The stories I never expected to tell

When the opportunity came up to join The Australian Jewish News, I did not hesitate for long. My reason was quite specific: the chance to meet Holocaust survivors and hear their stories in their own words.

I had spent my entire career in sports journalism. Sitting in press boxes, covering matches, reporting on injuries and the inspirational comebacks from them. Every weekend was spent at a different stadium and weeks were consumed with analysing the latest A-League match or Socceroos squad. It goes without saying, then, that community journalism was a different prospect entirely. But the pull of Holocaust education had always been there and this felt like the time grab onto it. I figured I could still dabble in sport on the side. And for a while, I did.

Then came October 7, 2023.

In an instant, everything changed. While I was a sports journalist, I had tried to separate my religion and beliefs from my work life, but I knew instinctively that was not going to be possible for me anymore. Because suddenly, I felt a responsibility to bear witness to one of the most devastating chapters in modern Jewish history, as it unfolded in real time.

I found myself telling not just the stories of Holocaust survivors, though that privilege never diminished, but of Nova survivors who had danced into a nightmare. Of hostages. Of the families of those murdered. Of the complexities of war.