The Perilous Story of David Duchovny's Family Finally Revealed | Finding Your Roots | Ancestry®

Actor David Duchovny has longed to find a connection to his paternal grandfather for decades. Now, Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. brings him closure by sharing the heart-breaking, but powerful story of Moshe Duchovny.

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00:00 Introduction
0:23 David Duchovny seeks answers about his grandfather
0:49 David Duchovny gets emotional reading his grandfather’s petition for citizenship
2:00 David Duchovny traces his roots to Russia
4:24 David Duchovny learns about his Jewish ancestors’ hardship
6:24 David Duchovny’s emotional reaction

[AncestryUS]

Have your family members ever shared stories from their youth? Drop your experience below!

[samhersch]

I went to Grace Church School in New York for first and second grade, 1996-1998. As one of the only people with a disability ever in the history of that school, one of the strongest advocates for my success was the lower school principal, Margret "Meg" Duchovny--his mother.

[waketp]

David is one of those actors that you just cannot hate.
He carries himself humble.

[greencello]

My paternal grandfather served in the US army during WW2. Like many veterans from that war, he rarely talked about his experiences. He borrowed a book by Stephen Ambrose about soldiers during the European theater of the war from my dad. My dad didn't get the book back until after Grandpa died. In every available space that he could find, Grandpa wrote down his own experiences that Ambrose didn't know about or got wrong from speculation. His life after the war was a good journey. He became an engineer, married my grandmother, raised a family, and became an active part of his community for many years. Served on the city council for 12 years, 5 of them as mayor. He carried a physical reminder of his military service for the rest of his mortal life. Caused by mortar shrapnel in Germany, he lost feeling in 3 digits of his left hand. He had to be careful, especially with his woodworking projects, which were among the several art projects he undertook after he retired.

[jonelfilipek]

David bears a striking resemblance to his grandfather, Moishe (and his own father, Amram.) A strong and intelligent gene pool. Amram was highly educated and played important roles in the Jewish-American community. He has so much to be grateful for in his family’s struggles. In just two generations, they all became successful, a testament to their will and endurance. I’m happy that he was able to find out so much about his family and that he can pass this along to his own children.

[Shalommaranatha]

Most of my mom’s family perished in the Holocaust except for a literal handful, a remnant who went on; to not just survive; but thrive. We are of proud Polish & Russian Jewish ancestry.

But I grew up with the fear passed on from my mother’s mom who always has this fear & rarely came out of her room, afraid that somehow one day; she would be taken back & thrown into the camps; so I understand the emotion when reading & seeing the names listed from her family in death records from the camps; 70 plus members, almost an entire generation.

For years it was hush hush, talked of in quiet corners, in Yiddish, in Polish; in Russian so us children wouldn’t here, but children pick up so much more than you realize. To this day I have a fear of trains, we pass on our fears just as we pass on our love etc from generations past, we are a part of their DNA. But we can happily say we survived and are almost 70 strong now. ❤

[OphelieH]

He has so much empathy, I cried at his emotion, wanted to give him a hug. Great program.

[AnthonyP]

This is lovely and also painful to watch. Painful when you realise what David's ancestors and relatives went through, but lovely to see genuine emotion on his face after all these years. I'm so happy for him that he connected to his people

[vavietipoun]

David struggling with his emotions was a poignant moment to watch. His family was resilient, strong and never gave up. Such an inspiration for David. Hope he will find a way to transcribe this heritage into a novel.

[anniepurse]

After watching Ancestry for years I found David to be the most genuine person to ever be on the show. Nothing flashy or phoney about him. Happy he got to know his family history, the happy and sad parts. Thanks David. Hugs

[SQTierHog]

At 5:05, man, that don't make you cry? Just as he was getting choked up, I surely was.
Many times we see these actors, they play their parts so well, that until moments like this, we realize that they are just as human as the rest of us!

[davidsluijsmans]

Adore David so much, his family had a difficult time, but like he said, they never gave up! Beautiful:)

[hdragongirl]

The Slavic translation of David’s last name means “a person who is spiritual”.

[maritesshoy]

"They didn't give up." So many brave ancestors. RIP

[skontheroad]

My great-grandparents were also from the Pale (from Bialystok--where the Bialy was invented!). My great-grandmother's name was also Duba (they are pronouncing it wrong--it is Dub, like RUB--DUB-A). I named one of my daughters after her--Duba Leah. It helps keep the connection alive!
Edit--In fairness, the way it is spelled in Hebrew--they are pronouncing it as it is written. It just is not normally written that way. It is a diminutive of Devorah. Which is Deborah in English. Just FYI.

[heathersmith]

What a fascinating story of resilience. Thank you Mr Duchovny for sharing this with us.

[Sevaanmeneemuteimeeonneks]

David was my favourite actor when i was a child and still is, awesome to hear all this!

[AndySaenz]

I remember seeing him as agent Mulder on the X Files! He’s a great actor!

[theresagomez]

This is probably my favorite episode of this show I've ever seen.

[RetendoArcade]

David Duchovny is one of my fave actors, and man to hear the story of his family and his emotion, man this hits the feels. Glad they made it here to the US even if this isn't where they wanted to be.