Top French honour for Dale

“Words cannot express what this honour means to me and my family – I am so deeply honoured,” 91-year-old Paris-born Holocaust survivor Jacqueline Dale (nee Feldman) said when receiving a French Legion of Honour Award at a special ceremony at the Sydney Jewish Museum (SJM) on February 21.

In front of nearly 100 guests – including her children Irwin and Rina, her five grandchildren, and most of her 10 great-grandchildren – Dale was personally presented with France’s highest civilian award by Anne Boillon, the Consul-General of France in Sydney, in recognition of her volunteer work in Holocaust education at the Sydney Jewish Museum, spanning three decades.

Boillon described Dale as “a remarkable woman”.

“As we all know, it has taken a long time for France to come to terms with its responsibilities with the Holocaust … for its treatment of the Jews during the occupation,” Boillon said.

“Jacqueline’s testimonies every week [at the SJM] to the young Australian public, of the dark pages of our national history, are invaluable, because she is a witness committed to speaking for the 1.5 million children who never had the chance to survive.”

Dale was born in Paris in 1931, but her happy early childhood ended when war began.

Despite serving in the French Foreign Legion in North Africa, her father Icek was arrested not long after his return to France, deported to Pithiviers internment camp, and later sent to Auschwitz where he was murdered.

The museum has one of two wooden boats that Icek hand-carved for his children while a prisoner at Pithiviers.

After fleeing to a free region within France with her mother Pessa, Dale and her younger brother Charles, were hidden in a Catholic orphanage from 1943 until liberation.

All eventually settled in Australia.

At the ceremony, Dale spoke about the horrors she experienced during the war, but also of the “deep gratitude” she had for a school friend, a complete stranger, and a French Resistance member, who at different times saved her life by their actions.

The SJM’s new CEO, Kevin Sumption, said, “We’re all very proud of you Jacqueline, and I hope you will continue to share your amazing story with all of us at the museum, and with school students from throughout Sydney.”

The museum also hosted an event last week in memory of Lotte Weiss, an Auschwitz survivor, who in Sydney, became an inspirational speaker, promoting acceptance and opportunities for the marginalised.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, and Indigenous former NRL star Timana Tahu – whose School to Work program has a scholarship named after Weiss – were special guests.