Shoes: a matter of life or death
November 21, 2019
A small shoe that once belonged to a young child tells a much larger story. Shoes, in many cases, were a matter of life and death for inmates at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
From Kristallnacht to King Street
November 4, 2019
From Kristallnacht to King Street On 9 November 1938, Nazi party members engaged in a program of bloody pogroms across Germany and Austria that became known as Kristallnacht (Night of …
Learn the History – Who is a Jew?
November 4, 2019
Learn the History – Who is a Jew? In order to understand the complex answer to the question ‘Who is a Jew?’, one has to look at the many sources …
Survivor Portraits – George Sternfeld
November 1, 2019
George Sternfeld was born in 1939 in Warsaw, Poland, and fled with his family to Siberia in 1940.
The beginnings of the Museum building
October 25, 2019
The beginnings of the Museum building Did you know that the building in which the Sydney Jewish Museum is housed has an interesting history of its own before it became …
The origins of the ‘scapegoat’
October 8, 2019
The origins of the ‘scapegoat’ Did you know the word ‘scapegoat’ is a word coined in the 16th century to describe the ritual animals that the Jewish community placed their …
The Photographer of ‘I Met a Survivor’ – Nadine Saacks
October 3, 2019
The Photographer of ‘I Met a Survivor’ – Nadine Saacks Nadine Saacks is a photographer with a passion for documenting people’s stories through images. To bring the concept for ‘I …
Survivor Portraits – Kitty Lowinger
October 2, 2019
Kitty Lowinger was born in 1941 in Budapest, Hungary. Kitty was three years old when Germany invaded Hungary.
Learn the History – Why did Jews not leave Germany when the Nazis came to power?
September 19, 2019
Learn the History – Why did Jews not leave Germany when the Nazis came to power? In this monthly blog series, Learn the History, our Resident Historian Emeritus Professor Konrad …
Helping us get inspiring projects off the ground
September 10, 2019
Helping us get inspiring projects off the ground All projects start with a spark of inspiration. This is how the powerful collection of photographs that makes up I Met a …
A tapestry of a decade’s stories
September 4, 2019
A tapestry of a decade’s stories This large tapestry of an idyllic medieval landscape recently came into our collection, bringing with it a complex and tumultuous story. Behind the colourful …
Survivor Portraits – Litzi Lemberg
September 2, 2019
Litzi Lemberg was born in 1939 in Vienna, Austria. She was a baby when World War II began.
The Two of Us: Joe Symon and Juliane Michaels
August 29, 2019
The Two of Us: Joe Symon and Juliane Michaels In time for Father’s Day, we sat down with father and daughter Joe Symon and Juliane Michaels, who both give their time …
Bring success through empathy
August 12, 2019
Bring success through empathy Businesses that champion empathy and emotional intelligence outperform those businesses that do not by 20%, according to the Harvard Business Review. However, in times of rapid …
Survivor Portraits – Olga Horak
August 1, 2019
Olga Horak was born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia in 1926. She was 14 when the war broke out in 1939.
Introducing students to the Holocaust sensitively
July 15, 2019
Introducing students to the Holocaust sensitively With the duty of teaching young student visitors about the Holocaust comes the responsibility of our Museum Educators to convey a complex history of …
Survivor Portraits – Yvonne Halas
July 2, 2019
Yvonne Halas’ life began in war time, as she was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1942.
Learn the History – Defining the Holocaust
June 21, 2019
Learn the History – Defining the Holocaust In this new monthly blog series, Learn the History, our Resident Historian Emeritus Professor Konrad Kwiet will dive into aspects of Holocaust history …
Fifty five years of Fiddler on stage
June 12, 2019
Fifty five years of Fiddler on stage Fifty five years ago, in 1964, the catchy, wise musings of Tevye the Dairyman burst onto the Broadway stage. The lyrics and script …
The many meanings of the festival of Shavuot
June 6, 2019
The many meanings of the festival of Shavuot The festival of Shavuot begins at sundown this Saturday, 8 June, and ends at sundown on Monday 10 June. Whilst a short …
Survivor Portraits – Magda Forbath
May 31, 2019
Magda Forbath was born in 1943 in Budapest, Hungary. When Magda was six months old the Germans entered Hungary.
Music personalities: Q&A with Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences’ Curator
May 24, 2019
Music personalities: Q&A with Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences’ Curator This blog piece is the second of the series of conversations between our Curator of Collections Shannon Biederman and …
Music technologies: Q&A with Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences’ Curator
May 23, 2019
Music technologies: Q&A with Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences’ Curator Our Curator of Collections Shannon Biederman sat down with Assistant Curator at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, …
Survivor Portraits – Peter Halas
May 1, 2019
Peter Halas was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1939. He and his mother went into hiding when Germany invaded Hungary.
What is “genocide”?
April 23, 2019
What is “genocide”? April is Genocide Awareness Month, and in recognition of this weighty time of the year, we thought it important to be aware not only of the horrific …
“This year in Jerusalem”
April 9, 2019
This green-glazed ceramic Pesach Seder plate on display in the Sydney Jewish Museum’s Holocaust exhibition was given to Samuel Steif whilst he was in the Föhrenwald Displaced Persons Camp in …
The prohibited photographs of Mauthausen
March 8, 2019
The prohibited photographs of Mauthausen Inside an album that recently came into the Sydney Jewish Museum’s possession are photographs of the horrors of Nazi aggression that that took place at …
Survivor Portraits – Eva Engel
March 4, 2019
Eva Engel was born in Vienna, Austria in 1932. After the Anschluss in 1938, her family escaped to Zurich.
Museum as Memorial
February 25, 2019
Museum as Memorial Recently, descendants of Janusz Korczak, the director of a Jewish orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto, dedicated a plaque in the Sydney Jewish Museum’s Sanctum of Remembrance in …
Inclusive Education in the Museum
February 15, 2019
Inclusive Education in the Museum Here at the Sydney Jewish Museum, we welcome over 27,000 students every year. Teachers bring their classes to the Museum as part of numerous courses, …
A love that emerged from darkness
February 14, 2019
A love that emerged from darkness On Valentine’s Day – a day that celebrates love and romance – we share a story of intense love that emerged from a period …
Interview with Anne Zahalka
February 5, 2019
Interview with Anne Zahalka Anne Zahalka, acclaimed Australian artist, delves into vicarious traumas and her inherited memories of the Holocaust alongside Sylvia Griffin in our current contemporary art exhibition, The Fate of …
Survivor Portraits – Ana Deleon
February 1, 2019
Ana Deleon was born in 1935 in Subotica, Yugoslavia. Ana was 8 years old when her family was moved to a ghetto.
100 year-old Holocaust survivor reflects on the duty to remember
January 31, 2019
100 year-old Holocaust survivor reflects on the duty to remember Today, on the 31st of January 2019, Holocaust survivor Lena Goldstein (nee Midler) turned 100. Lena was born in 1919 …
A milestone worth celebrating and collecting
January 14, 2019
A milestone worth celebrating and collecting A boy’s bar mitzvah and a girl’s bat mitzvah are rites of passage by Jewish law, and milestones in every young Jewish person’s life. …
Survivor Portraits – Peter Nash
January 4, 2019
Peter Nash was born in 1935 in Berlin, Germany. In 1939, he and his family left for Shanghai, China.
Interview with Sylvia Griffin
January 3, 2019
Interview with Sylvia Griffin Australian artist Sylvia Griffin has put her personal history and family’s traumas on display alongside Anne Zahalka’s in our current contemporary art exhibition, The Fate of …
10th of Tevet
December 18, 2018
10th of Tevet Today, the 18th of December 2018, is the 10th of Tevet in the Hebrew calendar. This fast day commemorates the siege on Jerusalem by the Babylonian armies …
Survivor Portraits – Kuba Enoch
December 3, 2018
Kuba Enoch was born in 1926 in Krakow, Poland. In 1939, when Kuba was 13 years old, Germany invaded Poland.
Chanukah Greetings
November 29, 2018
Chanukah Greetings Chanukah is a time when we remember the attempted suppression of Jewish culture and celebrate Jewish resistance and resilience. Chanukah of 1945 was the first time that Jewish refugees, …
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