Extra candle lit for Holocaust survivor murdered at Bondi

More than a thousand members of Melbourne’s Jewish community gathered at Robert Blackwood Hall, Monash University on Monday night for the Jewish Community Council of Victoria’s annual Yom Hashoah Commemoration, themed “From the Depths.”

The solemn ceremony honoured the six million Jews murdered in the Shoah and acknowledged the resilience of survivors, with youth movements, Jewish day schools and community organisations joining together in prayer, song and reflection.

The evening’s most poignant moment came during the candle-lighting ceremony, when seven candles were lit rather than the traditional six.

The additional candle honoured Alex Kleytman, a Holocaust survivor who was murdered in the antisemitic attack at Bondi during Chanukah. The candle was lit by Pauline Rockman.

The survivor testimony was delivered by Josh Pila, who was born in Sosnowiec, Poland, in 1934, and was just five years old when German forces occupied the city within three days of the war commencing.

Pila spent nine months hidden in a dark and airless bunker with his baby sister before surviving a series of daring escapes.

At the age of nine, he spent several weeks living alone on the streets during a brutal Silesian winter before being miraculously reunited with his mother.

Together, they survived by moving continuously through the non-Jewish community until liberation by the Russian army on 28 January 1945.

Pila lost his father, brother, sister and an enormous number of extended family members. He emigrated to Australia in 1957.

The program included a “From the Depths: Stories of Resistance” segment presented by representatives from AUJS, B’nei Akiva, Habonim Dror, Hineni, Maccabi Victoria, Netzer, SKIF and Tzofim, alongside musical performances of “Mir Yidn Zaynen Nisht Fun Ot Der Velt”, “El Maleh Rachamim”, Kaddish and “Eli Eli”.

The evening concluded with the Partisan Hymn “Zog Nit Keyn Mol” and Hatikvah, performed by a multi-school choir and the Combined Jewish Schools Klezmer Orchestra.

JCCV President Philip Zajac delivered the welcome address, with journalist and author Rachelle Unreich serving as MC.

The commemoration was supported by major sponsors Bendigo Bank and Monash University, as well as a range of philanthropic foundations and community donors.