Pioneers on the Gold Coast

A new book documenting the untold history of Jewish refugees who helped transform the Gold Coast from fishing villages into one of Australia’s most iconic destinations has been published by the Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies.

They Found Paradise, written by Shaina Rother with support from the Reuben Pelerman Benevolent Foundation, is based on exclusive interviews, private archives and 80 years of hidden history.

The book tells the remarkable story of Jewish families who fled rising antisemitism in the turbulent 1930s and found refuge in an unlikely sanctuary – a sleepy beach town that would become the Gold Coast. At the time little more than a strip of fishing villages and weatherboard shacks, the area offered these families a coastal haven and the chance to rebuild their lives.

Drawing on shared faith and determination, Jewish settlers – both pre-war refugees and Holocaust survivors – integrated into the Gold Coast’s developing landscape. With resilience and entrepreneurial vision, they established pioneering medical practices, thriving food and fashion businesses, vibrant nightlife venues, and the city’s first high-rise buildings.

The book follows tales of survival and rebuilding along iconic beaches, revealing how strangers became family and how a coastal destination became home to Australia’s fifth-largest Jewish community.

Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies president Jason Steinberg said the publication was timed to help mark 160 years of Jewish life in Queensland.

“This landmark book shines a light on the Gold Coast’s Jewish pioneers and leaders, preserving their stories of resilience and community for generations to come,” Steinberg said.

The stories, untold for over eight decades, reveal how the search for belonging transformed both lives and skylines in one of Australia’s most extraordinary immigration chapters.