VoiCes
Remembering the past, inspiring the future.
MHM STAFF
In this issue
03. From the Presidents
04. From the Editor
04. A History of Holocaust Education
10. Holocaust Education in the Contemporary Landscape: An IHRA Perspective
12. Understanding the Efficacy of Holocaust Education
16. Critical Thinking is Critical
18. Stories of Hope: Migration Stories Through the Voices of Child Survivors
20. Museum Technology for Education, Reconstruction and Resistance
22. Artefacts: Authenticity and Evidence in Education
24. The Austrian Service Abroad Program
26. A Legacy of Resilience
27. Gifts in Will
28. Contributing to a Brighter Future
30. A Survivor. A Businessman. My Father.
32. Underground: The Hidden Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto
34. Embracing the Joy of Simcha Giving
35. March of the Living Two Decades On
36. In Memory of Irma Hanner
38. Yiddish
From the Presidents
We were saddened to hear of the recent passing of Holocaust survivor Irma Hanner OAM. The loss of such an extraordinary person with an incredible story is felt deeply by all who had the privilege of knowing her. Over more than 20 years at the museum, Irma left a huge impact on the people she met including the students whom she helped educate. Her life journey was a testament to hope and the human spirit, and her memory will continue to inspire us.
Irma’s words truly resonate today as we witness a global resurgence of antisemitism, especially in the aftermath of 7 October. We welcome the announcement of Jillian Segal as Australia’s first antisemitism special envoy. We hope to welcome her to the Melbourne Holocaust Museum (MHM) in the near future.
MHM has partnered with a number of stakeholder organisations, including the Victorian government to combat antisemitism through education. Our groundbreaking project Critical Thinking is Critical: Educate, Innovate and Advocate Against Antisemitism launched in August. This multisector, multiyear project focuses on the reduction of antisemitism, vilification and hate speech in Victoria and is designed to champion social cohesion.
In other news, we are delighted that our world-class museum continues to attract large numbers. High profile visitors to the MHM include the Governor of Victoria, Margaret Gardener; Germany’s Ambassador to Australia,
Beate Grzeski; US Consul General, Kathleen Lively; Chairperson, Victorian Multicultural Commission, Vivienne Nguyen; Former senator Nova Peris OAM and Senator Jacquie Lambie.
Sue Hampel OAM, Pauline Rockman OAM and Dr Steven Cooke represented Australia at the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Plenary in Glasgow earlier this year. Sue spoke at the Scottish Teachers’ conference while Pauline and Steve presented an overview of the MHM redevelopment project. You can read about the IHRA plenary on the IHRA website: holocaustremembrance.com
Thank you for supporting the 2024 Yom HaShoah Annual Appeal. Your generosity ensures we are able to continue our work to preserve, educate and remember
Chag sameach and we look forward to seeing you at our museum soon.
Irma Hanner OAM
From the Editor
Lina Leibovich
The events of the last 12 months provide a stark reminder of the fragility of peace. As our nation becomes increasingly polarised and a rise in antisemitism threatens our multicultural way of life, we must do all we can to champion social cohesion and advocate against hate. The Holocaust serves as a painful reminder of the consequences of unchecked hate and the power of misinformation.
This anniversary edition of Voices focuses on the role of Holocaust education in our society, the way it has transformed throughout history, and how it can address contemporary issues of antisemitism. Dr Simon Holloway gives us a deep insight into how Holocaust education has changed since the postwar period and Dr Steven Cooke delves into how we can measure the outcomes of Holocaust education to determine its impact.
Holocaust A History of Education
The MHM stands not only as a solemn reminder of the darkest chapter in humanity, but as a place of hope. It is only through education and understanding the past that we can help to inspire a brighter future.
So much of the work we do at MHM centres on survivor testimony. Since we first opened our doors in 1984, we have provided a space for survivors to share their experiences with students and with members of the public. From 1987-1994, our Oral History Project saw the recording of 174 audio testimonies, and from 1992, Holocaust survivor Phillip Maisel OAM z”l led our Holocaust Testimonies Project, in which – as of 2024 – some 1300 video testimonies have been recorded.
When we consider the history of Holocaust research, we witness a remarkable evolution in the nature and function of survivor testimony. In this article, we will provide an overview of that history, considering the role that survivors’ recollections have played at different points in time –commencing as early as the 1930s. During that first decade, while the Holocaust itself was but beginning and before it even had a name, survivors of German concentration camps – from the safety of the countries to which they had successfully immigrated – spoke openly about their horrific experiences. Those who were not so fortunate as to leave the camps were sometimes able to share information by way of post. The observations that they shared were not for the purpose of remembrance, but were intended to encourage action on the part of those who heard it.
Such was also the case in the early 1940s. When Emanuel Ringelblum, with the assistance of the Polish underground, managed to smuggle information in 1942 to the Polish government in exile and from them to the BBC, the intention was to raise awareness such that there might be a military response. Similarly, when two Slovak escapees from Auschwitz-Birkenau composed a report in 1944 on what they had witnessed, it was not for the sake of knowledge alone that they disseminated it, but that the Allies might stop the crimes that had already claimed millions of lives.
by Dr Simon Holloway, MHM
As some have pointed out, this early period was one of intimate knowledge, but a lack of perspective. Those who experienced these horrors understood them viscerally, but the perspective that could help understand their development and their far-reaching nature would not come until some time after the war. Once that time was approaching, many survivors felt lethargic. Of what purpose was sharing this information when it was too late to do anything about it?
Early collections of survivor testimony, such as by David Boder in 1946, are raw and astonishingly detailed. It might surprise people to know, however, that little of this information was used by historians. For the writers of history, of far greater value (in the early postwar period) were documents put together by the perpetrators themselves. While material relating to the experiences of survivors contributed to memorial books and commemorations, the data employed in the trial of major war criminals were overwhelmingly German in origin.
If we look at early historians – such as the remarkable Raul Hilberg – we see a propensity to focus on “official” documents. If we look at early museums – such as the Ghetto Fighters House, which was established in 1949, or Yad Vashem, which was established in 1953 – it is there that we find the experiences of survivors given pride of place.
Manager of Academic Engagement & Adult Education
Left: Holocaust survivor Peter Gaspar OAM providing his testimony at MHM.
Above: The arrival platform at Auschwitz-Birkenau. This image is part of the Auschwitz Album collection – a series of photos existing as the only surviving visual evidence of the events leading up to the gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau, photographed from the perpetrators’ perspective. Courtesy of Yad Vashem.
When the new Israeli government established Yom HaShoah in 1951, they allowed for the creation of a date that would enable us to focus, as communities, on the experiences of those who did not survive. During this early period, it was only Jewish people who were interested in doing so.
Throughout the 1950s, a stream of historiography developed in Israel that focused on resistance: a word that was used almost exclusively to refer to armed resistance in particular. Ghetto and camp uprisings, and the heroism of Jewish partisans, were all celebrated and given increased attention. Elsewhere, however, this was met with silence. In the US (and in countries of their allies), an alliance with West Germany against the Soviet Union meant a reluctance to speak of German crimes during World War Two, and the Holocaust – for the moment – was a taboo subject.
This changed at the end of the decade, when the Holocaust became a university subject: first at Bar Ilan in 1959, and shortly afterwards at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. This led to a renewed interest in the experiences of survivors, and a
flurry of fresh interviews. In the wake of this increased focus on the experiences of Jewish people during the Holocaust, Yehudah Bauer proposed the use of the word Amidah (Hebrew: “standing up”) in lieu of “resistance”.
The word “resistance”, he explained, carries a certain amount of baggage, and prevents our appreciating the true range of Jewish responses. Amidah is less resistant to being defined, and can allow us to focus on those things that –today – we refer to as spiritual and cultural resistance as well. With the publication in 1960 of Elie Wiesel’s Night (the first Holocaust memoir to serve as a major literary event), the stage was set for an increased interest in the role of survivors in general.
In addition to this interest in survivors, the 1960s also marked a renewed interest in the role of perpetrators. Adolf Eichmann was tried in 1961 and executed the following year. Although her analysis of the trial left much to be desired, Hannah Arendt’s coverage contributed to ongoing conversations around the psychology of mass murderers. In addition, a
Above: Two Slovak prisoners, Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler, managed to escape Auschwitz in April 1944. Their diagram clearly demarcates the four gas chambers in Auschwitz-Birkenau in ‘The Auschwitz Report published in 1944. They desperately wanted the world to stop what was happening there. English translation courtesy of the Records of the War Refugee Board, 1944-1945, and FDR Presidential Library and Museum.
statute of limitations in West Germany led to a rush in the mid1960s to trial and sentence other killers, and a spate of death camp trials brought further media attention to the Holocaust.
With the gradual opening of West European archives in the 1970s, information pertaining to many under-explored areas of the Holocaust started coming to light. Historians started researching such subjects as the railways, the transformation of non-Nazi policemen into mass murderers, the role of the German army during the Holocaust and the attitudes of regular German citizens. And yet, it would not be until the 1978 miniseries, Holocaust, starring James Woods and Meryl Streep, that the subject would truly enter popular culture, with a realisation that the world in which the Holocaust happened was no different to our own.
This is not to say that there was not disagreement amongst scholars. One of the most vexed of these disagreements concerned the genesis of the Final Solution. Was this something that Hitler had been planning, or was it the result of competing bureaucracies and the chaos of war? In 1981,
Timothy Mason coined terms for these two opinions. Some historians were “intentionalists”, arguing that the genocide had been pre-meditated, while others saw themselves as “functionalists”, attributing the origins of mass murder to an evolving doctrine.
It was in the midst of these historiographical discussions that the MHM (then the Jewish Holocaust Centre) first opened its doors. On that swelteringly hot day in March of 1984, the vision of our founders became a reality. This was not the first time that the Holocaust had been put on display in Melbourne. The first exhibit had been very small at Kadimah in 1953, and there had been a very large display put on at Melbourne Town Hall in 1961. This was, however, the first Holocaust museum in Melbourne – and indeed in all Australia.
In Germany, where a tremendous amount of research was being conducted, the end of the 1980s marked a series of vociferous debates between scholars, concerning the degree to which the Holocaust was a distinctly German phenomenon, and over how best to integrate it into German history. Some of those debates would resurface in the following decade – particularly after the publication of Daniel Goldhagen’s Hitler’s Willing Executioners – but many would be put to rest by the enormous increase of information that followed from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 and the opening of what Churchill had termed “the iron curtain”. Before considering the importance of this moment, it is worth taking an opportunity to remark on an oft-neglected detail of considerable importance. The Western Allies never saw the Holocaust.
When the Allied powers swept through Europe, liberating towns and cities (and camps) across the continent, British and American forces (together with their Australian allies) came from the west and from the south, but it was the Soviet forces that marched from the east. That means that the Western Allies saw towns and cities that Jews had been deported from, but only the Soviets saw the places that they were deported to. Furthermore, the Soviets liberated areas where
Top: Holocaust survivors Bono Wiener z”l and Abram Goldberg OAM touring visitors through MHM exhibition (then Jewish Holocaust Centre or JHC), including Righteous Gentile Yolanda Renot (far left), July 1994.
the absence of Jews was distinctly felt (and where the murder of Jews had been enacted). The Western Allies liberated areas where Jews had always and only ever been a small minority, and where their physical eradication was but
The degree to which this information both contributed to and shook people’s understanding of the Holocaust cannot possibly be overstated. Most importantly, it led to increased information about local collaborators: not just pro-German fanatics, but broad swaths of the population. That information continues to have repercussions. Many newly-established countries in Eastern Europe resented the fact that their hour of rebirth was tied to allegations of wrongdoing under German occupation, and the degree to which these unsavoury aspects of their history are taught in schools varies across this part of the continent.
In 1998, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) was established, “to strengthen, advance, and promote Holocaust education, remembrance, and research worldwide”. In order to better facilitate the sharing of information and to support collaboration between historians, the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (EHRI) was established in 2010. Between those two dates, an inordinate number of books and articles have been written, contributing further to our understanding of this history, and a tremendous number of films, documentaries, television shows, novels and children’s books have contributed to popular awareness.
When American and British soldiers liberated the camps, they saw many starving Jewish people amongst the general camp population, but did not realise (and had no way of knowing) that those people had only been in those camps for a short time, having been marched from places of labour and concentration further to the east. They saw the results of the Final Solution, but they did not see the Final Solution itself. Only the Soviets saw that, and for their own propagandistic reasons, ignored the peculiarities of the Holocaust and subsumed the Jewish victims into an overall total: a total that reflected Germany’s “real war”, as they saw it, which was against
With the opening of the Iron Curtain, records that had previously been unavailable to western historians finally came to light. These records, if laid end-to-end, ran for hundreds of kilometres and hundreds of millions of pages. They comprised documents left behind by retreating Germans, records of postwar trials of Germans and collaborators, materials related to special Soviet inquiries into German crimes and personal documentation: letters, postcards, photographs, etc.
Secondly, the increase in information also led to a shifting of focus away from the death camps as the primary locus of the Holocaust, and a new awareness of the number of people who were murdered in what one particular scholar has termed “the Holocaust by bullets”. In the years since the fall of the Soviet Union, many of these sites of mass execution have been unearthed: some for the purpose of postwar trials, and some for the amassing of historical data.
To assist with this process, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), which opened their doors to the public in 1993, provided funding for local research institutes, which they made conditional on those institutions using that information to educate their local populations.
The year 1993 also marked the opening of the Sydney Jewish Museum, which joined the MHM and the Holocaust Institute of Western Australia (opened in 1990) as a centre for research and education into the Holocaust. This was also the year in which Schindler’s List was released: a film that went on to win several awards at the 66th Academy Awards in 1994, and that further brought the Holocaust into popular awareness.
Using the proceeds of that film, director Steven Spielberg established the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation (now, USC Shoah Foundation). A volunteer-run organisation, they interviewed 52,000 survivors between 1994 and 1999, including over 2,500 survivors from Australia. These are all available for viewing from our library, for the benefit of anybody who is conducting research into the experiences of specific people, and include some 974 interviews with Melbourne-based survivors in particular.
It is impossible to say what the future holds for Holocaust studies. There is a desire to make the Holocaust universal, and to appreciate that these are things that human beings do to other human beings, and that intention is a noble one. At the same time, we must never lose sight of the Jewish nature of the Holocaust, and the degree to which it fits into a history of antisemitism – a history that, sadly, extends down to the present moment.
In 2005, the United Nations established International Holocaust Remembrance Day (IHRD). Choosing 27 January, to align with the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, this day serves as a date of commemoration for many people – not just Jewish – around the world. And yet, as we at the MHM appreciate deeply, there can be no one day on which the Holocaust is remembered.
Transmitting the legacy of our survivors and ensuring that their vision of a more harmonious world comes to fruition means devoting all our time to better understanding and better educating on this subject. If the history of Holocaust research has taught us anything, it is that with time comes a deeper perspective and a deeper understanding.
It is our hope that in time we will understand the Holocaust well enough to truly ensure our founders’ vision: that we amplify the voices of Holocaust survivors as a catalyst for greater understanding and acceptance of difference – not just to learn about the past, but to inspire a better future.
Holocaust survivor Guta Goldstein lighting a candle as part of the 2024 Yom HaShoah commemoration at MHM.
Holocaust Education in the Contemporary Landscape: An IHRA Perspective
The world is witnessing an alarming rise in antisemitism, xenophobia, and hate-fuelled violence since 7 October. As Holocaust education becomes more relevant than ever, institutions across the globe are faced with the challenges of delivering meaningful education in the complex contemporary landscape. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) was established to build frameworks for Holocaust institutions to confront these complexities and historical challenges effectively.
The IHRA unites governments and experts to strengthen, advance and promote Holocaust education, research and remembrance and to uphold the commitments of the 2000 Stockholm Declaration.
Australia became an observer country to the IHRA in 2015, moving quickly through the stages of membership to become a full member in 2019. Our expert delegates, Emeritus Professor Suzanne Rutland OAM and Dr Avril Alba from Sydney; Pauline Rockman OAM, Dr Donna Lee-Frieze, Dr Steven Cooke, Dr Andre Oboler and Suzanne Hampel OAM play active functions in the IHRA, often in leadership roles.
Membership of the IHRA provides an opportunity to learn from colleagues in member countries about worldleading approaches to Holocaust remembrance, education, and research. It also allows us to share the many important and world-leading initiatives that we in Australia have undertaken. These initiatives include combatting online hate, groundbreaking approaches to safeguarding Holocaust sites, new exhibitions and educational initiatives.
At the recent IHRA Plenary in Glasgow, over 200 experts and diplomats from 35 member countries and eight observer countries gathered to focus on knowledge-sharing across all levels to create a platform that addresses existing obstacles and provides an effective response to manifestations of antisemitism.
The Holocaust is a page from the book of humanity from which we should never remove the bookmark of memory.
Primo Levi by Suzanne Hampel OAM, MHM Co-President
Representatives from various countries reported that antisemitism is a grave and growing problem, probably the most dangerous moment for Jews since the end of World War
Two. We know that antisemitism hides behind anti-Zionism, but many of the older tropes of antisemitism are still prevalent. Teaching and learning about the Holocaust itself is only part of the solution to the problem of contemporary antisemitism. It is also important to integrate Jewish history into education to ensure that the truth and facts are not distorted to create false narratives that fuel antisemitism.
Holocaust education must adapt to the changing dynamics of our world. Digital technology, social media and new pedagogical approaches offer unprecedented opportunities to reach wider audiences. It is vital to harness these tools to make Holocaust education more accessible, engaging and impactful.
Holocaust education is an essential part of building a world without genocide. But countering hate speech can’t be limited to the academic curriculum – we need a multi-disciplinary approach. We need education in a wide range of settings and across all areas of society. Holocaust education should be
included, for example, in professional training for law enforcement, media professionals and the judiciary, all of whom play an important role in combatting hate speech and discrimination. Education is part of the solution, but it is not enough.
The UK IHRA Presidency showcased its efforts to combat antisemitism in sports at Hampden Park, Scotland’s national stadium, including the launch of its guide to implementation of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism for sporting institutions.
There are various IHRA tools such as the Recommendations for Teaching and Learning about the Holocaust, that serve as a framework for understanding the need for clarity and detail around media literacy and critical thinking in the digital age as it may relate to addressing misinformation online.
The London Plenary in December 2024 will provide a platform for further progress on strengthening procedures, fostering cooperation and exchange, and addressing the challenges posed by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and antisemitism.
Top: The IHRA Plenary was held in Glasgow in June. Courtesy of IHRA. Photographed by Eloise Bishop.
Above: The IHRA working definition of antisemitism is a non-legally binding statement on what antisemitism is. The IHRA delegates gathered at Hampden Stadium in Glasgow to understand how to address antisemitism in sporting institutions. Photographed by Eloise Bishop.
Understanding the Efficacy of
Holocaust Education.
How do we understand the efficacy of Holocaust education in the context of the rise of antisemitism, Holocaust denial, and distortion?
This was the overarching question addressed at the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Plenary meeting in November 2023, shortly after the 7 October terrorist attacks in Israel and the start of the resulting war in Gaza. As the sense of dislocation and confusion about the concurrent worldwide rise in antisemitism continues to build, it is crucial to understand how we can effectively counteract the proliferation of hate and contribute meaningfully toward social cohesion.
respondent’s world views. What the survey found was that those who had visited Holocaust museums or who had taken part in specific Holocaust education programs were much more likely to have “warmer feelings” towards minority groups, including Jews. But what is it about this type of experience that makes such a difference? As Associate Professor Avril Alba has argued, the injunction of zachor is both to remember and to act.2 How can remembering the Holocaust bring about change in attitudes and behaviours?
Museums have been educating about the Holocaust and the dangers of racism and antisemitism for decades, but how do we measure the efficacy of Holocaust education to ensure it is having its intended impact?
For those in Australia, the Gandel Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness in Australia Survey (2022) provided the first comprehensive overview of Australian society’s understanding of the Holocaust. It explored both knowledge of the Holocaust, but also how that knowledge impacted the
We have witnessed the silence and rapt attention of students who visit the MHM, particularly when they hear our survivors. That, as well as the formal external evaluation of our education programs suggests some very positive attitudinal and behavioural changes which support the Gandel survey. The education programs at the MHM are underpinned by our Learning Framework, which conceptualises how knowledge is translated into understanding using the character strengths of Judgement, Perspective, Kindness, Hope, Fairness and Bravery.
The evaluation tells us that we are reaching more schools and diverse schools, our students increase their knowledge about the historical events of the Holocaust, they learn the lessons from the Holocaust through understanding character strengths, and they feel inspired.3 The evaluation team concluded that the personal stories of survivors, and the use of artefacts in the education programs “helps shift mindsets away from victims being statistics, remembering that the Holocaust affected millions of people, its impact was devastating, and that the consequences may still be impacting many people alive today”. This is a testament to those who developed the programs but also to our current education team of committed staff and volunteers who bring a wealth of both classroom and other experience and expertise to their work.
We also have anecdotal evidence of the long-term impact of Holocaust education, when we meet people who have visited us as students in the past and still vividly remember their experience. However, a more
by Dr Steven Cooke, MHM CEO
systematic understanding of that longer term impact is overdue, and a recent project funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) aims to do just that.
The MHM, the Sydney Jewish Museum and the Adelaide Holocaust Museum and Steiner Education Centre have partnered with the University of Sydney, Deakin University, and the University of Technology Sydney on a four-year project designed to study the longer-term efficacy of Holocaust education delivered in museums. It will utilise a variety of methodologies including focus groups, interviews, observation of the education programs and questionnaires. It will also involve select students who will wear audio-visual recording glasses that will show the research team what the student’s experience was and form the basis for those students to explain in their own words how they understand and make sense of their visit. Students and teachers will be interviewed shortly after their visit and then at a set time afterwards to see if their recollections have changed. Through this innovative combination
Students listening to Holocaust survivor John Lamovie as part of MHM’s In Touch with Memory program.
Photographed by Simon Shiff.
Level 5-12 Education
Manager Tracey Collie facilitating professional learning course for teachers, at MHM.
Photographed by Simon Shiff.
of methodologies, we will be in a much better position to understand the specific encounters and pedagogic strategies that result in the cognitive, emotional, imaginative and behavioural impact of the visit. The research will also allow comparison between the approach taken at the different museums and what we can learn from each other. Although the results of that research are some way off, they will, along with our own ongoing evaluation, provide valuable feedback as to what works best and what we might need to change to meet contemporary and future challenges.
Alongside the evaluation and review of existing programs, we have also launched a new initiative called Critical Thinking is Critical: Educate, Innovate and Advocate Against Antisemitism, a multiyear project funded by the Victorian government. This brings together key stakeholders across
education, business, media, government, and cultural institutions to reflect on the rise in antisemitism and the contemporary challenges affecting social cohesion. The project will form the basis of an intellectually rigorous and pedagogically-driven new approach to combatting antisemitism through Holocaust education.
Critical Thinking is Critical will become part of an expanding suite of our programs, designed to build longer term relationships and take a lifelong learning approach. From primary and secondary levels, both onsite and online, professional learning, as well as adult programs, our ongoing aim is the same as that articulated by Holocaust survivor Cyla Sokolowicz z”l in the very first edition in 1984 of Centre News (what would later become Voices).
“[We] have great ambitions for the future and hope to be able to use the lesson of the Holocaust as a starting point in an effort to build bridges of understanding between Jews and non-Jews, so that they may work together towards a future in which racial prejudice and hatred will forever be eliminated.” 4
A special thanks to the supporters of MHM education programs
ERDI Foundation
Gandel Foundation
Department of Education Victoria
Claims Conference EVZ Foundation
Pratt Foundation
1.
Students in MHM’s permanent exhibition, participating in the In Touch with Memory education program. Photographed by Simon Shiff.
Senior Education Specialist Melanie Attar facilitating the In Touch with Memory program at MHM. Photographed by Simon Shiff.
Gandel Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness in Australia Survey (2022), gandelfoundation.org.au/gandel-holocaust-survey
2. Alba, A. (2005) ‘Integrity and Relevance: Shaping Holocaust Memory at the Sydney Jewish Museum’, Judaism, 54 (31-32), pp 108-115)
3. SVA 2024
4. Sokolowicz, C. (1984) ‘Editorial’, Centre News, cited in Cooke, S. and Frieze. D. (2015) The Interior of Our Memories. A history of Melbourne’s Jewish Holocaust Centre, Melbourne: Hybrid. Emphasis added by Cooke and Frieze (2015)
Critical Thinking is Critical:
Educate, Innovate & Advocate Against Antisemitism
As we see social cohesion unravelling in the present, the lessons of the past become all the more important. To enhance social cohesion and address antisemitism in Australia, MHM has received funding through the Multicultural Affairs portfolio of the Victorian government for a groundbreaking new project, Critical Thinking is Critical: Educate, Innovate and Advocate Against Antisemitism
Undertaken between 2024-2026 this multisector project aims to reduce antisemitism, vilification and hate speech in Victoria. It is a project of learning, listening, enquiry and discovery which will ultimately develop and deliver an education and advocacy program for adults, designed to address antisemitism and champion social change and cohesion.
Critical Thinking is Critical is committed to achieving longterm outcomes to address antisemitism and hate speech in Victoria through bringing about collective responsibility and behavioural change across multiple demographics.
The project is founded on three pillars of success: education, innovation and advocacy. Each of these pillars is designed to deliver clear and meaningful outcomes.
We are proud to fund this important project that supports social harmony and offers educational programs to address antisemitism and vilification, which have no place in our vibrant multicultural state.
Social cohesion requires education, awareness, understanding and courage... a commitment to working with others... and an understanding that the world is a complex and nuanced place.
Roundtable participant
Education is fundamental to addressing antisemitism and hate speech. The educate pillar of Critical Thinking is Critical aims to expand the reach of our current education programs, and enhance our impact on school students.
By identifying who we are not reaching in the secondary school demographic, and optimising key messaging, as well as developing additional specialised resources, we aim to empower students to recognise and reject antisemitism and act as agents of change.
Innovation plays a crucial role in addressing evolving challenges around antisemitism and discrimination. By gathering information and ideas from a range of experts and thought leaders, we will first define the issues affecting social cohesion, and then strategise effective solutions to address these issues. To this end, the MHM will bring together industry experts and thought leaders across business, government and community groups, as well as media platforms and the tertiary sector for a series of roundtable discussions, with the aim of creating strategic alliances to help understand and tackle the issues of antisemitism and hate speech .
Advocacy is essential for driving systemic change. Using the insights gained through the educate and innovate pillars, the MHM will develop an original, contextually-tailored adult program to address antisemitism and vilification and champion social cohesion in Victoria.
In deploying the program formulated with the insights gathered through these roundtables, we will empower Victorian citizens to advocate against antisemitism and vilification in their own relationships and communities, both in the physical world and online. Utilising the innovative strategies, insights and expertise of our thought leaders and partners, we aim to promote the conversations across diverse demographics, enhance critical thinking skills, build on key character strengths and foster collective responsibility.
Minister for Multicultural Affairs, the Hon Ingrid Stitt MP and the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Mr Hugh de Kretser, addressed the crowd at the launch of the Critical Thinking is Critical project.
Pictured here with Dr Steven Cooke, CEO and Dr Breann Fallon, Head of Programming & Exhibitions.
Minister for Multicultural Affairs the Hon Ingrid Stitt MP
Stories of Hope: Migration Stories Through the Voices of Child Survivors
Within the darkened studio at ABC Southbank, a vast hemispheric light cast its soft glow on Nina Bassat. As she addressed her future audience, her internal incandescence shone through as she recalled both happy and upsetting memories, of the Holocaust, and of coming to Melbourne.
The theme of migration stories introduces historical concepts of the Holocaust experienced by young people (then) to young people (now). By explaining the circumstances that led to migration, we aim to provide a deeper understanding of displacement, resettling in a foreign land and the importance of multiculturalism.
Many of the harsher themes child survivors experienced during the war were also explored, including separation, loss, and fear. To have been a child during the Holocaust often meant food deprivation, separation from parents or other family members, and a lack of agency.
Each survivor presented their narratives in their own unique and engaging way. All five possess a natural ability to connect to their audience, even in front of a camera crew in the large, dark ABC studio. It was so fascinating to observe a transformation take place; youthfulness revived faces and voices, as each travelled back in time in their minds.
We needed a haven, we needed to go somewhere we thought we would be safe.
Over three days in June 2024, Nina and four other child survivors were interviewed for an ABC Education project in collaboration with the MHM: Andre Dubrowin, Peter Gaspar, Charles German, and Eve Graham. All five have such a beautiful, gentle way of connecting with their audience: Charles has been addressing students at the MHM for many years, Peter and Andre joined the MHM as survivor speakers more recently, and Eve, a former school teacher, volunteers as a museum guide for our education programs. Nina is renowned across the Jewish and wider communities for her advocacy work.
The project was instigated by Annabel Astbury, ABC’s Head of Education, and aligned with an objective to present high level content to young audiences. The MHM team included Head of Programming & Exhibitions Dr Breann Fallon, Manager 5-12 Education, Curriculum & Program Tracey Collie, Project & Relationship Coordinator Ariella Markman and Manager Collections & Research Dr Anna Hirsh.
Peter Gaspar spoke about how the rise of communism in postwar Slovakia convinced his parents to relocate the family to Australia. Eve Graham, also from Slovakia, reminisced about being with her grandmother in the Munkacz Ghetto, then reuniting with her parents and hiding in a bunker in the mountains. Both Peter and Eve spoke with delight about eating their first banana and orange, exotic to them, on the journey to Australia.
Charles German, from Romania, recalled his experiences with his parents in a forced labour camp, and Andre Dubrowin spoke about losing his parents and being adopted after the war by his uncle and aunt.
The timing of the ABC Education and MHM project is crucial in the current climate of increasing misinformation, to ensure that the historical facts are communicated, and to build on the understanding that empathy towards suffering is not selective. The interviewees were assured that they could express themselves in the context of their experiences as well as in addressing the current resurgence of antisemitism that has taken a hold in Australian society.
by Dr Anna Hirsh, MHM Manager of Collections and Research
One of the concluding questions was: “From all that you have experienced, what is the most important message you would like to pass on to the next generation?” There was a unanimous response: to preserve democracy so that all people can experience a fair and just society
Stories of Hope will launch to the public in 2025. The project reflects MHM’s mission to preserve and amplify the voices of Holocaust survivors. Through the Histories Untold project, MHM is seeking to engage with Victorian-based Holocaust survivors who have not yet recorded their testimony at MHM. Learn more about this important project at: mhm.org.au/histories-untold
Nina Bassat AM
The MHM team was joined by ABC’s incredible studio crew.
Right: Holocaust survivor Andre Dubrowin at ABC studio. Photographed by Dr Breann Fallon.
Top: MHM Manager of Collections and Research Dr Anna Hirsh, interviewer, with Holocaust Survivor Nina Bassat AM at the ABC studio. Photographed by Dr Breann Fallon.
Museum Technology
for Education, Reconstruction and Resistance
The use of technology was a key consideration in the MHM redevelopment project and features in several different forms within our new exhibitions and experiences. Whether the audience be students or adults, the multimedia within the new museum allows for a multitude of interactions, each with its own ability to educate and inspire through the voices of Holocaust survivors, bringing the past to the future. For those who have visited our digitally driven Hidden: Seven Children Saved exhibition or our Walk with Me virtual reality experience, the power of technology to impart important lessons and bring the visitor close to witnesses of the Holocaust is palpable. Yet, there is one element within the permanent exhibition Everybody had a Name that is a poignant yet overlooked example.
Within World that Was, the first gallery of Everybody had a Name, there is an innovative display screen known as the ‘diversity table’. Spearheaded by Creative Director for Multimedia Arek Dybel, this horizontal touch-table features multiple content areas linked to prewar Europe for the visitor
to discover concepts and themes including: “prominent Jews,” “Shtetl,” “antisemitism” and others. Amongst the content areas Lead Curator Jayne Josem and Senior Curator Sandy Saxon thought to include two content areas focused on Yiddish: Yiddish phrases and Yiddish words. Opening these up with a drag and tap, the visitor is presented with a list of Yiddish words or phrases and the opportunity to hear them aloud. The table is a popular point of the first gallery and walking through the exhibition one can often hear the recorded voices uttering “chutzpah” or “meshugge”, the words echoing through the first gallery as visitors explore the Yiddish content areas.
There is something particularly powerful in hearing Yiddish in the gallery. For the majority of students that visit the exhibition as part of our In Touch with Memory secondary program, this will be the first time they hear Yiddish spoken. This has an important educational outcome in adding to their understanding of Jewish history and culture while also adding depth to their understanding of the genocidal
Far left: Student engaging with village storytelling digital interactive in Hidden: Seven Children Saved exhibition. Photographed by Mel Desa.
regime enacted by the Nazis and their collaborators. This regime was designed to prevent the community from existing as it did before, with a targeted effort to destroy landmarks, language and lives. In giving students, and the general visitor, an opportunity to explore and hear Yiddish, this digital feature highlights the all-encompassing design of the destruction inflicted upon European Jewry, imparting a deeper understanding of history to the visitor.
Thankfully, the Nazis were not completely successful in their goals, yet the impact of their regime cannot be fully encapsulated in words. As such, providing space for Yiddish also plays an important role in helping to reconstruct this destruction. It is impossible to fully reconstruct what was lost, but by having the language spoken to new generations we hope it ensures it is known, and perhaps even grown. More than this, in creating these Yiddish content points on the ‘diversity table’ the team did not record just any selection of voices. Rather, they are the voices of some of our survivors. It is Joe Szwarcberg’s rendition “chutzpah”
by Dr Breann Fallon,
and “meshugge” visitors hear. There is an additional weight in hearing a Holocaust survivor’s Yiddish in the gallery – the Nazi design was for neither the language nor the voice to survive – as such, hearing it spoken in Melbourne in 2024 is a phenomenal act of resistance.
The Yiddish words and phrases of the ‘diversity table’ are just one aspect of a singular multimedia screen, and yet within these spoken recordings there is an impressive ability to impart important lessons and bring the visitor closer to the witnesses of the Holocaust. The technological advances in the redevelopment of the museum play a critically important role in our mission. Whether it be Hidden, Walk with Me or one of the many multimedia options in the permanent exhibition, technology allows us to bring the past to the future through innovative design that gives the visitor opportunities to expand their understanding, helps to rebuild part of what was lost, and stands against hate for a brighter tomorrow.
Below: Students interacting with Jewish Cultural Diversity Table in Everybody had a Name exhibition. Photographed by Simon Shiff.
Artefacts: Authenticity and Evidence in Education
In the Rights Removed gallery of the MHM permanent exhibition, beneath a screen illuminated with survivors describing the events of Kristallnacht in November 1938, a self-portrait of architect Hermann Baum lies within its glass vitrine. Baum depicted himself as a haggard figure in his ill-fitting prisoner garb, posed in front of a barbed wire fence with its ominous sign bearing a skull and crossbones. The ragged and ill-fitting outfit contrasts with the tailored suit and tie Baum wore in the juxtaposed black and white photograph; the two portraits, pencilled and photographic, are united by Baum’s dignified demeanour that cuts through the humiliation of his incarceration.
Further along the exhibition, in the space behind Holocaust survivor Chaim Sztajer’s z”l model of the Treblinka death camp in the Life Unworthy of Life gallery, a postcard is imprinted with the young author’s squared, careful handwriting that she sent to Walter Geismar, her beau in Munich:
The sender: Ilse Nussbaum, her location: AuschwitzBirkenau. She had met Walter in a forced labour camp in Berg am Laim where they worked as slave labourers in a metal factory until she was deported on 13 March 1943 with her mother. Walter evaded deportation with his ambiguous, modified identification card. The postcard bears marks and scars from frequent handling of this sacred relic of teenage love, dated 15 June 1943. Ilse did not live to see her 16th birthday.
My Dear Walter,
I am well. I am doing all right. I am together with mother. Be brave.
I will
not let things get me down.
Don’t forget me and
write right away.
Mother
sends regards to you and your parents. With greetings and kisses to you and your dear parents. With love, your Ilse – Kochani (beloved).
Moving past the harrowing section memorialising the 1.5 million murdered Jewish children, and the stories of resistance and hiding, visitors finally reach the official end of the war. In a narrow, vertical case in the Liberation section of the exhibition, a yellowed and creased telegram dated 29 July 1945 is positioned beside a photograph of the beautiful, beaming face of a young woman. Sent to her brother Gidal, in Tel Aviv, Mandate Palestine, Sarah Saaroni OAM’s words sing out: “I am alive waiting answer address Warsaw Jewish Committee Targowa 44, Saba Fiszman”.
These three individualised experiences of the Holocaust are depicted through our collection items. Tangibility is reinforced through dates, places and descriptions: geolocated and timecoded. These objects transcend their size and inherent, material fragility. Despite their apparently quiet repose in their exhibition cases, artefacts speak clearly and loudly, drowning out the white static of information gleaned from unfiltered and unqualified sources across the internet.
Our museum prides itself as a source of truth-telling, and our collections provide significant evidence of the Holocaust and the experiences of Jewish people, to help foster impactful and authentic education. Personal belongings are invested with the traces of their owners: diaries and testimonies capture and reveal individual experiences, letters continue to name names so as not to be forgotten forever, and photographs bear visual proof of their existence.
The thousands of students and general visitors to MHM come from diverse backgrounds, most are not Jewish. Many have sparse knowledge of Jewish religion and
by Dr Anna Hirsh, MHM Manager of Collections and Research
culture, or of the history of antisemitism. With only basic understanding of the Holocaust before their visit; most will leave with a greater understanding of not only the horrific events, but the individual experiences of survivors and victims, and the moral complexities that faced those who were in a position to help Jewish people and others being persecuted. The collection items on display offer a conduit to the people that comprise the often overwhelming statistics, and this facilitates connection with visitors. While exhibitions items are only a fraction of artefacts in the MHM Collection, our online collection presents a portal to many thousands more of our items, revealing many Holocaust stories, accessible worldwide.
Hermann Baum sadly was unable to continue his professional practice in Melbourne and died at the young age of 57. Walter Geismar was a frequent visitor to MHM. Holocaust survivor Sarah Saaroni OAM’s smile remains radiant, and she continues to speak of her experiences with students and museum visitors.
In these fraught times, it is crucial for our Australian audience to understand the history of their fellow Australians from the Jewish community. Our artefact collection stands as a vigorous primary source.
Above: Self Portrait of Hermann Baum as a Prisoner in Sachsenhausen, with Photograph (1938-39). Hermann Baum Collection.
Right: Postcard from Ilse Nussbaum in Birkenau to Walter Geismar in Munich, dated 15 June 1943. Walter Geismar Collection.
Below: Telegram from Saba (Sara) Fiszman to her brother Gidal Fiszman, in Tel Aviv, Palestine, 29 July 1945. Sara Saaroni Collection.
The Austrian Service Abroad Program
Every year MHM welcomes participants from the Austrian Service Abroad Program to partake in a 10-month internship at the museum.
Funded by the Austrian government, this program provides young Austrians the opportunity to work in institutions worldwide serving Holocaust commemoration in the form of Gedenkdienst – the concept of taking responsibility for the darkest chapters of the nation’s history.
In June, we bade farewell to Max, Luise and David, who commenced their internship as part of the program in August 2023. During their time at MHM, each one of these talented young adults provided outstanding support across the organisation, using their
individual skillsets to become key members of our Visitor Experience team.
Max, whose decision to intern at MHM was a result of his desire to extend his knowledge about the Holocaust, said:
Some of Max’s favourite memories were his interactions with the survivors at the museum. In addition to delivering exemplary customer service as part of our Visitor Experience team, Max also gained experience in the Collections Department, translating significant documents from German to English, and worked on developing audio-visual content for social media, and internal platforms. Max said:
While interning here at the MHM, I have learnt a great deal about the Holocaust and everything surrounding that period. Arguably even more enlightening was learning about all the traditions, holidays and culture that persevered through this dark part of history.”
This museum provides an amazing path to expanding your knowledge, but also to connecting with professionals in this field, and if you do not want to commit to doing a full internship, there is always the possibility to volunteer across different areas within the museum.”
Luise was instrumental in the delivery of our visitor experiences and education programs. She ensured every visitor who came into the museum felt the “warm welcome” we outlined in our experience master plan, and left feeling well-informed. During her time at MHM Luise learnt about the value of purpose-driven work, saying:
I discovered what it means to work with a group of individuals who are passionate about making the world a better place. The volunteers at the museum consistently show remarkable dedication, investing their entire hearts into educating students and the public about the Holocaust. Not only did I get the opportunity to explore different areas within the museum and learn about the Holocaust and humanity, but I also became part of an amazing community.”
During their internship, Max, David and Luise were given the opportunity to explore their areas of interest in a professional setting. David was able to utilise his technical skills to work on production and post-production projects, including streaming live events, producing digital content for social media platforms, and providing technical support across museum exhibitions and operations.
Much like Luise and Max, one of David’s favourite aspects of interning at MHM was the sense of community he felt when working with the team:
by Meg Hibbert, MHM
Without such a warm and supportive team, it would’ve been only half the experience that it was. It was fun, meaningful and I created memories for a lifetime. I would never trade an internship at the MHM for anything else.”
Founded in 1998, the Austrian Service Abroad Program is a nonprofit association rooted in the acknowledgement of Austria’s responsibility for the crimes committed by National Socialism. Since its establishment, 724 people have served at organisations worldwide. Individuals can serve at one of 143 organisations across 60 countries, including Israel, China and Hungary.
We welcomed our new Austrian Abroad participants to the museum in early September and we look forward to the unique skills and passion they will bring to our team.
To enquire about volunteering or interning at MHM, please visit: mhm.org.au/volunteer
Left: Austrian Abroad Program interns Max, Luise and David during their last week at MHM.
Communications and Marketing Specialist
by Abigail Gilroy-Smith, MHM Memberships & Individual Giving Specialist
From Prague to Survival
I listened to my customers and learnt everything I could about timber, which led to the success of my own company in 1956. Otto Kohn
Otto and his family pictured in 1941.
From left to
A Legacy of Resilience
In a remarkable gesture of generosity and hope, Melbourne-based Holocaust survivor and businessman Otto Kohn has planned a significant bequest to MHM. His extraordinary journey from the horrors of concentration camps to building a thriving timber company in Australia serves as a powerful testament to resilience and the importance of remembering the past.
Born in 1928 in Prague, Otto lived comfortably with his family before World War Two descended. His father, Arnold, was a successful wholesale leather merchant, and Otto, alongside his mother, Zdenka, and younger sister, Olinka, enjoyed a life of privilege. “Growing up, I felt Czech, not Jewish,” Otto recalls. When the Germans invaded in 1939, this peace was shattered, and Otto’s family faced increasing restrictions.
In 1942, they were sent to Theresienstadt ghetto/camp. Although men and women were separated, the family maintained some contact. In 1944, Otto and his father were transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
After a brief time in Auschwitz, they were moved to concentration camps including Landsberg, Kaufering, and Dachau. Otto believes his mother and sister arrived at Auschwitz after he had left the camp and were tragically sent to the gas chambers on arrival.
Defying the Odds
In Dachau, Otto’s father succumbed to starvation just three months before the camp was liberated. Otto was severely ill when the American forces arrived and was hospitalised for typhoid. He eventually recovered and returned to Prague, finding only one surviving uncle among his extended family. “I often wonder what is fate?, what is luck?, what is religion?,” Otto muses, reflecting on his survival.
A New Beginning in
Australia
Otto’s resilience carried him through further challenges, including tuberculosis, which delayed his immigration to Australia. After surgery and recovery in Switzerland, he finally arrived in Melbourne on 31 December 1951. Otto began his new life working as a cleaner and eventually started a successful timber company.
Otto’s bequest to MHM is driven by a profound sense of duty to honour his family and educate future generations.
“Honouring the memory of my family is my main motivation,” Otto explains.
Gifts in Will
WWe acknowledge the following people for leaving a gift in their Will to the MHM or MHMF. May their memory be a blessing.
Regina Adelfang
Kitia Altman
Erika Bence
Abraham Benedykt
Elza Bernst
Susan Blatman
Gitla Borenstein
Peter Boss
Chaim & Malcha Brown
Joseph Brown
Majer Ceprow
Jenny Chaenkel
Richard Charlupski
Vera Dorevitch
Bertha Fekete
Chaim Feldman
John Fox
Jakob Frenkiel
Cecilia Freshman
Romana Frey
Sara Frucht
Walter Geismar
Paul Gere
Fania Gitein
Samuel Gnieslaw
Rita Greiner
Arnold Hacker
Eugene Hacker
Bessie Heiman
Mendel Herszfeld
Anita Jaffe
Sabina Jakubowicz
Betty Janover
Basia Kane
Thea Kimla
Lola Kiven
Leslie Klemke
Eva Rivka Knox
Izabella Krol
Pinek Krystal
Nona Lee
Ivor Leiser
Ruth Leiser
Willy Lermer
Charlotte Lesser
Kurt Lewinski
Sara Liebmann
Julek & Ada Lipski
Abram Malewiak
Janina Marcus
Don & Sonia Marejn
Anna Mass
Sonia Mrocki
Victor Muntz
Albert & Lena Newmann
Robert Newman
Kalman & Elka Bajla
Parasol
Edith Peer
Elizabeth Peer
Esther Poelman
Kenneth Ray
Lilian Renard
Gerda Rogers
Joe Ronec
Beatrice & Rose
Rosalky
Szymon & Hadasa Rosenbaum
Shmuel Rosenkranz
Bencjan Rozencwajg
Ignacy & Irene Rozental
Leslie Sandy
Josef Scharf-Dauber
Raymond Schiller
Marianne Schwarz
Helen Sharp
Otto Shelton
Marianne Singer
Sara Smuzyk
Oscar & Lisa Sokolski
Mary Starr
Georgette Steinic
Samuel Stopnik
Berta Strom
Sonia Suchodolski
Geoffrey Tozer
Joseph Tyler
Chana Annette
Uberbayn
Emanuel Wajnblum
Claire Weis
Kathe Weisselberg
Pirry Weiss
Ludvik Weisz
Jadwiga Wiener
Pinchas Wiener
Ludwik & Rita Winfield
Chaya Ziskind
Sophia Zitron
If you would like to join Otto and leave a gift to the future or discuss the Gift in Will program in more detail, please contact Aviva Weinberg on (03) 9528 1985 extension 113.
right, Arnold, Zdenka, Olinka and Otto. Courtesy of Otto Kohn.
Contributing to a Brighter Future
Gerald & Lillian Pearce
Like so many others, the Holocaust has left behind traumatic and painful memories for my family.
In the current environment where antisemitism is on the rise, and our multicultural way of life is being threatened, MHM offers a tangible reminder of the need to treat each other with respect and celebrate and embrace our differences.
Gerald’s father, Eric Pearce and his sister Erna were born in Landeshut, Germany to Leonhard and Martha Peritz (nee Wolff). When the war broke out in 1939, Eric fled to Britain, where he was interned in Kitchener Camp, a camp for Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. He eventually joined the Pioneer Corp of the British army serving in France and worked with MI6 – the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service.
Gerald’s mother, Grete and her sister Elsa were born in Bohmte, Germany, to Siegmund and Lina Stern (nee Heuman). Grete initially met Eric in Germany, and they were married in Britain giving birth to Gerald, their only child, in 1942. The family immigrated to Australia in 1947.
Lillian was born in Warsaw in 1946 to Adam and Luba Czyzyk (nee Friedman). The family migrated to Sweden where their son Nathan was born. They then immigrated to Australia in 1949.
We find it difficult to comprehend how our cousin (John Ruppin) coped and adjusted to being put on a Kindertransport, never to see his parents (Herman and Erna) and sister (Inge) again; how our parents adjusted to the murder of their parents and so many members of their family. How Lillian’s father managed to survive the Warsaw Ghetto, typhus, fighting with the Polish partisans and how he coped with the loss of his family. One cannot begin to understand Lillian’s mother’s stress and fortitude surviving the Warsaw Ghetto, participating in the resistance and subsequently working under false papers for the Warsaw police all the time knowing her family members were being murdered.
MHM has helped us, and many others, to understand the personal experiences of racism, war, and survival. It reminds us that, despite all this tragedy, goodness, hope and positivity triumphs and that people are more resilient than we often recognise.
Our parents recognised how lucky they were to be in a country that was free, accepting and full of opportunities. From observing our parents, we learnt how important it is to contribute our time, energy and
finances to education and assisting others in need.
On reflection, our parents did this with modesty, without fanfare and often anonymously. It appears that there has been some osmosis.
Ecclesiasticus 44:9 states:
“And some there be, who have no memorial; who are perished, as though they had never been…”
To us, this excerpt indicates the need for a place to memorialise.
The museum provides this place. It reminds us of where we can go to understand the past. It reminds us not to be complacent.
We value the work being done at MHM to educate the young, contribute to the prevention of antisemitism and preserve Holocaust memory. We are committed to MHM, and to continuing the legacy of our parents Adam and Luba Czyzyk, and Eric and Grete Pearce.
A Survivor. A Businessman. My Father.
by Debbie Taylor
Holocaust survivors Judith and Josef (Pepik) Hellen dealt with being survivors in very different ways during their lives. My mother was always quite open about her experiences, whereas during my childhood, my father rarely talked about it. Having said that, as my father grew older, he opened up more about those days.
My dad’s book, Auschwitz Birkenau –University of Life, touched on his life from an early age until his later years. It provides an insight into my father’s determination and bravery in escaping a death march from Auschwitz in early 1945 and how this determination was again realised when he founded a very successful international business after the war. The book offers a brief glimpse of who Josef Hellen was: the survivor, and the businessman.
I’m not going to write about this because everyone who knew him knows that person. I’m going to give you a glimpse of my dad, the person I looked up to who taught me so much, and my beautiful mum. My kids’ nana and papa.
Growing Up with Survivor Parents
We were not very religious at home when I was growing up, but we did observe the high holidays. I went to a Jewish school, learnt Hebrew and had my Bat Mitzvah.
The subject of the Holocaust was not brought up very much when I was younger, but the number 64463 on my father’s arm was a tangible reminder of what my parents had endured.
I remember clearly my mother asking me to take her to see the movie Schindler’s List. I was shocked, as in my eyes, it was a big step for her. She asked my father to go but he said he couldn’t and didn’t want to.
Months later, my father asked me if I could rent him Schindler’s List on video. He wanted to watch it in his own time and by himself.
One of the greatest days in my parents’ lives was when I had both of my children. Even after nearly 25 years I can still see the look on my father’s face when he found out he was going to be a grandfather.
His grandchildren were everything to him. Behind closed doors, the big businessman became a softer, caring papa.
We didn’t talk after we left the movie theatre, there really were no words to say.
He changed their nappies, fed them, bought them clothes, and doted on them.
It melted my heart.
He was a good father, but he was an amazing papa.
And as much as he gave them, in the few weeks before his passing, both girls gave back the naches to their papa by helping him and spending time with him.
Having lost my mother three years prior, my father’s passing was very hard on all of us.
She was the glue that kept the family together. My father was the softie, my mother was the stern one. However, the love she had for my father was like no love I have ever seen.
Documenting the Past
When my father decided to write a book, my mother was against it. She put her foot down and told him not to write it.
It took him a while to find someone to write the book the way he wanted it to be written.
It had to be his words, it had to be raw.
He didn’t want it changed in any way, it was his story, and he wanted it told from the heart.
He wanted future generations to read his book and pass on the memory of the Holocaust to their children.
Over the years my parents donated to various Jewish organisations. They wanted to give back to the Jewish community, to leave their footprint, their legacy, and have their name mean something.
The Evelyn Hellen Library at Bialik College opened early 2011. It was named after my mother and father’s first daughter, Evelyn, who passed away aged 17 from Leukemia. The Judith Hellen Children’s Centre (Creche) at Bialik College opened in July 2019. My father’s greatest achievement was his donation to name the MHM building: The Josef (Pepik) Hellen Building. I wish he was alive to see what an amazing contribution he has made to the community. This contribution is his greatest legacy.
Opposite: Josef and Judith Hellen.
Courtesy of Debbie Taylor.
Left: The MHM building, which was named the Josef (Pepik) Hellen Building to honour Josef’s contribution to MHM.
Photographed by John Gollings AM.
Donor story
the first
Underground:
The Hidden Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto
Our inaugural temporary exhibition, opening in November in the Alter Family Special Exhibitions Gallery, will give visitors an opportunity to engage with precious documents from the Emanuel Ringelblum Archive coming from Poland. During the Holocaust the archive was secretly buried beneath the Warsaw Ghetto. Miraculously, a portion of the archive was retrieved after World War Two from deep below the rubble where the ghetto once stood.
Like a time capsule this rare archive gives us an intimate and comprehensive understanding of the domestic, religious, cultural, economic and political life of Jews imprisoned in the ghetto. It also represents the
first attempt to directly document the German-initiated mass murder of European Jewry as it was unfolding. In this context creating the archive was an act of resistance, and a commitment to postwar justice.
The exhibition has been curated by Piotr Rypson, through the auspices of the Jewish Historical Institute (JHI) in Poland, where the archive is held, in partnership with Dr Ulla-Britta Vollhardt and Mirjam Zadoff from the Munich Documentation Centre for the History of National Socialism, in Germany.
As we busily prepare for this first special exhibition and develop our showcase featuring the Melbourne survivor community’s connections to
during the day, wrote their own notes at night, and met secretly on Saturdays to discuss the progress of the archive. Over a two-year period, up until the ghetto uprising in April 1943, Oneg Shabbat members collated tens of thousands of items documenting life and death in the ghetto.
Despite appalling conditions and being shut off from the rest of Polish society, cultural activity inside the ghetto continued. The archive reflects this with items such as drawings and posters, songs, poems and plays, invitations to events, and even lolly wrappers. These accompanied more familiar representations of ghetto life such as food ration cards and work passes.
Individually, Oneg Shabbat members wrote about daily life in the ghetto, the policies of the Judenrat (Jewish Council), religious life, the work of social welfare institutions, underground schools and the fate of Jewish children, smuggling and armed resistance.
When the members learnt about the Final Solution their focus turned to documenting the mass murder of European Jews. They assembled accounts of deportations, executions, torture, and the destruction of entire Jewish communities.
It must all be recorded with not a single fact omitted. And when the time comes – as it surely will – let the world read and know
what the murderers have done.
Emanuel Ringelblum
by Sandy Saxon,
Curator
Warsaw Ghetto, the JHI are preparing the documents from the archive for their first tour out of Europe.
Creating the Archive
Jewish historian Emanuel Ringelblum established the archive in 1940. Already imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto, Ringelblum knew that the Nazi persecution of the Jews was unprecedented. He was determined to create a historical record for the outside world, and for posterity.
To help him with this enormous project he mobilised a group of Jewish academics, writers and activists. This clandestine group of over 60 members was called Oneg Shabbat (the Joy of Sabbath). They collected documents
Burying and Retrieving the Archive
Many archive members were caught up in the deportations to Treblinka in 1942. Those who remained continued their work. In August 1942 the first cache of documents, stored inside metal boxes, was buried below the ghetto. The second and third caches were buried in February and April 1943 respectively.
Only three members of Oneg Shabbat survived the Holocaust, including Hersz Wasser, who was the only one who knew where the caches had been buried. The first cache was retrieved in 1946 and the second in 1950. Sadly, the third has never been found.
More Important than Life
One of the metal boxes unearthed will also be on display in the exhibition. This specific box included the final Will of David Graber, a teenager who helped bury the archives. An excerpt from his Will, dated 3 August 1942, reads:
“We have decided to write our Wills, to collect our little material about the deportation, and to bury it all. We must hurry because we are not sure how much time we have. We felt the responsibility. We were not afraid of taking a risk. We were aware that we were making history. And that was more important than our lives.”
Unearthing
part of the Ringelblum Archive buried in bunkers below the Warsaw Ghetto between 1942-43, Warsaw 1946.The Archive is listed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register.
L-R: Michał Borwicz and Hersz Wasser.
Photo: PAP/Wladyslaw Forbert.
Norman Bloom and his wife Pauline demonstrated the true spirit of simcha giving. For Norman’s 80th birthday they decided to raise funds for the MHM, and through the support of their family and friends they raised over $17,000. When asked why they chose to do this Norman and Pauline shared,
Embracing the Joy of Simcha Giving
At MHM, we are deeply touched by the generosity and spirit of our community.
A Lasting Impact
Every donation to MHM helps us fulfil our mission to amplify the voices of Holocaust survivors to encourage greater understanding of difference, and inspire a brighter future.
Your support can help to:
• Expand our educational programs to reach more students and educators
• Preserve survivor testimonies and artefacts
• Develop exhibitions that highlight the personal experiences of the Holocaust
Adult March of Living group at Auschwitz-Birkenau, 2004.
In order for people to be whole… [they] need to know who they are, and a large part of that ‘who’ comes from the past.
March of the Living Two Decades On
On Sunday 16 June, MHM hosted the 20-year reunion of the first Australian Adult March of the Living (MOTL) journey. There were 43 participants on the first Australian MOTL, a journey to Poland and Israel between 16 – 29 April 2004.
Bell z”l, Wolf Deane, Paul Grinwald, Henri Korn, Tuvia Lipson z”l and Stella Mitchell z”l. Their presence made a powerful and everlasting impression on the other 37 participants, who were mainly descendants of Holocaust survivors themselves.
All of our grandparents came to Melbourne from Bialystok and Warsaw in the 1920s. We feel that Holocaust memorials serve the whole world as a reminder of when evil triumphs over good. It’s not only an important historical meme, but also about learning about the past so that the future can be better.
Whether it’s a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, a birthday, or another significant milestone, you can honour the memory of those murdered in the Holocaust and the survivors by donating to MHM in lieu of gifts to support Holocaust education and remembrance.
How to Get
Started
Creating a fundraising page for your simcha is simple. Here’s how you can begin:
Set Up Your Page:
Visit www.mhm.org.au/fundraise-for-us and follow the easy steps to create a personalised fundraising page. Share your story, set a fundraising goal, and explain why supporting MHM is important to you. If you need any help setting up your page, please contact the museum’s Individual Giving Specialist, Abigail Gilroy-Smith on 03 9528 1985 ext 138.
Your support will help honour the past and shape a future where the lessons of the Holocaust are never forgotten.
MOTL has been an international presence since 1988, when the first student group from Israel and the US went to Poland and participated in a march from Auschwitz I to Birkenau on Yom HaShoah, as a tribute to all victims of the Holocaust.
Today, the International MOTL is an annual educational program bringing individuals from around the world to Poland and Israel to study the history of the Holocaust and to examine the roots of prejudice, intolerance and hatred.
We were blessed to be joined by six survivors on the 2004 MOTL: Leon
As the late Ruth Wajnryb, z”l wrote in her book The Silence about the second generation, “In order for people to be whole… [they] need to know who they are, and a large part of that ‘who’ comes from the past.”
On our multi-generational journey, we went in search of the past together to better understand our family and the Jewish history that has shaped who we are. On reflection, there were so many powerful moments from the first MOTL experience. These include the group standing on the ramp at Birkenau as survivors Tuvia and Wolf spoke. We also heard inspiring recollections from Henri and Paul
by Pauline Rockman OAM, Immediate Past-President
speaking about their experiences on our many long bus rides.
The MOTL experience has a powerful impact on all who participate. Participants learn about over 1000 years of Jewish life in Poland and the devastation of the Holocaust. They are also given the opportunity to hear testimony from both survivors and from Righteous Among the Nations.
Importantly, the participants become the bridge between the survivors and the next generations – the bearers and transmitters of their memories.
It was important to mark this anniversary recently and acknowledge MOTL’s important role in Holocaust education and memory. It is particularly significant in these challenging times we are experiencing in today’s world.
Photographed by Emmanuel Santos.
IRMA HANNER In
Memory of
Saying goodbye is hard, but if the question is whether we had a chance to say goodbye over the last few years, the resounding answer is yes
Nanna, or Nanna OAM as she had recently been referred to in later years, toed the line between being a loving, caring grandmother and a stern disciplinarian. Tough on the outside but soft on the inside, we always knew how much our nanna loved us.
Nanna showed her love through her actions. The second you walked into my nanna’s house, she would head straight to the fridge or pantry and pull out plates of food.
Whether it was her famous cherry cake, apple crumble, chicken soup, schnitzels, or or any other Jewish
delicacy you could think of, food was the main language my nanna spoke. Nothing gave my nanna more joy than being with her grandchildren. There are so many deeply happy memories of Monday nights in at my nanna’s house. Dovi, Ilana and I would be playing in Bernie’s old bedroom, pulling out everything from the cupboards, the three of us would then sneak out of the backdoor when Nanna wasn’t looking and run down to Aunty Gusti’s house for chocolate, or the local newsagency for lollies. I’ll never forget the time Nanna caught us red-handed, as we never heard the end of that.
he played during her 90th birthday, and more recently in hospital. Not long ago, Dovi arranged a string quartet for a special performance at Arcare for Nanna and some lucky passersby.
The last few days sitting by my nanna’s bedside were both difficult and beautiful. My nanna has been a binding force for our family over the years. We each said our goodbyes, holding her hand and exchanging loving words, just as my nanna would have wanted, surrounded by her family.
Nanna, I love you, and I will always miss you.
My cousin Dovi is now an incredibly talented violinist. Dovi’s musical talent was a huge source of pride and joy for my nanna and she would tell everyone about his concerts. She loved it when
In Memorial
Irma Hanner.
Photographed by Simon Shiff.
by Oscar Hanner Irma’s grandson
Memorial Room. Photographed by Simon Shiff.
With Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan