Oma’s Coffee Mug

October 7, 2020
A recent addition to our collection, this Villeroy & Boch mug that bears Nazi imagery on its base has an interesting history.
An Egyptian Rosh Hashana Seder

September 16, 2020
An Egyptian Rosh Hashana Seder The festival of Rosh Hashana is both a joyous celebration and the start of a period of ten days during which Jewish people engage in …
“Love each other. Be tolerant. Help each other.”

September 4, 2020
“Love each other. Be tolerant. Help each other.” “What legacy can I leave my children, grandchildren and great-grands? Much love. Yes… Love each other. Be tolerant. Help each other.” – …
Synagogues and memory

July 10, 2020
Synagogues and memory When synagogues were forced to close their doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many Jewish communities felt distressed; not necessarily at the knowledge that they couldn’t attend, but …
Telling the Holocaust through poems

June 26, 2020
Telling the Holocaust through poems There are hundreds of testimonies in the Sydney Jewish Museum’s collection from survivors who have shared their stories of suffering and survival. It is always …
A wedding in Theresienstadt

May 19, 2020
This is a story about the wedding of Otto Ehrmann and Elfi Felixova in Theresienstadt in 1943, before the young couple was to learn of their fates.
Perspectives on the liberation of Bergen-Belsen

April 14, 2020
Perspectives on the liberation of Bergen-Belsen When Bergen-Belsen was liberated on 15 April 1945, a horrific landscape of death and suffering was revealed. News reels, photographs and sketches showed indescribable …
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 …
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 …
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, …
“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 …
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. …
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, …
Children’s Week 2018

October 26, 2018
Children’s Week 2018 This week is Children’s Week. Thousands of children from different locations and backgrounds come through the Sydney Jewish Museum every year with their schools. Most of them …
Anzac Day – A day of remembrance

April 24, 2018
Anzac Day – A day of remembrance Anzac Day is a day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, that honours those who served and died in wars and conflicts. …
Toilet humour

April 12, 2018
Toilet humour Hitler’s black ‘toothbrush’ moustache is an easily identifiable feature of this dictator’s face. Numerous cartoonists satirise his distinctive features. David Low, a prominent New Zealand political cartoonist and …
Survivor Portraits – George Grojnowski

January 29, 2018
George Grojnowski was born in Radziejow, Poland, in 1927, and was incarcerated in Radziejow Ghetto, Czestochowa Ghetto, Rakow Labour Camp and Buchenwald during the course of WWII.
A Tribute to Mala Sonnabend

January 25, 2018
A Tribute to Mala Sonnabend This weekend we commemorate the UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the Liberation of Auschwitz. To remember Holocaust survivor Mala Sonnabend, who was liberated from …
Material evidence

January 16, 2018
Material evidence Last month, Dr Sofia Pantouvaki, Professor of Costume Design, Aalto University, Helsinki visited the Sydney Jewish Museum. She met with survivors and viewed our collection of concentration camp …
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