01 Opening night: Hedayat Osyan and Jean
They came with very few possessions, and a cardboard box containing documents, correspondence and the key to their home
Jean Lederer Jean was the guest speaker at the public launch of Waves of Migration in January this year. I never thought in my life that I would be standing here to talk about my family, the Lederers, but first I want to thank the maritime museum for bringing history to life. First you published our story in your recent book 100 stories from the Australian National Maritime Museum, getting it spoton about the Lederers’ escape from Vienna, and now it’s in your new light show. I want to thank the whole team of the maritime museum for doing it so well. Arthur and Valerie Lederer and their son Walter came to Australia in 1939 on the Orient liner SS Orama with very few possessions and a cardboard box. It contained documents, correspondence, and the keys to their home and business, and my knowledge comes from the stories Walter told me about each and every item in the box. You see, Walter became my husband. Valerie Lederer was a gracious woman and although their entire belongings were lost in the war, she brought with her trinkets that were precious to her. They included the key to the house and a teeny little heart-shaped cardboard brooch that was the very first gift Walter ever gave her. Walter was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and Valerie brought that spoon with her. To narrow down the history of the Lederer family, I have chosen two highlights. Arthur Lederer had a business making regalia uniforms and formal outfits for royalty, nobility and famous people around the globe. His clients included Hungarian 6 SIGNALS 102 MARCH–MAY 2013
Lederer (front row) at the light show launch, flanking the show’s curator Kim Tao. 02 A simple keepsake embodied powerful links to the home they were forced to flee. ANMM Collection, gift from Walter and Jean Lederer donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program 03 Scenes from the Lederer family’s departure from Nazi-occupied Austria.
counts, the Knights of Malta, the Prince of Japan, the Maharajah of Jaipur in India, King Farouk of Egypt, the Vatican, the Vanderbilts in America; each is a story of its own. Back in the 1930s there were no photocopying machines. So Arthur Lederer had photos taken of some valuable documents, thinking wherever he ended up he would start up again. One document refers to an order by Franz Joseph, Emperor of the Hungarian-Austrian Empire, for a field marshal’s uniform as a gift to King Edward VII of England. Why am I telling you this? Outside our Conservatorium of Music here in Sydney, on Macquarie Street, there is a statue of King Edward VII on a horse in a uniform. Every time we drove past, we elbowed each other and said ‘Is that the uniform?’ At the time the Lederer family was trying to leave Vienna because of the German occupation, Arthur wrote to his exalted customers from around the world, asking them to invite him into their country because the bureaucraçy made it impossible to get exit papers. They all wrote back ‘Sorry, but good luck’.
at the museum. To my everlasting happiness she choreographed a ballet dedicated to this poem. She had a door on the stage through which the dancers danced. The performance took place in the Glenbrook Theatre, to a full house! On the ship to Australia, Arthur Lederer sent a Marconigram (telegram) from ship to shore to the Maharajah of Jaipur, to advise they were passing through Colombo in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. Walter told me that the Maharajah welcomed them and took them to lunch. They were seated at a long table and behind each guest there was a male servant in livery. Luxury sublime! Do you remember in the movie The Sound of Music, when the Von Trapp family sang their farewell song on the stage of the Salzburg Theatre? Well back in 1935, the Lederers were on holiday in Salzburg and Walter as a young boy stood in the doorway and collected autographs of the famous people performing at the Salzburg Festival … people such as Toscanini, Fritz Kreisler, Bruno Walter, sopranos and tenors from the Milan Opera. These autographs popped out of the cardboard box and have been placed in a gallery in New York.
Arthur Lederer wrote a poem in June 1939 while still in Vienna and it is titled ‘Doors’. The poem is highlighted in the museum’s book 100 Stories. The gist of the poem is that some doors are friendly and some are grey and uninviting … and he hoped his doors would always be welcoming.
Sadly, Arthur Lederer died after one year in Australia. But his wife and son Walter – my husband – integrated quickly and made a life for themselves. Walter married me, a native Aussie. He became a bespoke tailor following in his father’s footsteps and spent most of his spare time doing benevolent work here in Sydney.
To my romantic mind I felt he had written this poem under dire circumstances, in 1939 under German occupation, disappointed that none of his customers had offered to help. However, to my delight, a ballet choreographer called Carol Maddox noticed that poem in the Lederer showcase here
I had better round off here. I wish the maritime museum every success with the light show. I thank you all for listening and I thank the museum for giving me this honour to address you.