New Acquisitions

The following are new additions from 2022 to early 2023. Most of our collection has a connection with Melbourne survivors; this is what makes the Melbourne Holocaust Museum Collection unique. Thank you to our donors for your generosity, also thank you to those who are funding the work of the Collections Department. Donations of original Holocaust artefacts are always welcome. Please contact Dr Anna Hirsh, Manager of Collections and Research, for an appointment: anna.hirsh@mhm.org.au

Joe de Haan passed away in January 2023 at 100 years of age. Joe, from Amsterdam, had survived hiding in the north of the Netherlands. Items belonging to Joe and his wife Cecilia, donated by children, Michael and Judy.

Paul Grinwald Collection

Numerous photographs and documents. Paul, from Paris, hid on a farm with his sister Suzanne, until their

For the MHM Collection

Eva Berkovic Collection

A suitcase belonging to Eva Berkovic (nee Fraenkel), from Mainz, who took this with her when she escaped Nazi Germany on a kindertransport. Donated by her children, Sam and Garry.

Siegfried & Gerda Blassburg Collection

Numerous papers, as well as a yellow Star of David badge, have been donated to the collection, including documents describing failed attempts to bring relatives to Australia. Donated by daughter, Margaret Masur.

Alfred Cossen Collection

Alfred Cossen, a renowned sportsman from Hamburg, escaped Nazi Germany. His son Ron has donated many photographs, items, letters and documents.

Janina Greenwood Collection parents could not afford to continue paying for their children’s protection; the family then hid in the countryside, helped by neighbours.

Photographs, documents, and postwar ceramic tableware. Janina survived Lodz Ghetto, Auschwitz, and Bergen Belsen. Donated by Janina’s daughters, Helen and Michelle.

John Lamovie Collection

Numerous photographs, documents and items representing pre-war life and experiences during the Holocaust. John was born in Paris into a Polish-Jewish family. His father joined the resistance, but his mother and sister were caught

Elisa Henenberg Collection

Elisa was a child when she and her family escaped Vienna in 1938. Documents and photographs donated by daughter, Caryn Granek.

Simon Holloway Collection

Siddur printed in the Fohrenwald DP camp in 1946. Donated by Simon Holloway.

Leon & Erna Holzer Collection

Additional artefacts belonging to survivors Leon and Erna Holzer, including photographs and a Star of David badge, have been donated by nephew, Ralph Renard.

Leon Jedwab Collection

Diaries from the immediate post-war era replace copies previously presented to the collection. Donated by Leon’s daughter Helene Jedwab.

Arnold Lederman Collection and deported to Auschwitz, where they were murdered. John hid with family members until liberation in 1944.

Photographs, documents, and film footage of Arnold Lederman with survivors in Melbourne have been donated by son, Joe Lederman.

Halina Zylberman Collection

Halina, from Krakow, lived outside the ghetto with her mother on false papers. She would occasionally meet up with her father, and passed messages between her parents. Documents and photographs donated on behalf of Halina by her son, Mark White.

Walter & Sima Lowen Collection

Items belonging to Walter and Sima Lowen including a barber’s grooming set from Sima’s parents’ business, and Walter’s tuxedo jacket. Donated by their children Norma, Mark and Rick. Look out for these pre-war items in our Permanent Exhibition.

Charles Oliver Collection

Charles Oliver escaped from Czechoslovakia in 1939 to Paris, and joined the French Foreign Legion then the British army in 1940. Donated by his son, Michael.

Halina Strnad Collection

A collection of original documents and photographs. Halina (nee Wagowska) has survived the infamous Stutthof concentration camp near Gdansk. Halina’s testimony at war crimes trials contributed to prosecution.

Sue Wright Collection

Autograph book belonging to Sue Wright. Sue, a former volunteer at the museum, was from Vienna. Her Jewish father was murdered in the Holocaust. Donated by daughter Eileen Wright.