Solemn Holocaust memorial events held in Sydney, Melbourne
2025 International Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremonies in Sydney and Melbourne also commemorated the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Well-attended and deeply moving commemorative ceremonies marking 2025 International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp, were held in Sydney and Melbourne earlier this week.
SYDNEY
In Sydney on January 29, inside a packed Great Synagogue for a commemoration hosted by the Sydney Jewish Museum (SJM) and the Australian Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors & Descendants (AAJHSD), former Australian prime minister John Howard began his keynote speech by reciting the opening words of Psalm 133 of David: ‘Behold how good and pleasant it is when brethren dwell in unity’.
“Tonight is a remembrance of the failure of mankind in a massive, callous way, not to live in unity . . . the suffering, unparalleled in human history, of the Jewish people during the Holocaust,” Howard said.
“It is also an occasion for we Australians – particularly the overwhelming majority who are not Jewish – to rededicate our lives to the Judeo-Christian ethos, which represent the title deeds of morality in this country.”
Howard added that he feels “ashamed at the outburst of antisemitism” in Australia today.
“I’m ashamed that Jewish people who have been my lifelong friends . . . have come and said to me – with tears in their eyes – ‘for the first time in my life [in Australia], I feel unwanted’.
“That is something that all Australians should feel terrible about.”
The solemn evening featured haunting music by violinist Ben Adler and pianist Paul Khodor, Great Synagogue rabbi Benjamin Elton and cantor Menachem Feldman reciting kiddush and the prayer honouring the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, and lighting of six memorial candles.
The first candle was lit by 96-year-old Holocaust survivor and SJM volunteer guide Jack Meister, whom Howard later embraced, revealing he felt “breathtaken by Jack’s sense of hope and unity – an object lesson to all of us, whatever our circumstances may be”.
Remaining candles were it by Suzie Berk in memory of her late mother Olga Horak, Johnny Weiss in honour of his mother Lotte Weiss, Mark Jaku in memory of his late father Eddie Jaku, Joel Hochberg in honour of his mother Herta, and Hunter Wright in memory of his late grandfather Michael Deutsch.
A short SJM documentary was also played that featured testimony from Meister, and from fellow Holocaust survivor and SJM volunteer guide Yvonne Engelman, who recalled that the last time she ever saw her parents, shortly after arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau, her father had told her, “You have to promise me one thing – that you will survive”.
Olga Horak’s grandson, Anthony Levin, said that in the week before her death last August at the age of 98, she had attended her great granddaughter’s Jewish school to share her story of survival.
“She could no longer stand up straight, but in her commitment to Holocaust education, she was indefatigable until the end,” Levin said.
“On October 7, 2023, anti-Jewish hate exploded . . . and seeing swastikas, and synagogues burning in 2024, summons collective traumas to the surface, prickling the hairs on the skin.
“Many of us are, for the first time, experiencing what it is to be hated in the abstract, as a member of a group, completely detached from our personal beliefs and opinions.
“I don’t profess to have answers to this age old antipathy, but . . . if we are to have any hope of securing a better future for the Jewish community, and the broader one that enfolds us, we must continue to find ways to celebrate our culture . . . and we must maintain our empathy.”
SJM CEO Kevin Sumption and the museum’s president Greg Shand both acknowledged and expressed deep gratitude to every Holocaust survivor who has volunteered their time as museum guides, to share their personal stories and testimony with members of the public, especially schoolchildren.
Shand – whose paternal grandmother was murdered at Auschwitz in 1944, and whose maternal grandfather were murdered in March of the following year – reflected how “each of the six million [Jewish] lives that were lost [in the Holocaust] comes with a personal story”.
“And when, 80 years later, dreadfully we see a world of growing hatred, of exploiting differences, and of intolerance, the words ‘Never Again’ have found a new and current meaning.
“There’s never been a more important time to remember, to educate, and to raise awareness about the Holocaust.”
AAJHSD president George Foster said the ruins of Auschwitz – where 1.1 million men, women, and children were murdered within the concentration camp’s walls – “are a harrowing reminder of what unchecked hatred and prejudice can yield”.
“We’re reminded of the words of Primo Levi: “It happened before, therefore it can happen again”.
“Today, we find ourselves in a time when antisemitism has risen exponentially once more,” Foster said.
“We must teach the truth of the Holocaust to every generation, and we must counter hate with knowledge, division with unity, and apathy with action.”
MELBOURNE
At the commemorative event held at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum (MHM) on January 28, a ‘Testimonies of Freedom’ panel discussion featured three Holocaust survivors, who shared their personal experiences of liberation with moderator Dr Breann Fallon, the MHM’s Head of Exhibitions and Programming.
Professor Gilah Leder, Peter Gaspar, and Eve Graham each told their unique story, and of being liberated from their perspective.
Leder was just 16 months old when her parents made the difficult decision to send her to live under an assumed identity with another family.
After spending years with the Zwanikken family, Leder found it difficult to part with them once she was reunited with her parents after liberation.
“I would go outside without asking; I was a wilful child, and I wanted to stay with the other family,” she said.
“Liberation meant the loss of my foster parents.”
She is still in contact with three members of the family.
Gaspar was four years old when the Germans occupied his hometown.
He spent most of the war in hiding with his parents, until he was eventually sent to Theresienstadt ghetto with his mother.
When he saw the Russian tanks rolling in on May 8,1945 he knew it meant liberation.
Of arriving in Australia to start new lives, Gasper explained, “My parents wanted to leave the terror behind them, so as refugees, we travelled with very little luggage, but a lot of baggage”.
Graham and her family survived the Holocaust in hiding.
She was five years old when they were liberated, and her family were unable to return to the life they once had.
“I noticed everyone was happy due to the liberation, but I did not understand why,” she said.
“As the Communist regime took hold, my family made the decision to immigrate to Australia to evade persecution.”
The family arrived in Melbourne in 1949.
She married, had a successful career as a teacher, and now has a daughter, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
comments