILD, WERE LIVING IN THE TOWN OF BRANSK, POLAND WHEN THE NAZIS INVADED.

THEIR EXPERIENCE CAN BE GLEANED FROM WHAT'S KNOWN AS THE "YIZKOR BOOK" FOR BRANSK, A BOOK THAT WAS CREATED TO MEMORIALIZE THE COMMUNITY AFTER IT WAS OBLITERATED IN THE HOLOCAUST.

IT TELLS A STORY THAT'S UNRELENTINGLY GRIM.

IN THE WAKE OF THE NAZI INVASION, JEWISH BUSINESSES IN BRANSK WERE SEIZED... AND THE SYNAGOGUE WAS BURNED.

THEN, IN THE FALL OF 1941, THE GERMANS BEGAN TO CONFINE THE TOWN'S JEWISH POPULATION TO A GHETTO.

GATES: BOTH YOUR GRANDPARENTS WERE STILL ALIVE WHEN THIS WAS HAPPENING.

DID YOUR GRANDMA CELIA EVER TALK ABOUT THIS WITH YOU ALL?

PATINKIN: NO.

GATES: LEJZOR WOULD'VE BEEN ABOUT 29 YEARS OLD.

HIS WIFE BLUMA WOULD'VE BEEN-BEEN ABOUT 25, AND THEIR SON DAVID WOULD'VE JUST BEEN A FEW MONTHS OLD.

THEY HAD RELATIVES IN AMERICA, BUT NOW THEY WERE TRAPPED.

CAN YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE TRANSCRIBED SECTION?

PATINKIN: "THE GENDARMES APPEAR WHEN IT IS TIME TO LIGHT THE CANDLES AND REPORT THAT ON SHABBOS MORNING AT 7:00, EVERYONE MUST REPORT AS FAMILIES AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE GHETTO.

THEY ARE TOLD TO BRING ONLY BREAD AND WATER.

THERE IS TERRIBLE CRYING IN THE GHETTO."

WOW.

GATES: WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SEE THAT?

PATINKIN: I WORRY FOR THE WORLD.

THE UNTHINKABLE HAPPENED.

GATES: WHO COULD IMAGINE THE HOLOCAUST?

YOU KNOW IN YOUR WORST NIGHTMARES, YOU KNOW?

BUT YET THE HOLOCAUST HAPPENED.

PATINKIN: YEAH.

MY JOB IS TO IMAGINE.

GATES: RIGHT.

PATINKIN: THAT IS MY PROFESSION.

GATES: RIGHT.

PATINKIN: I HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO GET A HOLD OF THAT.

GATES: ON NOVEMBER 2, 1942, THE GERMANS AND THEIR COLLABORATORS SURROUNDED THE BRANSK GHETTO.

ITS INHABITANTS WERE LOADED ONTO WAGONS AND TAKEN TO A NEARBY TOWN, WHERE MORE THAN 2,000 OF THEM WERE PACKED INTO TRAINS BOUND FOR TREBLINKA, A CONCENTRATION CAMP.

THEIR FATE WAS NOW SEALED.

PATINKIN: "ON THE 10TH, EVERYONE IS ALREADY IN TREBLINKA.

ACCORDING TO THE EVIDENCE, ALL THE BRANSK JEWS, MEN AND WOMEN SEPARATELY, BREATHED THEIR LAST IN THE TREBLINKA GAS CHAMBERS ON THE 10TH OF NOVEMBER, 1942, AT 4:00 IN THE AFTERNOON.

THEIR BODIES WERE BURNED IN THE CREMATORIUM IN TREBLINKA."

GATES: HMM.

PATINKIN: OH MY GOD.

(CRIES).

YOU KNOW I WENT THERE, AND I WOULD SAY TO PEOPLE, I'VE BEEN INTERVIEWED SO MANY TIMES.

I WOULD, I SAID I DON'T THINK ANY OF MY RELATIVES DIED IN THE HOLOCAUST.

I, I WAS NEVER GIVEN THIS INFORMATION.

THIS IS, I DON'T HAVE WORDS.

THAT'S UNBELIEVABLE.

THAT'S UNREAL.

MAN.

PHEW.

GATES: UNFORTUNATELY, LEJZOR AND HIS WIFE WERE NOT THE ONLY MEMBERS OF MANDY'S FAMILY TO FALL VICTIM TO THE NAZIS... WE FOUND EVIDENCE THAT MORE THAN TWENTY OF MANDY'S PATERNAL RELATIVES PERISHED.

PATINKIN: WOW.

THIS IS INSANITY.

GATES: YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER ALONE LOST TWO SIBLINGS, TWO SISTERS IN LAW, NIECES, NEPHEWS, AND LIKELY COUNTLESS FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES.

AND THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO ABOUT IT.

PATINKIN: WOW.

GATES: YOU KNOW I THINK ABOUT YOUR FATHER.

THEY WERE HIS FIRST COUSINS.

THIS WAS NOT AN ABSTRACT RELATIONSHIP, YOU KNOW?

PATINKIN: HE KNEW EVERYONE IN THE FAMILY.

HE DID NOT SHARE THIS WITH US.

GATES: YEAH.

YEAH.

THEY WERE HIS FIRST COUSINS.

PATINKIN: I, LOOK, I ASKED A LOT OF QUESTIONS.

GATES: YEAH.

PATINKIN: AND I'M TELLING YOU, I SAT DOWN HERE THINKING, I'VE EVEN SAID TO PEOPLE, WELL, I DON'T THINK ANYBODY, ANY OF THE PATINKIN'S DIED IN THE HOLOCAUST.

GATES: RIGHT.

PATINKIN: AT THE TIME I ASKED, I DIDN'T KNOW WHY I WAS ASKING FOR THAT INFORMATION.

GATES: UH-HUH.

PATINKIN: I'M INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL TO HAVE IT.

GATES: UH-HUH.

PATINKIN: YES.

(SMOOCH).

GATES: WE HAD ALREADY TRACED AUDRA MCDONALD'S MATERNAL ROOTS BACK ALMOST 200 YEARS IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH, INTRODUCING TO HER TO ANCESTORS FROM GEORGIA, FLORIDA, AND VIRGINIA.

NOW, TURNING TO THE PATERNAL SIDE OF HER FAMILY TREE, WE FOUND OURSELVES IN A VERY DIFFERENT PART OF THE COUNTRY: FRESNO, CALIFORNIA, WHERE AUDRA GREW UP AND WHERE HER FATHER'S FAMILY HAD A SOMEWHAT MYSTERIOUS PAST.

MCDONALD: MY FATHER, HE TALKED A LOT ABOUT HIS, UM, HIS GRANDFATHER, AND THIS TOWN, UM, CALLED JERICHO.

BUT I, I, I DON'T REALLY HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THAT WAS, 'CAUSE I KNOW IT WAS SOME SORT OF SHANTY TOWN NEAR FRESNO OR IN FRESNO, SO, I JUST HEARD, LIKE, SORT OF WEIRD STORIES ABOUT, YOU KNOW, PAPA, AND JERICHO, THAT HE WAS, LIKE, THE MAYOR OF JERICHO OR SOMETHING.

THAT'S ALL I KNOW, REALLY.

GATES: IT TURNS OUT THAT "JERICHO" WAS MUCH MORE THAN A "SHANTY TOWN" TO AUDRA'S FAMILY.

THE STORY BEGINS WITH HER GREAT-GRANDPARENTS: JESSIE AND RUTH MCDONALD.

THEY WERE BORN IN MISSISSIPPI AT THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY.

AFTER MARRYING AND STARTING A FAMILY, THEY JOINED WHAT'S KNOWN AS "THE GREAT MIGRATION", THE MASS EXODUS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS OUT OF THE DEEP SOUTH.

WE FOUND THEM IN THE 1930 CENSUS FOR CALIFORNIA, ALONG WITH THEIR FIVE CHILDREN... WE IMAGINE THAT... MCDONALD: WOW.

GATES: THEY ARRIVED BETWEEN 1920 AND 1926.

MCDONALD: I DIDN'T, I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT THEY WERE ALL BORN IN MISSISSIPPI.

THAT'S, THAT'S SURPRISING.

WOW.

GATES: YOU KNOW, AND YOU KNOW ABOUT THE GREAT MIGRATION, BUT USUALLY WE THINK ABOUT PEOPLE FROM MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA AND LOUISIANA GOING NORTH... MCDONALD: NORTH.

GATES: YOU KNOW, GOING TO DETROIT OR CHICAGO OR PITTSBURGH, OR, BUT SOME PEOPLE WENT WEST AND YOUR FAMILY WENT WEST!

MCDONALD: WOW!

GATES: WE DON'T KNOW WHY THE MCDONALDS CHOSE TO SETTLE IN CALIFORNIA.

BUT WE HAVE A PRETTY GOOD IDEA WHY THEY LEFT THE JIM CROW SOUTH.

THE CENSUS SHOWS THAT JESSE WORKED AS A DRAY MAN IN MISSISSIPPI, LOADING AND DRIVING CARTS.

IT WAS HEAVY LABOR AND JESSE SEEMS TO HAVE KNOWN HE COULD DO BETTER.

AFTER MOVING TO FRESNO, HE BEGAN BUYING PARCELS OF LAND.

PERHAPS UNSURPRISINGLY, THE LAND HE WAS ABLE TO AFFORD WAS IN ONE OF THE WORST PARTS OF THE CITY.

BUT JESSE MADE THE MOST OF IT.

GATES: THIS MAP IS THE ORIGINAL BLUEPRINT FROM A 1937 REPORT OF THE HOME OWNERS LOAN CORPORATION FOR FRESNO, CALIFORNIA.

AND TO SHOW WHICH AREAS, TO SHOW WHICH AREAS OF THE CITY WERE GOOD INVESTMENTS, THE NEIGHBORHOODS WERE CLASSIFIED INTO FOUR CATEGORIES, FROM MOST DESIRABLE TO LEAST DESIRABLE.

MCDONALD: OH, MY.

GATES: AND AS YOU CAN SEE, THE RED AREAS ARE DESIGNATED TO THE SOUTHERN QUADRANTS OF THE CITY ON THE WEST SIDE, NEAR THE FOUL-SMELLING FACTORIES AND INDUSTRIAL BUSINESSES.

THESE NEIGHBORHOODS, OF COURSE, WERE THE LEAST DESIRABLE.

MCDONALD: YEAH.

GATES: THE MORE RACIALLY DIVERSE A NEIGHBORHOOD WAS, THE LOWER ITS SCORE.

MCDONALD: OH, WOW, REALLY?

GATES: AND YOU KNOW, WE KNOW THAT PRACTICE AS RED-LINING.

MCDONALD: YES.

GATES: AND CAN YOU TELL ME WHERE JESSE'S LOTS WERE LOCATED?

MCDONALD: JUST IN THE RED AREA, RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT.

GATES: YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER OWNED AT LEAST FOUR LOTS IN THIS AREA.

MCDONALD: OKAY.

GATES: YOUR AUNT SANDRA TOLD US THAT HE MAINTAINED A CAFÉ, A GROCERY STORE, AND A FEW APARTMENTS, AND THIS LITTLE COMMUNITY HAD A NAME: JERICHO.

MCDONALD: JERICHO.

OKAY.

WELL, THERE, NOW I UNDERSTAND.

GATES: DID YOU KNOW HE MAINTAINED A CAFÉ AND A GROCERY STORE?

MCDONALD: NO.

I MEAN, I JUST, I MEAN, MY FATHER WOULD SAY, YOU KNOW, "PAPA HAD JERICHO," BUT I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THAT MEANT.

I JUST DIDN'T PUT ANY OF IT TOGETHER, BUT I HAD ALWAYS HEARD THE NAME JERICHO, AND THAT'S WHAT PAPA OWNED.

GATES: WELL, WE SPOKE TO ONE OF YOUR RELATIVES, A COUSIN NAMED EDWARD BURKE, YOU KNOW HIM?

MCDONALD: EDWARD.

YES.

YES, OF COURSE.

GATES: SO, WE SPOKE TO EDWARD BURKE, AND HE LIVED THERE FOR A SHORT TIME, AND HE RECALLS YOUR GRANDMOTHER EVELYN WORKING THE CASH REGISTER AT THE GROCERY STORE.

MCDONALD: OH WOW.

GATES: BUT HE ALSO TOLD US LOTS OF BLUES BANDS CAME TO JERICHO TO PLAY IN THAT CAFÉ IN THE 1930'S.

MCDONALD: OH, THAT'S FANTASTIC.

I ALWAYS WONDERED WHERE JERICHO WAS.

SO, NOW I HAVE SORT OF AN IDEA.

GATES: IT WAS ITS OWN LITTLE COMMUNITY.

IT WAS A COMMUNITY WITHIN THE COMMUNITY.

MCDONALD: WOW.

THAT'S INCREDIBLE.

GATES: THERE'S NOTHING LEFT OF JERICHO TODAY.

IT DISSIPATED IN THE 1960S AS AFRICAN AMERICANS MOVED OUT.

NEVERTHELESS, WE WERE ABLE TO PROVIDE AUDRA WITH A PRECIOUS GLIMPSE OF WHAT ONCE WAS...

EVER SEE THAT PHOTO?

MCDONALD: NO.

GATES: THAT'S YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER JESSE, POSING WITH THE HAMM'S BEER LADY AT HIS GROCERY STORE.

THIS IS JESSE MCDONALD, IN JERICHO.

MCDONALD: OH MY GOODNESS.

GATES: ABOUT 1960.

MCDONALD: OH, WOW.

LOOK AT THAT, AND HAMM'S MISS REFRESHING SMILE.

"REACH FOR THE BIG ONE, HAMM'S."

I LOVE THIS.

GATES: ISN'T THAT COOL?

MCDONALD: OH, IN HIS LITTLE SUIT.

OH, I LOVE THAT.

GATES: JESSE REMAINED A RESIDENT OF FRESNO FOR MORE THAN FOUR DECADES.

UNTIL HIS DEATH IN FEBRUARY OF 1966.

ACCORDING TO HIS OBITUARY, HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE NAACP, AS WELL AS A NUMBER OF RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS, AND TRULY, IT SEEMS, A PILLAR OF THE COMMUNITY HE HELPED FOUND...

SO, WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER'S CHARACTER?

HE WENT FROM UNLOADING A CART IN MISSISSIPPI TO OWNING A BUSINESS IN CALIFORNIA.

MCDONALD: YEAH, I THINK THAT'S WONDERFUL, YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT SHOWS THAT HE, HE WAS LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE, THAT HE WAS WANTING TO PROVIDE A BETTER LIFE FOR HIS FAMILY, AND UM, AND BETTER CIRCUMSTANCES.

GATES: DOES LEARNING ABOUT THIS, ANYTHING THAT WE'VE SHARED TODAY, MAKE YOU THINK ANY DIFFERENTLY ABOUT YOURSELF?

I KNOW YOU HAVEN'T HAD A LOT OF TIME TO PROCESS IT.

MCDONALD: IT JUST, I JUST, I, I, THE ONLY THING THAT KEEPS COMING UP FOR ME IS, IS, IS HOW LUCKY I AM, AND HOW RESILIENT AND STRONG THEY WERE, I GET TO REAP, IN SOME WAY, ALL THE REWARDS OF WHAT, YOU KNOW, THEY WERE IN THERE TOILING AND TRYING TO GROW, YOU KNOW?

AND SO, THEY DID IT.

THEY DID WHAT THEY SET OUT TO DO.

I WISH THEY COULD'VE SEEN MORE IN THEIR LIFETIMES, BUT, I THINK THEY WOULD BE VERY, VERY PLEASED.

GATES: THE PAPER TRAIL HAD RUN OUT FOR EACH OF MY GUESTS.

IT WAS TIME TO UNFURL THEIR FAMILY TREES.

MCDONALD: OH, WOW.

OH MY GOODNESS, LOOK AT THAT.

GATES: NOW FILLED WITH NAMES THEY'D NEVER HEARD BEFORE.

PATINKIN: OH WOW.

GATES: NONE OF THESE PEOPLE EVER WILL BE LOST AGAIN.

PATINKIN: OH MY GOD.

WELL, WE ARE GONNA FRAME THIS BEAUTIFULLY AND PUT IT IN THE MOST PROMINENT PLACE.

GATES: SEEING THEIR ANCESTORS LAID OUT BEFORE THEM, STRETCHING BACK CENTURIES, ALLOWED EACH TO REFLECT ON THE WOMEN AND MEN WHO HAD DONE SO MUCH TO LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR THEIR SUCCESS.

MCDONALD: IT MAKES ME APPRECIATE, I MEAN, REALLY, THE OVERWHELMING SENSE OF GRATITUDE, AND TALK ABOUT RESPECTING YOUR ELDERS.

I RESPECTED THEM ANYWAY, BUT.

GATES: OH, YEAH.

NOW... MCDONALD: I BOW, AND I THANK THEM AGAIN AND AGAIN.

PATINKIN: I'M A CRYBABY.

THAT'S OKAY, BUT I'VE CRIED IN WAYS THAT ARE DIFFERENT FROM HOW I'VE CRIED BEFORE, AND I CAN'T DEFINE WHAT THAT DIFFERENCE IS, BUT IT WAS SOMETHING UNFAMILIAR, AND I'M GRATEFUL FOR IT.

I FEEL MORE ALIVE FROM THIS JOURNEY THAN I EVER IMAGINED.

GATES: THAT'S BEAUTIFUL.

PATINKIN: AND I CAN'T THANK YOU AND EVERYONE WHO DOES THIS WITH YOU, I CANNOT THANK YOU ALL ENOUGH.

GATES: MY TIME WITH MY GUESTS WAS RUNNING OUT, BUT THERE WAS ONE FINAL REVELATION TO COME.

WHEN WE COMPARED AUDRA'S DNA TO THAT OF OTHER PEOPLE WHO'VE BEEN IN THIS SERIES, WE FOUND A SIGNIFICANT MATCH, EVIDENCE OF A DISTANT COUSIN WHOM SHE DIDN'T KNOW SHE HAD.

A LINK THAT WOULD BRING US BACK, ONCE MORE, TO BROADWAY.

ALL RIGHT, YOU WANNA MEET YOUR COUSIN?

MCDONALD: I DO.

GATES: OKAY, PLEASE TURN THE PAGE.

MCDONALD: OH MY GOD.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

NO WAY.

I KISSED MY COUSIN.

OH MY GOD.

GATES: AUDRA IS DNA COUSINS WITH SEAN "DIDDY" COMBS, WHO ONCE STARRED ALONGSIDE HER IN A REVIVAL OF "A RAISIN IN THE SUN"... MCDONALD: THAT IS AMAZING.

HILARIOUS, OH MY GOSH.

WELL... GATES: YOU AND SEAN SHARE AN IDENTICAL STRETCH OF DNA ON YOUR 12TH CHROMOSOME.

YOU HAVE 23 CHROMOSOMES.

THAT MEANS YOU SHARE A DISTANT ANCESTOR SOMEWHERE ON YOUR FAMILY TREES.

ISN'T THAT AMAZING?

MCDONALD: OH MY GOSH, I LOVE THAT.

GATES: THAT'S THE END OF OUR JOURNEY WITH AUDRA MCDONALD AND MANDY PATINKIN.

JOIN ME NEXT TIME WHEN WE UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF THE PAST FOR NEW GUESTS ON ANOTHER EPISODE OF "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".