Blog
The Wannsee Protocol and The Villa at the Lake
January 20, 2022
On 20 January 1942, high-ranking officials of the Nazi State assembled at a villa on lake Wannsee in Berlin to sign the infamous Wannsee protocol, a plan for what was to be known as the “Final Solution”.
A lamp with no shade
December 31, 2021
In 2018, we received a donation of a mysterious hand-carved lampstand. We know little about the maker, aside from the fact that they were a Lithuanian displaced person in a DP camp in Germany.
The Amazing Mr Rooklyn
December 30, 2021
Maurice Rooklyn was one of Australia’s leading entertainers – a hypnotist, juggler, ventriloquist, illusionist and magician. Born in England in 1905 to Russian-Jewish parents, his family migrated to Australia in 1912.
A story hidden in the seams
December 13, 2021
These Christmas-themed charms in our collection were made by a seamstress named Trude Baumann, within the walls of Oederan concentration camp between 1944 and 1945. Delicately detailed using small pieces of green and red felt, they showcase her talent for intricate stitchwork.
The shoemaker from the shtetl
December 10, 2021
Jacob Bloch was a shoemaker from a shtetl in Lithuania, who immigrated to Sydney during the Great Depression. Barely able to speak English when he arrived, Jacob went from dance studio to dance studio, selling shoes. 90 years later, Bloch is an internationally-renowned dance and activewear label.
Uncovering a family’s last letters
December 3, 2021
This new donation to our collection will keep our curators and a Yiddish translator busy for at least three years.
Survivor Portraits – Jack Feiler
November 29, 2021
Jack was born in a village just outside of Krakow, where a small group of Jews were hiding in a farmstead. With Nazis patrolling the area, the cries of a baby in hiding created an imminent danger.
Shining light on the chanukiah from Theresienstadt
November 23, 2021
This chanukiah was used by Rosalie and Ernst Salm to celebrate the festival of Chanukah, during the three years they were incarcerated in the Theresienstadt. It appears to have been made by hand from a low-grade metal; there are no distinctive marks from the chanukiah’s maker, though it was created by inmates within the walls of the ghetto-concentration camp.
Malka Bulkowstein and the Children’s Memorial
November 16, 2021
Adek Bulkowstein experienced a loss so great that he was never able to speak of it with anyone: His wife, Lila, and five-year-old daughter, Malka, were both murdered in Treblinka.
“She gave me life”: How Irena Szumska-Ingram saved her Jewish husband
November 15, 2021
In November 2009, Irena Szumska-Ingram was honoured posthumously with the Righteous Among the Nations award for saving the life of Bernard Hellreich – the man who would later become her husband.
Survivor Portraits – Peter Gyenes
October 21, 2021
Peter Gyenes was born in 1941 in Budapest, Hungary. His story highlights the power of kindness and compassion.
Regina Zielinski: Escape from Sobibor
October 8, 2021
Regina Zielinski: Escape from Sobibor By Roslyn Sugarman, Head Curator Every year on 14 October we remember Regina Zielinski, Australia’s only Sobibor death camp survivor. Regina (Riva) was born on …
Holocaust ‘fashion’
October 1, 2021
Holocaust ‘fashion’ By Dr Jonathan Kaplan, 2021 Museum Research Fellow Despite the horrific conditions of the Nazi camps, prisoners tried to maintain control over their own bodies in whatever ways …
Survivor Portraits – Alice Loeb
September 30, 2021
Alice Loeb was born in 1943 in Zurich, Switzerland. She was born stateless, as her parents escaped from Austria in 1938 after the Nazis invaded.
“An eye for an eye”
September 24, 2021
“An eye for an eye” By Emeritus Professor Konrad Kwiet, Resident Historian “Jewish Youth!… Do not be led astray. Of the 80,000 Jews in the ‘Jerusalem of Lithuania’ (Vilna) only …
Lucky the cat
September 13, 2021
Beate Beer escaped Nazi Germany to England on the Kindertransport. Separated from her parents, she had to adjust to a new life with her foster family.
Kamianets-Podilskyi and the 1941 massacres
September 13, 2021
Wendy Sharpe’s mural features the historic city of Kamianets-Podilskyi, but its iconic fortress holds a dark history. The massacres perpetrated by the Germans and their collaborators on the site exactly 80 years ago destroyed the thriving Jewish world of Kamianets-Podilskyi, and with it dos gesele, the little street.
Heinrich and Hermine
September 6, 2021
The rag dolls and teddy bear on display in the Sydney Jewish Museum were made in Italy by a Jewish refugee known only as ‘Skalla’. Instead of being made as a toy for children, they were made as a substitute for lost children, a way to memorialise and remember her children who did not survive the war.
“My beloved little Inge, I wish you all the best for the New Year”
September 2, 2021
In time for Rosh Hashana and the high holidays, we share a series of letters in the Sydney Jewish Museum’s collection, written to Inge-Ruth Herrmman.
An interview with Wendy Sharpe
August 24, 2021
An interview with Wendy Sharpe One of Australia’s favourite artists, Wendy Sharpe recently spoke to us about the process of creating a large-scale mural of her family history in the middle of a pandemic …
A friendship book rescued from a second-hand bookshop
July 22, 2021
A small ‘autograph book’ or ‘friendship album’ kept by a young German girl came into our possession in 2015: it had been rescued from obscurity from a second-hand bookshop in Bondi in the mid-1980s. How it came to be there one can only speculate.
Preserving a lost religious world
July 1, 2021
These silver Judaica items tell a story of a lost religious world. They survived the Holocaust and post-war communism, and were smuggled out from Hungary to Australia, one by one, in the 1980s.
Survivor Portraits – Maurice Linker
June 25, 2021
Maurice Linker was born in 1930 in Czernowitz, Romania. Maurice and his family survived the Holocaust with the help of the Mayor of Czernowitz.
Survivor Portraits – Beate Stricker
June 1, 2021
Beate Stricker was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1930. Beate’s father sourced the necessary papers for the family to leave immediately after Kristallnacht. Their destination was Australia.
Kapos: collaborators, perpetrators or victims?
May 20, 2021
Kapos: collaborators, perpetrators or victims? By Emeritus Professor Konrad Kwiet, Resident Historian Jewish Kapos played a pivotal role in the history of the Holocaust. Imprisoned in concentration camps, Kapos were …
Survivor Portraits – Anne Heilig
April 30, 2021
Anne Heilig was born in Berlin, Germany in 1935. Hitler had already come to power and the persecution of the Jews in Germany had begun. Anne and her parents were lucky enough to receive a visa to Australia.
Brothers in arms
April 21, 2021
Brothers in arms Two orphaned brothers, separated after the deaths of both their parents, were reunited after more than a decade in the trenches of the Gallipoli battlefield. The story …
Honouring the dead
April 6, 2021
Honouring the dead Author: Emeritus Professor Konrad Kwiet, Resident Historian Jews follow religious laws and traditional rites of burying and honouring the dead. The deceased are thoroughly washed as an …
Survivor Portraits – Vera Kertesz
March 12, 2021
Holocaust survivor Vera Kertesz was born in 1933 in Czechoslovakia. She was an only child and believed if her parents had had more children, the family would not have survived.
A firefighter’s charms
March 12, 2021
A firefighter’s charms These small metal charms in the Sydney Jewish Museum’s collection were made in the Theresienstadt Ghetto. They belonged to Pavel Thorsch, a member of the Feuerwache (FW); …
Passover and modern day slavery
March 11, 2021
Passover and modern day slavery Every Pesach or Passover, Jews throughout the world are commanded to tell the story of their emancipation from slavery in ancient Egypt. However, while retelling …
Juden Raus! Out with the Jews! – The Anschluss of Austria
March 11, 2021
Juden Raus! Out with the Jews! – The Anschluss of Austria By Emeritus Professor Konrad Kwiet, Resident Historian On 12 March 1938, Hitler’s army marched into Austria. The subsequent Anschluss …
The Women on Exhibition
March 5, 2021
The Women on Exhibition We took a walk through our exhibitions to highlight the strong women whose stories are central to the history we teach and the voices we preserve. …
Survivor Portraits – Leon Milch
February 25, 2021
Holocaust survivor Leon Milch was born in 1932 in Podhajce, Poland, a vibrant town of 6000 people, of which half were Jewish. He and his brother lost both of their parents in the Holocaust.
The perpetual markings of Auschwitz
January 27, 2021
The perpetual markings of Auschwitz By Emeritus Professor Konrad Kwiet, Resident Historian Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day and marks 76 years since the liberation of Auschwitz. Only in Auschwitz …
Survivor Portraits – Yvonne Engelman
December 17, 2020
Holocaust survivor Yvonne Engelman was born in 1927 in Dovhe, Czechoslovakia. After promising her father she’d survive, Yvonne survived Auschwitz.
International Migrants Day: Waves of Jewish migration to Australia
December 17, 2020
International Migrants Day: Waves of Jewish migration to Australia The waves of Jewish migration to Australia before and after World War II have been turning points in the history of …
Survivor Portraits – Lina Lipton
November 30, 2020
Holocaust survivor Lina Lipton was born in 1923 in Lvov, Poland. The start of the war in 1939 came as a shock, and she survived in hiding under a false name.
Remembering Kristallnacht in Australia
November 9, 2020
Remembering Kristallnacht in Australia On this day 82 years ago, the Nazis unleashed Kristallnacht – or the Night of Broken Glass – a bloody pogrom in Germany, Austria and Sudetenland. …
Survivor Portraits – Lotte Weiss
October 30, 2020
Holocaust survivor Lotte Weiss was born in 1923 in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. Lotte attributes her survival to a series of miracles. Her parents and five siblings all perished in Auschwitz.
Museum Expansion Project
We are embarking on a Museum Expansion Project.
Our exhibitions are closed to the public and will reopen in late 2026.
What’s On Newsletter
Keep up to date on all Museum events and exhibitions.