In July 2021, at the height of the COVID 19 pandemic, the Deane family – Holocaust survivor Wolf and his wife Asya – sat in their home in Camberwell (joined online by their son John and daughter Leanne) eagerly awaiting a Zoom call. But this was not just any Zoom call – this was a reunion, a reunion of survivors: Wolf Deane (then Walek Fabiszewicz) and Marian Turski (then Mayer Turbowicz).

Wolf and Marian attended the same Jewish high school in the Lodz Ghetto – along with other Jewish boys within the Lodz community – until October 1941 when the school was shut down. Of the boys pictured in the above photograph, it is believed that Marian and Wolf are the only ones still alive today.

As the Zoom call lit up Wolf’s computer screen and Marian’s face appeared, Wolf’s anticipation turned to delight as he and Marian reminisced, in Polish, on the days spent at school and the lives they had led in the 80 years since they had spoken. Until they were reconnected, they each believed they were the only one alive from their classmates.

Wolf Deane’s Holocaust experiences

Wolf was 13 years old when the German army invaded Poland on 1 September 1939. In March 1940 Wolf’s family was forced to move from their “comfortable apartment” to a single room in the Lodz Ghetto established to separate Jews from the rest of the city.

Life was hard and difficult in the ghetto, however, until 29 September 1941, Wolf and his friends were still able to attend school.

Immediately after the ghetto was formed in 1940, some teachers from pre-war Jewish schools organised a high school in the ghetto. Students from a number of pre-war schools, including Wolf, were admitted.

The school was referred to as “Ghetto High School”, and the students were the “cream of pre-war Jewish students in Lodz”. Wolf said “one of the advantages of being at school was that we got additional food – a bowl of soup and a ration of bread”.

The school closed at the end of September 1941 as the Nazis commanded all “able-bodied” Jews in the ghetto into forced labour to produce materials for their war effort. Wolf’s education was taken away from him and he began working in a factory producing leather.

After enduring over four years in the ghetto, on 18 August 1944 it was announced Lodz Ghetto would be liquidated. Wolf sustained permanent hearing loss when he was hit on the head with a metal club by one of the German soldiers assigned to facilitate the liquidation.

Wolf was deported with his parents and extended family in a railway wagon without food or water and a bucket for a toilet. They arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau on 20 August 1944, greeted by “screams and barking dogs, intentionally creating pandemonium, fear, and disorientation.”

Wolf and his father remained at Auschwitz until they were eventually selected to work in a factory near Braunschweig, where they worked 12-hour days. On 5 March 1945, Wolf’s father died from typhoid and exhaustion.

Some weeks later, Wolf was taken on a death march to Wattenstadt. From there, he was transported to Wobbelin in a cattle train, arriving on 27 April.

On 2 May 1945 when US soldiers arrived, Wolf lay exhausted and starving. He recounts this moment when “hope and determination replaced a feeling of despair.”

Wolf arrived in Israel by ship (Enzo Sereni) in early 1946 as a refugee, then worked as a builder’s labourer while putting himself through night school. He was eventually accepted into London’s Imperial College to study civil engineering and, after graduating with honours, immigrated to Australia in 1955 to begin work as an engineer.

Wolf married his wife Asya in Melbourne in 1961 and has two children – John and Leanne – and four grandchildren.

Wolf has been a core figure at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum for many years, contributing his expertise and time advising on the construction of the previous Jewish Holocaust Centre, and most importantly, regularly sharing his message with students and visitors to the museum:

“The horrors and suffering that I experienced in my youth made me realise that family love and affection are the most important things in life. We should cherish and appreciate this every day. People in society should be more tolerant and understanding.”

Although he no longer actively volunteers with us, his story continues to teach thousands of students annually, about the dangers of unchecked hate.

Being recognised in the Lodz Survivor Garden

In August 2021, Wolf was recognised with a ceremonial tree planting at the Dialogue Centre Survivor Garden in Lodz.

As the family were not able to travel to Poland, Marian – who already had a tree planted within the garden – attended the ceremony and received the certificate of appreciation on Wolf’s behalf.

A tree within the Lodz Garden serves as a physical dedication to the Fabiszewicz/Deane family history and represents the evergreen inspiration and hope Wolf has passed on to younger generations, to build a brighter future.