Centre News - Spring 2021 - Jewish Holocaust Centre

Centre News SPRING 2021

The magazine of the Jewish Holocaust Centre, Melbourne, Australia

Telling the world what happened

ISSN 0816-8946 Registered by Australia Post Publication No. VBH 7236

JHC Board Co-Presidents

Vice-President Treasurer Secretary Executive Directors

Board Directors

Pauline Rockman OAM Sue Hampel OAM Michael Debinski Richard Michaels Mary Slade Abram Goldberg OAM Helen Mahemoff OAM Elly Brooks Professor George Braitberg AM Melanie Raleigh Paul Kegen Phil Lewis Simon Szwarc

JHC Foundation Chairperson Trustees

Helen Mahemoff OAM Allen Brostek Jeffrey Mahemoff AO Joey Borensztajn AM Nina Bassat AM Phil Lewis

The Jewish Holocaust Centre is dedicated to the memory of the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators between 1933 and 1945.

We consider the finest memorial to all victims of racist policies to be an education program that aims to combat antisemitism, racism and prejudice in the community, and fosters understanding between people.

From the Presidents Pauline Rockman & Sue Hampel

IN THIS ISSUE From the Presidents

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Editor’s note

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The new JHC comes to life 4 Mirka: survivor, storyteller, creator and maker of magic 6

Office of the CEO Museum Director & CEO Jayne Josem Executive Assistant Navrutti Gupta

The Eichmann trial: a different perspective 10

Organisational Support

Judgment Dey: trial testimony of Halina Strnad 12

Chief Operating Officer Finance Manager Special Projects Officer Administrative Support Officers Volunteer Welfare Officer

Laura Etyngold Roy John Daniel Feldman Georgina Alexander Karen Miksad Rae Silverstein

Education Head of Education Pedagogy Specialist Education Programs Officer Education Officers

Dr Anna Hirsh

Phillip Maisel retires at 99 years young 17 Malou 18 ‘I am now a witness’: JHC education programs continue to change attitudes

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IHRA: countering Holocaust distortion and advancing Holocaust education

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Strengthening links between the JHC and the USC Shoah Foundation

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Phillip Maisel OAM Julia Reichstein Jasmine Munn McDonnell

Engagement and Experience Head of Engagement & Experience Grants & Partnerships Manager Digital Media Producer Marketing & Communications Specialist Events & Community Relations Officer

Honouring their memory 15 Eva Szego: making a mark on Melbourne 16

Dr Simon Holloway Lisa Phillips Tracey Collie Fanny Hoffman Melanie Attar Soo Isaacs

Collections & Research Manager of Collections & Research Director of Testimonies Project Librarian & Information Manager Collections Intern

Keeping the Erdi legacy alive 14

Jennifer Levitt Maxwell Lorelle Lake Robbie Simons Tahney Fosdike

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s we prepare this report for the Centre News we are mindful of being in the second year of a pandemic that has had such an enormous effect on us all.

Regardless of the challenges facing us, the Jewish Holocaust Centre has been operating extremely well. Our building project is on track towards an August 2022 opening. It is so exciting to go past Selwyn Street, Elsternwick, and see the new building emerging. Thank you to all our marvellous supporters. It is through your generosity that we are able to build a world-class museum.

At our temporary site, the Centre’s fantastic team, ably led by Jayne Josem, is coping with the multiple effects of continual lockdowns. Our wonderful survivors are back working, both in the online delivery of our educational program, as well on site, Covid restrictions permitting.

We are thrilled to announce that another educational interactive the Centre created during lockdown won a national award.

‘Understanding Through Testimony’ won Best Website Program at the Museums Australasia Multimedia & Publication Design Awards (MAPDA). Congratulations to all the team!

Mazal tov to our wonderful volunteer Max Wald, as well as long-time associate Izydor Marmur, for receiving well-deserved honours in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

Curatorial Assistant Redevelopment Support Multimedia Consultant

William Cooper remembered

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Community news

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Editor’s note

Centre News Editor Editorial Assistance Yiddish Editor

Ruth Mushin

Sandy Saxon Gavan O’Connor Claire Jordaan Arek Dybel Ruth Mushin Lina Leibovich Alex Dafner

On the cover: Phillip Maisel OAM Photo: 2 Mark JHCRoper Centre News

Pauline Rockman OAM and Sue Hampel OAM are Co-Presidents of the Jewish Holocaust Centre.

New acquisitions 23

Aviva Weinberg

Redevelopment Consultants

‘It happened once, it should not have happened, but it did. It must not happen again, but it could. That is why education about the Holocaust is fundamental,’ said Goran Persson, former Swedish Prime Minister, when he opened the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust in 2000. These powerful words embody why our work at the Jewish Holocaust Centre is of prime importance.

Together with the legacy of our beloved survivors, this is our inspiration and our motivation to continue.

Take care, stay safe and Shana tova.

At the Annual General Meeting in May, we farewelled Board members Allen Brostek and Anita Frayman. We thank them for all their efforts and wish them well in their future endeavours.

Museum Senior Curator

We are excited to be spearheading the creation of a new alliance. As Holocaust museums are opening in all Australian states, the Australian Holocaust Museums Alliance (AHMA) will soon be launched. It will serve as a network of institutions working collaboratively to advance Holocaust education for the advancement of Holocaust programming, awareness, remembrance, education and research.

PO Box 1018, Elsternwick VIC 3185 t: (03) 9528 1985 w: www.jhc.org.au

NOTE: During the redevelopment the JHC will not be operating as a museum for the public but will continue to host events. These will be advertised via the ‘In the Loop’ e-newsletter.

Please visit our website to subscribe.

This publication has been designed and produced

by Grin Creative / grincreative.com.au Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in Centre News are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the magazine editor or editorial committee. While Centre News welcomes ideas, articles, photos, poetry and letters, it reserves the right to accept or reject material. There is no automatic acceptance of submissions.

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elbourne Holocaust survivors are truly the stars of this edition of Centre News. To mark his retirement, we celebrate the enormous contribution of Phillip Maisel in establishing the Jewish Holocaust Centre’s testimonies collection, and feature the story and artwork of artist Mirka Mora, whose wartime experiences in France shaped the extraordinary body of work she produced and who made such a huge contribution to

the cultural life of Melbourne. Less known but equally inspiring are the stories of Eva Szego, Halina Strnad and Ruth Kneppel.

Eva Szego survived the war in an Austrian labour camp and became a successful general practitioner in Melbourne; Halina Strnad was a key witness in the recent trial of Nazi guard Bruno Dey; and Ruth Kneppel, known as ‘Malou’, undertook many dangerous missions for the French Resistance.

Given that this year marks the 60th anniversary of the Eichmann trial, we feature an article about its impact on attitudes to the Holocaust and to survivors. We also update you on the progress of the new Holocaust Centre and the amazing work of the Centre’s team as they continue to deliver their virtual education programs during Melbourne’s successive lockdowns.

Ruth Mushin is the editor of Centre News.

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The new JHC comes to life

 The mix of glass and grey bricks on the facade Our team is working hard to design the rest of the interior spaces to ensure that we create an inspiring environment for the students to engage with us. Learning theatres and studios will provide for flexible learning opportunities, from group discussions to VR viewing to conferences.

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 Architect Stephen Jolson, involved in the creation of the memorial space

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he new Jewish Holocaust Centre is going up quickly before our eyes and we are all so excited. The shell of the building has now been completed, and most of the work will now be on the incredible brickwork at the front and the detailed installation of the interiors.

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Over the coming months we are finalising the permanent Holocaust exhibition, ready to be installed in May-July 2022. With a title based on a quote from the late Tuvia Lipson – ‘everybody had a name’ – the exhibition is a chronological exploration of the Holocaust using survivor photos, documents, artefacts, artworks and testimony.

Andrew Rogers’ Pillars of Witness will dominate the Garden of the Pillars of Witness at the back of the building, where the Eternal Flame, designed by Peter Schipperheyn, also has pride of place.

At the front of the building is the beautifully designed Holocaust Resource Centre and Library, inviting visitors in to learn and explore. Video screens will allow easy access to survivor testimony, our collections material, special Holocaust information sites for genealogical research and more. Our visitors need to be able to find out more about the fate of their families, and we will be on hand to support their research.

We are also developing a unique museum space purpose-built for younger visitors. It will tell the story of children who survived in hiding and invite children (and adults) to discover their stories and experiences.

A highlight is the very special memorial space, thoughtfully designed by Jolson Architects, a space that will allow visitors to reflect on the tragedy and leave a message in a unique and powerful environment. The room takes advantage of the turret at the front of the building to let the light from the sky into an otherwise darker interior, so that one moves towards the light when reflecting on the past.

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The principle of the building design from Kerstin Thompson Architects is to bring light and life into this dark subject.

 Building work is continuing despite lockdowns

The principle of the building design from Kerstin Thompson Architects is to bring light and life into this dark subject. The museum explores the heaviness of the Holocaust while the building and its birch forest celebrate light, life and renewal.

Museum Director and CEO, Jayne Josem, and Board Member, Phil Lewis, as a site inspection

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 (l-r) Mirka’s maternal grandmother Mirka (Sima) Gelbein, c. 1938. Mirka Mora papers, Heide Museum of Modern Art Archive, Purchased 2019; Mirka’s father Leon Zelik, Paris, France, November 1948. Courtesy The Estate of Mirka Mora; Mirka’s maternal grandparents Meyer and Mirka Gelbein with her aunt Mimi, 1920. Mirka Mora papers, Heide Museum of Modern Art Archive, Purchased 2019; Baby Mirka with her mother Celia (Tsipa) Zelik (née Gelbein), Paris, France, 1928. Mirka Mora papers, Heide Museum of Modern Art Archive, Purchased 2019; Mirka with her mother Celia (Tsipa), c. 1930s.

Courtesy The Estate of Mirka Mora.

trauma and survivor guilt. During the Second World War she would reach adolescence, escape death and witness the worst of what humankind is capable of.

Mirka’s parents, Leon Zelik and Tsipa Gelbein, sought a safe haven in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century; they had escaped persecution and rife antisemitism in Eastern Europe. World events caught up with them and their young family at a quick pace. In 1939 the Zeliks lived at 7 Rue Maître Albert; Mirka would recall the view to Notre Dame and the Seine as war was declared on Germany

by France and Britain. On 23 June 1940 Adolf Hitler arrived for a three-hour tour by car, his only visit to Paris. Guided by the German sculptor Arno Breker, and by his chief architect, Albert Speer, both of whom had lived in the French capital, he saw the Opera House and viewed the Eiffel Tower from the terrace of the Palace of Chaillot. He paid homage at Napoleon’s tomb and visited the artists’ quarter of Montmartre.

 Mirka Mora, 1985. Photo: Henry Talbot

Mirka: survivor, storyteller, creator and maker of magic Eleni Papavasileiou

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n Cancale, France, on the north coast of Brittany, a heavy feeling burdens the heart of a 10-year-old Mirka Mora. It is 1938 and the war is looming. She can feel the end of her childhood approaching, on what were to be her last carefree moments and holiday as a child.

Madeleine Mirka Zelik, as was her birth name, Mirka Mora to all of us, was a legendary Melbourne personality, a prolific artist across an impressively diverse range of media, and an inspiring woman and survivor. For over 70 years Mirka created magical colourful worlds, engaging and mysterious portraits, playful anthropomorphic creatures and vibrant landscapes, all celebrating the wonder of life.

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Mirka Mora spent the first decade of her life surrounded by 19th century furniture, textiles, threads and ribbons, colours, and the smells and sounds of pre-war Paris, while growing curious, studious and full of mischief, listening to her Lithuanian father and Romanian mother, both Jewish, speaking in French, Yiddish and Russian. Born in 1928, Mirka was a bright and imaginative child. She loved nature and animals, she adored school, singing, dancing and drawing.

Mirka was an alert and vivacious soul. Unbeknown to her at the time, the first decade of her life would equip her with the determination, strength and resilience to cope with her interrupted childhood,

The Zeliks joined millions of people in their mass exodus from Paris.

Mirka’s mother bought three little chickens from the markets and gave one to each child to hold as they drove off to the country. Their escape to the French countryside was short-lived. They returned to Paris where Mirka and her sisters continued going to school and her parents became involved in the Resistance, while ‘les haricots verts’, the green beans as she called the German soldiers in their green uniforms, assumed full control of the city1.

As we present each of her life chapters and invite the visitor through a layered chronological and biographical journey, the sound of her own voice and primary sources, we demonstrate that Mirka remained true to herself, resilient, hopeful, always curious, always making, while at the same time carrying a heavy burden of painful memories, forever etched in her mind and heart.

She was reluctant to discuss her traumatic experiences, but the precious moments where her Holocaust story is revealed, in her diaries, testimonies and interviews, are bright gems that shed light on hidden truths and the enigmatic iconography behind her art.

Our exhibition partners, William Mora Galleries and the Estate of Mirka Mora, gave us incredibly generous access to her studio, the art, archival material, objects and ephemera created and collected

by Mirka, as well as to their own profound knowledge and expertise.

With the support of Heide Museum of Modern Art, as well as using Mirka’s powerful and invaluable 1995 testimony to the Jewish Holocaust Centre as compass to our narrative, we carefully selected the artefacts that would carry the visitor deep into her story.

The eyes and faces were mesmerising, the angels and fences were mysterious, the discovery of the 1993 Menorah oil painting was a true gift, as were Mirka’s own journals and oral accounts. But how was it all connected and what did they reveal about her art?

In 1942 Mirka’s aunt, Tobe, was sent to Auschwitz. In the round-up of July the three little girls with their mother were taken to Velodrome d’Hiver and from there to Pithiviers Camp.

At the Jewish Museum of Australia, within our mission to illuminate Jewish life, we felt that Mirka’s story was one so compelling and inspiring that it needed to be shared through the lens of Mirka Mora’s early formative and Holocaust experiences.

Our aim was to promote further understanding of her life and art and convey a message of hope, love and positivity, while encouraging a new reading of her work.

 Mirka Mora exhibition. Photo: Sarah Walker

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 Mirka’s decorated truck and angel

Mirka used to say that she painted to communicate with her subconscious.

She wished she received the great secrets in her sleep, however painting was her way to get at the truth – it was not a choice but plain survival to create a more beautiful world2.

wings for the children at the Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants (OSE) orphanage, Saint-Quay-Portrieux, 1946. Mirka Mora papers Heide Museum of Modern Art Archive Purchased 2019.

Highly acute to the power of art, form and colour, her memory of having to wear the Star of David in 1940 was accompanied by the observation of what a terrible yellow it was3. While imprisoned with her family in Pithiviers camp in 1942, she became obsessed with the pink of a dentifrice bottle, owned by the woman who slept next to her family in the barracks.

 Family gathering in the dream park,

During the capture of French Jews in July  Mirka Mora exhibition. Photo: Sarah Walker 1942, Mirka, her mother and sisters were transported on a cattle train to, what was to them, an unknown destination. Mirka later recounted the memory After the war, her mother Tsipa encouraged Mirka to leave Paris. In of a beautiful blonde woman in the carriage and the tight embrace Brittany she worked for the Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants (OSE) she gave her son, in the train but also while in Pithiviers camp. The orphanage. In entertaining the children, she decorated a truck with embrace, as a theme in her work, appears in 1958 for the first time flowers and created angel wings for them to wear. Angels continued while small faces, symbolising souls, are ever present in her art. to make an appearance in her art for many decades after. There, Equally, leaves are symbols of time but also death; they share the in 1946, she meets German-born resistance fighter and Chef de same fate as human beings and allude to Mirka’s thoughts around Bureau of the OSE, Georges Mora. mortality, love of nature and life4.

Mirka, already an artist-in-the-making, was absorbing artistic These and other much darker memories ran deep in Mirka’s mind influences from various disciplines, eventually all merging with and found their way onto canvas and paper in obvious or less her own life experiences and the rich cultural offering of Paris6. apparent representations. Mirka’s preoccupation with faces and She created a number of gouache drawings specifically about her eyes, looking melancholic or without expression, was ever present in imprisonment, but these were forgotten in Paris when she and her work. The series of paintings of angels and children on a stark, husband George migrated to Australia. almost black background is particularly haunting.

Her arrival to Melbourne in 1951 signalled a new chapter in her life.

In 1982 she painted 20 small portraits on card, now presented as a A new world of excitement and opportunity opened. The Moras group within one frame. The faces, anonymous, genderless, primarily become popular and successful restauranteurs. Within a short time, of children, are sad, tired, stoic, floating between life and death. they were immersed in Melbourne’s art scene and bohemian living, while Mirka carved confident steps towards developing her own Possibly the most powerful of her recollections is that of the family signature style and independence as an artist. They worked hard being freed from Pithiviers in August 1942. and lived life to the fullest.

One day, our name was called. 18 people were called….

So that’s 15 adults and we were only three little girls. And all the adults and my mother were searched everywhere. You know, they had to undress to be searched. But people gave messages in writing and things for people in Paris to meet their child.

Everything in my socks and underpants.

They didn’t search us children, but they searched adults.

And 18 of us were put in, I will never forget it, a little cart and one horse to pull the 18 people very, very hard.

2008, oil on canvas, 685 x 1855mm.

Courtesy William Mora Galleries.

Copyright The Estate of Mirka Mora.

A self-taught artist, her influences continued to be drawn from her life and the avid study of every book under the sun. Her collecting of antique furniture, photographs, dolls and teddy bears was her lovable clutter. The energy of the assemblage and the power of things inspired her, kept her company, comforted her, nurtured her imagination, entertained and pleased her. Mirka’s clutter was her holding of tactile triggers to her memory – all transforming to watercolours, charcoals, oil paintings, mosaics, embroidery and dolls.

and life in hiding in Venizy, in the French countryside. Also, in a blank, never completed Claims Conference – Article 2 Fund form and a copy of a list of the 18 people freed from Pithiviers, with the note ‘How lucky with Daddy’.

As her art changed in many shapes and textures, the lingering eyes and enigmatic faces remained, all within distinct colour and form, all celebrating powerful symbolism and the collecting of memories.

Mirka lived a long and remarkable life. An incredible survivor, storyteller, creator and maker of magic, she was an accomplished, methodical, highly informed and continuously developing artist, drawing inspiration from the past, memory, mythology and life. Her story of survival and migration, centred around family, art, food and love, is a miraculous Australian Jewish tale. She enticed the nation with her joie de vivre, leaving an indelible mark on the artistic, social and multicultural fabric of Melbourne.

Across her studio the evidence of her delving into the memories of the past is found in her annotations in books on the Holocaust in France and her detailed 1988 journal outlining her imprisonment

Eleni Papavasileiou is Senior Curator and Collection Manager at the Jewish Museum of Australia (JMA). MIRKA at the JMA runs until 19 December 2021.

All the people looking at us in the camp behind the barbed wire.

And the first time I understood shame. I was so ashamed to leave these people behind. Shame as a child. It is terrible, I can’t forget these people. It’s unforgettable.5

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 Mirka with her sisters Marcelle and Salomée Zelik Paris, France,1939. Mirka Mora papers, Heide Museum of Modern Art Archive, Purchased 2019.

 Untitled (Three Little Girls),1959, oil on composition board, 284 x 284mm.

Heide Museum of Modern Art, Bequest of Barrett Reid 2000.

1 Mirka Mora Testimony,18 July 1995, Interviewer: Raie Goodwach © Jewish Holocaust Centre, Melbourne, Australia; 2 Mirka’s handwritten statement for John Reed’s ‘New Painting 1952-1962’, c.1963, Courtesy The Estate of Mirka Mora; 3 Monsieur Mayonnaise, Dr Trevor Graham, 2016. Film; 4 Mirka, Beier, Ulli and Cox, Paul, Melbourne: Macmillan, 1980; 5 Mirka Mora Testimony, 18 July 1995, Interviewer: Raie Goodwach © Jewish Holocaust Centre, Melbourne, Australia; 6 Pg 118-119 (Mora, Wicked but virtuous: my life).

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The Eichmann trial: a different perspective Mali Eisenberg

And the doorposts shook from the voice of the caller Isaiah 6:4

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he Eichmann trial began at the Assembly Hall in Jerusalem on 11 April 1961. This trial shook the doorposts of the young State of Israel and, even today, it is considered the most significant intersection between Israeli society and the Holocaust, and the turning point in attitudes towards the Holocaust and its survivors.

Adolph Otto Eichmann (1906-1962) was born in Solingen. In 1933, he moved to Germany, and in 1934 he volunteered for the security service of the SS, the SD (Sicherheitdienst). In 1935 he transferred to the Jewish Department which was established. Upon the annexation of Austria in March 1938, Eichmann was first appointed as a special representative to the SD to ‘deal’ with the Jewish community, and then as the head of the central office for the emigration of Viennese Jews. After the outbreak of the war, Eichmann was appointed the head of the Jewish department of the head office of the Reich’s security, and in March 1941 as the head of the ‘Department of Jewish Affairs and Population Clearing’ (IVB 4).

Eichmann was also one of the participants in the Wannsee Conference in January 1942, and towards the end of the war, closely supervised the ‘Final Solution’ in Hungary.

After the war, Eichmann escaped to Argentina. He was finally captured by Israeli Mossad agents in May 1960 and stood at the centre of a public storm in Israel and the world.

The story of the Holocaust was never before told in such a deep and broad manner, as was done by the men of 06.

- Chana Yablonka, 2010

Although Eichmann did not deny events, his approach attempted to minimise his involvement. These claims were absolutely rejected by the judges. The majority verdict determined that Eichmann was a key player in the extermination system. He initiated and encouraged part of the expulsion activities, while brutally and zealously adhering to these actions due to his antisemitic ideology.

Eichmann was convicted on all 15 charges, yet partially acquitted of articles 13-15, due to the statute of limitations. On 29 May 1962 the Supreme Court rejected Eichmann’s appeal and affirmed the death sentence. After the president’s refusal to grant a pardon, the death sentence was carried out on 1 June 1962 at 00:01 at the gallows in the Ramla (now Ayalon) Prison. Eichmann’s body was cremated, and his ashes were dispersed at sea, beyond Israel’s territorial waters.

‘The Holocaust has taken place now’ the trial as a turning point in Israeli awareness of the Holocaust

Gideon Hausner wished to expand the number of witnesses for the prosecution in the trial so that it was supported by two pillars: written proof and oral testimony. He wrote: We need a live reenactment of the national and personal tragedy on a grand scale […] Thus, after delving into the matter, I decided to call upon more than three times the number of witnesses than that which Office 06 had prepared as adjuncts to the documents […]. From an educational point as well I wanted to achieve more than what the protocol called for, as complete as that might have been. […] the generation gap has become a

JHC Centre News

Much has been written about the Eichmann trial as the turning point in Israeli society’s attitude towards the Holocaust and its survivors, with the testimonies from the courtroom acting as significant and indispensable contributors.

‘The planners of the Eichmann trial bequeathed us a bitter disappointment’ from the Haredi viewpoint

The hope that the trial could rectify what was seen as ‘historical injustice’ was widespread among the Haredi community during the first days of the trial. The Haredi newspaper Hamodia wrote in April 1961:

Opposite the glass cell

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chasm, creating revulsion from the nation’s past. ‘How could they have let themselves be led like sheep to the slaughter?’ was a common question. The distortion can be corrected solely through highlighting the facts. (Hausner, 1980)

It can be argued that, even 60 years after the trial, the voices of the Haredim were not examined. Moshe Prager (1909-1984), a Haredi historian and Holocaust researcher, served as an adviser to the men of ‘Office 06’. Prager believed it was important to include the ‘Haredi narrative’ – seeing the Nazi war as a war against the ‘Jewish religion’, the spiritual resistance of the victims, the sanctification of G-d’s name, and Haredi attempts of rescue. However, Prager was unsuccessful in ensuring that the Haredi views were addressed.

The investigation of Eichmann was conducted by the police investigation unit ‘Office 06’, with Police Major General Avraham Zelinger appointed as head of the unit. The charges included 15 counts of indictment for ‘Crimes against the Jewish People’ and ‘Crime against Humanity’, as well as ‘Membership in a hostile organisation’. All the indictments related to crimes under the ‘Law for the Prosecution of the Nazis and their Assistants’ (1950).

The trial commenced on 11 April 1961. The three judges were Moshe Landau, Binyamin Halevy and Yitzhak Raveh. Gideon Hausner was appointed as chief prosecutor. Eichmann’s defence attorney was German lawyer Robert Servatius.

The Eichmann trial. Source: ‘Six Million Accusers – the State of Israel v Adolf Eichmann’ exhibition.

Dr Mali Eisenberg

The list of witnesses summoned to this trial as prosecution witnesses doesn’t particularly encourage us, inasmuch as there is a well-founded concern that this trial will continue the continuous

Courtesy Massuah Institute

chain – since the end of the Second World War – of ignoring the significant status of Haredi Judaism in pre-war Europe …

The time has come to correct – even if slightly – this injustice.

The Haredi monthly magazine Beit Yaakov received dozens of petitions, all seeing the Eichmann trial as an opportunity to present various aspects of Haredi Jewry during the Holocaust from their point of view.

Prager referred to the Haredi experience as ‘the other Auschwitz’, the ‘praying’ and the ‘believing’ Auschwitz. He was left disappointed in the government establishment, the degree to which they granted expression to the Haredi world that was destroyed, and the Haredi world of today.

The Eichmann trial was an important event in the development of identity in Israeli society. The trial shone a light on questions and values that the Zionist state had to deal with in the ‘bar mitzvah’ year of its existence. Among these were the attitudes towards the Jewish diaspora, patterns of Jewish response and resistance and the Jewish state. Prager’s criticism of subjects he felt were silenced during the trial were fundamental-ideological. The nature of the trial went against the foundation stones of Haredi memory of the Holocaust, and Prager’s hope that it would address spiritual and moral aspects of the Holocaust and that Haredi Jews should not be passive observers in this trial were proven false.

Dr Mali Eisenberg, Principal of The Grossman School at Massuah, International Institute for Holocaust Studies and Research at the ‘Spiegel Fellows Forum’, the Arnold and Leona Finkler Institute for Holocaust Studies at Bar-Ilan University, Israel. She wrote her PhD dissertation on Moshe Prager.

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Judgment Dey: trial testimony of Halina Strnad Anna Hirsh, Halina Strnad and John Rogers

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n January 2020, the trial of Bruno Dey, former Nazi guard at Stutthof concentration camp, took place in Germany. Melbourne-based Holocaust survivor Halina Strnad provided statements of her experiences via video link. Both witness and defendant were in their early 90s at this time. As Dey had been under 18 when he served as a guard, the trial was held in the Hamburg Children’s Court. This is a brief account of some of Halina’s experiences in Europe, and her participation in the trial.

Halina Strnad is an elegant and gracious woman. Her extensive professional life in Melbourne was in medical science, specifically blood pathology, and she has been an active advocate for human rights for decades. Halina has recorded testimonies for the Jewish Holocaust Centre and the Shoah Foundation, and often speaks in public about her experiences in Auschwitz and Stutthof Concentration Camps.

In 2019, Halina was contacted by the German authorities in connection with the Bruno Dey trial, after their discovery of her book The Testimony (Hardie Grant Books, 2012). Halina agreed to present her testimony. In January 2020, Halina appeared as a witness on video link to the Hamburg Children’s Court, accompanied by a court-appointed German lawyer who had flown to Australia, and an officer from the Australian Federal Police. Halina presented the horrific details of her experiences in Auschwitz and Stutthof; her words went unchallenged by Dey’s defence team. While she stood bravely and spoke eloquently, Bruno Dey kept his face covered with a folder for the entirety of the trial.

Halina Wagowska was born in Poznan, Poland, the only child of assimilated, middle-class Jews. Her Halina Strnad mother Gustawa (Guta) was a dress designer who ran a textile and dressmaking business with her bookkeeper father Joseph. Halina enjoyed a carefree childhood, she achieved good marks in school, and regularly attended concerts, theatre and art galleries.

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She knew little of her Jewish heritage, had not seen visibly Orthodox Jews in her town, and was even exposed to antisemitic propaganda by her Catholic housekeeper Stasia without any selfconnection. ‘One day I informed my parents that the terrible Jews crucified and murdered our Lord Jesus Christ and should be severely punished for it.’

However, by 1938 Halina was subjected to overt racial abuse from boys attending a nearby school that was exclusively for German students; Stasia chased these boys away. After the Germans invaded Poland, the family home was ransacked by soldiers, helped by several locals.

Some Poznan residents hung German flags from their windows, and the family business was boycotted. The Wagowski family fled to Lodz, with the intention of going to London where Joseph’s sister lived.

But Lodz’s Jews were already ghettoised. Halina was subjected to the ramblings of notorious Judenrat (Jewish council) Elder Chaim Rumkowski and regularly witnessed public hangings.

Joseph, Guta and Halina worked in factories, and Halina was fed extra from her parents’ rations to keep her healthy.

In late July 1944, the family was deported from Lodz on the same transport as Rumkowski. Halina recalls hearing a shot and someone saying: ‘That is the end of him.’ Arriving in Auschwitz-Birkenau, Halina saw her father Joseph for the last time.

Halina was put to work: she hauled the corpses of gassed Jews and other victims to the crematorium on wagons, she loaded bodies onto planks that slid into the furnaces, and she carted away ashes and bones to the swampland nearby. Veteran prisoners whispered advice on eluding selections.

Around November 1944, Halina and Guta were transported to Stutthof Concentration Camp in northern Poland, near the Baltic Sea coast. Gas chambers were in use from June 1944. Fellow inmates included political prisoners, criminals and Russian POWs. There were no bunks, so prisoners slept on the floor. Halina was often beaten, she had her nose broken twice, and the base of her skull fractured.

Halina was befriended by a Hungarian woman, Frieda, an intellectual who mused: ‘I wonder how Dante would have written his Inferno if he had been in Stutthof?’ and ‘I wonder how humankind will view this in retrospect?’ Frieda did not survive.

An outbreak of typhus swept through the camp and many died.

Halina has long suspected that this was an intentional spread of disease. She and her mother caught typhus, and, after years of being weakened through starvation and inhumane conditions, Guta died in her daughter’s arms. When the war ended, Halina returned to Lodz. She finished her schooling through an accelerated program, but pervasive antisemitism and the autocracy of communism influenced her to migrate to Australia.

Bruno Dey on trial Between August 1944 and April 1945, Bruno Dey was a guard at Stutthof. The 17-year-old SS arrived at Stutthof along with other conscripted teens, but as they realised what was going on in the camp, some requested to be transferred to the army to fight at the Russian front. Bruno Dey, however, remained at Stutthof. At the trial, Dey would only admit that by being there, he knew of Stutthof’s gas chambers and the condition of the prisoners, but he would not concede his direct involvement. Judge Anne MeierGöring weighed up the evidence, including statements from the small number of survivors still alive to testify, and found him guilty of complicity of the murder of over 5,000 prisoners. He was given a two-year suspended sentence.

In her judgement, Judge Meirer-Göring condemned Dey for minimising his active complicity with the rules and behaviours set by senior SS guards, and his lack of conscience. She also outlined that he did not just ‘know’ of the gas chamber but, as an armed guard who manned the watchtower near it, he actively prevented condemned prisoners from escaping. She noted that the conditions at Stutthof were so inhumane and disease-ridden, that ‘as of December 1944 … (Stutthoff) became an extermination camp on grounds of the cruel conditions prevailing there, of which thousands and thousands of people died. And some of the plaintiffs – such as Halina Strnad – who have survived Auschwitz and Stutthof, said that was the reason why Stutthof was almost (sic) even worse and more inhumane than Auschwitz.’

Postwar photographs remind us of how young Halina was during the Holocaust, and how she has carried these memories for nearly eight decades. When she was in Stutthof, she and fellow prisoners mused, ‘If we should survive, we shall testify until we die.’

Halina Strnad, 1948

‘If we survive, we should testify until we die’ After giving testimony, Halina was emotionally depleted but felt satisfied with her contribution to prosecute Dey as a war criminal.

She believes that there should be no statute of limitations and, importantly, that it is not up to her to grant forgiveness on behalf of the millions who suffered and died.

This article is based on Halina Strnad’s writings and testimony, trial transcript and interview with Dr John Rogers. Dr Anna Hirsh is the Manager of Collections and Research at the Jewish Holocaust Centre. Dr John Rogers is a retired medical practitioner and psychotherapist. Dr Rogers interviewed Halina Strnad for the online event ‘On Trial: The testimony of Halina Strnad at the Bruno Dey Trial’, which can be viewed at vimeo.com/577484308

JHC Centre News

13

Keeping the Erdi legacy alive

Honouring their memory

Philip Zajac

Tammie and David Slade

L

es Erdi was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1921. Both his grandfather and father were successful businessmen. When his father died from wounds he sustained during the First World War, his oldest brother, Emile, became the ‘man of the house’. He instilled a strong work ethic and sense of responsibility in his younger brother.

Entrepreneurial from an early age, Les began his own business ventures while still at school, before joining Emile in the family business. There he started doing menial jobs, but eventually became a successful salesman.

Les always said that his new life began at 10:42pm on a Saturday night 1944 when he met Eva. It was love at first sight, and just 28 days later they were married. The over-60-year partnership ended when Les passed away in 2013. Eva passed away three years later. In his memoir

keep changing his identity to avoid capture. He would try to get back to Eva’s every night but, one night, the army and police knocked on the door. They accepted Eva’s papers, but when they questioned Les, Eva said with authority, ‘This belongs to me’ and they let Les go.

Later he and his friends were captured by the right-wing antisemitic Arrow Cross. Five others before Les were lined up and shot, but when it was his turn, he boldly laughed at the gunman. Miraculously he was imprisoned instead of being shot, but again he managed to escape.

After the turbulent war years, Les and Eva and Eva’s mother went to Israel, but Eva had family in Melbourne and longed to join them. So, four years later, the family landed in Melbourne to begin their new life.

Les and Eva first ran a hostel before Les went into the fashion industry, becoming a leading manufacturer and retailer. Then, in 1967, he built the first purpose-built apartment hotel in the world, beginning a long and successful career in the luxury accommodation industry.

Les and Eva both felt it important to give back to the community that had given them so many opportunities and Les ensured that philanthropy was an important part of the culture of his business.

The Erdi Foundation was established to continue Les and Eva’s legacy and supports three broad areas: Israel, the Melbourne Jewish community and the wider community of Melbourne.

Whatever It Is, This Is What It Is, Les wrote: ‘Over the years, Eva has been my constant business partner, adviser, friend and lover. In everything. I couldn’t operate without her and still love her like then.’

Despite a happy marriage and successful business, life in wartime Budapest was difficult, and Les escaped death more than once.

Conscripted into the army like all Hungarian men, Les went into hiding with seven other Jewish soldiers to escape being sent to the front.

Eva and her mother had acquired false Swiss papers, but Les had to

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JHC Centre News

The Erdi Foundation is committed to supporting the Jewish Holocaust Centre, not just because of the importance of Holocaust survivors to the Melbourne Jewish community, but because the Centre plays such a vital role in the fabric of non-Jewish life in Melbourne. We feel it is important to help keep the stories of Holocaust survivors alive and teach others about the horrors of the Holocaust and the danger of being a bystander, and of discrimination and intolerance.

Philip Zajac is the CEO of the Erdi Foundation and Executive Director of the Erdi Group.

D

avid’s maternal grandparents, Mela and Lolek Groch, survived the Shoah. They were among the last 800 survivors of the Lodz Ghetto Their story is not unique but is remarkable. They met each other working as slave labourers on the railway station in the ghetto. They suffered terribly during the war from starvation, disease and brutality. Most members of their families were murdered in Chelmno and Auschwitz.

Lolek managed to keep his parents alive until late 1944, but they were put on the last transport to Auschwitz where they were murdered by the Nazis.

As the ghetto was being liquidated, the Germans made the Jews dig their own mass graves. Through a miracle of snow Mela and Lolek survived by hiding in a bunker away from the approaching German soldiers. The Russians came the next morning and the German soldiers were gone. They had been liberated.

They came to Australia and built a new life with their daughter Mary (David’s mother).

Tammie’s maternal grandmother, Udel Kreuzer (nee Guttman), was born in Ganitch, now part of Ukraine. Udel and her husband Berel were the young parents of two-year-old Esther Mindel when war broke out and Berel and Udel were separated. Udel and Esther, together with Udel’s mother Rivka, were rounded up by the Nazis and sent to the Auschwitz. On arrival Rivka and Esther were immediately sent to the gas chambers. Udel managed to survive and, after the war, was reunited with Berel in Prague. Berel was one of three siblings out of 11 to survive the Shoah. Berel and Udel began to rebuild their family with the birth of Tammie’s aunt, Mary.

Four years later, Tammie’s mother, Elizabeth, was born in Vienna.

The family came to Australia in 1950.

Tammie’s paternal grandparents, Zvi and Fania (Cidel) Teichtahl, met in Russia. Zvi had fled Poland, but the rest of his family who stayed were murdered by the Nazis. Fania had been sent to Russia by her parents from her home in Ukraine to warn her sister of the impending dangers. Fania never saw her parents again as they

 (l-r) Lolek, Mary and Mela Groch  (l-r) Esther Mindel and Udel Kreuzer were sent to Sobibor Death Camp. When the war ended, Zvi and Fania’s first son, Jack, was born. A few years later the family moved to Israel where Tammie’s father, Harry, was born. The family settled in Australia.

Tammie and David say: ‘We have chosen to support the Jewish Holocaust Centre because we want to be a part of something important that will honour the memory of each family member, fellow Jew and fellow human who perished in the most brutal of circumstances in the Shoah. Contributing to the Memorial Room – a space created to reflect upon, and honour each of the precious souls we lost – seemed the perfect way to do this’.

Author Sarah Krasnostein recently wrote: ‘Understand, “Never Again” is not something we are comforted with; it is a duty we are assigned because our lives depend on it.’ This quote resonates strongly with us.

The importance of the Centre has become even more evident to us this year as we continue to see a rise in local and global antisemitism. The Centre is crucial as a space where impactful programs can be run to educate all people on the senselessness of hate. We have a duty to remember those who were murdered and have a detailed record of the depths of evil to which humanity can descend. Our duty is also to ensure that we and generations to come do everything in our power to combat antisemitism and racism in all its forms so we can ensure ‘Never Again’.

JHC Centre News

15

Eva Szego: making a mark

Phillip Maisel retires at 99 years young

Fiona Kelmann

‘Making a Mark on Melbourne’ is an installation planned for the new Jewish Holocaust Centre museum to showcase the contribution of Holocaust survivors to the city. Eva Szego’s story is one that will be featured.

E

va Hercz was born in Korosladany, Hungary, in 1929, the youngest of six children. Her parents were traditional, secular Jews.

Eva experienced growing antisemitism as a child. Owing to numerus clausus restrictions, she was unable to complete her education, but tenaciously taught herself the entire secondary school curriculum.

When war broke out, Eva’s three brothers were conscripted. One brother died in the abysmal conditions experienced by Jewish conscripts. Hungary, an Eva Szego Axis power, introduced a series of antisemitic laws. The belief that Jews would not be further harmed ended swiftly in March 1944 when the Nazis occupied Hungary and deportations commenced.

In May 1944, the Hercz family was incarcerated in a ghetto, then deported to Austria. Eva maintained, although could not verify, that her family were among several hundred lucky recipients of a bargain between Rudolf Kastner, a Hungarian Zionist leader, and the infamous Adolf Eichmann. Although conditions in the Austrian labour camp were horrendous, the family was spared the horrors of Auschwitz.

the family left Hungary for Israel, where Eva completed her fourth year of medical studies. However, as life in Israel was difficult, the family decided to migrate to Australia.

In Melbourne, Eva persevered with her studies, despite institutionalised racism and sexism. ‘They did everything to discourage us,’ Eva sadly recalled. Her physiology professor told George: ‘Your wife didn’t know her English well, but she sure knew her physiology.’

Eva, the only woman in her medical group, was required to live in residence for six weeks at Queen Victoria Women’s Hospital but ‘escaped’ most evenings to see her husband and daughter. On many occasions she had to work through the night.

Eva graduated in 1963 and worked in the emergency department at the Queen Victoria Hospital for the next decade. Simultaneously, she began a private practice with George in a two-bedroom flat in the then working-class suburb of Elwood. The practice later moved to larger premises while George left to practise psychiatry. In 1969, Eva’s second daughter, Julie, who later became a solicitor and journalist, was born.

Eva’s reputation as a skilled and progressive doctor, particularly for womens’ health, became widely known.

Patients came from near and far to see her, and she went above and beyond to see her patients in their homes when they could not reach her. At that time, there were few female, let alone migrant, doctors. Eva was also a trailblazer in mental health, when many general practitioners did not have the skillset to treat mental disorders.

Eva Szego retired from general practice in After the war Eva and her family made

( l-r) Eva, George, Julie and Clara Szego.

2005 aged 76 and died in 2013. Eva said: their way back to Budapest, where Eva  ‘To be a doctor is very demanding, but worked in a government department to be a good one is a very great task.’ Her resilience, compassion, and attended night school. She met and married George Szego, a diagnostic acumen and excellence in practice made an indelible medical student and Auschwitz survivor. Their first daughter, Clara, medical mark on Melbourne. who later became a psychiatrist, was born in 1951.

Despite the persecution of Jewish doctors under Soviet rule, Eva did not give up her dream of becoming a doctor and began studying medicine. After the failed Hungarian uprising in 1956,

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JHC Centre News

Fiona Kelmann is a lawyer, writer and researcher who is assisting the Jewish Holocaust Centre’s curatorial team with research for the new museum.

S

ince 1989, Phillip has been volunteering at the Jewish Holocaust Centre for four days a week, overseeing the Video Testimonies Project. Now, after more than three decades, he has decided it is time to retire.

From the beginning of his involvement at the Centre, he recognised the importance of testimony collection and, just as importantly, the enormity and urgency of the task, given the passage of time and the ageing of Holocaust survivors. He therefore made it his goal to interview as many survivors as possible, and he has dedicated himself totally to the task.

Phillip Maisel OAM

Phillip Maisel was born in Vilna (now Vilnius), Lithuania, in 1922. He experienced the most harrowing of times during the Holocaust and he and his twin sister, Bella, were the only members of their family to survive. During that time, he pledged that if, by a miracle, he survived, he would tell the world what had happened. His tireless efforts at the Holocaust Centre have enabled him to tell the stories of thousands of Holocaust survivors and, more recently, their children and grandchildren.

The Centre’s collection of 1,700 testimonies is a tribute to Phillip’s drive and perseverance. His outstanding work has resulted in a unique collection which can be accessed by researchers and descendants of survivors, and ensures the JHC fulfils its mission of preserving survivors’ voices for future generations.

Phillip has always been happy to share his experience and knowledge. He has trained over 50 volunteers and, through his commitment and generosity, he has inspired the next generation of professionals in this vital field of oral history and testimony.

In 2008, Phillip was awarded an OAM by the Australian Government in recognition of his outstanding achievements and, three years later, the Centre dedicated and named the Phillip Maisel Testimony Collection in his honour. In 2016, he received the Museums Victoria Individual Excellence Award for his exceptional longterm contribution to the Centre and to the wider community and in 2019, Phillip was appointed an Honorary Life Governor of the Centre. In accepting the Museums Victoria award, Phillip spoke of the importance of teaching people about humanity and human

Photo: Simon Shiff

kindness, which he holds as such an essential value in today’s world.

Always tech-savvy, Phillip has more recently taught himself to work in the digital environment so that he can take on the challenge of digitising the collection. Phillip’s wish has been to make his work more widely accessible for researchers, and through the Holocaust Centre’s partnership with the Shoah Foundation, this is now happening.

Each testimony of survival that Phillip has recorded is a miracle in itself, earning Phillip the nickname ‘the Keeper of Miracles’, the title of his memoir that has just been published as Phillip turns 99. This deeply moving, healing and inspiring memoir shows the cathartic power of storytelling and reminds us to never underestimate the impact of human kindness.

Recently Phillip said: ‘Most importantly, the work I do continues to give meaning to my life.’

And yet his work has also given so much meaning to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and to the many thousands who listen to and view the Collection he has created. We thank Phillip for the wonderful contribution he has made to the Centre and wish him a healthy and happy retirement.

Phillip Maisel’s memoir, The Keeper of Miracles, is available from Avenue Bookstore, 434 Glenhuntly Road, Elsternwick and all good bookstores.

JHC Centre News

17

Malou Anna Hirsh

I

n 1942, Michele Kneppel and her mother Ruth cycled along a country road in southern France, having escaped from the Nazioccupied northern region. Michele, almost three years old, sat behind her mother holding on tightly to her waist, as they headed towards a farm where Mario and Nonna lived. Escapees from Fascist Italy, Mario and Nonna – along with other Italian, Spanish and Jewish refugees living in this area – were Maquisards, fighters for the Underground.

Motivated by a fierce hatred of the Germans and determined to avenge her parents’ deportation, my brave mother, just 30 years old, joined the local Maquis group, Prosper. Recruited as an agent de liaison she was provided with a new false identity as a Christian Algerian woman, and was given the nom de guerre, Malou ... (Malou, Michele Huppert) Ruth Kneppel was born to Leo and Margaret Altmann in Vienna in 1913. The family were modern Jews, not religious, but observed the High Holidays. They were also adherents of Revisionist Zionism.

Leo had attended the First Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897, was personally acquainted with Theodor Herzl and Chaim Weizmann, and was a founding member of the Zionist group Ivria in Vienna.

Margaret was the president of Ruth, a Zionist women’s group. Many meetings were held in the Altmann’s apartment, and these had a significant influence on Ruth’s Jewish identity and ideals and, ultimately, the decision to fight with the Resistance during the war.

Ruth moved to Paris in 1931 and studied fashion design. There she met Fred Kneppel, another Viennese expat. The couple returned to Vienna, where they married and started a successful knitting business. Fred operated the modern machinery and Ruth designed and constructed chic garments, which were in high demand. As the 1930s progressed, anti-Jewish actions across Europe increased.

After the Nazis annexed Austria in March 1938, Fred’s parents relocated to Paris, but Margaret and Leo remained in Vienna. Fred and Ruth closed their factory after the war started and moved to Le Crotoy, on the northern coast of France, where Michele was born in December 1939. The family returned to Paris in the early months of 1940 and discovered that their business had been ransacked.

When the German army occupied Paris in June 1940, the Kneppels were reclassified as ‘enemy aliens’ and had to register their details, including their religion. By 1941 in Nazi-occupied north of France, including Paris, Jews were legally prevented from conducting businesses. The Vichy government in the southern zone was not safer. It was increasingly controlled by Pierre Laval, twice Prime Minister in the 1930s, who cemented collaboration with the Nazis.

The Vichy government implemented their own Aryanisation policies, deporting Jews to internment camps including Gurs and Rivesalts.

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JHC Centre News

Following the Wannsee Conference in January 1942, the deportation of Jews from France to Auschwitz began in March, and Jews were forced to wear the yellow star badge identifier from June. Both north and south zones of France were dangerous for Jews, with Nazi collaborators instigating the notorious Velodrome d’Hiver internment. Forty-two thousand Jews were processed through Drancy transit camp and deported to Auschwitz in mid1942, and the majority of these innocent people were ultimately gassed in Auschwitz. Around 22% of France’s Jewish population was murdered by the Nazis and their French collaborators.

The last contact Ruth Kneppel had with her parents in Vienna was via correspondence received at the end of 1941. Margaret and Leo Altmann were arrested, based on their ‘Zionist affiliations’, and deported ‘to the East’ on 11 January 1942. The destination was Riga, Latvia, but the passengers were instead taken off the train and massacred into pits.

The Kneppels’ safety in Paris was precarious. Fred’s parents Frieda and Smelko were arrested; Fred was only able to get Frieda off the train to Drancy internment camp through bribing a guard.

Smelko was incarcerated in Chateauroux then Gurs, where he was eventually deported and murdered in Majdanek on 6 March 1943.

Through intel provided by their friends, Ruth and Fred eluded raids by the French police. They obtained false papers that gave their identities as Algerian Christians, which explained Ruth’s dark complexion and accent. With Frieda and little Michele, they first stayed with a cousin in the countryside, then left the occupied zone for the south. Ruth and Fred decided to move separately; Fred and his mother joined friends on the south-east coast, and Ruth and Michele moved through the towns of Dordogne and Funnel, then to Villeneuve-sur-Lot. Here they stayed with Mario and his mother, affectionately called Nonna by all. Ruth soon joined the Resistance, renamed Malou.

Malou was sent on various missions, and she travelled around on her bicycle or trains. Her duties included reporting on German conversations, and weapons delivery. She was an elegant woman, equipped with confidence and a desire for vengeance. Malou maintained her steely disposition even when stopped and questioned by Nazi soldiers. Fred visited in 1943 but was soon arrested. When Ruth went to gain his release from the police station, she was interrogated for hours until she proudly declared herself as Jewish and said that she would fight deportation.

Fortunately, the police chief was in the Resistance, and released her and Fred. But it was perilous to disclose one’s Jewish identity among Resistance fighters. While members of the underground were fighting for the liberation of their country, they were often not fighting for Jews.

OSE Identification Document for Ruth Kneppel, Paris, September 1945, JHC Collection

 Certificate confirming Ruth Kneppel’s courageous work in the French Resistance, from Captain Fernand Gaumy (detail), 1945.

Captain Ferdinand Gaumy, Malou’s commander, wrote: ‘I certify with honour to have employed Madame Ruth Kneppel (nom de guerre Malou) as a liaison agent from January 1943 till February 1944.

She...always discharged her work with sang-froid and courage.’

After the liberation of Paris in August 1944, Ruth continued to undertake secret missions. At the end of the war, Nazi collaborators were tried, imprisoned and executed, including Laval. French women who had consorted with Nazis were publicly humiliated.

Michele recalls ‘seeing trucks carrying the shaved women, branded as traitors, as they were driven through Villeneuve.’ Ruth was part of the newly formed Comite Departemental de Liberation, and a member of the Union des Femmes Francaises, assisting survivors.

In April 1945, Ruth took on a position at L’Oeuvre de Secours des Enfants (OSE), a Jewish humanitarian organisation that supported the repatriation of Jewish child refugees, many of whom had been recently liberated from concentration camps.

In 1946, Ruth went to Vienna, where she was given paperwork that confirmed her parents’ fate. She became increasingly

distressed with the ruins of Europe. Although Ruth reunited with Fred in Paris, their separation had irreparably impacted their marriage.

Ruth discovered distant relatives in Australia. Through contact with a second-cousin, Paul Stein, she and Michele migrated to Melbourne in 1952. Ruth and Paul eventually married and enjoyed the next 50 years together. Fred also remarried and moved to Melbourne in 1954. Ruth and Paul were committed to their family, and the universal Jewish ‘family’, active in organisations including WIZO and B’nai B’rith.

Ruth Kneppel Stein recorded her testimony at the Jewish Holocaust Centre in 2001. She died in Melbourne on 7 June 2007. Michele Huppert donated a collection of her mother’s original historical materials to the Centre in 2018 and has recently published a biography titled Malou.

Dr Anna Hirsh is the Jewish Holocaust Centre Manager of Collections and Research.

JHC Centre News

19

Term 2 Highlights • Reaching 3,503 students educated across all programs: 41 In Touch with Memory, 38 Virtual Workshops and 3 Hide and Seek programs.

The first Bnei Mitzvah session was delivered to a group of students from Hamerkaz Centre.

• Delivering programs to 68 different schools.

The Holocaust survivors involved in our programs continue to inspire us with their adaptability. Technology has not been a barrier to creating meaningful connections, as their stories continue to have the strongest impact on students across all programs. This was demonstrated powerfully in student reflections completed at the end of each session, highlighting the importance of connecting students with survivors to become witnesses to their stories.

• Delivering our first Bnei Mitzvah program in May. • Delivering a Virtual Workshop to 312 students at Dromana Secondary College in June.

• Continuing our partnership with CSG to welcome a group of Victoria Police members for an adult education program in May. • 100% of teachers thought the interaction with artefacts/virtual museum enhanced their students’ learning.

• 100% of teachers would recommend to other teachers.

“I will never forget her story and I will teach my kids in the future”

‘I am now a witness’ JHC education programs continue to change attitudes Tracey Collie

(l-r) Students from EQDemic School meeting Sarah Saaroni in their Hide and Seek program

We warmly welcomed new survivors to our program to speak with students. Peter Gaspar, Charles German, Bep Gomperts and Gilah Leder have all become well-practised at sharing their stories and answering students’ questions.

Our volunteer Education Facilitators continue to give generously of their time and demonstrated a great willingness to learn new skills to assist in delivering our onsite ‘In Touch with Memory’ program.

Several facilitators also keenly took up the challenge of assisting with our Virtual Workshops by ‘guiding’ students through our Virtual Museum. We are so thankful as we simply could not deliver programs without them.

Members of Victoria Police meeting Henri Korn at the temporary premises of the Centre.

R

eflecting on the Jewish Holocaust Centre’s Term Two education programs, it is easy to be overcome by thoughts of interruptions and difficulties caused by lockdowns. However, the student reflections remind us of the importance of our programs, highlighting that they are as essential ever as they continue to change attitudes to indifference, prejudice, intolerance and hatred.

‘In Touch with Memory’ continued to receive high praise from teachers and students alike, a testament to its enquiry-based learning model. To conclude each session, students are asked to participate in a candle-lighting ceremony and share their personal reflection by completing an ‘I will remember…’ card. Overwhelmingly, students reflected that they are all members of one race – the human race – and recognised their role in preventing hatred and intolerance by being ‘upstanders’. They also reflected directly on what they had heard from the Holocaust survivor they had met.

We delivered our largest ever Virtual Workshop to 312 students at Dromana Secondary College with incredible success. Students reflected on the need to be tolerant and the importance of standing

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JHC Centre News

up against discrimination, rather than being bystanders. They were also moved by Vivienne Spiegel, who shared her story with them, one student writing: ‘I will remember Viv’s whole story from her perspective and take in (sic) account the feeling and heart behind it. I could not imagine the pain and distraught (sic) that she went through. She was a very strong and independent woman, throughout everything, I will never forget her story and I will teach my kids in the future.’

The ‘Hide and Seek’ program has been adapted for delivery as an outreach program which sees a team of educators and volunteer facilitators travelling to each school. The program engages younger students with the Holocaust through a focus on stories of survival through hiding. The innocence of children speaking with our survivors continues to deliver beautiful interactions. Three Hide and Seek programs were delivered in Term Two to a total of 182 students, with more programs booked for Terms Three and Four.

The survivors who are involved in delivering our programs reinforce to students the importance of education, and we are proud to play a role in educating them on the dangers of indifference, prejudice, intolerance and hatred to build a future of compassionate and tolerant global citizens.

The latest addition to our suite of programs is the Bnei Mitzvah program, which has been adapted from the Hide and Seek program.

Tracey Collie is the Jewish Holocaust Centre’s Education Programs Officer.

JHC Centre News

21

Strengthening links between the JHC and the USC Shoah Foundation

IHRA: countering Holocaust distortion Sue Hampel and Pauline Rockman

Pauline Rockman

Still from the Protect The Facts campaign video Distortion of the Holocaust is the distortion of a central event in human history …

We have to fight it by coming as close to the truth as possible. That is the task of the IHRA … We cannot stop our fight for the truth. We cannot sit quietly. We have to do what we can. And what we can is to teach, to research, to educate, to further our knowledge of what happened, so that similar things will not happen again.

— IHRA Honorary Chairman Professor Yehuda Bauer

O

nce again, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) plenary meetings, hosted by Greece, were held entirely online and guided by the priorities of Chair of IHRA, Ambassador Chris Lazaris – to counter Holocaust distortion and to advance Holocaust education. The plenary meetings brought together government representatives and experts from 34 member countries and eight Permanent International Partnership Organisations.

During the meetings, the experts in the IHRA’s Working Groups and Committees dealt with the most pressing issues related to the field of Holocaust education, remembrance and research.

Sue Hampel is the first Australian to chair the IHRA Education Working Group (EWG). This is the largest working committee with over 80 members, and productive and informative meetings were held. Discussions related to how online Holocaust education and digital forms of remembrance, prompted by the impact of the pandemic, clearly demonstrate the need for Holocaust institutions to further explore how to use new technologies most effectively. Experts also discussed the role of the pandemic in sparking the spread of Holocaust distortion and age-old antisemitic tropes on online platforms. Deep concern was expressed over the rapid spread of antisemitism, which is always simmering beneath the surface, across the social and political spectrum.

IHRA experts also addressed the politicisation of Holocaust history, which threatens the accurate historical narrative. We explored examples of its impact on museums, memorial sites and research.

Check out the IHRA’s global social media campaign #ProtectTheFacts, which is being held in conjunction with the European Commission, the United Nations and UNESCO to put a spotlight on the need to address distortion now: www.againstholocaustdistortion.org Sue Hampel OAM and Pauline Rockman OAM are Co-Presidents of the Jewish Holocaust Centre.

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T

he JHC is delighted that testimonies from the Phillip Maisel Testimonies Collection will be part of the preservation program of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute (USCSFI). Their content will be digitised and indexed for students and researchers and become part of the extensive Shoah Foundation archive, which is as safe and accessible as the Centre’s Phillip Maisel collection.

The Visual History Archive contains 54,140 audiovisual testimonies of Holocaust witnesses, the majority of which were recorded by USC Shoah Foundation between 1994 and 2001. Through its ‘Preserving the Legacy’ program, the Foundation digitises, indexes and integrates Holocaust testimony taken and owned by other museums and institutions into the Visual History Archive to make them more accessible to scholars, students, educators and the general public.

The indexing of each interview enables researchers to search in detail for the people, places, events and experiences described in each one. For example, the archive includes over 1.966 million name records – those of the interviewees themselves, their family members and anyone else they talk about in the interview.

The indexing terms include approximately 47,000 specific geographic locations, not only from Europe but from all over the world, and around 8,000 experiential terms used to describe the huge variety of events, experiences, organisations and other subjects.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed in April. The Centre is most appreciative of this fantastic venture and our sincere thanks go to Lee Liberman, Chair of the Board of Councillors to the USC Shoah Foundation. For further information, go to the USC Shoah Foundation website: sfi.usc.edu/collections/holocaust Pauline Rockman OAM is Co-President of the Jewish Holocaust Centre.

New acquisitions D

espite our relocation and Covid lockdowns, the Jewish Holocaust Centre has been receiving a steady influx of rare and historically powerful additions to our collection. These are new additions from January 2020 to July 2021. Most have a connection with Melbourne survivors, which is what makes the Centre’s Collection unique. Thank you to our donors for your generosity, and to donors who have contributed funding to the Collections Department. Donations of original Holocaust artefacts are always welcome. We also ask for your assistance with the historical details, as these are crucial foundations to the documentation process.

Irene and Fred Capek Collection

Abraham and Tauba Goldberg Collection

David Maddison Collection

Large collection of

A large collection of mostly

A collection of Holocaust-

documents, photos and

pre-war photographs of

related books including the

objects relating to the lives

Abraham Goldberg and his

rare book Die Juden und die

and experiences of Irene and

family, from Sokoły, and his

Judengemeinde Bratislava

Fred Capek, who survived

wife Tauba, from Dabrowa

in Vergangenheit und

Theresienstadt and Auschwitz.

Gornicza. During the

Gegenwart: ein Sammelwerk

Donated by their children Annabelle Taylor and John Capek.

Holocaust Abraham was a

written by Hugo Gold in 1932.

Jacob Frisch Collection Documents and photographs belonging to Jacob Frisch, from Krakow, including

partisan and Tauba survived concentration camps.

Donated by their children, Izzy Goldberg and Bella Zozula.

Halina Strnad Collection Halina Wagowska (born 1930) survived the Lodz Ghetto,

Tauba and David Opat Collection

Auschwitz and Stutthof. In 2020, she gave testimony at the trial of Bruno Dey (see

photos of his first wife Regine

Photographs and documents

article in this issue). She has

and child Stefanie who were

related to Tauba, also known

donated copies of the trial

murdered. After the war,

as Toni (nee Wojnstajn) and

transcripts and the judge’s

he met and married

David Opat (Opatchinsky). Days

verdict, as well as pages of her

Maria Entenberg.

after Tauba and David married

own experiences written over

in February 1939, David, with

the years, and other materials.

Donated by their granddaughter Sonia Gouttman.

Australia; Tauba and family

Graham McKenzie Collection

broke out. Tauba survived

Eric and Julia Winters Collection

ghettos and camps including

Erich Levin was a musician

Blanket from the Reich Ministry

Auschwitz and Stutthof, and the

from Berlin who came to

death march. She was finally

Australia on the infamous

reunited with her beloved

Dunera; Julia Josephs was

David in Melbourne, but

a radiographer from Munich.

tragically died a few years

Both fled Nazi Germany, then

later at the age of 38.

met and married in Melbourne.

Donated by their daughter, Judy Sher.

Donated by their friend, Marjorie Ritchie.

salvaged in country Victoria.

William Neal Collection Oscar Wilde book in German, published in the 1930s.

hair, centre front row – who was hidden in a convent in Poland; Pages from Joseph Marash’s diary;

Anne Gouttman Collection Photos, documents and notes of the experiences of Anne Gouttman. During the Holocaust, she was hidden by a Polish woman, and in a convent. Her father Chaskiel was murdered in Mauthausen; her mother Maria survived camps including Ravensbruck and Buchenwald.

Donated by their daughter and son-in-law Sonia and Rodney Gouttman.

his brother and father, left for intended to follow but war

of Justice. This item had been

 (top) Anne Entenberg – with dark

Joseph Marash Diary Diary written by Joseph Marash, first entry dated September 1943, covering the months from August 1942 to May 1943. Joseph had been incarcerated in the Brody Ghetto, before jumping from a train that was headed to Auschwitz.

Donated by his daughter, Loretta Joseph.

JHC Centre News

23

William Cooper remembered

Lisa Phillips: educator extraordinaire

Lorelle Lake

E

ight years ago, the Jewish Holocaust Centre (JHC) was approached by Tauba and Dennis Wilson and their daughter and son-in-law, Nina and Nick Yates, to establish a scholarship offering financial assistance to Indigenous university students.

During a visit to the museum, Nick discovered the story of William Cooper, the Aboriginal human rights activist who, in November 1938, marched from his home in Footscray to the German Consulate in the city to deliver a letter to the German Government protesting against the treatment of Jews during Kristallnacht.

Wishing to combine their support of the Centre with Nick’s interest in indigenous education, the Wilson family established the ‘Jewish Holocaust Centre, Wilson Family Scholarship in Memory of William Cooper’.

The first two students, from Deakin and Monash Universities, were awarded scholarships in 2014. Six years on we are pleased to report that so far, the scholarships have provided assistance to 15 Indigenous students from five different universities. Designed to lighten the financial load of tertiary studies, the scholarships reflect the positive statistics of increased enrolment in higher education of Indigenous students over recent years. Universities Australia

(l-r) Nick Yates and Wayne Walsh

For over seven years the Jewish Holocaust Centre has been blessed to have the talented Lisa Phillips as our Head of Education. Lisa came to the Centre as former Head of History at Korowa Anglican Girls’ School, bringing a wealth of knowledge with her. While she has not left us, she has stepped down from the Head role to continue to work with the education team as a Pedagogy Specialist.

figures indicate 19,935 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are now studying at university – up from 9,490 in 2008.

Wayne Walsh, pictured here with Nick Yates, was Deakin University’s recipient of the scholarship in 2018 and 2019, graduating in 2020 with a Bachelor of Laws degree at the Institute of Koorie Education in Waurn Ponds. Wayne is a proud Wamba Wamba man with a strong connection to his culture and the land he has lived on all his life. Most weekends he is fishing, painting Koorie art or making traditional artefacts.

In 2016 Wayne had a hip replacement, which presented challenges in doing the typically labour-intensive jobs in his regional Victorian hometown. Receiving financial support for living expenses meant that he could focus on his studies without the pressure of working full time.

Wayne says: Undertaking a law degree was very challenging and I would not have been able complete this course without the continued assistance from the Jewish Holocaust Centre Wilson Family Scholarship and the amazing support I received from the staff at the Institute of Koorie Education.

The main reason I started studying law is because of the overpopulation of my people in custody. After working for several years in the Victorian justice system, I decided to study law to help my community and challenge the laws that bring them into contact with criminal justice...

‘Receiving this scholarship and what it represents encourages me to work harder towards fighting for social change and justice for my community.’

Wayne has faced the challenges of 2020 head on, receiving a Compliance Certificate to practise law. We are delighted that Wayne is now working in his hometown in regional Victoria as a solicitor supporting people, many living below the poverty line, with a variety of legal matters including family violence, contracts and general advice. He is still wondering how he would have made it happen without the support of people around him.

We are sincerely grateful for the commitment of the Wilson family for enabling this scholarship to continue supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander with higher education.

Max Wald OAM

Mazal tov Max Wald OAM The Jewish Holocaust Centre is delighted that Max Wald was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Max was recognised for his service to the Jewish community, including his work for the Australian Genealogical Society and at the Centre. Max has had a variety of roles at the Centre, ranging from driving the bus for the JHC Social Club and doing general administrative work to assisting in Archives.

Recently he has been working with Phillip Maisel in Testimonies, interviewing Holocaust survivors and second-generation survivors.

Lisa has made an indelible imprint on all our educational offerings and has worked hard to build and mentor a cohesive team of educators. She is passionate about professional development and has ensured that volunteers received ongoing training, both Holocaust and pedagogy.

Her work has been instrumental in the creation of a pilot program of Professional Development for Teachers across Victoria, an amazing achievement of which Lisa should be very proud.

One of the many highlights has been her work in developing ‘Hide and Seek’, the award-winning Middle Schools program funded by Gandel Philanthropy. This program introduces concepts of discrimination to younger visitors, aged 10-14, and teaches them about the resilience of children who survived in hiding.

Lisa has worked closely with Holocaust survivors to ensure that they are respected and able to provide clear testimony to students. She has formed strong bonds with so many survivors during her time at the Centre. The mark of Lisa’s character was evident when one of our survivors, Moshe Fiszman, passed away. All the educators wanted to attend the funeral, but there was a school visit booked at the same time. Lisa’s response was: ‘I’ll stay here and teach. Willie would have wanted me to do that.’

Lisa Phillips

Max said he feels very honoured to receive the award: ‘The idea is very simply to help people with their memories because it is important to find your roots and look back. I get pleasure doing what I do and am humbled as I have never looked for, or expected, such publicity.’

Lorelle Lake is the Jewish Holocaust Centre’s Grants & Partnership Manager.

24

JHC Centre News

JHC Centre News

25

Mazal tov

IN MEMORY OF

David Burstin (1937 — 2021)

Marriages To Anat and Peter Nadler on the marriage of their son Aaron to Marcelle

Births To Sharona and David Brott on the birth of their grandsons Harley and Asher To Michael Cohen and Sharon Brodtman on the birth of their grandson Edward ‘Teddy’ To Phil and Sue Lewis on the birth of their granddaughter Sage To David Prince on the birth of his great-grandson Gefen Eliyah

To Judy and Andrew Rogers on the birth of their granddaughter Bella Violet To Eva and Allan Rutman on the birth of their granddaughter Gia Charlotte

Birthdays To Charles German on his 85th birthday

To Fryda Schweitzer on the birth of her great-grandson Isaac

To John Lamovie on his 85th birthday

To Joe Szwarcberg on the birth of his great-granddaughter Willow

To Sarah Saaroni OAM on her 95th birthday

Bar/Bat Mitzvah

To Fryda Schweitzer on her 96th birthday

To Pauline Rockman OAM on the bar mitzvah of her grandson Salvatore

To Wolf Deane on his 95th birthday To David Prince on his 96th birthday To Ivan Jarny on his 97th birthday To Philip Maisel OAM on his 99th birthday

To Pebbie and Max Wald OAM on the bar mitzvah of their grandson Raph

Condolences To Abhijit and Kathy Chattaraj on the death of their grandmother

To the family of George Ginsburg on his death

To Anita and Peter Frayman on the death of your father and father-in-law Joe Kaufman

To Joe De Haan on the death of his son-in-law Bentley Klein

To Helen and Harry Gelber on the death of their father and father-in-law Alex Grossman

To Henri Korn on the death of his wife Sandra Korn

Michael Burstin and Naomi Glennon

To Max Wald OAM on his 80th birthday

To the family of Rosa Krakowski on her death To Annette Leski on the death of her father Oscar Baum To Tammy and Chaim Reznik on the death of their father and father-in-law Louis Pakula

D

avid Burstin was a man who had an insatiable energy for life. He loved his sports, his family and friends, and with a passion for Yiddishkeit he contributed to the community in many ways. David volunteered regularly at the Jewish Holocaust Centre after completing the volunteer guide training in 2009. He was passionate about educating school groups and visitors about Holocaust awareness, and was enthusiastic and dedicated volunteer guide. He was as determined as he was energetic, a truly inspirational man.

David was born in September 1937 to parents Sender and Fayge Burstin. He had two older brothers, Ben and Maurice. Sender Burstin was a founder of the Bund and the IL Peretz Yiddish School in Melbourne, which is where David’s passion for Yiddishkeit began. David went to Princess Hill Primary School, then attended University High School before completing his education at the University of Melbourne.

Growing up in Carlton, he barracked for the Carlton Football Club, a love and a passion he passed onto the next two generations.

 David and Doris Burstin.

For many years, David and his brothers, together with their cousin Moishe Mrocki, and their respective families occupied a large part of the grandstand at Princess Park. Together the family watched, laughed, cried and yelled our lungs out at many glorious and memorable games played by their beloved ‘Blue Boys’.

Become a Partner in Remembrance The Jewish Holocaust Centre Foundation ensures the continued existence of the Centre and supports its important work. Funds raised through the Foundation are invested, with the earnings providing an ongoing source of income for the Centre to support its operations and programs into the future.

26

JHC Centre News

For more information on how you can help support the Foundation and how your support will be recognised, please contact Helen Mahemoff, Chair of the Foundation on 0417 323 595 or email jhcfoundation@bigpond.com

David married Doris Nusbaum in March 1962. They knew each other from SKIF and after their marriage shared a close bond and partnership that grew over the years. They had been each other’s best friend and supported each other through everything. David spent many years on the committees and as president of IL Peretz and Sholem Aleichem College, while Doris became principal of both IL Peretz and Sholem Aleichem. From a young age David ran the SKIF camps together with his lifelong friend, Label Goldman. While Doris taught Yiddish at Mount Scopus College for a number of years, David was a tireless committee member and treasurer of the Kadimah. They were an extraordinary team, a match made in heaven. They had recently celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary.

Sport was Dad’s real passion, both as a participant and a spectator.

For many years he was heavily involved with AJAX Football Club, first as a player, then as a coach, then as president for four years.

As a player, he was a tenacious and brave rover. It could be said that he lived life the way that he played football.

At the end of his football career Dad played competition squash and, in his later years, he loved lawn bowling and was an active and popular member of the Armadale Bowling Club where he made many close friendships. He loved his sport and even ran a marathon, from Frankston to the Melbourne Town Hall.

Doris and David were blessed with two children, Michael and Naomi. As mum’s health began to deteriorate, Dad’s devotion to caring for her was beyond compare. He became the glue that held the family together, his empathy and love for our mother was inspirational.

Dad was a great father, but he was a super zaida. His grandchildren, Michelle, Jack, Ty and Sienna adored him.

He and Mum were always ready and willing to spend time with their ainiklech, and their love and energy knew no bounds.

David passed away with a family who loved him deeply and a community that respected and admired him. He leaves behind a legacy that any man would be proud of. We will miss him forever.

Michael Burstin and Naomi Glennon are David Burstin’s children.

JHC Centre News

27

IN MEMORY OF

George Ginsburg

Floris Kalman

(1923 — 2021)

(1934 — 2020)

Tali Feinberg

Naomi Dessauer, Jonathan Kalman and Julie Kalman

M

y father, George Ginsburg, was born on 25 February 1923 in the free city-state of Danzig. His family moved to Berlin two years later, where they led a comfortable life. Everything changed when the Nazis came to power in the 1930s. Dad witnessed the rise of Nazi Germany, attended the terrifying opening ceremony at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, and experienced the horrors of Kristallnacht. Evacuated with the Kindertransport from Germany to Belgium, he later fled the invading German army across the Spanish border, but had to turn back. Trying desperately to enter Switzerland via France he was betrayed by Swiss guards. Arrested as a spy, Dad was interrogated and tortured in a Gestapo prison before being transported by rail to Auschwitz.

As inmate No. 64 147, Dad survived for nearly three years, one of the longest surviving Jewish slave labourers in Auschwitz. Sent on the infamous Death March in 1945, he made a daring escape into the forest. He miraculously survived until he was liberated by American

soldiers. He then joined US Army Intelligence. As he was fluent in many languages, he served as a scout and interpreter in occupied West Germany. He told his miraculous and heart-wrenching story of hope and faith in his autobiography, A Will to Live.

Dad migrated to Australia in 1947, then in 1970 made aliyah (migrated to Israel). He served in the Israeli Defence Force as a tank commander in the Yom Kippur War and later worked for the Israeli police force there. He returned to Australia in the mid-1970s.

My father had a big heart and really believed in making a difference, speaking out and standing up for what is right.

He also had an amazing sense of humour, and was always the life of the party. He was sentimental, caring and passionate.

Dad was a hard worker, but also found time to volunteer in Jewish community organisations. He had helped form the worldwide Zionist youth movement Betar in Berlin, and played a founding role in Betar Australia in Melbourne.

The Jewish Holocaust Centre (JHC) was the organisation closest to his heart, and he spent many years there as a volunteer. He was passionate about educating school children and other visitors, speaking and guiding them through the museum. He shared the life lessons he had learnt, and his quest for tolerance and equality.

He loved meeting up with and sharing life stories with his fellow Holocaust survivor friends. He was honoured to lead the March of the Living, proudly guiding a large group of Australians through the gates of Auschwitz.

Upon my return to Australia with my family nearly 10 years ago, after living there for two decades, we were able to spend more quality time with Dad. Spending time with us – my husband Erez, and his beloved grandchildren Guy, Shiri, Eden and Matti – gave him so much nachas and we have beautiful memories of Shabbat dinners and Jewish festivals.

Dad was a strong man of determination, courage and hope. He loved me dearly, guiding and educating me. He believed in the power of education, continuity, tolerance, hope, faith, peace and strength of the Jewish spirit, and always wanted us to continue to keep writing our Jewish story. I am so proud of my father; he will always be my loving Dad and I will always cherish our loving memories together. May his memory be a blessing.

Tali Feinberg is George Ginsburg’s daughter.

George Ginsburg is survived by six children, 13 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

28

JHC Centre News

IN MEMORY OF

F

loris Kalman was born in Brussels in 1934. She was the older daughter of Nachman and Rywka Gryfenberg, who had migrated from Poland five years earlier. At the age of eight, when the Nazis invaded Belgium, she was separated from her parents and younger sister, Danielle, and hidden with strangers. At first she was at a children’s camp. She wrote: ‘I am eight years old, I am standing in the middle of a playground, children all around me shriek, climb and laugh. It is a beautiful summers day. I don’t play. I don’t laugh I just watch. I have been left here in this children’s holiday home.

I feel homesick. I miss my home, my mother and father terribly. I don’t understand what is happening. I try to forget the ache in my stomach.’ For the next two years, she was hidden in a total of six different homes. She remembers just two of those with fondness.

During those years of displacement and adjustment, she learned to blend in and suppress her feelings. In her adult life she wrote that these behaviours stayed with her for most of her life.

After the war, Floris was reunited with her parents and Danielle and the family migrated to Australia to begin a new life. Soon after, she met Arie Kalman at a Tsukunft camp in Phillip Island. Theirs was a deeply loyal and loving marriage.

Floris and Arie had three children, Naomi, Jonathan and Julie.

Becoming a mother in a new culture with a different language, Floris taught herself to cook, listened to the children’s hour on the radio and taught herself nursery rhymes and lullabies. Both she and Arie taught themselves to parent and gave their children a sense of security and warmth which was very different from their experience as children during the Holocaust.

Floris loved reading and later writing. She recalled the first book she read when she was in hiding at the Van den Borrens (later honoured as Righteous Among the Nations) and the pleasure it gave her. She wrote: ‘No one can intrude and I can be safe and happy.’ She was a lifelong reader and student, graduating in languages, teaching French and Latin, and later becoming a lay marriage counsellor. She read in both Yiddish and English, helped out with translation both for private people and many Kadimah performances, and attended short courses and shiurim.

Floris had wide interests and connections. She chaired the Child Survivors of the Holocaust group for many years and her writing appeared in several anthologies. She was a volunteer guide at the Jewish Holocaust Centre, sharing her story with students and members of the public and also spoke to bar and bat mitzvah children at Gen2Gen. She belonged to a Yiddish reading group, Kedem, B’nai Brith, a walking group and a book group, and made significant and meaningful contributions to each of these groups over many years.

 Floris Kalman with her mother and sister, Danielle, 1942 Despite her gentle demeanour, her children grew up with a clear understanding of her opinions – her strong sense of social justice and her intolerance of bigotry.

Family was everything to Floris. She welcomed her children’s partners, adored her eight grandchildren and had a profound bond with her little sister, Danielle. Together, Floris and Danielle created an extended family of deep and loving connections which continue now into the third generation.

Naomi Dessauer, Jonathan Kalman and Julie Kalman are Floris Kalman’s children.

This is an updated version of the obituary printed in the April 2021 edition of Centre News. We apologise for the errors made in the previous version.

JHC Centre News

29

IN MEMORY OF

Claire Weis

Estate gifts

(1928 — 2020) We acknowledge the Jewish Holocaust Centre and Foundation bequestors for their generosity and vision. May their memory be a blessing.

Gillian Strauch

C

laire, or Klari as she was known, was born in 1928 in the village of Tiszaujlak (now Vilovi). She was the second daughter of Andre and Julia (nee Fried) Altberger. It was said that she often annoyed her sister, Elizabeth (Zsoska), who was six years older.

Tiszaujlak was on the border of Ukraine and Hungary. When Claire was born it was part of Czechoslovakia. It was a thriving centre of 4,000 people, of whom 1,600 were Jewish. Jews lived harmoniously with other religious groups, and the Jewish community was mostly involved in trade and commerce. The Altbergers had a butcher shop and the Frieds a hotel. Claire was only three when her father died, and the family moved in with the Fried family.

Jesse, were her pride and joy. She looked after them, taught them to make her famous jam biscuits and remained close to them as they grew up.

Claire was a dedicated volunteer at the Jewish Holocaust Centre, becoming involved when the Centre was established in 1984.

For many years she worked as a guide, taking students and other visitors through the museum and sharing her story with them.

Her contribution was recognised by a volunteer award from the City of Glen Eira in 2005.

In 1938 Tiszaujlak became part of Hungary and, as a result of the Numerus Clausus laws, Jewish children were not permitted to attend secondary schools. In 1942, Claire and Zsoka moved to Budapest. With the help of the Jewish Women’s Association, Zsoka shared a flat with other Jewish girls, while Claire lived in a flat for children. When the Jewish Association could no longer provide for them, the sisters moved in with their aunt, Lili Sarkadi.

In May 1944, the Hungarian government began to deport Jews who lived in the countryside, sending some 500,000 people to concentration camps in two months. Although there were no deportations in Budapest at that time, Jews were forced to wear a yellow star. Many were picked up on the streets and taken to the Danube River to be shot immediately. Others were forced to move to special houses marked with yellow stars.

Family was the centre of Claire and Alex’s life and although Alex worked hard, life was good. They enjoyed travelling, opera and classical music, playing bridge and following the tennis. Sadly, Alex died in 2000, but Claire’s strength and family carried her through. ‘Accept the things you cannot change and change the things you can’ was her mantra. Her grandchildren, Justin and

30

JHC Centre News

Elza Bernst Emanuel Wajnblum Erika Bence Esther Poelman Eugene Hacker Fania Gitein Geoffrey Tozer Gerda Rogers Gitla Borenstein Hadasa Rosenbaum Hana Uberbayn Helen Sharp Henrietta (Kitia) Altman Irene and Ignacy Rozental Ivor Leiser Izabella Krol Jack & Ethel Goldin Foundation Jakob Frenkiel Janina Marcus Jenny Chaenkel John Fox Josef Tyler Joseph Schauf-Dauber Julek & Ada Lipski

Kalman & Elka Bajla Parasol Kathe Weisselberg Kay Ronec Kurt Lewinski Leslie Klemke Leslie Sandy Lilian Renard Lola Kiven Ludvik Weisz Ludwik & Rita Winfield Magda Horvat Majer (Kopl) Ceprow Marianne Singer Mary Starr Mendel Herszfeld Mrs Georgette Steinic Nona Lee Oskar and Lisa Sokolski Otto Shelton Paul Gere Pearl & Maurice Lubansky Peter Boss Pinek Krystal Pinkus Wiener Raymond Harry Schiller

Regina Aldelfang Richard Charlupski Rita Greiner Rivka Knox Romana Frey Ruth Leiser Ruth Renard Sabine Jakubowicz Sam Granek Samuel Gnieslaw Samuel Wolf Stopnik Sara Frucht Sara Liebman Sara Smuzyk Shmuel Rosenkranz Sofia Zitron Sonia Mrocki Sonia Sochodolski Susan Blatman Szmul Rostkier Thea Kimla Victor Muntz Walter Geismar Wilhelm Lermer

Remember our past.

Build our future.

One day while walking along the street, Claire and Zsoka were picked up by soldiers who were rounding up Jewish women.

The young soldier leading the group whispered to Zsoka: ‘Girls, take off quickly, I will not shoot!’ The Altberger sisters fled, pulling off their yellow stars, and went in to hiding, first in a ruined house and later in the cellar of a glass factory. They were there when the Soviet Army liberated Budapest on Claire’s 18th birthday. Tragically most members of their family had been murdered in concentration camps.

In 1948, Zsoka introduced Claire to Alex Weis and they married soon after. They moved first to Paris and, three years later, to Australia to begin a new life. Their only child, Gillian, was born in 1959.

Abraham Benedykt Abram Malewiak Albert & Lena Newmann Anna Mass Anonymous Arnold Hacker Basia Kane Bencjan Rozencwajg Berta Strom Bertha Fekete Bessie Heiman Betty & Rose Rosalky Betty Janover Cecilia Freshman Chaim and Malka Brown Foundation Chaim Feldman Charlotte Lesser Chaskiel Gliksman Chaya Ziskind Claire Weis Don & Sonia Marejn Dr Joseph Brown AO OBE Edith Peer Elizabeth Peer

Donating to the Jewish Holocaust Centre in lieu of gifts is an opportunity to ensure we keep the voices of Holocaust survivors alive for generations to come.  Claire Weis.

My mother was a wonderful parent and friend, a lady of dignity and substance, a source of inspiration and an understanding ear.

She gave so much more than she received and we miss her every day, but her memory and legacy will live on in us forever.

Gillian Strauch is Claire Weis’s daughter.

Contact our Fundraising Team to find out how we can provide you with a personalised fundraising program.

 03 9528 1985 |

donate@jhc.org.au | www.jhc.org.au

Image: Melbourne-based Holocaust survivors Sarah and Lewi Saaroni on their wedding day in Israel, 1948. Sarah continues to share her story of the Holocaust with students and the public at the Jewish Holocaust Centre. Image from the JHC Collection.

JHC Centre News

31

Phillip Maisel Testimonies Project The Jewish Holocaust Centre has over 1,300 video testimonies as well as over 200 audio testimonies in its collection. These provide eyewitness accounts of the horrors of the Holocaust, as well as glimpses into the vibrancy of pre-war Jewish life in Europe. The collection is widely used by researchers and students of oral history, the Holocaust and a variety of other disciplines.

If you would like to give your testimony or know of someone who is interested in giving a testimony, contact testimonies@jhc.org.au

Experience extraordinary stories of resistance and courage at the 2021 Jewish International Film Festival.

The Meaning of Hitler

I Am Here

The Auschwitz Report

Truus’ Children

Support For Holocaust Survivors Jewish Care provides services and financial assistance to support Holocaust survivors living independently in the community. *

Only in cinemas.

A range of support available including: • Domestic and personal care • Financial assistance • Restitution support *Services funded by the Claims Conference are subject to eligibility criteria.

We will help you to determine your eligibility for any funded supports.

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For more information, contact | 03 8517 5999 | info@jewishcare.org.au | jewishcare.org.au/hssp

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33

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37

‫אַ פֿאַרגעסן קאַפּיטל פֿון דער חורבן‪-‬געשיכטע‬ ‫פֿון מיכאַל קרוטיקאָוו‪ ,‬פֿאָרווערטס‪2.04.2021:‬‬

‫אַ רום אַ ֿפערטל מיליאָ ן ייִ דן האָ בן זיך געראַ טעװעט ֿפונעם חורבן‬ ‫אין די סאָ װעטישע מזרח־געגנטן‪ ,‬סיביר און צענטראַ ל־אַ זיע‪ .‬נאָ ך‬ ‫זײנען זײ לרוֿב אַ װעקגעֿפאָ רן—לכּתחילה צוריק קײן‬ ‫דער מלחמה ַ‬ ‫װײטער קײן יׂשראל‪ ,‬אַ מעריקע און אַ נדערע לענדער‪.‬‬ ‫ּפױלן און ַ‬ ‫זײער דראַ מאַ טישע געשיכטע האָ ט אָ בער ביז לעצטנס ניט‬ ‫צוגעצױגן קײן סך אינטערעס מצד די היסטאָ ריקער‪ .‬מאַ רעק‬ ‫צײטונג‬ ‫ליבהאַ בער האָ ט נאָ ך אין ‪ 1947‬געשריבן אין דער ייִדישער ַ‬ ‫„איבערגאַ נג‟‪ ,‬װאָ ס ער האָ ט רעדאַ קטירט אין דער אַ מעריקאַ נער‬ ‫דײטשלאַ נד׃ „דאָ ס ֿפאַ רלױרענע קאַ ּפיטל‬ ‫אָ קוּפאַ ציע־זאָ נע ֿפון ַ‬ ‫לײדן ֿפון אײראָ ּפעיִשן ייִדנטום אין רוסלאַ נד אין די‬ ‫געשיכטע‪ .‬די ַ‬ ‫רײך‪ ,‬דערהױבן און װיכטיק‬ ‫יאָ רן ‪ .1946–1939‬איז אַ גרױס‪ַ ,‬‬ ‫קאַ ּפיטל‪ ,‬װאָ ס טאָ ר ניט ֿפאַ רלאָ רן גײן‟‪ .‬אָ בער דאָ ס דאָ זיקע‬ ‫רײנגעּפאַ סט אין די צװײ‬ ‫קאַ ּפיטל האָ ט זיך ניט גלאַ טיק אַ ַ‬ ‫הױּפטשטראָ מיקע היסטאָ רישע נאַ ראַ טיװן‪ .‬אין דער חורבן־‬ ‫געשיכטע ֿפאַ רנעמען די ייִדישע ּפליטים אין דעם סאָ װעטישן‬ ‫בײ די היסטאָ ריקער ֿפון‬ ‫מזרח־ראַ יאָ ן בלויז אַ ראַ נד־ּפאָ זיציע‪ַ .‬‬ ‫זײנען זײ ניט מער װי אַ צוֿפעליקער‬ ‫סאָ װעטן־ֿפאַ רבאַ נד ַ‬ ‫טװײליקער ֿפענאָ מען‪ .‬אָ בער די עיקרדיקע ּפראָ בלעם שטעקט‬ ‫צײ ַ‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫אױסטײטשן װי‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫אין דעם‪ ,‬װאָ ס די דאָ זיקע געשיכטע לאָ זט זיך ניט‬ ‫זײנען די ייִדישע ּפליטים ֿפון‬ ‫זײט ַ‬ ‫רץ־און־װײס‪ֿ .‬פון אײן ַ‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫שװאַ‬ ‫ּפױלן געװען קרבנות ֿפון סטאַ ליניסטישע רדיֿפות‪ .‬צװישן ‪1939‬‬ ‫און ‪ 1941‬האָ ט די סאָ װעטישע געהײם־ּפאָ ליצײ זײ געכאַ ּפט און‬ ‫דעּפאָ רטירט קײן סיביר אין „גולאַ ג‟־לאַ גערן און „סּפעציעלע‬ ‫זײט‪ ,‬האָ בן דװקא די דאָ זיקע‬ ‫ייִשוֿבים‟‪ֿ .‬פון דער אַ נדער ַ‬ ‫דעּפאָ רטאַ ציעס זײ געראַ טעװעט ֿפונעם חורבן‪ .‬נאָ ך דעם‪ ,‬װי‬ ‫דײטשלאַ נד האָ ט באַ ֿפאַ לן דעם סאָ װעטן־ֿפאַ רבאַ נד אין ‪,1941‬‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫זײנען‬ ‫ֿפרײט געװאָ רן‪ .‬אַ היּפשע צאָ ל ּפױלישע ייִדן ַ‬ ‫זײנען זײ באַ ַ‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫אַ ריבער ֿפון סיביר קײן סאָ װעטישע רעּפובליקן אוזבעקיסטאַ ן און‬ ‫קאַ זאַ כסטאַ ן אין צענטראַ ל־אַ זיע‪ .‬דער דאָ זיקער קאָ מּפליצירטער‬ ‫דײטשישן‬ ‫נײע מאָ נאָ גראַ ֿפיע ֿפונעם ַ‬ ‫טעמע איז געװידמעט די ַ‬ ‫היסטאָ ריקער מאַ רקוס נעסעלראָ דט‪ .‬ער האָ ט גרונטיק געֿפאָ רשט‬ ‫ייִדישע מקורים‪ ,‬בֿפרט די זכרונות און ליטעראַ רישע װערק ֿפון‬ ‫ּפױלישע ייִדן‪ ,‬װאָ ס באַ האַ נדלען זײער דערֿפאַ רונג אינעם סאָ װעטן‬ ‫ֿפאַ רבאַ נד‪ .‬די דאָ זיקע ליטעראַ רישע ירושה אַ נטּפלעקט ּכלערלײ‬ ‫צרות‪ ,‬װאָ ס ייִדישע ּפליטים האָ בן געהאַ ט אינעם סאָ װעטן־‬ ‫ֿפאַ רבאַ נד‪ .‬אין סיביר האָ ט מען זײ געצװּונגען צו דער עֿבודת־ּפרך‬ ‫ֿפון האַ קן האָ לץ אין ֿפראָ סטיקע סיבירער װעלדער‪ .‬נאָ ך דער‬ ‫ֿפרײונג האָ בן זײ ּכסדר ניט באַ קומען קײן געהעריקע‬ ‫באַ ַ‬ ‫דערלױבענישן אױף צו אַ רבעטן און געמוזט לעבן ֿפון קלײן האַ נדל‪,‬‬ ‫װאָ ס איז געװען אומלעגאַ ל לױט סאָ װעטישע געזעצן‪ .‬זײ האָ בן ניט‬ ‫געקענט די רוסישע שּפראַ ך‪ ,‬געליטן ֿפון קראַ נקײטן און הונגער‪.‬‬ ‫אײנצײטיק אי געראַ טעװעט‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫אַ זױ אַ רום האָ ט די סאָ װעטישע מאַ כט‬ ‫זײנען‬ ‫אי גערודֿפט ייִדישע ּפליטים ֿפון ּפױלן‪ .‬צװישן די ּפליטים ַ‬ ‫געװען אי ֿפרומע ייִדן‪ ,‬אי קאָ מוניסטן אי ציוניסטן‪ ,‬װאָ ס האָ בן‬ ‫נײע ייִדישע לעבן אין ארץ־יׂשראל נאָ ך‬ ‫געחלומט װעגן בױען אַ ַ‬ ‫דער מלחמה‪ .‬אין סאָ װעטן־ֿפאַ רבאַ נד האָ בן זײ קנאַ ּפ געהאַ ט אַ‬ ‫ֿפאַ רבינדונג מיט זײער ּפױלישער הײם‪ .‬ערשט װען זײ האָ בן זיך‬

‫‪39‬‬

‫ ‪JHC Centre News‬‬

‫ ‬

‫אומגעקערט קײן ּפױלן האָ בן זײ מׂשיג געװען דעם ריזיקן ֿפאַ רנעם‬ ‫ֿפון דער חורבן־טראַ געדיע‪ ,‬און דאָ ס איז געװאָ רן די טעמע ֿפון זײער‬ ‫ליטעראַ רישער שאַ ֿפונג‪ .‬אין ּפױלן און אין די „די־ּפי‟־לאַ גערן אין‬ ‫דײטשלאַ נד נאָ ך דער מלחמה האָ ט מען געֿפירט אַ מין דיכטערישן‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫זײנען געקומען ֿפונעם סאָ װעטן־ֿפאַ רבאַ נד‬ ‫דיִאַ לאָ ג צװישן די‪ ,‬װאָ ס ַ‬ ‫און די‪ ,‬װאָ ס האָ בן איבערגעלעבט דעם חורבן אין די לאַ גערן און‬ ‫דײטשישער אָ קוּפאַ ציע‪ .‬דער דיכטער ישיעהו‬ ‫געטאָ ס אונטער דער ַ‬ ‫שּפיגל‪ ,‬װאָ ס איז געװען אין דעם לאָ דזשער געטאָ ‪ ,‬האָ ט געשריבן׃‬ ‫זײנען דאָ‬ ‫לײכט אַ זױ צו זאָ גן‪ ,‬ברודער‪ ,‬װי אַ לע די‪ / ,‬װאָ ס ַ‬ ‫„דיר איז ַ‬ ‫מיט אונדז צוזאַ מען נישט געװעזן‪ /.‬װער ס’האָ ט אין יענע יאָ ר נישט‬ ‫אײנגעאָ טעמט מיטן רױך דעם‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫דײטש‪/,‬נישט‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫אָ נגעזען קײן‬ ‫זײן האַ לדז‬ ‫קרעמאַ טאָ ריע־טױט‪ /,‬און ס’האָ בן נישט די געטאָ ט־נעכט ַ‬ ‫זײן ברוסט די קללה ֿפון דער װעלט‬ ‫געװאָ רגן ‪ /‬דער טראָ גט נישט אין ַ‬ ‫‪ /‬צו מענטש‪ ,‬צו גאָ ט‟‪ .‬דער דיכטער יצחק ּפערלאָ װ‪ ,‬װאָ ס איז‬ ‫געקומען ֿפון רוסלאַ נד‪ ,‬האָ ט אױך דערקענט דעם אונטערשייד׃ „איך‬ ‫ֿפון סאָ װעט‪ ,‬ער ֿפון קאַ ־צעט ‪ /‬איך האָ ב געהאַ ט זיבן יאָ ר ֿפון נױט‪,‬‬ ‫‪ /‬ער האָ ט געהאַ ט זיבן יאָ ר ֿפון טױט‪ /‬מיר קענען זיך מער נישט‬ ‫ֿפאַ רשטײן‪ ‟.‬די באַ ציִונגען צװישן די ֿפאַ רשײדענע גרוּפעס ייִדישע‬ ‫ֿפרײנדלעכע‪.‬‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫זײנען צומאָ ל געװען גאָ ר ניט‬ ‫שאַ רית־הּפליטה ַ‬ ‫ּפערלאָ װס ליד איז אַ ן אינטערעסאַ נטער דאָ קומענט ֿפון יענער‬ ‫ּתקוֿפה׃ „ֿפון װעלדער ּפאָ ליסיער‪ ,‬דער ייִד ּפאַ רטיזאַ נער‪ֿ /,‬פאַ רהאַ סט‬ ‫זײן ברודער ֿפון סטעּפ קאַ זאַ כסטאַ נער‪ / .‬און בײדע ֿפאַ רהאַ סן‬ ‫איצט ַ‬ ‫דעם ברודער דעם דריטן‪ֿ /,‬פון בונקער‪ ,‬װאָ ס היטלער האָ ט אים ניט‬ ‫ֿפאַ רשניטן‟‪ .‬אײנע ֿפון די װיכטיקסטע ּפאָ עטישע װערק ֿפון יענער‬ ‫ּתקוֿפה איז געװען די זאַ מלונג „שטױּבן‟ ֿפון בנימין האַ רשאַ װ‬ ‫(הרושאָ װסקי)‪ ,‬אָ נגעשריבן צװישן ‪ 1943‬און ‪ .1947‬האַ רשאַ װ‪,‬‬ ‫זײנע לידער „מאַ כט אַ ן‬ ‫נעסעלראָ דט באַ מערקט‪ ,‬אַ ז האַ רשאַ װ אין ַ‬ ‫אַ סאָ ציאַ ציע צװישן דער שטילקײט ֿפונעם קאַ זאַ כסטאַ נער סטעּפ און‬ ‫דער שטילקײט ֿפון דער צעשטערטער שטאָ ט װילנע‟‪ .‬האַ רשאַ װ‬ ‫שרײבט׃ „ערשט איצט באַ נעם איך קלאָ ר דעם זין ֿפון אָ ט דער‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫שטילקײט‪ /.‬און כאָ טש עס װיקלט מיך די נאַ כט אַ רום מיט קילקײט‬ ‫אײנגעצונדן‪ /‬דער האַ ס‪,‬‬ ‫ֿפײער ַ‬ ‫‪ /‬עס האָ ט דער האַ ס אין מיר אַ ַ‬ ‫געבאָ רענער אין האַ רץ ֿפון טיֿפע װּונדן‟‪ .‬נעסעלראָ דט קומט צו אַ זאַ‬ ‫סך־הּכל׃ „בעת די גֿבית־עדותן ֿפון ‪ 1946-1948‬דערצײלן ּכסדר‬ ‫װעגן ֿפאַ רשײדענע מינים דערֿפאַ רונג אינעם סאָ װעטן־ֿפאַ רבאַ נד‪,‬‬ ‫עֿפנט די ייִדישע דיכטונג אַ ן אַ נדערע ּפערסּפעקטיװ אױף דער‬ ‫געשיכטע ֿפון דעם‪ ,‬װי ייִדן האָ בן זיך אױסגעלעבט אינעם‬ ‫סאָ װעטישן גלות‪ .‬די דיכטער האָ בן באַ האַ נדלט זײער אײגענע‬ ‫דײטשישער‬ ‫‘ניט־זײן דאָ רטן’ [אונטער דער ַ‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫געשיכטע ֿפון‬ ‫אָ קוּפאַ ציע] אינעם ברײטערן גערעם ֿפונעם חורבן‟‪ .‬צו דעם דאָ זיקן‬ ‫אױסֿפיר קען מען צוגעבן‪ ,‬אַ ז די ּפױלישע ייִדישע דיכטער‪ ,‬אַ זעלכע‬ ‫װי חיים גראַ דע‪ ,‬בינעם העלער‪ ,‬רחל קאָ רן‪ ,‬דוד סֿפאַ רד און אַ נדערע‪,‬‬ ‫װאָ ס האָ בן זיך געֿפונען בעתן חורבן אין דעם סאָ װעטן־ֿפאַ רבאַ נד‪,‬‬ ‫בײטראָ ג אין דער סאָ װעטישער ייִדישער‬ ‫האָ בן געמאַ כט אַ װיכטיקן ַ‬ ‫גלײך נאָ ך דער מלחמה‪ .‬זײערע װערק האָ ט‬ ‫ליטעראַ טור בעת און ַ‬ ‫צײטונג „אײניקײט‟ און אין אַ נדערע‬ ‫מען געדרוקט אין דער ַ‬ ‫סאָ װעטישע ּפובליקאַ ציעס‪ .‬אַ װדאי האָ בן זײ זיך געמוזט צוּפאַ סן צו‬ ‫דער קאָ מוניסטישער ּפאַ רטײ־ליניע‪ ,‬אָ בער זײער שאַ ֿפונג ֿפון יענער‬ ‫צײט איז געװען אַ װיכטיקער טײל ֿפון דער ייִדישער קולטור־ירושה‪.‬‬ ‫ַ‬

‫חורבן־זכרונות פֿונעם סאָ וועטישן קוקווינקל‬

‫פֿון יאַל מאַטוועיעוו‪ ,‬פֿאָרווערטס‪20.06.2021 :‬‬ ‫צי־דײטשלאַ נד איז אָ נגעֿפאַ לן אויֿפן‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫צום ‪80‬סטן יאָ רטאָ ג זינט נאַ‬ ‫ראַ טן־ֿפאַ רבאַ נד – דעם ‪22‬סטן יוני ֿפונעם יאָ ר ‪ – 1941‬איז אין‬ ‫נײער באַ נד ֿפון דער ביכער־סעריע אויף רוסיש‪,‬‬ ‫מאָ סקווע אַ רויס אַ ַ‬ ‫ֿפרײ ֿפון‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫מײנע בריוו…‟‪ ,‬וואָ ס מע קען אַ ראָ ּפלאָ דן‬ ‫„ֿפאַ רהיט ַ‬ ‫אָ ּפצאָ ל‪ .‬ס׳איז אַ זאַ מלונג ֿפון ּפערזענלעכער קאָ רעסּפאָ נדענץ‪,‬‬ ‫וואָ ס מאָ לט אָ ּפ דעם ייִדישן חורבן ֿפונעם סאָ וועטישן קוקווינקל‪.‬‬ ‫רײן בריוו‬ ‫צום ערשטן מאָ ל זענען אין דער דאָ זיקער סעריע אויך אַ ַ‬ ‫אויף ייִדיש‪ ,‬איבערגעזעצט דורכן מחבר ֿפון די שורות און דורך‬ ‫דער מאָ סקווער לינגוויסטקע און ייִדישיסטקע‪ ,‬ליובאָ וו‬ ‫לאַ ווראָ וואַ ‪ .‬הגם ס׳רוֿב וועלט־היסטאָ ריקער ֿפאַ ררעכענען די‬ ‫דײטשישע אינוואַ זיע ֿפון ּפוילן‪ ,‬דעם ערשטן סעּפטעמבער ‪,1939‬‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫ווי דער אָ נהייב ֿפון דער צווייטער וועלט־מלחמה‪ ,‬הייבט זיך אָ ן די‬ ‫סאָ וועטישע קריגס־כראָ נאָ לאָ גיע‪ ,‬בעיקר‪ֿ ,‬פון יענער דאַ טע‪ ,‬ווען‬ ‫אויף אַ לע ראַ דיאָ ־קאַ נאַ לן האָ ט זיך איבערן גאַ נצן לאַ נד דערהערט‬ ‫בײם‬ ‫דאָ ס קול ֿפונעם באַ רימטן דיקטאָ ר יורי (יודל) לעוויטאַ ן‪ַ .‬‬ ‫סאָ וועטישן און רוסישן עולם איז דער אויסדרוק „די גרויסע‬ ‫ֿפאָ טערלענדישע מלחמה‟‪ ,‬אָ ֿפט אַ סאָ צ ִייִרט מיט לעוויטאַ נס‬ ‫הײנט ֿפאַ רבליבן דער עיקר־נאָ מען ֿפון יענע‬ ‫ווערטער‪ ,‬ביז ַ‬ ‫בלוטיקע געשעענישן‪ .‬דער אָ ֿפיציעלער נאָ מען ֿפון דער מלחמה‬ ‫ווײזט שוין‪ ,‬אַ ז אין רוסלאַ נד האָ ט זיך געשאַ ֿפן אַ ן אייגענע שיטה‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫ֿפון חורבן־שטודיעס‪ ,‬וואָ ס שיידט זיך אין געוויסע אַ סּפעקטן‬ ‫אונטער ֿפון דער מערֿבדיקער ּפערסּפעקטיוו‪ .‬אינעם סאָ וועטן־‬ ‫ֿפאַ רבאַ נד האָ ט דער ברייטער עולם ווייניק געווּוסט וועגן דעם‬ ‫באַ זונדערס שוידערלעכן גורל ֿפון ייִדן אונטער דער נאַ ציסטישער‬ ‫אָ קוּפאַ ציע‪ .‬אויף די דענקמעלער ֿפון ֿפאַ רטיליקטע ייִדן האָ ט מען‬ ‫ּכסדר געשריבן אַ זוי‪„ :‬אין אָ נדענק ֿפון די אומגעקומענע‬ ‫סאָ וועטישע בירגער‟‪ .‬אַ סך היסטאָ ריקער טענהן‪ ,‬אַ ז דאָ ס איז אַ‬ ‫רשווײגן דעם נאַ צי־‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫סימן ֿפון דער סאָ וועטישער נטיה צו ֿפאַ‬ ‫גענאָ ציד ֿפון ייִדן‪ .‬אין דער אמתן‪ ,‬איז די מעׂשה מער קאָ מּפליצירט‪.‬‬ ‫אַ ז היטלער האָ ט געוואָ לט אומברענגען דאָ ס גאַ נצע ייִדישע ֿפאָ לק‬ ‫און האָ ט ֿפאַ רטיליקט אַ גרויסן טייל דערֿפון אין די טויט־לאַ גערן‬ ‫איז קיינמאָ ל נישט געווען קיין סוד‪ .‬אין דער סאָ וועטיש־ייִדישער‬ ‫דהײנו‪ ,‬אויף דער ייִדישער שּפראַ ך – האָ ט מען וועגן‬ ‫ליטעראַ טור – ַ‬ ‫דעם חורבן ּכסדר געשריבן און ֿפאַ רעֿפנטלעכט אַ גאַ נצע ריי‬ ‫בלײבט‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫ביכער‪ֿ .‬פאַ רן דורכשניטלעכן רוסיש־רעדנדיקן מענטש‬ ‫אָ בער די צווייטע וועלט־מלחמה ֿפאַ רבונדן מיט די געֿפערלעכע‬ ‫קרבנות ֿפון דער אַ לגעמיינער סאָ וועטישער באַ ֿפעלקערונג‪ :‬בערך‬ ‫מיליטער־לײט‪.‬‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫רײנגערעכנט אַ רום ‪ 11.5‬מיליאָ ן‬ ‫‪25‬־‪ 27‬מיליאָ ן‪ ,‬אַ ַ‬ ‫מיליאָ נען רוסן זענען אויך אומגעקומען אין די קאָ נצענטראַ ציע־‬ ‫לאַ גערן‪ .‬ווי באַ קאַ נט‪ ,‬האָ בן די נאַ ציס סיסטעמאַ טיש אומגעבראַ כט‬ ‫קאָ מוניסטן און אַ נדערע ׂשונאים ֿפון זייער אידעאָ לאָ גיע‪ .‬די‬ ‫רוסלענדישע ייִדן אַ ליין‪ ,‬בֿפרט די עלטערע‪ ,‬באַ טראַ כטן דעם חורבן‬ ‫ֿפאַ ר אַ באַ זונדערס שרעקלעכן אָ בער לאַ וו־דווקא דעם וויכטיקסטן‬ ‫מאָ מענט אין דער ריזיקער מלחמה־טראַ געדיע‪ .‬אויף אַ ׂשימחה‬ ‫נײעם בוך האָ ט זיך טאַ קע שטאַ רק געשּפירט די‬ ‫לּכֿבוד דעם ַ‬ ‫לײט האָ בן‬ ‫אַ טמאָ סֿפער ֿפונעם „נצחון־טאָ ג‟‪ :‬די עלטערע ַ‬ ‫מיטגעזונגען באַ קאַ נטע לידער ֿפון די מלחמה־יאָ רן‪ ,‬און דער ‪99‬־‬ ‫יאָ ריקער י ִידישער וועטעראַ ן יעווסיי רודינסקי‪ ,‬וועלכער האָ ט‬

‫געדי נט אין דער סאָ וועטישער אַ רמיי זינט דעם סאַ מע אָ נהייב ֿפון‬ ‫דער מלחמה‪ ,‬האָ ט דערציילט‪ ,‬ווי אַ זוי דעם מע האָ ט ‪22‬סטן יוני‬ ‫איבערגעגעבן‪ ,‬אַ ז היטלער איז אָ נגעֿפאַ לן אויֿפן סאָ וועטן־ֿפאַ רבאַ נד‪,‬‬ ‫און ווי אַ זוי ער איז געוואָ רן אַ באָ מבאַ רדירער־ּפילאָ ט‪ .‬נישט געקוקט‬ ‫אויֿפן בּכֿבודיקן עלטער‪ ,‬האָ ט רודינסקי גערעדט מיט אַ גאַ נץ ֿפרישן‬ ‫טאָ ן‪ ,‬געדענקענדיק זייער קלאָ ר יעדן ּפרט ֿפון יענער שוידערלעכער‬ ‫ּתקוֿפה‪ .‬דער אַ רויסגעבער ֿפונעם בוך‪ ,‬לעאָ ניד טיאָ רושקין‪ ,‬האָ ט מיר‬ ‫ווײטער צו‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫קלײבט זיך‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫זײן ֿפאַ רלאַ ג‬ ‫איבערגעגעבן‪ ,‬אַ ז ַ‬ ‫ֿפאַ רעֿפנטלעכן די קאָ רעסּפאָ נדענץ אויף ייִדיש‪ .‬ער האַ לט‪ ,‬אַ ז די‬ ‫עצם־טעמע‪ ,‬ווי אַ זוי אַ סאָ וועטישער ייִד‪ ,‬בֿפרט אַ סאָ לדאַ ט‪ ,‬האָ ט‬ ‫זײנע ברידער־ייִ דן און קרוֿבים אויף‬ ‫געקוקט אויף די צרות ֿפון ַ‬ ‫נײע ּפרקים אין‬ ‫זײט ֿפונעם ֿפראָ נט‪ ,‬קאָ ן עֿפענען גאַ נצע ַ‬ ‫יענער ַ‬ ‫חורבן־שטודיעס‪.‬‬

‫דײטשלאַ נד נאָ כן חורבן‬ ‫ייִ דישע מוזיק אין ַ‬

‫(פֿאַרקירצונג)‬ ‫פֿון מיכאַל קרוטיקאָוו‪ ,‬פֿאָרווערטס‪24.03.2021:‬‬ ‫גלײך נאָ כן סוף ֿפון דער צװײטער װעלט־מלחמה האָ ט דער‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫דײטשישער ראַ בינער לעאָ בעק‪ ,‬װאָ ס האָ ט איבערגעלעבט דעם‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫חורבן אינעם קאָ נצענטראַ ציע־לאַ גער טערעזין‪ ,‬דערקלערט‪„ :‬די‬ ‫דײטשישע ייִדן האָ ט זיך געענדיקט‟‪ .‬מיט די דאָ זיקע‬ ‫געשיכטע ֿפון ַ‬ ‫װערטער הײבט זיך אָ ן דאָ ס בוך „דאָ ס איבערקומען דיסטאָ ּפיע‪:‬‬ ‫מוזיק‪ ,‬מאָ ביליטעט און די ייִדישע קהילה אין ַ‬ ‫דײטשלאַ נד‪- 1945 ,‬‬ ‫‪ֿ ‟1989‬פון דער אַ מעריקאַ נער מוזיק־היסטאָ ריקערין טינאַ ֿפריוהאַ וף‪.‬‬ ‫דערװײזט‪ ,‬אַ ז דער באַ רימטער‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫די דאָ זיקע גרונדיקע שטודיע‬ ‫ראַ בינער האָ ט געהאַ ט אַ טעות‪ .‬נאָ ך דער מיליטערישער מּפלה ֿפון‬ ‫דײטשלאַ נד אין ‪ 1945‬האָ ט זיך דאָ ס ייִדישע לעבן בהדרגה גענומען‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫אױֿפװעקן‪ ,‬כאָ טש אַ װדאי איז עס געװען ניט מער װי אַ ברעקל ֿפון‬ ‫דער אַ מאָ ליקער ֿפאַ ר־נאַ ציסטישער ּתקוֿפה‪ .‬ניט נאָ ר איז די צאָ ל ייִ דן‬ ‫אײנגעשרומּפן געוואָ רן‪ ,‬אױך דאָ ס ּפנים‬ ‫דײטשלאַ נד שטאַ רק ַ‬ ‫אין ַ‬ ‫דײטשישן ייִדנטום האָ ט זיך שטאַ רק געענדערט‪ .‬די קלײנע‬ ‫ֿפונעם ַ‬ ‫זײנען געבליבן לעבן נאָ כן‬ ‫דײטשישע ייִ דן‪ ,‬װאָ ס ַ‬ ‫צאָ ל אַ מאָ ליקע ַ‬ ‫דײטשלאַ נד אין די ערשטע ּפאָ ר יאָ ר‬ ‫חורבן‪ ,‬האָ בן לרוֿב ֿפאַ רלאָ זט ַ‬ ‫זײנען געװען מזרח־‬ ‫נײע ייִדישע באַ ֿפעלקערונג ַ‬ ‫נאָ ך דער מלחמה‪ .‬די ַ‬ ‫אײראָ ּפעיִשע ייִדן ֿפון די די־ּפי לאַ גערן‪ ,‬װאָ ס האָ בן באַ שלאָ סן‪ ,‬צוליב‬ ‫דײטשלאַ נד‪ֿ .‬פאַ ר זײ איז‬ ‫רבלײבן אין ַ‬ ‫ַ‬ ‫ֿפאַ רשײדענע סיבות‪ ,‬צו ֿפאַ‬ ‫דײטשיש־ייִדישע קולטור‪ ,‬בֿפרט דער ליבעראַ לער‬ ‫געװען ֿפרעמד די ַ‬ ‫רעֿפאָ רמיסטישער נוסח ֿפון דאַ װענען מיט דער באַ גלײטונג ֿפון אַ‬ ‫זײנען ּכמעט אַ לע שילן‬ ‫געמישטן כאָ ר און אָ רגל־מוזיק‪ .‬דערצו נאָ ך ַ‬ ‫און טעמּפלען ֿפאַ רברענט און צעשטערט געװאָ רן דורך די נאַ ציסטן‬ ‫בעת דער „קרישטאָ ל־נאַ כט‟ אין ‪ .1938‬די מזרח־אײראָ ּפעיִשע ייִ דן‬ ‫האָ בן געדאַ װנט אױֿפן אַ לטן ֿפרומען אוֿפן‪ ,‬און זײער מוזיק־קולטור‬ ‫איז באַ שטאַ נען ֿפון הײמישע ייִדישע ֿפאָ לקס־ און טעאַ טער־לידער‪.‬‬ ‫צײט‪ ,‬אין די ‪1950‬ער יאָ רן‪ ,‬האָ בן זיך בהדרגה גענומען‬ ‫מיט דער ַ‬ ‫זײנען אַ מאָ ל אַ נטלאָ ֿפן ֿפון היטלערן‬ ‫דײטשישע ייִדן‪ ,‬װאָ ס ַ‬ ‫אומקערן ַ‬ ‫אײנגעלעבט אין דער יונגער‬ ‫קײן יׂשראל אָ בער האָ בן זיך ניט גוט ַ‬ ‫זײנען געװען עטלעכע מוזיקער‪ ,‬און‬ ‫ייִדישער מדינה‪ .‬צװישן זײ ַ‬ ‫דײטשיש־ייִדישע טראַ דיציע ֿפון‬ ‫דװקא זײ האָ בן צוריקגעבראַ כט די ַ‬ ‫דײטשלאַ נד‪.‬‬ ‫דער סינאַ גאָ גאַ לער מוזיק קײן ַ‬ ‫צוזאַמענגעשטעלט‪ :‬אַלעקס דאַפֿנער‬

‫‪JHC Centre News‬‬

‫ ‪38‬‬

SPRING 2021

The magazine of the Jewish Holocaust Centre, Melbourne, Australia

Betty & Shmuel Rosenkranz Oration with Philippe Sands

Join us for a special online event that will explore justice after the Holocaust.

9 November at 8:

pm

jhc.org.au/events