Centre News SEPTEMBER 2019 The magazine of the Jewish Holocaust Centre, Melbourne, Australia

Building for the future

Registered by Australia Post. Publication No. VBH 7236 JHC Board The Jewish Holocaust Centre is dedicated to the memory of the six million Co-Presidents Pauline Rockman OAM Jews murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators between 1933 and 1945. & Sue Hampel OAM Vice-President David Cohen We consider the finest memorial to all victims of racist policies to be an Treasurer Richard Michaels educational program that aims to combat antisemitism, racism and prejudice Secretary Elly Brooks in the community, and fosters understanding between people. Executive Directors Abram Goldberg OAM Helen Mahemoff Paul Kegen Non-Executive Directors Allen Brostek IN THIS ISSUE Anita Frayman Phil Lewis From the Presidents 3 Melanie Raleigh Mary Slade Editor’s note 3 JHC Foundation Chairperson Helen Mahemoff Director’s cut 4 Trustees Allen Brostek David Cohen Education 4 Jeffrey Mahemoff AO Joey Borensztajn Federal Government supports JHC 5 Nina Bassat AM to expand its reach to every Victorian child Office of the Museum Director Museum Director Jayne Josem Reflections on the 35th anniversary 6 Executive Assistant Evelyn Portek of the Jewish Holocaust Centre Education Director of Education Lisa Phillips Australia becomes a full member of IHRA 7 Educational Engagement Jennifer Levitt Maxwell Manager Remember the Past – Build the Future: 8 Education Officer Anatie Livnat Taking the JHC building campaign to the community Education Officer Fanny Hoffman Education Officer Soo Isaacs Saved by selfless acts of courage 10 Museum Senior Curator Sandy Saxon Just Add Love 12 Curatorial Assistant Gavan O’Connor Collections Connecting to eyewitnesses in sites of atrocity 14 Senior Archivist Dr Anna Hirsh Director of Testimonies Phillip Maisel OAM The penalties of survival 16 Project Librarian & Information Julia Reichstein Saving lives in the shadow of the SS 18 Manager Audio-Visual Producer Robbie Simons Loloush 20 Development & Marketing Director of Marketing Leora Harrison A tree of life 22 & Development Marketing Manager Danielle Kamien March of the Living 2019 24 Operations Memories for a lifetime 26 Operations Manager Laura Etyngold Finance Manager Roy John New acquisitions 27 Special Projects & Daniel Feldman Bookkeeper Seen around the Centre 28 Office Manager Lena Fiszman Volunteer Coordinator Rae Silverstein Administrative Support Karen Miksad Community news 30 Officer Administrative Support Georgina Alexander Officer Operations Support Lana Zuker Officer Operations Support Claire Jordaan Officer Austrian Intern Nargis Kurtaya Austrian Intern Michael Stromenger 13–15 Selwyn Street OPENING HOURS Centre News Elsternwick Vic 3185 Editor Ruth Mushin Mon–Thu: 10am–4pm Australia Yiddish Editor Alex Dafner Fri: 10am–3pm t: (03) 9528 1985 Sun & Public Hols: 12pm–4pm f: (03) 9528 3758 On the cover: Closed on Saturdays, e: [email protected] Jewish Holy Days and (l-r) Abram Goldberg OAM & w: www.jhc.org.au some public holidays the Hon Josh Frydenberg MP

Photo: Zina Sofer 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 This publication has been designed and produced News welcomes ideas, articles, photos, poetry and letters, it reserves the right to by Grin Creative / grincreative.com.au accept or reject material. There is no automatic acceptance of submissions. student has at least one, if not two, opportunities to visit the JHC museum and participate in our education programs to learn the vital lessons of the Holocaust – lessons about the dangers of racism and the value of democratic processes. In order to achieve the goal of reaching every Victorian school student we are rebuilding and enlarging our centre, commencing next year with a view to reopening in 2022. In the meantime we will find a temporary location and continue running a modified program. As well as increasing student numbers, this grant will ensure that we expand our programs to educate teachers, as well as key members of our community, including politicians at all levels, members of the police and armed forces, and many more citizens in pivotal decision-making roles. (Further details can be found on page 5 of Centre News.)

Australia’s admittance to full membership of the IHRA would not have happened without the on-going efforts over decades of several different Australian governments in pursuing and finally achieving this highly valuable outcome – placing Australia among the world leaders in Holocaust education. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Senator Marise Payne deserve special recognition for seeing this process through to a positive conclusion.

From the Presidents ‘I think that it is very important for an organisation dealing with Pauline Rockman Holocaust education, remembrance and research to have the Australian people, through their government, joining the International & Sue Hampel Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).’ These were the inspiring and most welcoming words from the honorary chair, Professor Yehuda Bauer, when we spoke to him after Australia’s acceptance into the IHRA. (You can read more about IHRA on page 7.) wo events have occurred recently that will have a most profound impact on the Jewish Holocaust Centre (JHC). As Australians, we are all very proud to be doing this important T In April we were thrilled to announce that the JHC is work and we are mindful of the important legacy bequeathed to the proud recipient of a $10 million grant from the Australian us by the Holocaust survivors who established and ran the JHC Government, and in June Australia was admitted as a full for many decades. member to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) at Mondorf-les-Bains, Luxembourg. L’shana tova!

The Federal Government grant, announced by Treasurer the Pauline Rockman OAM and Sue Hampel OAM are co-presidents Hon Josh Frydenberg MP, will ensure that every Victorian school of the Jewish Holocaust Centre.

JHC. Julia Mayer features the stories of Sarah Saaroni and twins Stephanie Heller and Annetta Able in her article about Irris Makler’s wonderful book Just Add Love: Holocaust Survivors Editor’s note Share their Stories and Recipes. And we bring you the late Kitia Altman’s moving story ‘Loloush’ – one of ‘those who have no one Ruth Mushin to remember them’ she honours in her beautifully written book Memories of Ordinary People.

Kitia was an important mentor in educating me about the Holocaust when I first became involved in the JHC, and one of her lthough we regularly feature articles by academics and ‘causes’ was the recognition of the Righteous Among the Nations. other experts on the Holocaust, and keep you up to I think Kitia would be proud to see the article about Alfred Rossner A date with what is happening at the Jewish Holocaust – a German whom she credits with helping to save her life and who Centre (JHC), I always feel that one of the most important tasks himself paid for his courageous deeds with his life. German writer of Centre News is to tell the stories of Holocaust survivors. In Hannah Miska, who was also mentored by Kitia when she lived in this edition, the stars truly are the Holocaust survivors involved Melbourne and volunteered at the JHC, embarked on a voyage with the JHC. We feature the stories of volunteer guides Joe de of discovery about Alfred Rossner after learning that he had been Haan and Charles German, and introduce you to Jenny Chaenkel, instrumental in saving Kitia’s life. I hope you enjoy these and the a Melbourne survivor who has left a generous bequest to the other articles in this edition of Centre News.

JHC Centre News 3 Director’s cut Education Jayne Josem Lisa Phillips

he well-known quote from the movie Field of Dreams I have been bringing students each year for quite a is: ‘If you build it, he will come.’ At the Jewish Holocaust number of years now and each year the girls cite this T Centre (JHC), however, the question we are currently as one of the most profound and moving experiences asking ourselves is: ‘When they come, what will they learn, that remain with them. what will they remember and how can we make a difference to their lives?’ o began a thank you letter received in June, articulating the moving experience we witness each day at the The message board at the JHC is always full of comments S Jewish Holocaust Centre (JHC). Our work is important from students praising the experience and thanking survivors and the passionate education team of survivors, volunteers for sharing their stories. But what about the students who and staff makes sure that we plant a seed of acceptance, and don’t leave inspiring messages? And those who manage to that students learn the dangers of hatred and prejudice each ignore the lessons or who just aren’t paying attention? What time we deliver a program. can we do to ensure we reach them? Behind the scenes we are working on developing new It is troubling to think that we might be missing the mark with programs and ways we can continue to engage students using some students, so we are now intent on exploring what more cutting edge technology and learning strategies. We know we could be doing. We are seeking feedback from students that students learn best when they are not passive listeners, and teachers to better understand their thoughts about their but are actively involved in the learning process. As a result we visit and about Holocaust education in general. What did have begun to change the way the students interact with the they respond well to? What resources do teachers need to museum displays. We have been trialling the use of a ‘guided help them teach this challenging subject? facilitation’, giving students a list of eight artefacts to discover in the museum. Then, with the help of a guide, they have the The Holocaust has so many lessons for visitors, but are we opportunity to explore the significance of the artefact within trying to teach too many concepts? We need to consider how the broader story of the Holocaust to pique the visitors’ curiosity, how to reach different types of learners and how to ensure that students retain the most We will be piloting our new virtual reality film of Szaja Chaskiel important lessons. soon, as another way of engaging students in survivor testimony. During this trial phase we will explore how best to Our educators and curators have their work cut out for them use this technology to ensure that the experience is meaningful over the coming years, as we redevelop our permanent and students are safely exposed to sites of atrocity. museum, design a museum for younger visitors and rethink our education programs. Educational research and practice have demonstrated that students’ level of engagement and conceptual understanding The book The Power of Moments suggests: ‘We all have are deepened by asking questions. Our ‘Ask a Survivor’ project defining moments in our lives – meaningful experiences that – focusing on the eighteen most common questions students stand out in our memory.’ These moments shape our lives ask after hearing survivor testimony – is also nearing its trial in ways that we cannot imagine. Recently the JHC received phase. The questions asked by students range from ‘do you a powerful letter of apology from the principal of Hillview hate Germans?’ to ‘why did you come to Australia?’ This project College, in the country town of Maryborough, relating to an aims to replicate the experience of students or other visitors incident that occurred during a school visit some years earlier, asking a survivor a question through creating a multimedia but had recently been brought to the school’s attention. interface, enabling them to interact with the survivors who The principal described the Holocaust as ’an event of such have been filmed answering these eighteen questions. They severity and vastness that it has no comparison in history’, will be able to ask the same questions of a number of survivors. emphasising the importance of Holocaust education and Although this will never be able to replicate fully the intimacy revealing that ‘my own visit to the Holocaust Centre as a of a face-to-face conversation, we do hope that it creates a teenager was life-changing’. meaningful learning experience for students and other visitors.

We are committed to doing the behind-the-scenes work to ensure that we can continue to be the architects of these moments that matter, and we are extremely grateful for the government and community support of our work.

4 JHC Centre News Federal Government supports JHC to expand its reach to every Victorian child

n April, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, along with the Minister able to develop new resources for teachers to help them meet the for Education, Dan Tehan, jointly made the announcement challenges around this daunting subject, ensuring it is taught both I that the Jewish Holocaust Centre (JHC) has been awarded an accurately and safely. We will also be able to form partnerships unprecedented $10 million grant by the Federal Government. with organisations that have resources for Holocaust education This outstanding funding, which is unparalleled within the and work together to get these tools into classrooms.’ Jewish community, will enable to JHC to increase its facilities, resources and outreach to a level far exceeding any that our In announcing the grant, Josh Frydenberg said, ‘It’s incumbent founders could ever have imagined when they established the on every Australian to learn about the Holocaust and say never Centre 35 years ago. again … The Holocaust Museum plays a vital role in educating the community at large about this terrible episode in world ‘This extraordinary funding will enable us to further expand history and the importance of ensuring tolerance and respect and resource our proposed redevelopment so that we can host for our fellow citizens.’ more than double the number of students that we do currently, and deliver high-quality education programs to students, Helen Mahemoff, Co-Chair of the JHC Capital Campaign, stressed teachers, adult learners and professionals’ said Museum Director that these funds are additional to the $16 million currently being Jayne Josem. raised for the planned new building and will enable the JHC to create an incredible world-class facility with increased capacity ‘This grant is a validation of the relevance of our mission, a powerful and outreach. In particular, it creates the opportunity for all endorsement of the efforts and achievements of the Centre, and a Victorian schoolchildren to attend the JHC’s education programs. recognition of the high standard of the programs already on offer and the potential of what can be achieved,’ she said. The Co-chairs of the JHC capital campaign are currently working hard to raise the base funding needed to build the The funding will go primarily towards infrastructure expansion, new facilities and is grateful to the wonderful donors who have as well as improvements to the current delivery of education already indicated that they will support the redevelopment. The programs – both to increase facilities and expand the JHC’s fundraising efforts are ongoing (see Centre News page 8), and expert educational staff to levels that can manage the increase the transformational Morrison Government grant will help to in student traffic. It will also involve exploring and delivering a further grow the vision of Holocaust survivors to teach the vital range of cutting edge digital educational platforms, as well as lessons of the Holocaust to future generations. collaborations with other like-minded organisations.

‡ (l-r) David Southwick MP, Dr Katie Allen MP, Phil Lewis, Jayne Josem says the new funding, when added to the Capital Dan Tehan MP, Helen Mahemoff, Josh Frydenberg MP, Campaign target, will enable the JHC to create an expanded Senator David Van, Pauline Rockman OAM, Kate Ashmor, range of stimulating programs to engage students. ‘We will be Tim Wilson MP and Jayne Josem

JHC Centre News 5 Reflections on the 35th anniversary of the Jewish Holocaust Centre

Elliot Perlman

 Celebrating the JHC’s 35th anniversary

was 19 years old when I first came here having read in the Jewish News that our community, the Melbourne Jewish community, I was taking the initiative to open its own Holocaust Centre. Historically, the creation of communal institutions is something that we, Jews, have excelled at. As soon as we arrive somewhere, no matter how few of us there are, we start the process of organising and building institutions to make things easier for those that have arrived, and for those next to arrive. And we  (l-r) Elliot Perlman, Sue Hampel OAM, are always arriving somewhere because for thousands of years Abram Goldberg OAM and Jayne Josem we have been continually fleeing somewhere, someone or some regime. The phenomenon that has led to our flight is that example And the most extreme example of antisemitism in Jewish history of xenophobia par excellence; antisemitism. is the Holocaust, the systematic attempt by Nazi Germany and its allies to annihilate the Jewish people. It is to commemorate and to It’s a virus that no society can ever quite entirely rid itself of. It’s a educate people about this event that this institution was created 35 societal illness that curiously, in its transmission and in its virulence, years ago. has nothing to do with us. We are not its cause. We are just the ones who suffer its consequences. It is its stubborn refusal to fade So...35 years ago...It was before mobile phones or the internet but I away, its ubiquity, and its quite astonishing capacity to mutate and rang around all my friends trying to find someone who would come adapt to its host circumstances that permits, for example, Jews with me to the opening. I could not find anyone of my 19 and 20-year- to be seen simultaneously as seditious Bolsheviks and rapacious old contemporaries to come. And I had gone to Mount Scopus. capitalists, that leads anti-Semitism to be not just an outstanding example of xenophobia, but, in fact, a unique phenomenon in the Because of the work done by the staff and volunteers of this psychopathology of our species. institution over the last 35 years, that would not happen today.

6 JHC Centre News You have ensured that young people have a sense of connection to their ancestors and to what they suffered. It is a connection that would have them coming to the opening of a centre such as this today.

It was an incredibly hot day. I felt humble amongst the community of survivors. I didn’t want anyone to think I was trying to co-opt my people’s tragedy for myself in some kind of self-indulgent adolescent way. And when I stood a few feet away from the survivor Adek Bialik when he collapsed in the hot sun and died, in a shocking example of tragic irony, I felt that maybe I shouldn’t have come, that perhaps this event belonged to an earlier generation. Why was  Australian delegation with Lord Eric Pickles (centre) I there, some 19-year-old interloper? My grandparents fled Poland and Russia before the Holocaust. They lost almost everybody they left behind but unlike so many Melbourne Jews of my generation, I didn’t have parents or grandparents Australia becomes a who were survivors. full member of IHRA I was there because I was brought up to consider the events of those years to be, not simply the most important in Jewish history, but the single most important gauge of the depths to which human beings can collectively sink and the heights to which they can individually climb. If you really want to n June Australia was accepted as the 33rd full member of study our species, you cannot do better than to study the the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) at Holocaust. Everything you need to know about humans you I Mondorf-les-Bains, Luxembourg. will find there; cruelty, savagery, the base uses of ingenious technology and of meticulous bureaucratic planning down IHRA was established at the Stockholm International Forum on to the tiniest detail for the sole purpose of mass murder, the Holocaust in 2000, which brought together government and the sickening tendency of individuals to conform, the community leaders, officials and Holocaust survivors from over frighteningly limitless capacity for denial and for hypocrisy, 40 countries with a shared commitment to Holocaust education, but also the capacity for tenderness, kindness, bravery and remembrance and research. the remarkable will to survive and recreate – it’s all there. The Australian Government first formally participated at a working And I had the compulsion then, as I had 30 years later when meeting of the IHRA in Jerusalem in 2010. Now, with full member I wrote The Street Sweeper, to tell everyone what happened. status, Australia joins members from Europe, the United States, Tell everyone what happened. That is what this institution Canada, Israel and Argentina. does so remarkably well and what it has been doing every day for the last 35 years. I can’t get people to take a history ‘We look forward to the enhanced opportunities to learn from degree majoring in the Holocaust. I can’t get them to take IHRA members and to share our unique perspective on Holocaust the time to read a book on the Holocaust but I can tell education, research and remembrance,’ said head of the Australian people to visit your remarkable centre and absorb its story delegation Lynette Wood, Australian Ambassador to Germany. and its message. Australia had had invaluable support from Senator Maryse We cannot save the 6 million but we can save their memory Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs; David Ritchie, former and in doing so make it that much less likely that anything like Australian Ambassador to Germany; Lord Eric Pickles and the this will ever happen again to Jews, or to anyone else. The English delegation; members of the Israeli delegation; the Jewish Holocaust Centre, its staff and its volunteers, have Executive Council of Australian Jewry; the Jewish Holocaust been doing this vital work for thirty five years and I cannot Centre Melbourne; and the Sydney Jewish Museum. thank you enough for doing it and for being here. Thank you. Members of the Australian delegation are Dr Steven Cooke and Dr Donna-Lee Frieze (Deakin University), Professor Emerita Suzanne Elliot Perlman is the bestselling author of The Street Rutland and Dr Avril Alba (University of Sydney), Pauline Rockman Sweeper, Seven Types of Ambiguity, The Reasons I (Jewish Holocaust Centre Melbourne), Suzanne Hampel (Jewish won’t Be Coming and Three Dollars. His work has been Holocaust Centre and Monash University) and Dr Andre Oboler translated into numerous languages and published to (La Trobe University and the Online Hate Prevention Institute). international acclaim. The French literary journal, Lire, described him as ‘the classic of tomorrow’ and ‘one of 50 The IHRA has produced important working definitions of Holocaust most important writers in the world’. His most recent work denial and distortion and antisemitism, and strives to forge new is a novel for children, The Adventures of Catvinkle. His paths in response to rising antisemitism, distortion of the past, new novel for adults, Maybe the Horse Will Talk, will be exclusion and ignorance – issues that have become frighteningly published in October. more relevant in current times.

JHC Centre News 7 Remember the past Build the future Taking the JHC building campaign to the community

he Jewish Holocaust Centre (JHC) is set to undergo when survivors are no longer able to meet with and speak to the most significant redevelopment since its inception students. Documentation and planning for this project is well T in 1984. Each year our visitor numbers have continued underway, as are our determined efforts to raise the capital to grow. The Centre consistently attracts over 22,000 school funds required. students each year, with an ever-increasing demand for both our secondary and middle school programs. In addition, over 10,000 Over the past 12 months, a small team of people led by Capital adult visitors attend and well over 100 events are held annually. Campaign co-chairs, Helen Mahemoff and Phil Lewis, have been These positive achievements mean our current premises are no quietly and diligently meeting with potential major donors to secure longer adequate to accommodate our needs. funds to advance our plans for this vital project. Our fundraising efforts to date have now passed the $13 million mark and we are Some four years ago, anticipating the growth in demand, we deeply grateful for the extraordinary support. However, there is commenced planning a full redevelopment. Architects have much more work to do to meet our $16 million target. been appointed, a town-planning permit has been received, and designs for both the updated Permanent Exhibition and a new The recent announcement of the extraordinary Federal Government Children’s Museum are well advanced. In addition, extended grant of $10 million has added the expectation of further increasing education programs are being developed aimed at ‘Keeping our facilities and outreach to serve vastly increased numbers of the Survivors’ Voices Alive’, in preparation for the inevitable time students, academics and other visitors and create a world-class

8 JHC Centre News Holocaust centre. The aspiration of the Government is for the ensure that we can reach as many people as possible, to teach JHC to deliver resources over and above the scope of the original the lessons of the Holocaust and continue to foster the values building project, so as to be able to educate every Victorian child of tolerance and understanding in the wider community,’ said (see report on page 5). In so doing, this does not diminish our need Campaign co-chairs Phil Lewis and Helen Mahemoff. to meet our $16 million goal.) ‘We are very proud of the Centre’s history, its many initiatives and We shall be taking our building campaign Remember accomplishments, and are confident that the community will join the Past – Build the Future to the wider community with us in bringing this exciting development to fruition,’ they said. next month, calling on you to help us keep the survivors’ voices alive and be a part of history by Please look out for further communication around our campaign supporting this unprecedented initiative to build a in the coming weeks. world-class museum.

‘As custodians of our survivors’ legacy, we have a responsibility For more information and to support our campaign to ensure that the JHC continues its essential work in education Remember the Past – Build the Future please contact and remembrance. We have been heartened by the support to Leora Harrison on 9528 1985 ext 119 or [email protected] date but now ask the community at large to join in our efforts to or visit our website at jhc.org.au.

JHC Centre News 9 Saved by selfless acts of courage

Joe de Haan Photo: Joe Lewit ‡ Joe de Haan

am a Holocaust survivor and a volunteer guide at the Jewish family was frightened by antisemitic rhetoric which we heard on Holocaust Centre, and on 12 October last year, I commenced the radio, and in cinemas we saw the terrible destruction of the I my 97th year of life. The word ‘life’ is of considerable significance synagogues in Germany and Austria on the eve of the war, and to me because, as a Jew who survived the genocide of his people, I the bonfires of tens of thousands of Jewish books. have come to value and cherish life. The tenth of May 1940 is a date etched into my memory. The Hitler and his collaborators earmarked me for death. peace and quiet of that beautiful morning was suddenly shattered by the wailing of sirens. We were greeted with the noise of enemy My father, Michel de Haan, my stepmother, Clara, and my aircraft heading in the direction of Schiphol Airport, from where brother, Abraham, whom we called Appie, were not destined to occasional anti-aircraft gunfire could be heard. I was 17 years old. enjoy the gift of life. They were deported from the Netherlands With the capitulation of the Netherlands to the forces of Nazi where we lived and murdered by the Nazis. My mother, Judith, Germany, the persecution of the Dutch Jews soon followed. perhaps mercifully, died before she too could be deported and murdered. After my father and stepmother were taken – I was fortunately not on the deportation list – I became a fugitive. I initially stayed Of the 140,000 Jews living in the Netherlands prior to the with a former colleague of my father, Mauritz Trompetter, until the Holocaust, 80,000 lived in my birth city of Amsterdam. And of Trompetter family fled to the province of Friesland in the north the country’s Jewish population, only an estimated 25% survived. where they took refuge.

In the years leading to the invasion of Holland, every Jewish I was alone.

10 JHC Centre News For many Jewish people, going into hiding seemed the only The farmhands were about to start milking in the meadow opposite way to avoid being rounded up and deported, but it was not the farmhouse where I was hiding. They rushed over to the farm an easy thing to do. It was a matter of having complete trust and knocked loudly on the window, alerting the farmer that they in people who were often total strangers. Thank goodness had seen Germans in the nearby village, and warning me to get out there were still some very decent God-fearing Dutch people quickly. I literally ended up crawling through the darkness. willing to help their Jewish fellow countrymen. It was certainly not without great risk to them, because such acts were severely I had been saved, yet again, by brave, selfless people. Thirty punishable. Nevertheless, these courageous people helped minutes later, the Germans knocked on the farm door asking for whenever possible. Jozeph de Haan. They had been informed by the leader of the resistance, who had I was given the option of going into hiding become a traitor, of the whereabouts of in Friesland with the Trompetter family 15 Jewish people. but I was even too scared to venture out into the streets and declined their From farm to farm, and barn to barn, offer. The family left everything behind, cared for by selfless Friesland farmers a lifetime of possessions. As I closed the and evading the Germans time and again, house door behind them, I hoped it was I survived, together with a young Jewish all only a bad nightmare from which I friend, Appie Rijksman. I ended up on would awaken in the morning. The reality the farm of the Rosier family, working was far bleaker. as a farmhand but never venturing out. I slept hidden under the eaves of the I was alone in the Trompetters’ home roof. I even learned to speak the Frisian where I slept for a few nights. I never language, which was initially impossible ventured out. How I survived those lonely for me to understand. days is hard to remember. Fortunately, I was taken in by Mr and Mrs Soeters and We were liberated by the Canadian forces their three children who lived on the first on 14 April 1945. After five or six weeks floor of the apartment complex where I I made my way back to Amsterdam, was staying. Mrs Soeters, a wonderful, Thirty minutes“ later, though I had no place to call home. On courageous woman, was a member of my return to Amsterdam I was shattered the Salvation Army and an incredibly the Germans knocked to discover that I was the only person from brave Christian who was not in the least on the farm door my immediate family to have survived. I intimidated by the Germans. learned later that my brother had perished asking for Jozeph in the Blechhammer concentration camp After two months, the doorbell rang and and that my father and his second wife, two men from the underground – the de Haan. They had Clara, had died in Auschwitz. Dutch resistance movement – arrived to been informed by collect some clothes for the Trompetter Slowly I began to start a new life for myself. family who were hiding in north-east the leader of the Shortly after my return to Amsterdam, I Friesland. I asked the men whether I resistance, who had met, and in 1947 married, my late wife, could return with them to Friesland. They Cecilia de Wolff. She too was a Holocaust promised to fetch me. After two days of become a traitor, survivor. My wife had lost her parents agonising tension they returned, and of the whereabouts and several other family members in the with my false identity card I became a Holocaust. They all perished in Auschwitz. fugitive in hiding – a non-Jew. of 15 Jewish people. We subsequently immigrated to South I was henceforth known as Willem Walvis. Africa and established a home and family in Cape Town. Several years ago, my son, The journey northwards by train and ferry was traumatic. “Michael, a retired anaesthetist, nominated the Rosier family to Fortunately I was not stopped to present my identity card. I was be accorded the status of Righteous Among the Nations at Yad placed on a farm for six weeks, and transferred by the resistance Vashem in Jerusalem for their selfless acts of courage. yet again to another farm. I was given a bicycle and then cycled in the dark, following a member of the resistance to yet another It is people like the Rosiers and others to whom so many of us owe refuge. our lives, and it is such people that enable me to continue to have faith in humankind. The bravery of the people of Friesland who harboured Jews knew no bounds. Theirs were tremendous acts of courage. Joe de Haan is a Holocaust survivor and volunteer guide I was eventually placed on the Vermeulen family’s farm. Early one at the Jewish Holocaust Centre. This is an edited version morning, late in the summer of 1943 around 4:00am, the Germans of the witness testimony he provided at the United Nations struck. They came in their trucks, rolling along the small country Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration held in Melbourne roads with their headlights switched off. in January 2019.

JHC Centre News 11 ‡Sarah Saaroni OAM Photo: David Mane Just Add Love Julia Mayer

einvented, reconceptualised and recultivated often in Inspiration for the project initially came from Makler’s memories vastly different places from their origins, food and its of her late grandmother Lea whose recipe for the ‘dark, fragrant R preparation tugs at our memories, drawing us back to and spicy’ honey cake - ‘the cake that said family to me’-had never our pasts while we reconnect in the present. As a primary marker been written down. Just as many of the grandmothers featured of cultural heritage and identity, food extends beyond the basic in this book recreated family recipes from memory which had need for survival to incorporate ideas of selfhood and aspirations disappeared with their relatives, Makler herself embarked on a for the future. For Australian journalist Irris Makler, food is deeply mission to recreate her grandmother’s recipe. Her search would connected to family, traditions and unconditional love; a reminder eventually lead her to Saba Feniger, the first voluntary curator of simpler times when one felt safe and secure. at the Jewish Holocaust Centre (JHC). Saba’s honey cake came strikingly close to the one Irris remembers her grandmother baking Makler’s latest book Just Add Love is the culmination of countless when growing up in Sydney, and Saba’s story and recipes feature hours spent testing recipes and interviewing Holocaust survivors in the book. who arrived in Australia with little more than the memories of food eaten during their brief childhoods and the determination Just Add Love is very much an intergenerational story, where to create new lives. The end result is an extraordinary cookbook cooking is an enactment of family life before the grandmothers’ featuring the stories and recipes of 23 energetic grandmothers lives were irrevocably changed. The importance of including and two grandfathers who recall their painful pasts while making grandchildren, and even great grandchildren, stems from the quiet their favourite childhood food. Food is a healer and the kitchen is acknowledgement that as bearers of family traditions, they are now a space to commune with family and friends, so the spirit of the in possession of an unbroken link to their cultural heritage; a shared book is one of joy and humour. bond fused by love affirming their identity.

12 JHC Centre News We learn that Sarah Saaroni, another grandmother who has been a long-time guide at the JHC, baked all her children’s wedding cakes, but it is her recipe for sauerkraut the way her mother made it in Lublin, Poland, which features in this book. ‘I remembered the taste and I tried to do the same. I used to watch her even though I wasn’t actively learning. But later, it came back to me,’ she says. For Sarah, who was the only survivor of her family, cooking has always been about reaffirming her identity which she disguised as a teenager during the war.

When the Nazis returned to Lublin in 1942 after a two-year absence, Sarah’s family, who had relocated from the ghetto to a Polish farm, decided that it was too dangerous to remain there, and encouraged sixteen-year-old Sarah to adopt a new identity as a Christian. With a fake birth certificate, Sarah renamed Lidia Wornik was assigned to a cannery in Hamburg, Germany. Following the combined British-American air raid on Hamburg, which produced some of the largest firestorms of the war, Sarah and a friend sought refuge in a nearby farm. Six weeks later the police showed up, demanding Sarah’s true identity which she denied, though they confiscated her papers. Alone and on the run without any identification in Nazi Germany, Sarah travelled to Gotha where one of the workers at the Hamburg cannery had a relative. Unable to find the address upon her arrival, Sarah approached a local policeman for directions who promptly took her to the Gestapo where she finally confessed her true identity following three days of torture. One month later, Sarah and hundreds of other prisoners were marched to the railway station in Leipzig bound for the concentration camps in Poland. How Sarah managed to escape to another platform, then dodge the ticket collectors onboard a train she learned was heading to Dresden, and to ultimately change trains after the first stop to a smaller town, she simply puts down to instinct. ‡Stephanie Heller and Annetta Able Photo: David Mane Arriving in the small village of Grossrohrsdof, she assumed another identity, that of a Polish girl separated from her family. The locals Auschwitz was emptied at the orders of the SS. The notorious believed her, with one mentioning that a bakery needed a worker, ‘Death March’ from Auschwitz to Loslau left another 15, 000 dead which is where she stayed until the Russian soldiers arrived. While as a result of exhaustion, starvation and execution. Stephanie and Sarah never revealed her true identity to the German bakers, Annetta were relocated to a women’s camp near Berlin, returning working in the bakery enabled her to subliminally reconnect with to Prague after the Americans liberated their camp. Upon their her family tradition of cooking while making plans for the future. return, they discovered both their parents had died in the Lodz Ghetto after being transported from Prague, and that their Family time is precious and is recorded in this book with deep youngest sister Elizabeth had been killed in a mobile gas chamber, love and humour. Stephanie Heller has also spent many years a method commonly employed at Chelmo extermination camp. volunteering at the JHC, and she and her identical twin sister Annetta Able, are exquisitely captured by photographer David After the war many of the featured grandmothers found their Mane as energetic and resilient grandmothers who took heed of destination in a new country, where they went on to form new their own mother’s advice which they credit with their survival. families and friends, passing down recipes through memory. The ‘This is what she taught us: Be happy, there is always someone title Just Add Love suggests the recipes are a perfect recreation in a worse situation than you. Share. Give the bigger half to your of their memories and that only love is the additional ingredient sister,’ says Annetta. required. While love will not change the taste of the food, it certainly enhances our enjoyment, imprinting the experience The text however reveals their story as being part of a grand human on our taste buds. If in preserving these recipes Irris Makler experiment led by the infamous Nazi doctor, Josef Mengele, at has inspired others to search for their roots through food, the Auschwitz extermination camp. At nineteen years of age Annetta grandmothers and the two grandfathers have inspired us to live and Stephanie were older than most sets of twins at Auschwitz, well. Love like food knows no boundaries. however, Mengele had plans for them to be impregnated by a set of identical male twins to determine if twins could reproduce twins to rapidly increase the Aryan race. Stephanie and Annetta became Julia Mayer is an educator and journalist based in Canberra. violently ill from a blood transfusion in the lead-up to the assigned Irris Makler’s book, Just Add Love: Holocaust Survivors Share copulation experiment. With the approach of the Allied forces at their Stories and Recipes, published by Black Inc is available the end of 1944, Mengele disappeared and the following January via www.justaddlove.net and bookstores.

JHC Centre News 13 Connecting to eyewitnesses in sites of atrocity

Jayne Josem

ecently I had the opportunity to travel in Europe to I visited the Ninth Fort Museum in Kaunas (formerly Kovno), countries that seem to be having great difficulty dealing Lithuania, set in the fort itself, a site where over 30,000 Jews R with their past. Yet in each place, once I made an effort, were executed. I found it most confronting to see the hand- I was able find the eyewitness voice attesting to the atrocities etched names of Jewish victims, scratched by the prisoners that happened there. themselves, just before being murdered. Seeing the familiar name of Max Stern (not the one who volunteered at the Jewish It began in Warsaw where I visited an exhibition of documents Holocaust Centre) etched into the wall brought tears to my eyes. from the ‘Oneg Shabbat’ archive titled ‘What we’ve been unable It screamed ‘I was here’ just before he was there no longer. All to shout to the world’. Within those documents, buried in milk the personal stories and testimonies in the museum are dwarfed cans during the war, are powerful pages of testimony from by the 32-metre-high Soviet-era monument designed by sculptor eyewitnesses to the destruction of Warsaw Jewry. This small, Alfonsas Vincentas Ambraziunas and erected on the murder site understated exhibition is less visited than the large POLIN itself. The massive memorial speaks of the murder but fails to Museum and will soon be also competing for attention with the acknowledge Lithuania’s role in the crime. proposed Warsaw Ghetto Museum. Leading Holocaust scholars have been critical of this Polish Government initiative as they Seventy thousand Jews were murdered in Ponary, just outside Vilnius fear it will present a distorted narrative, downplaying references in Lithuania. At this mass killing site in a beautiful forest setting, the to local collaboration in the mass murder of Jews. Meanwhile powerful moment for me took place inside its small museum. There I there is much irony in the fact that the modest ‘Oneg Shabbat’ saw a replica of a page from a calendar on which Kazimierz Sakowicz, exhibition, containing eyewitness evidence buried during the a Polish local who lived nearby, documented on a daily basis the mass Holocaust, is now being concealed again amongst an array of murder he was shocked to be witnessing. He buried his observations Holocaust tourism offerings. in his garden and their discovery provided corroborating evidence

ˆNinth Fort monument, Kaunas

14 JHC Centre News of the atrocities committed on that site. Once again, the killers were mostly Lithuanians, under direction from Nazis.

In Budapest, I visited two sites that I was aware of from the testimony of Melbourne survivor Susie Nozick. The House of Terror Museum tells the story of Hungary’s occupation by Nazis and the Soviets and the terror inflicted on the locals. There are large queues to enter. I knew that Susie and her mother were among thousands of Jews detained and tortured there by the Hungarian Arrow Cross. I searched and searched, but could not find this story represented there.

From the museum I caught public transport instead of walking the 30 minutes in the rain to the Danube. Once there I watched tourists taking quick snaps of the Shoes on the Danube memorial. Poorly signed, it was distressing to overhear people’s misinterpretation of what the artwork represented. A small sign alluded to victims shot into the Danube, with no mention of Jews. I was aware of an app called ‘iWalk’, created by the USC Shoah Foundation, which enables the user to be guided through sites and to listen to clips of survivors talking about each site. With my heart in my mouth I listened to Susie Nozick describing how she was forced to walk, with a group of Jews, naked the two kilometres from the House of Terror to the Danube in freezing conditions – a journey I ‡Shoes on the Danube memorial, Budapest struggled to do in light spring rain. She then described how, with her mother, the Jews were lined up and shot into the freezing Just as I was feeling overwhelmed by the burying of the truth water by Arrow Cross militiamen. Susie, as it turns out, was not about the fate of the Jews, and the complicity of locals in their shot, but fell in and miraculously survived to tell the tale. mass murder, I came across the Memorial to the Victims of the German Invasion, the latest monument erected in Budapest Listening to her testimony was incredibly moving and informative, by the Hungarian government. This memorial utterly fails to but sadly, it is not easily accessible to tourists. The potential acknowledge the special case of the Jews as targeted victims, for technology to disrupt these sites where history is being nor does it recognise the complicity of the Hungarians in the concealed, and bring the authentic testimony to life, offers hope, mass murder. Yet a makeshift, homemade counter-memorial and is an area that is thankfully growing. proudly and precariously stands in front of it, clearly highlighting the reality the government is attempting to conceal. Made up of domestic items and laminated sheets with real stories of the ˆMemorial to the Victims of the German Invasion, Budapest victims, it illustrates everything the memorial is trying to cover up.

Meanwhile another controversial Hungarian government- sponsored museum project – the Museum of Fates – is progressing, with international scholars concerned that it is whitewashing the country’s role in the Holocaust. ‘There is a strong trend in Hungary today to present the destruction of Hungarian Jewry during the Holocaust as an exclusively German crime and, except for a small group of Hungarian thugs, to ignore the role and responsibility of the Hungarian authorities and society,’ wrote the director of Yad Vashem Libraries, Dr Robert Rozett.

What did I learn on this trip? That while I was able to have powerful encounters with eyewitness testimony in difficult sites because I had done my research ahead of the trip, to most people they are concealed. Governments are trying to bury their complicity in the crimes of the Holocaust behind large monuments and new museums presenting sanitised displays, just as they tried to bury the evidence in pits all those years ago. The voices that speak to us from beyond the graves are well documented. Encountering them in the sites of atrocity is the challenge, and disruptive technologies such as iWalk might offer one solution.

Jayne Josem is JHC Museum Director.

JHC Centre News 15 The penalties of survival

Anna Hirsh

“My name is Jenny Rosenthal-Chaenkel. I was born in 1922 in Lutzk, Eastern Poland, now Western Ukraine. I am a Holocaust survivor”

Jenny Chaenkel’s beautiful smile hid her suffering. During the Holocaust in north- west Ukraine, she was assisted by both kind and opportunistic locals, but she lost her family, as well as her health. Her life in Melbourne was filled with good friends, but also sorrow, including the loss of her daughter ten years ago.

Jenny died in Melbourne on 28 January 2018 at the age of 96. She generously contributed the largest bequest ever received by the Jewish Holocaust Centre (JHC) and her historical artefacts are now in the JHC Collection.

Jenny joined a writing group in her later years. Her important memoir forms the basis of this narrative, and bears witness of her near-fatal encounters.

When war broke out, there were 17,500 Jews in the town of Lutzk, which had a population of 40,000. After firstly being occupied by the Soviets, Lutzk was invaded by the Germans in 1941. Lutzk’s Jews were forced into a ghetto.

Ukrainians… our long-standing friendly neighbours, turned  Jenny Chaenkel enemies overnight.

16 JHC Centre News Jews who were not shot into pits were kept in terrible conditions I said that I didn’t come to Mass. I was Jewish and I with little food and medicine. Epidemics were rife, and Jenny came to see whether he could help me … I continued Rosenthal contracted typhus, then spotted fever. to tell him that he could help me by giving me the birth certificate of a deceased person and I would use Jenny had been training to become a nurse. Her parents, Lev and it as far away from there as possible. I still had a wrist Ida, had arranged for her to get false papers through a doctor watch that I could give him, and if I survived I would at the hospital where she was working. When the papers were pay him the rest. He retorted, and I quote: ‘You are ready, she hid in the doctor’s cellar. The next day she discovered Christ killers and therefore an accursed people. God that the Lutzk ghetto had been evacuated, with most Jews threw you out of the Promised Land, dispersed you all massacred. Her parents and brother Bezalel were spared, and her over the world and has now started to destroy you. I parents were devastated that she had squandered her chance to can’t go against God’s will, but I will not turn you over escape. For the next four months in the ghetto, they endured to the authorities like your people turned over Jesus. disease, starvation and forced labour. Shocking reports spread So please leave this place and don’t ever desecrate of ghetto liquidations and barbaric massacres of Jews in other another church with your presence.’ I never have, but towns. On 26 July 1942, the Lutzk ghetto was surrounded by for the second time that morning my emotional shock Ukrainian collaborators and the remaining Jews were rounded up absorbers failed me. and assembled in the town square. Jenny continued her exile avoiding roads and reached a cluster of Remarkably there wasn’t a single German in sight. farmhouses. She was directed to a poor Baptist family: a preacher, his wife and nine children, who were also hiding a Jewish teacher With a last glimpse of her parents in the town square, Jenny and her and young boy. After some weeks, Jenny was relocated to another brother slipped away and hid in a tiny cellar with 14 others. After 30 family but, as she had nothing to barter, they would not shelter hours without food or water, they left the cellar and sought refuge her. As she fled in the darkness she heard gunshots, and saw fire with their neighbours, aware that betrayal was likely. At daybreak, in the distance, realising that this was a final purge of Jews by Jenny returned to the ghetto, but her brother refused to come with the Banderas, the Ukrainian nationalist militia headed by Stepan her. This was the last time she saw him. She again hid in the cellar Bandera. With feet wrapped in rags, she walked in the opposite and overheard that there were only 50 Jews remaining in Lutzk. direction and was given shelter in the hay-barn of a kind Baptist in the next village. It was now winter of 1942. From afar I also saw two Ukrainian civilians, one of whom was the brother-in-law of our neighbour, who Over the following months Jenny was hidden by various families had threatened my brother and me with the Militia and evaded purges by the Banderas. Once, she was put in … His wife and sister-in-law shamelessly told me contact with a Jewish shoemaker hiding with the Ukrainian after the liberation that the Ukrainian people stood underground, but he warned her not to join his group. and watched as other Ukrainians … transported naked Jewish corpses in open wagons to the Jewish None of the Jews who worked for ‘Bandera’ Cemetery … the Ukrainian onlookers called out every murderers survived. They all had been shot before the time they recognised someone they knew, and many Soviets arrived. of them applauded. News of Soviet advances gave hope, but Jenny’s hiding place in Bezalel was betrayed by these neighbours, who also appropriated a hay silo provided little protection from the lethally cold winter. the Rosenthal family’s property and possessions. After begging with frozen clothes and hair, she was allowed inside the house. Finally, the Soviets liberated the region, but Jenny was He was only fifteen years old. A mere child. But when he not yet free from danger as she was nearly shot by a Soviet State was led away to be shot, he was quiet, composed, and Security officer for not having papers. But then, freedom came. behaved with dignity. Although they knew ... I couldn’t even find out where he was buried. That information There is legend or myth if you like, that every person is has haunted me for decades and still does. born with two invisible attaché cases. One containing luck, the other misfortune. During the occupation, I Jenny and a few others headed towards rural areas, exchanging had a non-stop run of luck bordering on miracles. No some of their meagre possessions for food. A man paid a villager one could have been born with more luck than that. to transport him and his daughters to nearby Lublin. The peasant Judging by the events that followed my liberation, I took the payment, then threatened the group that he would call must have used up all of it. Since that case became the sheriff if they did not leave. empty, the other must inevitably have opened. It goes without saying that I did survive the ordeal … The At that time the immensity of the Jewish carnage had remaining question is: Did I pay too high a price for not yet sunk in and the Ukrainian Nationalist movement my survival? had not yet spread to the villages. The mass murder of the Jews was still in the whispering stage there. Dr Anna Hirsh is Senior Archivist at the Jewish Holocaust They fled for another village. When Jenny woke, her companions Centre. If you are interested in leaving a bequest to the JHC had left without her. She sought sanctuary in a nearby church or require further information please contact Leora Harrison where the priest advised her that Mass was in an hour. on (03) 95989 1985 ext 119 or [email protected].

JHC Centre News 17 Saving lives in the shadow of the SS

Hannah Miska

lfred Rossner’s photo hung in the Jewish Holocaust Centre (JHC) museum – a man in a dark suit and a tie, A with neat, curly hair and a friendly face, looking slightly to the right of the camera. It hung, together with others, in a corner dedicated to people who had helped Jews during the Holocaust. That was where Holocaust survivor, the late Kitia Altman, led me when she first showed me around the museum.

Kitia pointed to the photo and said: ‘This is Alfred Rossner. I owe my life to the courage, intelligence and humanity of this man.’ Rossner, she added, had been the German manager of a factory in Upper Silesia, who had saved many Jews from deportation and certain death. Only years later, when Kitia asked me whether Rossner’s deeds had been recognised in Germany, did I begin to do some research. It turned out to be very difficult detective work as it seemed that, apart from Kitia, there were no living persons who knew him. My research, however, led me to the small town of Oelsnitz, in the southwest of Saxony, where Alfred Rossner was born. He grew up in the neighbouring town of Falkenstein but, apart from a memorial stone in the Falkenstein cemetery, there was no information about him.

Over the next two years, I went into German and Polish archives, travelled to Upper Silesia in the southern part of Poland, ordered eyewitness accounts from Yad Vashem and from the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, and tried to find family and friends of the Rossners. Eventually, I found a nephew and two nieces, the son of his best friend in Falkenstein, Karl Rölz, the family of Arie Ferleger, and the son of Lena Goldstein. All lived in Germany or Israel. However, through piecing together the puzzle of Rossner’s life, Kitia Altman remained my key witness. ‡ Alfred Rossner Alfred Rossner was born in 1906, the oldest of three brothers. His father died in 1920, leaving his mother to raise the three boys on her own. She bought textiles, curtains and lace from In the 1920s, Alfred’s friend Arie Ferleger moved to Berlin with Jewish textile makers in town, making a living by selling them his family to escape the growing right-wing and antisemitic at local markets. Falkenstein had a sizable Jewish community, atmosphere in Falkenstein. Alfred, by then an accountant, joined and the Ferleger and Goldstein boys – Polish Jews – belonged the Ferleger textile company. He progressed quickly up the ranks, to Alfred’s circle of friends. Lena Goldstein, the boys’ sister, was earned good money and enjoyed Berlin. However, the fruitful the love of Rossner’s life. work relationship ended when the Ferlegers were thrown out of Germany in the so-called Polenaktion in October 1938. Arie then With a left-leaning family and friends, Alfred became an active returned to his native town B dzin, in Upper Silesia, and again member of the socialist youth organisation Sozialistische Arbe- established a textile factory, but his luck was short-lived, as, in iterjugend, and later became a follower of the Freidenkerbewe- September 1939, the Germans occupied Poland. Soon after, they gung (Freethinkers). He was an independent, atheist youth who began to ‘Aryanise’ all profitable Jewish companies, and Arie learnt Esperanto, believing that people should not be divided Ferleger asked Alfred if he would run his company as a German by language. Treuhänder (general manager).

18 JHC Centre News employees, but also to spare two members of their families. Often he quarrelled with the Judenrat, the Jewish council, forced by the Nazis to nominate Jews for deportation. Rossner would not allow the Judenrat to touch ‘his Jews’.

When Rossner realised what was happening in Auschwitz, he began to support the Jewish resistance – with money, by building hide-outs in the factory and by becoming actively involved in facilitating escapes. In August 1942, when there was a big selection on the sports grounds of B dzin, Rossner, together with some of his German masters – amongst them his friend Karl Rölz – tried to save as many of his employees as possible. Telling the SS that they were absolutely necessary employees, he literally pulled people out of the queues waiting to board the trains to Auschwitz. He did the same again in August 1943 when the Nazis decided to liquidate the ghetto.

Rossner’s bold actions soon attracted the suspicion of the SS and, in autumn 1943, he was arrested by the Gestapo. Three months later, on 18 December 1943 – one day after his 37th birthday – he died in the Gestapo prison. He was beaten to death, leaving a grieving community of Jewish employees behind.

The Nazis killed around 30,000 B dzin Jews. Only a few survived, some due to the efforts of Alfred Rossner, documented in remarkable eye- witness accounts. Lena Goldstein survived in the Vogtland, hidden by Rossner’s family, and Kitia Altman was convinced that Rossner’s humane ‡ Righteous Among the Nations certificate awarded to Alfred Rossner by Yad Vashem treatment and respect were absolutely key to her survival.

As Alfred was a haemophiliac, he was not drafted into the Was Rossner a hero or just a normal human being, albeit one Wehrmacht (armed forces), so he applied for the position and was with an inner moral compass? Hero or not, there was one major successful. The SS had taken possession of the factory, but Rossner difference between him and the majority of Germans: he did not had considerable freedom to run it, as long as it was profitable. look away, but had the will and the courage to help, for which Although it had been manufacturing men’s and women’s clothing, he paid with his life. he began to produce uniforms for the Wehrmacht in order to grow the business. In the 1990s, Kitia Altman, together with other survivors, applied to Yad Vashem to honour Alfred Rossner as ‘Righteous Among the Very quickly it became known that Rossner was very friendly Nations’. The application was granted in 1995 and today, Rossner towards Jews. On his daily rounds of the factory, he spoke with is one of only 627 Germans who have been awarded this honour. his Jewish employees and even learnt Yiddish. He employed Rossner’s home town of Falkenstein only officially recognised his a Jewish coachman for his one-horse buggy, as well as Jewish exceptional deeds in 2010, 67 years after his death, by erecting a personal messenger – someone with grotesque physical memorial stone in his honour in the cemetery. features who, unprotected, would have fallen victim to the Nazi euthanasia program. Dr Hannah Miska lives in Schliersee, Germany. From 2003 to Having a job was life-saving, and every Jew in B dzin wanted to 2010 she was a volunteer at the JHC in Melbourne. She is the work in the Rossner factory. In order to employ as many Jews as author of a biographical novel about Alfred Rossner titled Der possible, Rossner continually looked for possibilities to grow his stille Handel. Alfred Rossner – Lebensretter im Schatten der SS, business. Eventually, with approximately 10,000 employees, 2019 Mitteldeutscher Verlag, and So weit wie möglich weg von the factory became the biggest employer in town. When the hier. Von Europa nach Melbourne – Holocaust-Überlebende deportations to Auschwitz – only 50 kilometres from B dzin erzählen, 2014 Mitteldeutscher Verlag, which tells the stories – began, Rossner arranged with the SS not only to protect his of 17 JHC Holocaust-survivor volunteers.

JHC Centre News 19 Loloush

Kitia Altman

 (l-r) Kitia Altman (left) with her parents and brother, Aronek

oloush had a smell, a very strong, pungent smell. When Loloush was effectively an orphan. His mother had died and he he left our home all the windows would be opened to rid had been left in the care of his latchen-macher father. They lived L the place of it. My mother, sadness in her voice, called it in a cellar with damp walls and the only daylight came through Armenleutegeruch – the smell of poor people. It was not just a window below the level of the courtyard. There was an older the dampness and water, trickling down the unpainted walls of sister but she was at work all day. Loloush and his father were the cellar where he lived; it was not just the unaired clothes and helpless and alone. unwashed bodies – it was the compound smell of abject poverty. ‘That poor, nice little boy,’ my mother would sigh as she appointed His father was a latchen-macher – he made slippers with no herself in charge of his well-being. First, she ensured that the heels and no back. Professionally, he was a whole rung below a working sister sent him off to school in the morning. Then she shoemaker and socially at the very bottom of the scale. made up a roster for Loloush’s hot dinners after school, starting with the well-off people who lived in the ‘front’ apartments of Loloush walked like a duck, wobbling from side to side. His our building. large feet, encased in oversized slippers, clip-clapped on the cobblestone courtyard. Loloush was as pretty as a girl: he had From Sunday to Friday, Loloush was to eat a hot dinner after smooth milky cheeks, blue almond-shaped eyes and blond silky school with a different family. The same family was also to hair. But still, there was ‘the smell’. provide him with a piece of fruit and two slices of bread and

20 JHC Centre News butter containing something like cheese, egg, herring or other Mine came in a glass, his in a big mug. He would drink his cocoa nourishing addition for his supper. Saturday meals were to be with great gusto, loudly sucking the air as well as the sweet, thick provided for the whole family, that is, for three people, and were liquid. Sluurr..pp, one sip and a look of sheer bliss would appear on a joint effort of all the residents. his pretty face. And the heat of his body. Then another slurp, and a look of embarrassment would cross his Gentle and tactful as my mother was face, now flushed and pink. I sat there in known to be, she was equally stubborn close proximity to ‘the smell’, unforgiving and demanding when it came to a good “ and angry. Loloush stayed until my mother, cause. She made unexpected visits to Loloush walked like with his supper neatly wrapped, came in check on what Loloush was getting to a duck, wobbling and said, ‘Loloush, are you ready to go eat and was not embarrassed to ask what home now?’ he was taking home, often adding: ‘By from side to side. His the way, is there a spare pair of socks, or Then one day Loloush came to say goodbye. an old shirt or some wool to knit him a large feet, encased Their shabby, damp possessions had been jumper in your spare time?’ Loloush got in oversized slippers, packed in a battered suitcase and in a few socks. He also got an extra shirt and a pair boxes tied with string. The latchen-making of trousers that fitted him. clip-clapped on the machine took up the place of honour. cobblestone courtyard. When it came to our turn, Loloush stayed They were going to Palestine. longer than anywhere else because he also Loloush was as pretty did his homework in my room. We were as a girl: he had A few years later, when life had turned both eight or nine years old. His odour into indescribable hell and the world as made me sick and I was resentful and rude. smooth milky cheeks, we knew it had ceased to exist, when At the dinner table I tried to sit as far away blue almond-shaped all doors were closed to us except the from him as possible, but my father noticed one leading to death, my mother often and changed the eating arrangements. eyes and blond silky remarked: ‘You see, Loloush and his From then on Pan e Pani ate their dinner hair. But still, there father will survive. They were not tied up earlier and when I came home from in business or burdened by commitments school, Loloush and I ate together, just the was ‘the smell’. or bogged down by possessions.’ two of us at one end of the table. I had a strong suspicion that under the pretext of Just the latchen-making machine. educating me – ‘you can’t look down on people who do not have your advantages’ “ And I, an old woman now, writing these – my father, a very fastidious man, was happy to escape ‘the smell’. words as my eyes mist with tears, wish I could put my arms around He called the new arrangement a ‘lesson’, not a ‘punishment’, and Loloush, inhale ‘the smell’, kiss his two blue almond eyes and tell there was no appeal on that decision. him how very beautiful he was.

Loloush did not talk much, but he gazed around and took everything in with his blue almond-shaped eyes. His homework didn’t amount The late Kitia Altman was a long-time volunteer guide at the to much and certainly didn’t warrant him staying in my room till six Jewish Holocaust Centre. This story was first published in her in the evening in winter. However, my mother was adamant. He book, Memories of Ordinary People, Makor Jewish Community had to stay. Of course he had the afternoon hot cocoa with me. Library, 2003.

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. 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 [email protected]

Judy & Leon Goldman Centre for Holocaust Education

JHC Centre News 21 A tree of life

Roxanne Lambert

urt Chaim Shmatmik – now Charles German – was born in and was too weak to walk. Charles fed her apples, to which he August 1936 in Czernowitz (now Chernivtsi), the capital of attributed her recovery. However, he could never recall where K the Romanian province of Bucovina. He was an only child. these apples came from or how he obtained them, something His mother was a milliner and his father traded horses and carriages. that would continue to trouble him. The family lived a traditional middle class Jewish life under Russian control until 1941, when the Soviets withdrew and the combined Those who managed to survive that first winter began to have Nazi and Romanian forces, under Antonescu’s Fascist Iron Guard, some hope of surviving, but in spring, soldiers began rounding took control. up groups of people. Charles and his parents were sent to Scazinets (now Skazintsy, Ukraine) camp The lives of the Jews of Czernowitz with a large group, assigned to build changed forever when thousands were roads. Each morning the adults were loaded onto cattle trucks and transported taken to work and brought back at night, to the town of Ataki on the banks of the “ while the children remained in the camp Dniester River. The Nazis had decided to surrounded by barbed wire, with guards deport Romanian Jews to Transnistria – stationed only metres apart. the area between the Bug and Dniester rivers. Charles was only five years old and Somehow Charles managed to get to he and his family were to be deported to his parents at lunchtime and they would Moghilev. At the shoreline, the Jews were share their meagre rations with him. herded on to a wooden barge with the One day a German officer stopped German soldiers yelling ‘schnell, schnell them from feeding him and took him to (hurry, hurry)’. The soldiers hit out at the a guard tower. ‘Come at midday every many who were not quick enough to day and I will give you food,’ he told board, and they shot people at random. Charles. The officer continued to feed Many fell into the cold, raging waters and Charles for some time, but one day, drowned. The barge was filled to capacity when he went to the tower, the officer with standing room only and no one was not there. It was presumed that he spoke. Fear and exhaustion took hold as was caught giving Charles food, and people clutched their children and small was shot for this act of humanity and bundles of possessions. kindness.  Charles German

When the barge reached the other side of the river, mayhem Many people died from the harsh conditions, but Charles and ensued as everyone was herded together to begin their forced his parents managed to survive. In autumn, when the highway march to Moghilev (now Mohyliv-Podil’s’kyi, Ukraine). It was was completed, those who remained of the original group were freezing and wet and the mud was so deep that many lost their returned to Moghilev. shoes and were forced to continue barefoot. In the spring of 1944, the Soviets liberated the camps of In Moghilev, the Jews were herded into synagogues and Transnistria, riding in with Russian-Mongolian soldiers on tiny schools, where they huddled together on freezing floors. Food ponies. Sadly this did not mean liberation for all, and Charles’s was scarce and, every day at the same time, a cart would pull father was one of the many male survivors forcibly recruited into up to collect the dead and pile the bodies in unmarked graves. the Soviet Army to fight the Germans on the front lines. Charles was now six and this routine became normal for him. Charles – now nine years old – and his mother were left to find The Jews of Moghilev, just like those in other towns in Transnistria, their way back to Czernowitz alone. They managed to walk and survived by bartering their clothes and few valuables with find rides with sympathetic Ukrainian peasants who fed them Ukrainian peasants for food. By December 1942, it was bitterly decorated, hardboiled Easter eggs – a luxury after they had only cold and a typhus epidemic broke out. Charles’s mother fell ill eaten potato peel and soup for four years.

22 JHC Centre News three years. There were many DP camps set up by the Bricha, which provided accommodation and schooling. Charles had his first day of school in the DP camp and remembers the teachers treating the child survivors as precious objects. They taught Charles Hebrew and instilled in him his lifelong love of Israel. During his time in the DP camp, Charles was reunited with his father, but his parents’ marriage had broken down and his mother had remarried an Auschwitz survivor whose surname was German. Charles later took his name.

In 1949, Charles’s stepfather obtained sponsorship for the family to come to Melbourne and join family in Kensington. They travelled on a Greek ship, the Cyrenia. When they arrived, Charles began school at the Kensington State School without a word of English. Later he studied at Footscray Technical School and went on to enjoy successful careers, as a repairer of knitting machines, and as a real estate agent. He married his beloved Luba and they had one daughter. He has been a volunteer guide at the Jewish Holocaust Centre since 1994 and is the longtime president of the Katzetler Farbund  Charles German in Italy after the war Association of Holocaust survivors.

In 1946, Charles and his mother were smuggled into Italy Despite having a fulfilling life in Melbourne, Charles always through Yugoslavia with the help of the Bricha, the underground struggled with his childhood memories, and not having anyone organisation that assisted Jews to migrate illegally to Palestine. to share them with. However, at a recent gathering, he found These men worked to help thousands of Jewish refugees reach himself talking to two men of a similar age. Their names were Marseille and ports around Italy so that they could go on illegal Yaakov Haimov and Max Droukman and Charles was amazed boats to Palestine. Jews from the British Mandate of Palestine to learn that they too came from Moghilev. All conversation had been allowed to join the British army, and they wore a around them then hushed as Yaakov proceeded to tell Charles uniform with a Magen David on the sleeve, which heartened the that he credits his survival to stealing apples from the orchards European Jews. The Bricha managed to commandeer a fleet surrounding Moghilev. Yaakov was the brave boy who had of trucks which picked up survivors and delivered them to the shared his precious apples with Charles, helping his mother to ports. Italian guards were heavily bribed in the process. recover from typhus. These three child survivors had found each other and now share an immeasurable bond. It took Charles and his mother two weeks to walk though Yugoslavia to the Italian border. From there the Bricha moved them to a Displaced Person’s camp where they remained for Roxanne Lambert is a volunteer at the Jewish Holocaust Centre.

JHC Centre News 23 March of the Living 2019

‡ Australian MOTL group in Jerusalem Photo: Yoav Lester

An experience of a depravity of humanity during the Holocaust, would that not be lifetime, for a lifetime a greater indictment on society? The contribution that could have been made in all spheres of life Esmond Kilov by the victims is unimaginable. Great minds that may have changed the face of the world were cut down too soon. What would the he March of the Living (MOTL) is an emotionally draining global Jewish landscape have been today? How different would and physically exhausting trip, but the passion, energy the world have been? How would Israel have been today? So many T and love of the tour organisers and educators made the questions, so few answers. trip truly rewarding. We were accompanied by Jack Meister, living ˆ (l-r) Peter Mohay and Esmond Kilov historian and survivor of Auschwitz. In Jack we were blessed to have a witness who each day lifted our spirits and ensured we kept our thoughts and emotions in perspective. His energy and love of life became an inspiration to all.

The youngest in our group was 20 years of age and the oldest 91. We were taken out of our comfort zone, but while we each had our own questions and motives, the group soon unified, each helping the other to understand how humanity could become so dehumanised, providing support in our times of vulnerability on this journey.

The six million Jewish victims were individuals with their own history and aspirations but, if the enormity of the tragedy is ever to be grasped, it comes down to statistics. And, how ironic, for statistics were exactly what the Jews were to the Germans! A member of our group pointed out that if we were to mourn one day for each of the victims, it would take not 1,000 years, not 10,000 years, but 16,438 Photo: Yoav Lester years to mourn the loss of those six million special souls.

We came home with more questions than answers. Perhaps this is as it should be for, if there were a logical explanation for the

24 JHC Centre News My brother Jack and the smile that survived Auschwitz Adam Geha

ading senseless through the swamp of murders at Auschwitz and Birkenau. All heads bowed. All quiet. W What happened to Jack’s older brother, I wonder? He was perhaps 14 or 15 when Jack was sent to Auschwitz. Would he also have survived had he been selected to join his brother? Did he too have Jack’s winning smile?

Out, out, damned questions! These are questions without answers!

Photo: Yoav Lester Photo: Yoav Before he left for Auschwitz, Jack’s father told him to stay quiet and  Adam Geha not trust anyone. He was just 12 years old, brimming with life and joy. ‘Did you have any friends Jack?’ someone asked. ‘No, there was no From the depths of despair at a mass grave in Pilice, where the such thing as a friend at Auschwitz,’ he replied. ‘All you did back then haunting cries of an old Polish woman unburdening herself for not was think about survival.’ being able to save those killed in front of her, to the killing fields of Plasjow, Auschwitz, Birkenau, Lublin, Lodz, Majdanek and Warsaw, Hard to imagine. Jack, a boy, so friendly and so friendless. we tried to understand the enormity of the barbaric acts. How could anyone survive the harsh conditions and torture, having one’s loved Did his father have time to kiss him goodbye, I wonder. Did he at least ones literally torn away, knowing certain death was imminent. And remember to say ‘I love you son’? what of forgiveness? Can one forgive one of the greatest atrocities of all time? What about the bystanders who watched genocide Out, out, damned questions! These are questions without answers! being perpetrated? Maybe only those who were there and were directly affected can and should stand in judgement. A flash of memory intrudes unbidden. I recall a service where a young boy spoke at his father’s funeral. After the eulogies had On the positive side, MOTL awakens your soul to the rich religious been delivered, the boy stood up and simply said in a heartbroken and cultural heritage we have inherited. The visits to the ghettos tone, ‘He was so nice.’ I cried then. of Cracow and Warsaw, the Polin Museum, Lublin Yeshiva and so many other places are but a small example of the depth of our Now Jack is showing us a photo taken of him at Auschwitz by the roots and history. American soldier who liberated him. ‘Some people try to say I wasn’t there, but I know I was. I have the photo to prove it.’ You are proof We took pride in attending the pre-Yom Hashoah service at the enough Jack. Cracow Concert Hall with thousands of fellow MOTL participants, and marched the next day in solidarity together with 10,000 We have seen and we have heard and we too shall bear witness. participants from Auschwitz to Birkenau. Walking the streets of Warsaw, we listened to the heroic stories of the Warsaw uprising. ‘Never, never forget me,’ Jack exhorts us in his parting speech – as if Together with the other MOTL groups, we also took part in the awe- we ever could! Then comes that impossible, indomitable smile. How inspiring Shabbat services at the Nozyk Shul in Warsaw. did that smile ever survive Auschwitz?

Arriving in Israel and reciting ‘Shehechiyanu’ at the Jaffa port I suddenly feel the ‘thing with feathers’ perch within my soul. And just lifted our spirits. After bearing witness in Poland for a week we as Emily Dickinson foresaw, ‘it sings the tune without the words and truly appreciated the miracle that Israel is. How can one not be never stops – at all’. proud and stand in awe of all those who sacrificed so much for the establishment and preservation of our own State? And how can you How we need any least sign that our dark age can break, our not be overcome with emotion, davening at the Kotel? winter pass!

Most importantly, we came to Israel from darkness that should never I smile back at Jack, and I’m fairly sure that my hands join in the be repeated, and witnessed firsthand how the human spirit can applause too. But the eyes are always more honest, and mine requite triumph over evil. In a world where hate, antisemitism and racism a tear or two. And so I whisper softly, ‘I will be your brother, Jack, and have reared their ugly heads again, it is incumbent on each of us to you must be mine. Together we are called to be brothers in arms.’ live our lives morally and ethically, and to ensure that we continue to act as a light unto the nations, in peace and harmony. Esmond Kilov and Adam Geha were participants in the 2019 We saw it all. It took our breath away. What a privilege! Adult March of the Living program.

JHC Centre News 25 Memories for a lifetime

Michael Rose

oming back to Australia, my country of birth, had been a wish of mine for as long as I can remember, but it did not C occur to me that it would be as an intern at Melbourne’s Jewish Holocaust Centre (JHC) until I came across the Austrian Service Abroad in 2015. After three years of being involved in their program, the time finally came to leave for Australia, but I found it hard to believe that it was actually going to happen until up to the moment I boarded the plane. Knowing that my predecessor, Julius Sevcik, would be in Melbourne to welcome me and show me around was reassuring. And, from the very beginning, everyone has made me feel welcome, especially volunteer coordinator Rae Silverstein, who has always taken great care of the Austrian interns.

During my time at the JHC I have helped out in various different departments. Working with senior archivist, Anna Hirsh, on the ‘Sylvia and Rudolf Cherny’ collection, which tells the story of the Chernys’ early life and escape from Europe, setting up and planning the exhibition ‘Registered, Persecuted, Annihilated’ with then-curator, Jayne Josem, and working with the survivors have been among my most memorable experiences.

Helping out with events, especially working with audio-visual producer, Robbie Simons, on setting up and coordinating the technical aspects, has taught me more than I ever expected to learn, and I feel grateful to have had this opportunity. I have also thoroughly enjoyed working in the testimonies department with Phillip Maisel, with whom it has been a privilege to spend every Thursday morning.

Working with the education department has also been a great pleasure. Assisting middle school children taking part in the ‘Hide and Seek’ program has not only taught me patience, but has also given me the opportunity to work with staff on the  (l-r) His Excellency Dr Bernhard Zimburg, education team. A huge bonus has been to hear the testimonies Michael Rose and Dr Johannes Aigner of Holocaust survivors, which have always been such a highlight of the school visits. museum guide Moshe Fiszman has tinged my visit with sadness. Although I only knew Moshe for a relatively short time, the During my internship, I was fortunate to be invited to Canberra by wisdom he passed on to me during the time we spent together the Austrian Ambassador, His Excellency Dr Bernhard Zimburg, and the times I had the opportunity to hear him speak to visitors who had visited the JHC last year. It was a fantastic opportunity will stay with me for the rest of my life. to meet some fellow Austrians, visit the Australian War Memorial and the National Gallery of Australia, and to experience the life I write these lines with a heavy heart as I reflect on this last year of Australia’s national capital. and realise that it has come to an end. Taking on this opportunity and working at the JHC has been life-changing, and will be Although my internship at the JHC has been an amazing something I cherish for many years to come. I thank the JHC experience, the passing of Holocaust survivor and long-time staff, volunteers and visitors for having been part of my journey.

26 JHC Centre News Adam and Eugenia Fabinski Collection & Abraham and Bella Bergman Collection

A collection of historical artefacts including letters, documents, false identification papers and photos belonging to Adam and Eugenia Fajgenblat (later Fabinski) from Czestochowa and Katowice in Poland, and papers and a memoir  Helen Golvan diary belonging to Abraham and Bella Bergman from Horodenka, western Ukraine. Donated by Suzanne Daskall. New acquisitions Greg Dunne Collection A collection of letters from concentration camps including Auschwitz, an NSDAP membership badge, propaganda postcards e are still receiving rare and historically powerful additions to the Centre’s and a coin from the Lodz Ghetto. collection. These are new additions from January – June 2019. We are so From the Estate of Greg Dunne. W appreciative of these donations that enhance the historicism of the Holocaust, particularly with their Melbourne connections, which makes the Jewish Holocaust Centre (JHC) Collection unique. Thank you to our donors for your generosity, and to donors who have contributed funding to the archival processes. Donations of original Holocaust artefacts are always welcome, including the donation of originals where copies were previously donated to the Centre. We also ask for your assistance with the historical details – the crucial foundations to the documentation process. Please contact JHC  Megillat Esther scroll Senior Archivist Dr Anna Hirsh to make an appointment: [email protected]. Samuel Kolski Collection

A beautiful Megillat Esther scroll with Farshad Seal Moradi Collection carved ivory spindle and handle has been donated. We are still confirming the exact Three rare books, including Die Soldaten provenance, but know that it was given des Führers im Felde, Wedel and Hansen, to the Kolsky family by German friends. Raumbild Verlag Otto Schönstein, The scroll is said to have been rescued Munich, 1939, 1940. The book contains on Kristallnacht, possibly in Munich. Also stereoscopic photographs, with a fold- donated was an identifier document out viewer, of images from the German belonging to Samuel Kolski from an invasion of Poland. The other two books unknown Displaced Persons’ camp. are a 1942 English edition of Mein Kampf Samuel, along with his brother Abram (a published in the UK, and Ashes in the long-time JHC volunteer), was from Lodz. Wind, which charts the destruction During the Holocaust he was incarcerated of Dutch Jewry. in various camps including Auschwitz. Donated by Farshad Seal Moradi. Donated by Samuel’s son, Gadi Kolsky.

Lily Skall Collection Helen and Peter Golvan  Lily (later Skall) and her brother Collection Kurt Seiden, 1934 Photographs and 13 letters written by Lily Skall in Vienna and Shanghai to her pen- A diary written by Helen Golvan (nee Jenny Chaenkel Collection friend Emma Mae Dierks in Washington Feigenbaum) in 1945 – 46, is an important State, USA, from 1934 – 39. After Emma’s witness account of the Nazi occupation of A large collection of photographs, death, her daughter discovered the Warsaw, and life in the Warsaw Ghetto. documents and other material which letters, and contacted Lily’s daughter Two photographs, of Helen and Peter captures the life of Jenny Chaenkel. These Evie Katz. The letters chart how Lily’s life Golvan in the immediate post-war period original materials are evidence of Jenny’s transformed from a young teenager to a have also been donated. Helen and Peter life immediately after the Holocaust. Her mature young woman forced to flee her Golvan escaped from the ghetto and written memoir is an important document country. Lily’s initiative contributed to the survived on false papers, but the rest in this collection. (You can find more family gaining visas to Shanghai, and her of their families did not survive. The details about Jenny’s life on page 20.) experiences are described in her memoir. Golvans migrated to Australia in 1951. From the Estate of Jenny Chaenkel. Donated by Evie Katz. Donated by the Golvan family.

JHC Centre News 27 ➊ ➍

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Seen around the Centre ➎

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28 JHC Centre News ➐ ➑

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➊ (l-r) Dr Anna Hirsh, Ruty Rubinshtein, ➐ (l-r) Tali Lavi, Dr Leah Kaminsky, Karin Tzakok, Evelyn Portek and Anna Ciddor and Suzy Zailn Julia Reichstein ➑ (l-r) Dr George Halasz and Moshe Lang ➋ (l-r) Prof Andrew Marcus, Simone Markus ➒ Victorian Members of Parliament Dr Margaret Taft, Prof Christopher Browning, and community leaders with Irma Hanner Anita Frayman and Elly Brooks and Jayne Josem (centre) ➌ (l-r) Phillip Maisel OAM and Henri Korn ➓ Lisa Phillips and David Prince ➍ (l-r) Rae Silverstein, Tova Rubinstein and Lena Fiszman ➎ Ivan Jarny ➏ (l-r) Josh Burns MP, Mark Dreyfus MP, Tony Bourke MP, Abram Goldberg OAM ➓ and Jayne Josem

JHC Centre News 29 Photo: Joseph Feil

Hide and Seek Breaking new ground in Holocaust education

he Jewish Holocaust Centre (JHC) is delighted that engaging and thought-provoking experience for young people Gandel Philanthropy has agreed to a three-year extension … The program was age appropriate and the overall message T of the award-winning ‘Hide and Seek’ program for middle was positive, encouraging students to feel empathy, take school children. a stance and not allow such an event to happen again.’

Funded by Gandel Philanthropy since 2014, the program introduces students aged 10-14 to concepts of human rights, tolerance and social responsibility in an age-appropriate and innovative way. ‘These themes are an important part of Middle Years curricula, as students develop their sense of who they are in the world,’ said Lisa Phillips, JHC Director of Education. ‘Applying a “safely in safely out” approach adapted from Yad Vashem, students explore basic moral issues that underpin a multicultural, tolerant and democratic society at a suitable level for their stage of development,’ she said.

The idea for this program developed out of the travelling ‘Anne Frank’ exhibition, hosted by the JHC in partnership with Gandel Philanthropy, which attracted a younger audience than typically had visited the JHC. Identifying a gap in suitable programs for the middle-school age group, the pilot ‘Hide and Seek’ program was developed with Gandel Philanthropy support, which has  (l-r) Elisa Gray, Gary Gray and Ebony Erez continued as the program has continued to grow.

‘The JHC draws upon its vast collection of survivor testimonies and Mazal tov Gary Gray artefacts enabling students to connect with primary source material such as identification cards, Jewish yellow stars, letters, photographs T he Jewish Holocaust Centre (JHC) is delighted to welcome and books from the Holocaust period,’ Lisa Phillips said. Gary Gray to our 90th Birthday Club. Gary is a dedicated volunteer who has shared his testimony with hundreds of Andree Buchanan, Year 7-10 Humanities Coordinator at Luther school students and other visitors to the Centre. We wish him College said, ‘I have been organising excursions for Year 7 Mazal tov! students over many years and Hide and Seek is the most powerful,

30 JHC Centre News  (l-r) Shaynie, Steven, Gabe and Shelley Lewin

abe Lewin, a Year 8 Mount Scopus College student, chose to make a donation to the Jewish Holocaust G Centre (JHC) in lieu of gifts for his bar mitzvah. Gabe Keeping made his choice as ‘the Holocaust is an important part of my family history. All of my great-grandparents are Holocaust survivors.’ One of Gabe’s earliest memories of learning about the Holocaust for the first time was in Grade 4, when he learnt about the Holocaust in class, and later performed at the Yom memories Hashoah commemoration in Melbourne.

Gabe’s name was thoughtfully chosen by his parents, Steven and Shelley. Gabe’s full name is Gabe Sam Lewin and his alive Hebrew name is Aron. Sevek (Sam) Blum was Shelley’s maternal grandfather and Aron Swiderski was her paternal grandfather. Both were from Poland and survived Auschwitz. Szaja (Sam) Lewin, Steven’s paternal grandfather, was from Poland and fled to Russia before the war. “ Gabe’s bar mitzvah was held at Chabad Glen Eira on 8 September Our family are always with 2018. This day was made even more special as Gabe’s great- grandfathers’ talleisim were draped on the bimah; they had also us and using these talleisim been used to create the chuppah for Gabe’s parent’s wedding. reminds us of this. Shelley says, “Our family are always with us and using these talleisim reminds us of this.”

Thank you Gabe and family for your beautiful gift. We wish you “ all Mazal tov and hope you celebrate many more simchas.

JHC Centre News 31 Moshe Fiszman An exceptional man

(1921 — 2019)

Michael Cohen

man with an indomitable spirit and will, Moshe Fiszman led Conditions for the Fiszman family, and for other Radom Jews, a remarkable life. Born in Radom, Poland, in 1921, Moshe deteriorated rapidly. Evicted from their home, they found A would have celebrated his 98th birthday in late November lodgings with relatives but were evicted three more times. this year. Married for over 70 years, he and his wife Franka have been Moshe’s father, an observant Jew, was called upon to perform devoted and loving parents to their daughters, Anna and Lena. forced labour. Moshe managed to go in his stead. Beatings, insults and humiliation, said Moshe, were the order of the day. Moshe survived four years of unspeakable hardship during the Attempts to bring bread home to his family were fruitless; police Holocaust. While his older brother Shmuel Arja – older than would find the bread and confiscate it. him by six years – also survived the Shoah, his father, Ephraim Fiszl and his three sisters were murdered in August 1942 in the The Fiszman family was part of a selection which took place Treblinka extermination camp. His mother, mercifully perhaps, in August 1942. Moshe was selected to stand to one side; the died two years before the outbreak of the war. remaining members of his family (other than his brother, who had fled to Russia) were earmarked for death. Moshe never saw his When war broke out in September 1939, Moshe was living in father and three sisters again. They were murdered some four Warsaw and served briefly with the Polish auxiliary force, too days later. Among an extended family of around 200 people, young to join the Polish army. With the capitulation of Poland to only a handful survived. the German forces, he returned home to Radom which, a fortnight previously, had been occupied by Germany’s Wehrmacht. Moshe was subsequently incarcerated in the sub-camp of Majdanek, Subsequently, in March and April 1941, the Germans established the Nazi extermination camp on the outskirts of the city of Lublin. two ghettos in Radom. There he was set to work as a forced laborer in a weapons’ factory.

32 JHC Centre News Moshe subsequently spent time, after being hospitalised, in a Displaced Persons’ camp in Germany and another in Bari, Italy, where he met his future wife, Franciscka (Franka), a survivor of Plaszow, Birkenau, Bergen-Belsen, Venusberg and Mauthausen. In January 1949, having obtained travel permits, Moshe and Franka arrived in Melbourne where they rebuilt their fractured lives. Until his retirement in 2001, Moshe worked in the clothing industry.

A man with a strong sense of justice, articulate and informed, Moshe was not afraid to speak his mind, especially when often interviewed by the media about issues related to contemporary incidents of antisemitism and pro-Nazi activities.

As a Holocaust survivor, he remained bitter and perplexed about what he perceived as the failure of the Allies to make a concerted effort to prevent the extermination of European Jews. At the same time, however, he recognised the selfless acts of kindness and decency that helped him and others to survive the unspeakable horrors they endured. One outstanding example relates to Moshe’s incarceration in Vaihingen. It was Moshe’s wish to place on record the selfless actions of Baroness Irmgard Von Neurath, a remarkable German woman of exceptional courage. The baroness had visited the Vaihingen camp and had shown Moshe tremendous kindness, feeding him secretly, assisting the Jewish prisoners in numerous ways and risking her life by interceding with the Nazi camp commander on behalf of the prisoners. She gave him hope when all hope had been lost. Moshe was to write:

While we recall the horror and the suffering, the humiliation and the pain, let us spare a moment to recall the decency and humanity of others. If only more people had acted with such compassion, perhaps the suffering of countless men, women and children would never have occurred.

Moshe’s great regret, despite concerted attempts, was the failure – through lack of documentation – of Yad Vashem to

Photo: Perry Trotter accord the Baroness the title of Righteous Among The Nations. She was, however, duly honoured on Moshe’s behalf, through her daughter, by the Jewish Holocaust Centre. In July 1944, at the height of summer, Moshe was taken on a six- day death march to Auschwitz-Birkenau, during which he was His age and his frailty notwithstanding, Moshe was indefatigable given neither food nor water. Selected ‘to live’, he spent a brief in his role as a volunteer survivor guide at the Jewish Holocaust period in Birkenau, before being transported to Vaihingen, a Centre where he gave testimony, over the years, to many camp in Wurttemberg. There, together with other prisoners, he thousands – if not tens of thousands – of school students, tertiary was put to work to build a factory for the Messerschmitt aircraft students and adults – over and above public presentations which manufacturing company. This involved carrying 50 kilo bags of he delivered. cement on ladders 70 metres in length down a quarry. Moshe has said that in the space of five months, over 1,500 prisoners For Moshe, morality and democratic values were paramount. died from a combination of the unspeakable work conditions, And his message of ‘never again’ was unequivocal. maltreatment, disease and malnutrition. Moshe’s contribution to Holocaust education, placed on record Moshe spent about nine months in Vaihingen, which he described through the posthumous award of an Order of Australia Medal, as ‘hell on earth’, before being taken on a death march to Dachau will be part of his enduring legacy. He was an exceptional man in March 1945. On 26 April, 1945, two days prior to the liberation who will be sorely missed by all of us. of Dachau by the American forces, he was taken on yet another death march, this time into the Tyrol mountains. Together with other prisoners, he was forced to lie for hours in the snow, about Dr Michael Cohen is the former Jewish Holocaust Centre to be machined-gunned, finally to be liberated by the American Director of Community Relations and Research. This is an edited 7th Army. version of the eulogy he delivered at Moshe Fiszman’s funeral.

JHC Centre News 33 Kurunjang Secondary Rosebud Secondary College Kurnai College Rosehill Secondary College Kyabram P-12 College Rossbourne High School Lakeview Senior College Rutherglen High School School visits Lalor North Secondary Ruyton Girls School Lara Secondary College Sacre Coeur Lauriston Girls School Sacred Heart Girls College Lavalla Christian College Sacred Heart Primary School Leibler Yavneh College Salesian College 2018 Lilydale High School Santa Maria College Little Yarra Steiner School Scotch College Loretto College St Aloysius College Lowther Hall AGS St Augustine’s College Loyola College St Bede’s College Lumineer Academy St Bernard’s College Luther College St Bridget’s College Lyndale Secondary College Over 23,000 students from schools and universities across Victoria, St Catherine’s School Mackillop College as well as some from interstate and overseas, visited the Jewish Macleod College St Helena Secondary College Holocaust Centre last year. These are the schools that visited: Maffra Secondary College St John’s College Manor Lakes College St John’s Primary School Marcellin College St Joseph’s College Marian College Ararat St Leonard’s College Marist Sion College St Mary MacKillop College Aitken College Dandenong High School Marsden High School St Mary College Albert Park College Daylesford Secondary Mater Christi College St Mary of the Angels Alexandra Secondary School De La Salle College McClelland College St Peter’s College Antonine College Dimboola Memorial SC McKinnon Primary School Seymour College Assumption College Donald High School Melbourne Grammar School Shepparton ACE College Auburn High School Doncaster Secondary College Melbourne Girls College Sherbrooke Community School Ava Maria College Donvale Christian College Melbourne Montessori School Siena College Avalon College Dromana Secondary College Melbourne Rudolf Steiner School Somerville Secondary College Avila College Drouin Secondary College Melton Christian College Southern Cross Grammar Ballarat Clarendon College East Doncaster Secondary Melton Secondary College Star of the Sea College Ballarat Grammar School Echuca College Mentone Girls Secondary Staughton College Ballarat Secondary College Eltham College Mentone Grammar Strathcona BGGS Balwyn High School Elisabeth Murdoch College Mercy College MacKay Strathmore Secondary Bayside P-12 College Elwood College Mercy Regional College Sunbury College Bayswater Secondary College Emerald Secondary College Meridian School Sunshine College Beaconhills College Emmanuel College MET School Wagga Wagga Surf Coast Secondary College Belmont High School Echuca College Mirboo College Swan Hill College Bendigo South East College Firbank College Mitcham Girls High School Swifts Creek P-12 School Bentleigh West Primary School Fintona College MLC Swinburne Senior Secondary Berwick Secondary College Fitzroy High School Moama Anglican Grammar Sydney Road Community College Beth Rivka College FJC College Monbulk College Tarneit Senior College Bialik College Flinders Christian Community Monivae College Templestowe College Billanook College Fountain Gate Secondary College Mooroolbark College Birchip P-12 School Frankston High School Mount Clear College The Grange P-12 College Blackburn High School Gardenvale Primary School Mount Erin College The Knox School Boort District School Geelong Baptist College Mt Hira College Timbarra P-9 College Boronia P-12 College Geelong Lutheran College Mount Lilydale Mercy College Timboon P-12 College Box Hill Secondary College Geelong North Secondary Mount Ridley P-12 Tintern Grammar Braybrook College Genazzano FCJ College Mount Scopus College Toorak College Bright Secondary College Gippsland Grammar Mount St Joseph’s College Trafalgar High School Brighton Grammar Girton Grammar Mount Waverley Secondary Trinity College Brighton Secondary College Gisborne Secondary College Nagle College University High Broadford Secondary College Gladstone Park Secondary Naracoote High School Upper Yarra Secondary Brunswick Secondary College Glenaeon School Narre Warren South SC Upwey High School Buckley Park College Gleneagles Secondary School Nathalia Secondary Urrbrae Agricultural High School Carey Baptist Grammar Glenvale School Nazareth College Vermont Secondary College Camberwell Girls Grammar Glen Waverley S C Neerim District Secondary Victoria University Secondary Camberwell High School Good News Lutheran College Newhaven College Victory Lutheran College Canterbury Girls Secondary Goulburn Valley Grammar Northern Bay College Viewbank College Carawatha College Hallam Senior College Northern College Wallan Secondary College Caroline Chisholm College Hawkesdale College Notre Dame College Wanganui Park Secondary Cathedral College Wangaratta Hazel Glen College Nunawading Christian College Warrnambool High School Catherin McAulay College Heathdale Christian College Oakleigh Grammar Warrandyte Secondary College Catholic Regional College Melton Heathmont College Oakwood School Warragul Regional College Highvale Secondary College Caulfield Grammar Oberon High School Waverley Christian College Caulfield Junior College Highview College Officer Secondary School Wellington Secondary College Chairo Christine College Hillcrest Christian College Our Lady of Mercy College Werribee Secondary College Charlton Secondary School Holy Rosary School Our Lady of Sion College Wesley College, Cheltenham East Primary Horsham College Oxley Christian College Western Heights College Cheltenham Primary School Huntingtower Pakenham Secondary College Western Port Secondary College Cheltenham Secondary College Ivanhoe Grammar Padua College Rosebud Chisholm Institute John Paul College Padua College Mornington Whittlesea Secondary College Clonard College Kardinia Memorial School Padua College Tyabb Wonthaggi Secondary College Cobram Anglican College Kew High School Parkdale Secondary College Woodleigh College Coburg High School Keysborough Secondary College Pascoe Vale Girls College Wyndham Central School Copperfield College Kilbreda College Peninsula Grammar School Xavier College Cornish College Kilvington Grammar School Penleigh and Essendon Grammar Yarra Hills Secondary Craigieburn Secondary College King David School PLC Yarra Valley Grammar Cranbourne East Secondary Kings Christian College Preshil Yarram Secondary College Cranbourne Secondary School Kings College Warrnambool Princes Hill Secondary College Yarrawonga College Croydon Community School Kolbe College Reservoir High School Yea secondary School CRC North Keilor Koo Wee Rup Secondary Ringwood Secondary College Yeshiva College Damascus College Korowa Anglican Girls School Rochester Secondary College Yishun Town College Singapore

34 JHC Centre News Mazal tov

Engagement To John Lamovie on the birth of To Kathy and Les Janovic on the bat his great-grandson Abraham Jedwab mitzvah of their granddaughter Mia Stub To Debbie and Leon Mandel on To Tuvia Lipson on the birth of his To Leah Kaplan and Barry Levy on the the engagement of their daughter great-granddaughter Lyla Zajonc bat mitzvah of their granddaughters, Jenni Mandel to Jason Alman Maddy Jacobs and Zoe Reizner To Melissa and Richard Michaels on the To Pauline Rockman OAM on the birth of their daughter Noa Michaels Marriage bat mitzvah of her granddaughter To Michelle and Phil Rosen on the birth Lucia Bekinschtein To Andy Factor on the marriage of their grandson Jordan Rosenberg To Malka and Sam Silver on the of his granddaughter bat mitzvah of their granddaughter Danielle Kaufman to Farrel Braver To Tammy and Trevor Roth on the birth of their grandson Romeo Jankie Ellie Poswell Births To Eva and Allan Rutman on the birth of their granddaughter Zoe Rutman Birthdays To Anat and Peter Nadler on the birth To Anne Katz on her 60th birthday of their grandson Hudson Nadler Bar/Bat Mitzvah To Cesia Goldberg on her 90th birthday To Sharonna and David Brott on the To Gary Gray on his 90th birthday birth of their granddaughter Elke Cox To Melanie and Lior Attar on the bar mitzvah of their son Jem Attar To Stan Marks OAM on his 90th birthday To Irma Hanner on the birth of her To Juanita and Joe Bekinschtein great-granddaughter Sia Hanner on the bat mitzvah of their Anniversary To Jennifer Huppert and Bobby Guttman granddaughter Lucia Bekinschtein To Sandra and Henri Korn on their on the birth of their granddaughter To Louise and Anthony Cohen on the bar 60th wedding anniversary Rosa Guttmann mitzvah of their grandson Benjamin Cohen To Jenna and Paul Kegen, on the To Sharon and David Cohen on the bar birth of their son Oliver Kegen mitzvah of their son Benjamin Cohen

Condolences

To Robyn and Ken Fetter on the death of their mother and mother-in law Myra Lewis To Lena Fiszman on the death of her father Moshe Fiszman OAM To the family of Pesia Helfenbaum on her death To Jack Kagan on the death of his father Leon Kagan

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 Phillip Maisel. Phone (03) 9528 1985 or email [email protected]

JHC Centre News 35 Estate gifts

We acknowledge the Jewish Holocaust Centre and Foundation bequestors for their generosity and vision. May their memory be a blessing.

Regina Adelfang Walter Geismar Ivor Leiser Gerda Rogers Georgette Steinic Anonymous Fania Gitein Ruth Leiser Beatrice & Rose Rosalky Samuel Stopnik Erika Bence Samuel Gnieslaw Wilhelm Lermer Hadasa Rosenbaum Berta Strom Elza Bernst Arnold Hacker Charlotte Lesser Shmuel Rosenkranz Sonia Suchodolski Susan Blatman Bessie Heiman Kurt Lewinski Szmul Rostkier Geoffrey Tozer Gitla Borenstein Mendel Herszfeld Sara Liebmann Bencjan Rozencwajg Josef Tyler Joseph Brown AO OBE Magda Horvat Julek & Ada Lipski Shmuel Rosenkranz Chana Annette Uberbayn Majer Ceprow Sabina Jakubowicz Abram Malewiak Irene & Ignacy Rozental Emanuel Wajnblum Jenny Chaenkel Betty Janover Janina Marcus Leslie Sandy Kathe Weisselberg Richard Charlupski Basia Kane Don Marejn Joseph Scharf-Dauber Ludvik Weisz Bertha Fekete Thea Kimla Anna Mass Helen Sharp Hannah Wiener Chaim Feldman Lola Kiven Sonia Mrocki Otto Shelton Pinkus Wiener John Fox Leslie Klemke Victor Muntz Raymond Harry Schiller Sabina Winter Jakob Frenkiel Izabella Krol Kalman & Elka Bajla Parasol Marianne Singer Ludwik & Rita Winfield Cecilia Freshman Eva Rivka Knox Edith Peer Sara Smuzyk Chaya Ziskind Romana Frey Pinek Krystal Elizabeth Peer Owsiej Sokolski Sofia Zitron Sara Frucht Nona Lee Lilian Renard Mary Starr

If you are interested in leaving a bequest to the JHC or require further information please contact Leora Harrison on (03) 9528 1985 ext 119 or [email protected].

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36 JHC Centre News SUPPORT FOR HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS Jewish Care provides services and programs to support Holocaust survivors living independently in the community.* A range of supports are available including: • In-home and personal care • Therapies and medical program support • Dental and medical assistance • Medical aids and equipment • 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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Contact Phone: (03) 9521 1007 Email: [email protected]

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JHC Centre News 37 38 JHC Centre News Jewish Holocaust Centre_Full Page_270x185_2019_OL.indd 1 13/12/18 10:41 am

JHC Centre News 39 Fredman Malina ARCHITECTURE PLANNING

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JHC Centre News 41

ַאן ענלעכע פּ ָאליטיק איז געװען אין פֿר ַאנקר ַײך, װוּ - קדושים װ ָאס ז ַײנען דערמ ָארדעט געװ ָארן דורך די דער װידערשט ַאנד ה ָאט אױך ניט געװ ָאלט הענט פֿון די בלוטיקע שׂונאים פֿון דער מענטשהײט ַארויסהייבן די י ִידישע קרבנות צװישן דעם — די פֿ ַאשיסטיש־ד ַײטשישע מערדער תּליונים, דעם ַאלגעמײנעם פֿר ַאנצױזישן פֿ ָאלק. ד ָאס ה ָאט געש ַאפֿן 14 ָאדר 1942‟. די געשיכטע פֿון די ב ַאמ ִיונגען פֿון ַא מין דיס ָאנ ַאנץ פֿ ַאר ס ָאװעטישע י ִידן. פֿון אײן ז ַײט ס ָאװעטישע י ִידן ָאפּצוהיטן דעם ָאנדענק פֿונעם ז ַײנען זײ געװען ד ַאנקב ַאר דער רױטער ַארמײ, װ ָאס חורבן, װ ָאס װערט דערצײלט און ַאנ ַאליזירט אין ה ָאט זײ גער ַאטעװעט. פֿון דער ַאנדערער ז ַײט ה ָאבן זעלצערס בוך, איז ַאלײן געפֿ ַאלן ַא קרבן פֿון דער זײ ט ַאקע געװ ָאלט ָאפּמערקן זײער אײגענע ק ַאלטער מלחמה. די ס ָאװעטן ה ָאבן ניט געל ָאזט קײן טר ַאגעדיע, און בפֿרט ָאפּצוהיטן דעם ָאנדענק פֿון ספּעציעל ָארט פֿ ַארן י ִידישן חורבן אין דער זײערע אײגענע. ד ָאס ה ָאט גורם געװען ַא פּשרה הער ָא ִישער געשיכטע פֿון ס ָאװעטישער גבֿורה, בעת צװישן י ִידישקײט מיט ס ָאװעטישקײט, װי מען זעט, אין מערבֿ ה ָאט די געשיכטע פֿון י ִידישער עפֿנטלעכער למשל, אױף דעם דענקמ ָאל אין מינסק: „ ַא ליכטיקער ַאקטיװיטעט ניט געפּ ַ אסט צו דעם סטערע ָאטיפּ פֿון די ָאנדענק אױף אײניקע י ָארן די פֿינף טױזנט י ִידן דערשטיקטע „י ִידן פֿון שװ ַײגן.‟

וו ַאטיק ַאן וועט ַאנטפּלעקן געהיימען חורבן־ ַארכיוו פֿאָרווערטס: פֿון פֿון רות עלען־גרובער (י ִיט׳׳ ַא)

דער אינה ַאלט פֿונעם געהיימען וו ַאטיק ַאנער ַארכיוו, אין ַאן ַארטיקל אין דער וו ַאטיק ַאנס ָאפֿיציעלער וו ָאס ַאנטה ַאלט ד ָאקומענטן פֿ ַארבונדן מיטן צ ַײטונג ה ָאט דער ביש ָאף סערזשי ָא פּ ַאג ַאנ ָ א, וו ָאס ק ָאנטר ָאווערסי ַאלן פּויפּסט פּ ִיוס דעם 12טן, וועט פֿירט ָאן מיט די וו ַאטיק ַאנער ַארכיוון געשריבן, ַאז קומענדיקס י ָאר ַאנטפּלעקט ווערן. ז ַײנע ק ָאלעגעס ַארבעטן שוין זינט 2006, כּדי פּויפּסט פּ ִיוס ה ָאט ַאמטירט פֿונעם 2טן מ ַארץ 1939 צוצוגרייטן די הונדערטער טויזנטער ז ַײטן. דערװ ַײל ביז ז ַײן טויט אין ָאקט ָאבער 1958. ז ַײנע ב ַאשלוסן ה ָאט מען שוין צוגעגרייט זוכצעטלעך, ק ַאט ַאל ָאגן און בשעתן חורבן זענען שוין ל ַאנגע י ָארן קריטיקירט ק ָאמפּיוטער־ב ַאשר ַײבונגען, כּדי פֿ ָארשער ז ָאלן געװ ָארן, בפֿרט די טענה ַאז ער ה ָאט ניט גענוג געט ָאן קענען גרינגער דורכבלעטערן די ריזיקע צ ָאל צו ר ַאטעװען די י ִידן. עד־היום ז ָאגט דער וו ַאטיק ַאן ד ָאקומענטן. ַאז ער ה ָאט גע ַארבעט אויף ַא געהיימען אופֿן צו יד־ושם ה ָאט ב ַאד ַאנקט דעם וו ַאטיק ַאן פֿ ַארן העלפֿן י ִידן. ב ַאשלוס, וו ָאס „וועט דערמעגלעכן ַאן ָאביעקטיווע שוין צענדליקער י ָארן װ ָאס היסט ָאריקער בעטן, ַאז און עפֿנטלעכע פֿ ָארשונג און ַא פֿולשטענדיקע דער וו ַאטיק ַאן ז ָאל פֿ ַארעפֿנטלעכן ז ַײנע געהיימע דיסקוסיע איבער די ַאלע ענינים פֿ ַארבונדן מיט דעם, ַארכיוון, מע ז ָאל קענען געהעריק אויספֿ ָארשן דעם וו ָאס די ק ַאטוילישע קירך בכלל, און דער וו ַאטיק ַאן ענין. בפֿרט, ה ָאבן געט ָאן בשעתן חורבן‟. מ ָאנטיק ה ָאט דער איצטיקער פּויפּסט פֿר ַאנציס דער ַאמעריק ַאנער י ִידישע ק ָאמיטעט בעט שוין 30 געמ ָאלדן פֿ ַארן פּערס ָאנ ַאל פֿון די וו ַאטיק ַאנער י ָאר ל ַאנג, ַאז דער וו ַאטיק ַאן ז ָאל פֿ ַארעפֿנטלעכן דעם ַארכיוון, ַאז מע װעט ַאנטפּלעקן דעם אינה ַאלט פֿונעם אינה ַאלט פֿונעם ַארכיוו. ר ַאב ַײ דייוויד ר ָאזען, דער ביז ַאהער געהיימען ַארכיוו דעם 2טן מ ַארץ 2020. ָארג ַאניז ַאציעס דירעקט ָאר פֿ ַאר צווישן־רעליגיעזע „די ק ַאטוילישע קירך שרעקט זיך נישט פֿ ַאר דער ב ַאצ ִיונגען, ה ָאט איבערגעגעבן, ַאז „פּויפּסט געשיכטע,‟ ה ָאט דער פּויפּסט פֿר ַאנציס געז ָאגט. פֿר ַאנציס ב ַאשלוס צו מ ַאכן די ד ָאזיקע מ ַאטערי ַאלן צוטריטלעך פֿ ַאר פֿ ָארשער פֿון ַארום דער וועלט איז דער וו ַאטיק ַאן ה ָאט לעצטנס איבערגעגעבן, ַאז זייער וויכטיק פֿ ַאר די ב ַאצ ִיונגען צווישן י ִידן און „קוו ַאליפֿיצירטע פֿ ָארשער‟ וועלן קענען זען די ק ַאט ָאליקן‟. ד ָאקומענטן במשך פֿון פּ ִיוס ג ַאנצער ק ַאדענץ. צוזאַמענגעשטעלט דורך אַלעקס דאַפֿנער

42 JHC Centre News חורבן־דענקמעלער אין ס ָאװעטן־פֿ ַארב ַאנד פֿאָרווערטס: פֿון מיכאל קרוטיק ָאוו מען ק ָאן צו מ ָאל טרעפֿן ַא מײנונג, ַאז די ס ָאװעטישע י ִידישקײט אין דער ס ָאװעטישער תּקופֿה. לרובֿ ז ַײנען מ ַאכט ה ָאט ניט דערלויבט י ִידן צו בױען דענקמעלער די ד ָאזיקע ַאקטיװיסטן געװען פּשוטע י ִידן פֿון ַא ג ַאנץ לזכּרון די קרבנות פֿונעם חורבן. און אױב מען ה ָאט י ָאר, װ ָאס ה ָאבן זיך ניצול געװ ָארן פֿונעם חורבן. נ ָאך ט ַאקע י ָא דערלויבט ַאז ַא מ ָאמומענט, ה ָאט מען ניט דער מלחמה ה ָאבן זײ יעדעס י ָאר ב ַאזוכט זײערע דערל ָאזט דערמ ָאנען, ַאז די אומגעקומענע ז ַײנען הײמשטעט און שטעטלעך און ָארג ַאניזירט הזכּרות געװען י ִידן. ַאנשט ָאט דעם ה ָאט מען געמוזט ז ָאגן פֿ ַאר זײערע אומגעקומענע ל ַאנדסל ַײט, געװײנטלעך „ס ָאװעטישע ציװילע בירגער‟. אין דער אמתן, װי ַארום דעם י ָארט ָאג פֿון דער מ ַאסן־צעשיסונג. אױף עס דערװ ַײזט ד”ר ַארק ַאדי זעלצער פֿון „יד־ושם‟, די פּריװ ַאטע פֿ ָאט ָאס פֿון יענע ז ַאמלונגען זעט מען איז דער מצבֿ געװען ַא סך מער ק ָאמפּליצירט. ז ַײן צענדליקער מענטשן, עלטערע און י ִינגערע, װ ָאס נ ַײע פֿ ָארשונג דערצײלט די געשפּ ַאנטע און פֿלעגן קומען יעדעס י ָאר צו פּר ַאװען דעם יזכּור נ ָאך דר ַאמ ַאטישע געשיכטע פֿונעם גער ַאנגל צװישן י ִידן די אומגעבר ַאכטע י ִידן. ַא סך ה ָאבן געז ַאמלט געלט און דער ס ָאװעטישער מ ַאכט איבערן ָאפּהיטן דעם און ב ַ אשטעלט ַא מ ָאנומענט, װ ָאס מען ה ָאט ָאנדענק נ ָאך זײערע אומגעקומען קרובֿים, חבֿרים און אױפֿגעשטעלט ָאדער אױפֿן ס ַאמע ָארט פֿון דער שכנים. ז ַײן בוך מ ָאלט ַא בילד פֿון ס ָאװעטישן שחיטה, ָאדער אױפֿן ָארטיקן בית־עולם. י ִידנטום, װ ָאס איז װ ַײט פֿונעם מערבֿדיקן די ַאלגעמײנע ס ָאװעטישע פּ ָאליטיק לגבי ָאפּמערקן סטערע ָאטיפּ פֿון „י ִידן פֿון שװ ַײגן.‟ דעם ָאנדענק פֿון די קרבנות פֿונעם חורבן ה ָאט זיך זעלצער ה ָאט ַאנטדעקט, ַאז אין ס ָאװעטן־פֿ ַארב ַאנד געביטן מיט דער צ ַײט. ב ַאלד נ ָאך דער מלחמה, אין ז ַײנען געװען העכער װי זיבן הונדערט מ ָאנומענטן, די לעצטע י ָארן פֿון סט ַאלינס שליטה ביז 1953, ה ָאט װ ָאס ה ָאבן ַאזױ ָאדער ַאנדערש ָאפּגעמערקט דעם די ס ָאװעטישע פּר ָאפּ ַאג ַאנדע ניט ב ַאט ָאנט דעם י ִידישן חורבן. ניט ַאלע פֿון זײ טר ָאגן בפֿירושע פֿ ַארנעם פֿון די מענטשלעכע ל ַײדן און פֿ ַארלוסטן. סימנים פֿון י ִידישקײט, ַאזעלכע װי אױפֿשריפֿטן אױף מען ה ָאט געפֿ ַײערט דעם נצחון און די גּבֿורה פֿונעם י ִידיש ָאדער העברע ִיש, מגן־דודן, ָאדער סתּם ד ָאס ס ָאװעטישן פֿ ָאלק, ניט ב ַאװײנט די טױטע. פֿיר מ ָאל װ ָארט „י ִיד‟. די ד ָאזיקע סימנים ז ַײנען צו מ ָאל ה ָאט מען ַאפֿילו בכּיװן פֿ ַארמינערט די ָאפֿיציעלע ָאפּגעמעקט געװ ָארן, און צו מ ָאל װידער סט ַאטיסטיק פֿון אומגעקומענע ס ָאװעטישע בירגער. ַאר ַײנגעשטעלט געוו ָארן. זעלצער רעכענט פֿ ַאר שפּעטער, אין די 1970ער ה ָאט מען גענומען בױען „י ִידישע‟ יענע מ ָאנומענטן, װ ָאס ז ַײנען געש ַאפֿן ריזיקע מלהמה־מ ָאנומענטן, װ ָאס ה ָאבן ָאפּגעמערקט געװ ָארן לױט דער איניצי ַאטיװ פֿון י ִידן. צו ב ַאקומען דעם סימב ָאלישן כּלל־קרבן פֿונעם ס ָאװעטישן פֿ ָאלק. ַא דערלױבעניש אױף ַאז ַא דענקמ ָאל איז קײן מ ָאל ניט קײן ספּעציעל ָארט פֿ ַאר י ִידן ה ָאבן די ד ָאזיקע געװען פּשוט, ָאבער אין ַא סך פֿ ַאלן ז ַײנען י ִידן ט ַאקע מ ָאנומענטן ניט געה ַאט. מצליח געװען, ניצנדיק כּלערלײ מיטלען, דער עיקר װי װ ַײט איז די ד ָאזיקע ס ָאװעטישע זכּרון־פּ ָאליטיק — פּערזענלעכע פֿ ַארבינדונגען מיט דער ָארטיקער געװען ַאנטיסעמיטיש? אװדאי ה ָאט ַאנטיסעמיטיזם מ ַאכט. אין אײניקע פֿ ַאלן ז ַײנען די ָארטיקע געשפּילט ַא היפּשע ר ָאלע אין ַא סך פֿ ַאלן, װען די ַאדמיניסטר ַאט ָארן ט ַאקע געווען גרײט צו העלפֿן, מ ַאכט ה ָאט בפֿירוש ניט דערלױבט י ִידישע סימנים בפֿרט װען מען ה ָאט ניט ַאר ַײנגעמישט די העכערע אױף די דענקמעלער. ָ אבער דערצו ד ַארף מען נעמען אינסט ַאנצן אין ק ִיעװ, מינסק ָאדער מ ָאסקװע. ָאפֿט אין ב ַאטר ַאכט נ ָאך ַא סיבה. היות װי דער הױפּט־ מ ָאל ה ָאט מען געד ַארפֿט קומען צו ַא פּשרה און ניט שׂונא פֿון דער נ ַאציסטישער פּר ָאפּ ַאג ַאנדע איז געװען געמ ַאכט בולט דעם י ִידישן מהות פֿונעם דענקמ ָאל. דער „זשיד ָא־ב ָאלשעװיזם‟, ה ָאט די ס ָאװעטישע ַאזױ ָאדער ַאנדערש, ש ַאצט זעלצער ָאפּ, ה ָאבן זיך פּר ָאפּ ַאג ַאנדע דװקא ניט געװ ָאלט ספּעציעל עטלעכע צענדליקער טױזנטער ס ָאװעטישע י ִידן דערמ ָאנען די י ִידן. ַאנדערש װ ָאלט זי בעל־כּרחו ב ַאטײליקט אין די אונטערנעמונגען צו פֿ ַאראײביקן ב ַאשטעטיקט דעם נ ַאציסטישן טעזיס װעגן דער דעם ָאנדענק פֿון די חורבן־קרבנות. ער קומט צום קרובֿהש ַאפֿט צװישן י ִידן און ק ָאמוניזם. ד ָאס װ ָאלט אױספֿיר, ַאז ד ָאס איז געװען די שט ַארקסטע און געשטערט ב ַײם מ ָאביליזירן ד ָאס ג ַאנצע ס ָאװעטישע מ ַאסיווסטע עפֿנטלעכע מ ַאניפֿעסט ַאציע פֿון פֿ ָאלק פֿ ַארן ק ַאמף קעגן ד ַײטשל ַאנד.

JHC Centre News 43 SEPTEMBER 2019 The magazine of the Jewish Holocaust Centre, Melbourne, Australia

BETTY AND SHMUEL ROSENKRANZ ORATION

SUNDAY 10 NOVEMBER 2019

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: STEPHEN SMITH

‘THE COURAGE TO SPEAK: SURVIVOR TESTIMONY AS THE FINAL WORD ON THE HOLOCAUST’

Dr Stephen D. Smith is film and new media projects, TIME: the Finci-Viterbi Endowed including Dimensions in Executive Director of USC Testimony, and the VR project 7:00pm Shoah Foundation, and The Last Goodbye. holds the UNESCO Chair on VENUE: Genocide Education. In recognition of his work, Dr Smith has become a St Kilda Town Hall He founded the UK Holocaust member of the Order of the 99A Carlisle St, St Kilda, Victoria Centre in Nottinghamshire, British Empire and received England and co-founded the the Interfaith Gold Medallion. BOOKINGS: Aegis Trust for the prevention He also holds two honorary of crimes against humanity doctorates, and lectures widely jhc.org.au and genocide. on issues relating to the history and collective response to Dr Smith has served as a the Holocaust, genocide and producer on a number of crimes against humanity.