Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, is only a few weeks away; once again thoughts of October 7 return to remind us that we, as Jews, are not there yet when it comes to turning the tide of horrific antisemitic attacks.
My family history is embedded in the Holocaust. My mother’s family lived in Germany for centuries. Four members of her large and well-established family, survived the Holocaust; the long-awaited visa to immigrate to Australia arrived on October 27th – two weeks before Kristallnacht, November 9th, 1938.
My grandfather was a dentist in Berlin. The gold he was able to buy in the 1930s for his patient’s fillings, was fashioned into jewellery to be traded for his family’s escape. I wear one of the bracelets to this day. A timely reminder for us Jews that we don’t necessarily live in a perfect world.
My thoughts, after the initial horror and disbelief of the October 7 terrorist attack, were for Holocaust survivors. A large population of Child Survivors of the Holocaust (born after January 1st, 1928 – May 1945) live in Melbourne. As co-president of the Melbourne Child Survivors of the Holocaust group, I am deeply invested in their everyday challenges.
October 7, 2023, was the equivalent of a tsunami–sized trigger not just for the senseless brutal murder of innocents; child survivors knew it was going to be the start of a much greater issue – antisemitism and the divisiveness that would bring to their ’safe‘ home in Australia.
One of my most respected and dearest friends is Esher Wise, a French Holocaust survivor who turned 100 years old on December 5th, 2024. I went straight to visit Esther to learn how she was faring. Esther was shaken, angry and anxious. We talked all afternoon, ruminating on what this unprecedented attack could mean for the future. Most of our questions remain unanswered to this day.
Esther, together with other Holocaust survivors who live at her aged care facility, responded to the request to speak at a public rally at Caulfield Park. Esther was their representative. Speaking forcefully, Esther implored young people in particular to rise up against antisemitism. Esther’s lived experience taught her that in the same way pandemics spread through all communities, antisemitism knows no boundaries. ’The consequences of not responding’ Esther warned, ‘will be to repeat the past!’ The signs these brave Holocaust survivors held up stated ’Never Again is Now!’
Eighteen months have passed since October 7. As we face Yom Hashoah, at this time, 18 does not seem to be such a fortunate number in Hebrew numerology.
And yet I know, as I currently compile the final Child Survivors of the Holocaust anthology of remembrances, that a number of child survivors have come to a place of quiet reflection, some eighty years after Liberation.
As the last eye witnesses to the Holocaust, despite all they endured, some child survivors have seized the moment to create personal stories that tell of their past but also embrace their achievements. Australia gave the last remnants of many Jewish families who landed here after the war, the opportunity to rebuild their lives through hard work and personal endeavour. No easy task in an era without the current understanding of the long-term effects of deep trauma and loss.
Child survivors’ stories tell of the incredible bravery of their mothers who selflessly and purposefully took enormous risks to save their loved ones. Fathers who held out to the last in slave labour camps, in the desperate hope of being reunited with their family.
Child survivors have come to acknowledge that their lives have been given meaning not only by being victims of one of the darkest times in history; but as true survivors saved by others, often not of Jewish faith, who risked their lives for children caught up in the ravages of war. Child survivors of the Holocaust send strong messages of love and hope for a peaceful world for future generations.
On this Yom Hashoah, as we remember the six million Jewish people who perished, including 1.5 million Jewish children, let us also honour our Holocaust survivors past and present, who have made it their life’s mission to ensure that the stories of those who tragically died will not be forgotten. Their parents, brothers and sisters, extended family members, live on in the hearts and minds of those who loved them and to this day mourn them dearly.
Back at the aged care facility, centenarian Holocaust survivor Esther raises her chin in defiance. ‘I was born a Jew with a proud Jewish name, Esther, and I will die a Jew!’
The original version of this essay was submitted to the A Year Like No Other anthology, and is published on this platform as part of our IWD x JWOW collaboration
