# Under Other Names > Where Identity Was Chosen, Imposed, or Erased ## Posts - [Tadeusz Matacz – A Polish Hero Extraordinaire](https://underothernames.com/tadeusz-matacz-a-polish-hero-extraordinaire/): Folks, I am happy to announce the release of the second tape in the series of tapes covering the heroic story of Hava’s life under the Nazis. Both tapes can be viewed here:  https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAzROI8AoDTs&si=Jee-B0eYrDNu22qX Hava turns 90 this year—please give her a shout. She was only three when the Nazis entered Poland and five when they reached her hometown of Lviv. In Part 1, Hava and I discussed life in Lviv before the Nazi occupation and the months leading up to her escape. Part 2 focuses on Tadeusz Matacz, whose courage was extraordinary. He and his sister risked their lives to [...] - [Share your story: Under Other Names is opening its doors to contributors](https://underothernames.com/open-to-contributors/): The project grew out of my own family history, but its scope is not limited to any particular community, religion, or historical period. I welcome stories about people who concealed, changed, inherited, or reinvented their identities—by choice, necessity, or circumstances beyond their control. The research does not have to be finished. A family mystery, a newly discovered document, or an investigation still unfolding can be a story worth sharing. Sometimes the search itself is part of the story. Contributors retain full copyright to their work. Editing is light and collaborative. If you have a story—or the beginnings of one—that might belong [...] - [Looking for Uncle Michael. Part 1: A Missing Piece of the Family Puzzle](https://underothernames.com/looking-for-uncle-michael-part-1-a-missing-piece-of-the-family-puzzle/): I have decided to look for my great-uncle Michael. The time to do it is now, I realized—there will not be another chance. No one will do it after I am gone. This is the opening chapter of that search. What I know about him amounts to very little. We never met. Michael Rubin, the younger brother of my grandfather Moshe Rubin, was born in Poland (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) in 1904. He studied mechanical engineering somewhere in Europe—the city and school are unknown. In 1934 he left for Palestine, where his brother Carl Rubin, already a well-known architect, [...] - [Hava's Story, Part 1: Living under Nazi Occupation - The Early Years](https://underothernames.com/talking-with-my-aunt-the-early-years/): A child learns, almost instinctively, how to survive. In this conversation, Hava recalls her early childhood in wartime Europe—beginning in 1941, when the Germans entered Lviv. What emerges is not a single dramatic moment, but a series of quiet adaptations: speaking the “right” language, accepting a new name, moving between identities, and living for years separated from family. She is sent away under an assumed identity. She lives with strangers, prays in churches, sings to soldiers, hides what she knows, and learns—without being taught—how to belong wherever she must. Later, she reflects on these years not as tragedy alone, but as [...] - [An Author Interview Published on FOREWORD magazine](https://underothernames.com/an-author-interview-published-on-foreword-magazine/): I’m pleased to share a new interview about I Want This in Writing. One of the themes we explored is how our lives are shaped not only by the people we know, but also by people we never had the chance to meet. Along the way, we talked about family, memory, uncertainty, and the unexpected discoveries that come from trying to understand the past. I hope you’ll enjoy reading it. The Family I Thought I Knew — Articles — Foreword Reviews - [Spinoza and the Butterfly Effect. Part 3: The Tornado Strikes](https://underothernames.com/spinoza-and-the-butterfly-effect-part-3-the-tornado-strikes/): In Part 3 of this series, I will focus on the aftermath of Salomon’s rebellion, and on his granddaughter Olga. I have been fascinated by her life history ever since I learned about her. That was in 2016, as I shared in I Want This in Writing (2026). A quick reminder of the main characters: Salomon and Matityahu are the two Rubin brothers estranged following the herem placed on Salomon. Isidor is Salomon and wife Malka’s only child to reach adulthood. Isidor married Alma Lowenstein. Nathan Lowenstein, Baron of Opoka, is Alma’s brother. Olga is Alma and Isidor daughter, and as [...] - [A review of I Want This in Writing appeared in Foreword Reviews](https://underothernames.com/a-review-of-i-want-this-in-writing-appeared-in-foreword-reviews/): “Their stories complicate accepted narratives about Jewish life before and during World War II.” That line comes close to the heart of the book—less about retelling history than about unsettling the versions we think we understand. Here’s the review:https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/i-want-this-in-writing/ - [Spinoza and the Butterfly Effect. Part 2: The Gathering Storm](https://underothernames.com/spinoza-and-the-butterfly-effect-part-2-the-gathering-storm/): In Part 1 of this series, I discussed Uriel Da Costa and Spinoza and their encounters with the Jewish religious authorities, and the subsequent herems. Uriel da Costa and Baruch Spinoza rank high on the list of grand herems. “Grand” like in theatrical and vicious. They both took place in the early 17th century, almost 400 years ago. Two hundred years after they took place, these herems shook my family, the Rubins, to the core. And the first hit was also in the form of a herem. That one took place roughly 170 years ago. The Rubins have felt ongoing aftershocks [...] - [Spinoza and the Butterfly Effect. Part 1: The Wing Flaps](https://underothernames.com/spinoza-and-the-butterfly-effect-part-1-the-wing-flaps/): Chaos Theory describes the Butterfly Effect as a phenomenon by which small disturbances in complex systems can produce large, unpredictable consequences over time. The meteorologist Edward Lorenz first identified this principle while studying weather patterns, observing that tiny variations in the initial conditions of his models could lead to dramatically different outcomes. In a lecture delivered in 1972, he captured the idea in a famous question—“Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?”—suggesting that seemingly minor disturbances can initiate chains of consequences that unfold far away in time and space. History sometimes behaves in [...] - [Dr. Trojanowski and the baptism of my grandfather](https://underothernames.com/dr-trojanowski-and-the-baptism-of-my-grandfather/): How many people you know tell stories of their elders’ penises outside of a therapist’s office? If not, I’ll go first. Dr. Trojanowski is the miracle worker who performed a few cosmetic surgeries on the penises of my elders. I recounted his story in one of my recent posts. The surgeries he performed attempted to make each of them the proud owner of an Aryan penis. How did that play out? I am still trying to figure that out. But I know that, at least in my father’s case, the operation was not too damaging. I am living proof of that. [...] - [The Vanishing Doctor](https://underothernames.com/the-vanishing-doctor/): How a Polish doctor helped Jews survive Nazi identity checks by changing their bodies — and sometimes their official deaths. My father survived the Holocaust in part because a Polish doctor performed surgery to make him look less Jewish. In my book I Want This in Writing (Artur’s Rules of Conspiracy) I described surgical miracles performed by a Polish doctor during WWII. Documents I recently discovered in German post–World War II archives finally revealed his name: Dr. Andrzej Trojanowski. The good Dr. Trojanowski — Dr. T, if I may — saved many lives. Until recently, I knew very little about Dr. [...] - [The Women in my Father’s Life](https://underothernames.com/the-women-in-my-fathers-life/): Prologue (2025) Three women played significant roles in my father’s life. The only one I knew was my mother. It wasn’t until after his death, while sifting through his personal notes, that I discovered the other two women: Ms. Franceska [Franciszka] Mann and Mrs. Haber. My mother had no knowledge of these women and had never heard of them. My father had met the two “other” women during his teenage years, merely greeting them and observing from afar on occasion. He loved them both, much like one might develop an affection for a movie star. It’s likely they never noticed him, [...] - [Artur’s Rules of Conspiracy](https://underothernames.com/arturs-rules-of-conspiracy/): Born Jewish and living in Nazi-occupied Poland with a borrowed Christian identity, Artur had to adapt to new rules of behavior. To endure meant blending in flawlessly, leaving no trace, and accepting isolation as the price of life. This is a meditation on lives lived under borrowed identities, where survival depends on disappearance, trust becomes perilous, and the self endures only by learning how to vanish in plain sight. Part One: Rules to Live By Artur’s Laws of Conspiracy for Life Under the Nazis • Move away from your hometown to where nobody knows you. • Get yourself a new name [...] ## Pages - [Share Your Story](https://underothernames.com/share-your-story/) - [News & Updates Archive](https://underothernames.com/news-and-updates/archive/) - [News & Updates](https://underothernames.com/news-and-updates/) - [Stories](https://underothernames.com/stories/) - [Contact the Site Editor](https://underothernames.com/contact-the-editor/) - [About This Project](https://underothernames.com/about-this-project/) - [Book Excerpt](https://underothernames.com/i-want-this-in-writing/book-excerpt/) - [About the Author](https://underothernames.com/i-want-this-in-writing/about-the-author/) - [Home](https://underothernames.com/) - [I Want This in Writing](https://underothernames.com/i-want-this-in-writing/) ## Optional - [Agent (MCP protocol)](websites-agents.hostinger.com/underothernames.com/mcp) [comment]: # (Generated by Hostinger Tools Plugin)