The house at Tiktin, Poland WhereWeComeFrom.org
About this project

You Only Have One Chance to Write the Story of Your Life

Todd Cohn recording a relative's memories
Village Shalom, Leawood, Kansas · 2016

During a class at Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem in 2005 that my wife, Naomi, and I were attending, Rabbi Doniel Katz shared a thought that stayed with me all these years:

“You only have one chance to write the story of your life.”

Those words changed the way I think about family history.

Every generation has a choice. We can let our traditions fade, our photographs gather dust, our stories disappear, and our names be forgotten. Or we can preserve them for those who come after us.

For most of my life, I’ve interviewed relatives, searched archives and libraries, visited cemeteries across continents, collected thousands of photographs, and written books to tell our family’s story.

The CBS Family Club gathered at a long table
CBS Family Club Installation, Twin Oaks, Kansas City, 1954

Long before this website existed, members of my family founded the CBS Family Club in Kansas City in 1951. The Constitution stated that the purpose of the club was

“promoting and creating a family spirit among its members. This family spirit can be developed and enhanced by regular meetings, by activities designed to recall the older members and acquaint the younger ones with their ancestors and their accomplishments. By identifying himself with his descendants and with the fellow members of the club, it is hoped to develop a family loyalty, spirit, and pride.”

Over the years, that mission became much more than family club meetings. It created a network of relatives who looked out for one another and stayed connected across generations. In practice, the mission was to:

  • Help relatives immigrate from the former Soviet Union and settle into new lives in America.
  • Support family members during illnesses and other difficult times.
  • Bring cousins together and introduce younger generations to one another.
  • Celebrate weddings, births, anniversaries, and other family milestones.
  • Preserve our family’s stories, traditions, photographs, and history.

That spirit has stayed with me throughout this journey. While this website preserves our photographs, documents, stories, and traditions, I hope it also helps keep our family connected for generations to come.

Mapping the family's roots in Vienna
Vienna, Austria · 2022 — mapping our family’s roots
Reading a headstone in Warsaw, Poland
Warsaw, Poland · 2023 — tracing our family’s past

By understanding where we came from, we better understand who we are. And when we understand who we are, we’re reminded that we’re responsible for the legacy we leave behind.

My hope is that this website becomes more than a collection of names and dates. I hope it becomes a place where future generations can better understand the people, the choices, the sacrifices, the courage, and the love that made our lives possible.

Every family has a story.
Welcome to ours.
Todd Cohn
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