It is a sad but simple truth: the overwhelming majority of Jewish children in Poland did not survive the Holocaust. While the manner in which those children perished has long occupied the attention of historians, we must also consider how they lived.
Looking at Warsaw in particular, this standalone lecture delivered by Simon Holloway will consider the peculiar circumstances that pertained to children: the games they played, the skills they learned, those who looked out for them and those concerning whom they needed to beware. Special attention will be given to the evidence from the secret archive of the Warsaw Ghetto, some of which will be on display in our Underground exhibit.
This talk is presented as part of the public programming running alongside the Melbourne Holocaust Museum’s inaugural special exhibition in the new Alter Special Exhibitions Gallery – Underground: The Hidden Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto.
On display for the first time outside of Europe, Underground exhibits rare artefacts from the hidden archive of the Warsaw Ghetto. This archive was led by historian Emanuel Ringelblum who initiated an unprecedented campaign to collect material in the ghetto—the collection today known as the Ringelblum Archive. This collective of academics, writers, and activists working secretly in the first attempt to document the German-initiated mass murder of European Jews as it was happening. The exhibition brings home to the viewer the act of resistance that the underground archive of the Warsaw Ghetto constituted—a never-ending, arduous, harrowing but ultimately successful attempt to write the story of the Holocaust from the perspective of its victims.
Underground is on display at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum from 17 November 2024 to 30 March 2025.
Underground: The Hidden Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto is presented in partnership with the Jewish Historical Institute, Poland, the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland, and the Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism, Germany.
Included within the Melbourne Holocaust Museum’s exhibition of Underground: The Ringelblum Archives, a display case of artefacts has been included to connect Melbourne to Warsaw. These historically significant objects originate from Warsaw, and include a range of correspondence from Jews incarcerated in the ghetto sent to relatives in Melbourne.
Dr Anna Hirsh, MHM’s Manager of Collections & Research will present and discuss the contents and meaning of these letters, as last connectors to the world outside.
This talk is presented as part of the public programming running alongside the Melbourne Holocaust Museum’s inaugural special exhibition in the new Alter Special Exhibitions Gallery – Underground: The Secret Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto. On display for the first time outside of Europe, Underground exhibits rare artefacts from the hidden archive of the Warsaw Ghetto. This archive was led by historian Emanuel Ringelblum who initiated an unprecedented campaign to collect material in the ghetto—the collection today known as the Ringelblum Archive. This collective of academics, writers, and activists working secretly in the first attempt to document the German-initiated mass murder of European Jews as it was happening. The exhibition brings home to the viewer the act of resistance that the underground archive of the Warsaw Ghetto constituted—a never-ending, arduous, harrowing but ultimately successful attempt to write the story of the Holocaust from the perspective of its victims.
Underground is on display at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum from 17 November 2024 to 30 March 2025.
Underground: The Hidden Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto is presented in partnership with the Jewish Historical Institute, Poland, the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland, and the Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism, Germany.
Anna is responsible for managing MHM’s Collections, spanning the Historical Archives and Art Collection, Testimonies, and our Resource Centre & Library. For the past ten years, Anna has worked to improve accessibility to, and enhance the research potential of our Collections.
Anna is an Honorary Fellow at Deakin University and is the co-President of the Australian Association of Jewish Studies.
We invite you to join us for the commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau on Tuesday 28 January 2025.
This year’s event commemorates 80 years since the end of World War Two.
Please join us to hear three Holocaust survivors share their experiences of liberation and what liberation means to them. This panel discussion will be moderated by Dr Breann Fallon, MHM Head of Programming and Exhibitions.
Image | Simon Shiff
Gilah was born in the Netherlands in 1941. At the time of her birth, the Nazis had already taken control of the Netherlands. Gilah was 16 months old when her parents made the courageous decision to send her to live under an assumed identity with a non-Jewish family for her survival. The Zwanikken family looked after Gilah for two and a half years. Gilah often had to hide when guests came over and remained indoors to avoid suspicion. When she reunited with her biological parents after the war, she found it difficult to part with her foster family. Gilah maintained contact with them, even after her family and Gilah came to Australia in 1953.
Image | Simon Shiff
Peter Gaspar was born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia in 1937. He was four years old when Bratislava was occupied by the Nazis.
In June 1942 Peter was told by his teacher not return to school because he was Jewish. Peter and his parents went into hiding, spending nights anywhere they could find. For several days during the winter of 1944 they slept in dugout the size of a grave.
Peter fell ill and with no other option, the family turned themselves in. Peter and his mother were separated from his father and sent to Terezin concentration camp, where they were imprisoned for five months. They were liberated on 8 May 1945.
Peter arrived in Australia in 1949.
Image | Simon Shiff
Eve was born in 1939 in Czechoslovakia and survived the Holocaust in hiding, as did her parents. After the war ended, the family went to Trebisov but they eventually migrated to Australia in fear that the Communist regime would pose a threat to their safety. Eve and her parents arrived in Melbourne in 1949.
Eve married, had a successful career as a teacher and has a daughter, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Join a MHM expert for a tour of Underground: The Hidden Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto. Explore the exhibition with one of our expert team, hear about the process of bringing these rare artefacts to Melbourne and the stories behind this collection.
On display for the first time outside of Europe, Underground exhibits rare artefacts from the hidden archive of the Warsaw Ghetto. This archive was led by historian Emanuel Ringelblum who initiated an unprecedented campaign to collect material in the ghetto—the collection today known as the Ringelblum Archive. This collective of academics, writers, and activists working secretly in the first attempt to document the German-initiated mass murder of European Jews as it was happening. The exhibition brings home to the viewer the act of resistance that the underground archive of the Warsaw Ghetto constituted—a never-ending, arduous, harrowing but ultimately successful attempt to write the story of the Holocaust from the perspective of its victims.
Please select a date
Underground: The Hidden Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto is presented in partnership with the Jewish Historical Institute, Poland, the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland, and the Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism, Germany.
Exhibition Sponsors
The Melbourne Holocaust Museum would like to thank our exhibition sponsors
Programming Sponsors
The Melbourne Holocaust Museum would like to thank our programming sponsors
Join us for conversation with Dr Simone Gigliotti about film, history, digital curation, and regenerated archives of movement.
Dr Gigliotti’s latest monograph Restless Archive is a digital, open access book and exhibition that analyses how non-fiction film (documentaries, newsreels, home movies, fundraiser films and documentaries) represented Jewish home-seeking routes and obstructions during and after the Nazi period (from 1933 to 1949). The digital platform on which the book is published functions as a curation zone that gathers previously dispersed material and presents them as a “restless archive” of historical displacement, politics and prejudice.
Bio: Simone Gigliotti is Reader in Holocaust Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK.
Dr Simon Holloway has a passion for Holocaust education and believes strongly in helping to preserve the legacy of our survivors. As MHM Manager of Adult Education and Academic Engagement, Simon creates and oversees programs to enhance broader community understanding of the Holocaust and its lessons.
From the moment that the Warsaw Ghetto was sealed in November of 1940, historian Emanuel Ringelblum recognised the importance of testimony. With a small number of colleagues, he compiled reports on life under increasingly extreme conditions. With the onset of the Great Deportation in July of 1942, the future looked increasingly bleak and the nature of the archive changed. From that moment, until the final eradication of the ghetto in early 1943, the purpose of the secret archive was to preserve… everything.
In this lecture, Dr Simon Holloway will explore the history of the archive and the personalities of its contributors. Special attention will be given to those objects that the Melbourne Holocaust Museum is proud to showcase in our new Underground exhibit.
This talk is presented as part of the public programming running alongside the Melbourne Holocaust Museum’s inaugural special exhibition in the new Alter Special Exhibitions Gallery – Underground: The Secret Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto. On display for the first time outside of Europe, Underground exhibits rare artefacts from the hidden archive of the Warsaw Ghetto. This archive was led by historian Emanuel Ringelblum who initiated an unprecedented campaign to collect material in the ghetto—the collection today known as the Ringelblum Archive. This collective of academics, writers, and activists working secretly in the first attempt to document the German-initiated mass murder of European Jews as it was happening. The exhibition brings home to the viewer the act of resistance that the underground archive of the Warsaw Ghetto constituted—a never-ending, arduous, harrowing but ultimately successful attempt to write the story of the Holocaust from the perspective of its victims.
Underground is on display at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum from 17 November 2024 to 30 March 2025.
Underground: The Hidden Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto is presented in partnership with the Jewish Historical Institute, Poland, the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland, and the Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism, Germany.
World renowned singer Lenka Lichtenberg and her ensemble have toured Canada, the USA, Europe and South America and now bring this brilliant show to Kadimah for one night only.
This is a show for all music lovers. While heartbreaking — the music of “Silent Tears” also brings hope and inspiration.
Dan Rosenberg, producer and narrator of Silent Tears says: “We created new music based on the Polish tangos from the 1930s – an Eastern European genre mixed with Jewish and Romani music.” About 3000 tangos were written during the inter-war years in Poland, many of them by Polish Jews.
This wonderful concert blends original Yiddish tango music with poems and stories from women who survived the Holocaust in Poland.
It features songs from the band’s albums Thieves of Dreams + Silent Tears, based on poetry that Lenka’s Lichtenberg’s grandmother wrote while incarcerated at the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp.
The concert is fully accessible to non-Yiddish speakers
Join us for this FutureGen exclusive behind-the-scenes access to Underground: The Hidden Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto.
Hear from the team behind the exhibition and the Melbourne artefacts our team added to the original European exhibition design.
On display for the first time outside of Europe, Underground exhibits rare artefacts from the hidden archive of the Warsaw Ghetto. This archive was led by historian Emanuel Ringelblum who initiated an unprecedented campaign to collect material in the ghetto—the collection today known as the Ringelblum Archive. This collective of academics, writers, and activists working secretly in the first attempt to document the German-initiated mass murder of European Jews as it was happening. The exhibition brings home to the viewer the act of resistance that the underground archive of the Warsaw Ghetto constituted—a never-ending, arduous, harrowing but ultimately successful attempt to write the story of the Holocaust from the perspective of its victims.
Underground: The Hidden Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto is presented in partnership with the Jewish Historical Institute, Poland, the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland, and the Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism, Germany.
Exhibition Sponsors
The Melbourne Holocaust Museum would like to thank our exhibition sponsors
Gerry and Lillian Pearce
The Embassy for the Federal Republic of Germany
Programming Sponsors
The Melbourne Holocaust Museum would like to thank our programming sponsors
Irene Kronhill Pletka
The Jewish Quarterly
The Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation, Monash University
Please join us for a Lecture by Dr Michał Trębacz , acting Director of Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw.
The history of the Jewish Historical Institute (JHI) is closely intertwined with the history of the Jewish community in Poland. The JHI has been documenting and researching this often-difficult past for decades. Established after the Holocaust, its mission was to collect testimonies from survivors and to preserve the memory of those who perished. The Institute’s collections, developed over the years, represent its most valuable asset.
Among these collections, the most significant is the Warsaw Ghetto Archive, also known as the Ringelblum Archive. However, this remarkable collection is just one of many valuable sources kept in the storage rooms of the Institute. What other treasures does the Jewish Historical Institute hold? How has the Institute contributed to modern Jewish research methodologies? What role does the JHI play today in Warsaw and beyond?
Underground is on display at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum from 17 November 2024 to 30 March 2025.
Underground: The Hidden Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto is presented in partnership with the Jewish Historical Institute, Poland, the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland, and the Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism, Germany.
Dr Michał Trębacz is the acting Director of the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw. From 2017, he was the head of the Research Department at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. He supervised the content of the Global Education Outreach Program, the aim of which was to build academic infrastructure for the development of Jewish studies in Poland and around the world. He also collaborated with the Memorial de la Shoah in Paris and is the author of over 40 articles.
Experience Underground: The Hidden Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto with expert Dr Michal Trebacz, Acting Director of the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, Poland. On display for the first time outside of Europe, Underground exhibits rare artefacts from the hidden archive of the Warsaw Ghetto, now in the collection of the Jewish Historical Institute.
This archive was led by historian Emanuel Ringelblum who initiated an unprecedented campaign to collect material in the ghetto—the collection today known as the Ringelblum Archive. This collective of academics, writers, and activists working secretly in the first attempt to document the German-initiated mass murder of European Jews as it was happening. The exhibition brings home to the viewer the act of resistance that the underground archive of the Warsaw Ghetto constituted—a never-ending, arduous, harrowing but ultimately successful attempt to write the story of the Holocaust from the perspective of its victims.
Michał Trębacz, PhD, is a member of the European Association for Jewish Studies (EAJS) and the Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES). From 2017, he was the head of the Research Department at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. He supervised the content of the Global Education Outreach Program, the aim of which was to build academic infrastructure for the development of Jewish studies in Poland and around the world. He lectured on the twentieth-century history of Polish Jews at universities in Germany, Israel and the USA. He also collaborated with the Memorial de la Shoah in Paris. He participated in and conducted many research projects on the history of Jews in Poland. He is the author of over 40 articles. He published, among others, in “Zagłada Żydów. Studia i materiały”, “Jewish History Quarterly” and “Polityka”.
Underground: The Hidden Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto is presented in partnership with the Jewish Historical Institute, Poland, the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland, and the Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism, Germany.
Exhibition Sponsors
The Melbourne Holocaust Museum would like to thank our exhibition sponsors
Please join us for our 2024 Betty & Shmuel Rosenkranz Oration: Zachor – The Challenges of Holocaust Remembrance Today.
This year we are pleased to announce our Oration will be presented by Dani Dayan – Chairman of Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre.
Dani has declared that “leading Yad Vashem is more than a position; it is a mission that I take on with awe and reverence. On our shoulders rests the responsibility to research and educate, to document and disseminate, to validate fact-based historical truths about the Holocaust and reject all forms of distortion, in order to ensure that the Jewish people and humanity will forever continue to remember this event.” Since assuming leadership of Yad Vashem, Dayan has spearheaded strategic initiatives to revitalise Holocaust remembrance and ensure its perpetual relevance, in Israel and globally.
Please register in advance and secure your place.
Image | courtesy of Simon Shiff
Dani Dayan is the Chairman of Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. His appointment as Chairman of Yad Vashem was confirmed by the Government of Israel on 22 August 2022.
At that time he declared that “leading Yad Vashem is more than a position; it is a mission that I take on with awe and reverence. On our shoulders rests the responsibility to research and educate, to document and disseminate, to validate fact-based historical truths about the Holocaust and reject all forms of distortion, in order to ensure that the Jewish people and humanity will forever continue to remember this event.” Since assuming leadership of Yad Vashem, Dayan has spearheaded strategic initiatives to revitalise Holocaust remembrance and ensure its perpetual relevance, in Israel and globally. His dynamic vision has come to the forefront in an unprecedented series of meetings with world leaders, including Pope Francis, US President Biden and the chiefs of state of Germany, France, Austria, Argentina, Lithuania and numerous foreign ministers, including that of the United Arab Emirates. Mr. Dayan is a frequent contributor of articles and interviewee in leading media channels of the world, including: New York Times, The Guardian, International Herald Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and CNN.
Mr. Dayan is also invited to speak at prestigious think-tanks in Europe and America. Prior to his position at Yad Vashem, Dayan served as Israel’s Consul General in New York. Previously, he served as Chairman of the YESHA Council and before that as Chairman of the Board and CEO of Elad Software Systems Ltd., a company he founded. In addition, Dayan volunteers as the Head of the Advisory Board of Nefesh B’Nefesh and, until his posting in New York, was a member of the Yad Vashem Council.
Dayan was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and came to live in Israel at the age of 13.
He holds a master’s degree in finance (with honors) from Tel Aviv University, and a Bachelor’s in Economics and Computer Science (cum laude) from Bar Ilan University.
Over the course of the last 40 years, as information from previously inaccessible archives has come to the attention of historians, the events of the Holocaust have become increasingly better understood. Today, there is very little about the Holocaust that historians do not understand. At the same time, however, these events have experienced a certain popularity in the realm of cinema and literature, with some of their more enduring representations belonging decidedly to the realm of fiction.
What might it mean for people to engage with the Holocaust through entirely make-believe stories? Is it problematic when those stories are predicated on impossibilities?
This panel discussion is moderated by Dr Simon Holloway, who will be joined by MHM Manager 5 – 12 Education, Curriculum and Programs Tracey Collie, Associate Professor David Slucki and award-winning novelist Suzy Zail. Together we will investigate the role of Holocaust-themed fiction in conveying the past, and will explore both the advantages and the perils of utilising such materials in the classroom.
David Slucki is the Director of the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation, and the Loti Smorgon Associate Professor of Contemporary Jewish Life and Culture at Monash University. He is a historian who has written widely on Jewish life after the Holocaust, focusing particularly on survivors and their descendants, and on representations of the Holocaust. His publications include Sing This at my Funeral: A Memoir of Fathers and Sons (2019) and The International Jewish Labor Bund after 1945: Toward a Global History(2012). He is the co-editor of Laughter After: Humor and the Holocaust (2020) and In the Shadows of Memory: The Holocaust and the Third-generation (2016). He is currently working on projects focusing on antisemitism in Australia, Holocaust denial in popular culture, and Jews and sitcoms.
Tracey has over 14 years’ experience in education in teaching and leadership roles in curriculum, student management and pastoral care within the government school sector and the not-for-profit sector.
Tracey’s educational philosophy centres on the concept of global citizenship and is particularly invested in guiding students to develop their sense of responsibility and agency, and, to understand the importance of empathy, cultural awareness, and environmental stewardship within our interconnected world.
She believes that every student has the potential to become a global citizen who not only understands diverse perspectives but also actively seeks to make a positive impact on the world.
As manager of 5 – 12 education at the MHM, Tracey is focused on building the education suite, including programs for students and curriculum resources for teachers to ensure learning about the Holocaust is accessible for all.
Suzy Zail is an internationally published, award-winning novelist and the author of more than a dozen books including Alexander Altmann A10567,The Wrong Boy and Inkflower. Her books tackle the Holocaust in a sensitive and age-appropriate way and are used in schools throughout Australia. Recently, Suzy’s novel Inkflower was chosen my students across Australia as their choice for “Book of the Year: Older Readers” in The 2024 Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year awards.
Join us at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum for the rare opportunity to hear first-hand from Holocaust survivor Andre Dubrowin.
Andre was born in 1939 in Brussels, Belgium to Polish and Romanian parents.
When the war came to Belgium in 1940, his parents decided to flee to France. On their second attempt, the family was arrested and sent to Drancy Internment camp. Andre was unwell and with the help of a family friend and a French Police officer who had been bribed, Andre was released to the Red Cross. He spent the following war years living in a Catholic orphanage, with a business associate of his father’s, and an elderly couple back in Brussels and on a farm.
After liberation, his mother’s brother came to pick him up – a person he did not remember speaking a language he no longer spoke – he was five and half years old.
Andre moved to Australia in 1948 with his uncle and aunt who eventually adopted him.
Join us on the 22nd of September to meet Andre and learn about his experiences.
Join us for a sensory-friendly evening exploration of our exhibition Everybody Had a Name. Suitable for visitors with ASD, sensory sensitivities or anyone who would benefit from a quieter and less busy setting.
On this evening you will be able to:
View our permanent exhibition Everybody Had a Name with reduced visitor numbers.
View our permanent exhibition Everybody Had a Name adjusted volume and lighting.
Utilise an enhanced map with information on low, medium and high sensory areas of the exhibition.
Access designated quiet area for those needing to take a break.
Speak with friendly, supportive staff on your passion for history.
This event is for those ages 16+.
Check out our social story here to learn more about what to expect on your visit.
Join the Melbourne Holocaust Museum and the Lodz Committee in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the liquidation of the Lodz Ghetto.
The Landsmanshaftn were societies of Jewish immigrants who came from the same town or region in Eastern Europe. They were named for the members’ original birthplaces. They were formed to assist their fellow ‘townspeople’ in settling into their new lives in Australia. This assistance – material, emotional, cultural, and social – helped many new arrivals to begin their acclimatisation to life in their new country.
By 1949, numerous attempts had been made to form a Lodzer Landsmanshaft. In 1953 an initiating committee was formed with the aim of calling a general meeting of Melbourne Jews from the Polish city of Lodz and organising an evening to commemorate the memory of their annihilated community.
Today’s Lodz Committee consists of second and third generation descendants. As the years pass by and we have fewer of our precious survivors with us, we realise the importance of involving the younger generations in helping us remember the Lodzers who called Melbourne their home. Today we remember and honour Jewish Lodz, and its inhabitants, the last embers of a once glorious and vibrant community.
This year’s program includes Honouring six of our Lodz Ghetto survivors with a special candle lighting ceremony. Reflections of 80 years since the Lodz Ghetto Liquidation by Lodz Ghetto Survivors, Mrs Guta Goldstein and Mr Abe Goldberg OAM. Music by Sholem Aleichem Students.
Light refreshments will be provided after the commemoration.
Please join us in partnership with The Shrine of Remembrance and Melbourne Jewish Book Week for an in conversation with author and historian Lucy Adlington and MHM Head of Exhibitions and Programming Dr Breann Fallon.
At the height of the Holocaust, 25 young inmates of the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp – mainly Jewish women and girls – were selected to design, cut, and sew beautiful fashions for elite Nazi women in a dedicated salon. It was work that they hoped would spare them from the gas chambers. Drawing on diverse sources including interviews with the last surviving seamstress, The Dressmakers of Auschwitz follows the fates of these brave women.
In this captivating event, author and historian Lucy Adlington will join us virtually from the United Kingdom to uncover these stories. In conversation with the Melbourne Holocaust Museum’s Dr Breann Fallon, Lucy will reveal the bonds of family and friendship that helped these women endure persecution.
Guests will have an opportunity to explore the Shrine’s exhibition Trenches to Runway: Military Influences on Modern Fashion before the talk commences. While the exhibition does not explore the themes in The Dressmakers of Auschwitz, it draws important parallels between the impact of military clothing design and wartime conditions on popular fashion, tracing these influences from the 1870s to the present day.
(viewings of Trenches to Runway from 5pm to 5.50pm)
Please note: The entry to this event is via the Shrine’s Education Foyer.
Image | Courtesy of shalom.edu.au
Lucy Adlington is a writer and social historian, specialising in women’s history in the 1940s. Her recent history, The Dressmakers of Auschwitz – The True Story of the Women Who Sewed to Survive was a New York Times bestseller and has been translated into 22 languages. Her new Holocaust history Four Red Sweaters will be published in March 2025.
Lucy has an extensive collection of vintage and antique garments, spanning 250 years. She runs a series of popular costume presentations called the History Wardrobe, exploring women’s history through clothes. Her fiction titles include the award-winning Young Adult novel The Red Ribbon.
Dr Breann Fallon has been working in the cultural sector, educating on the Holocaust and other human rights issues since 2013. The granddaughter of non-Jewish survivors of Nazi persecution, Breann is focussed on ensuring we communicate the past to ensure a better present and future for all.
Breann also works to spread awareness of human rights issues across multiple platforms. She served on the 2023 Federal Senate Advisory Panel into the Banning of Nazi Symbols, is the host of the 2022 documentary Trafficked to Australia and is a presenter for ABC Radio National’s Religion and Ethics Unit.
As Head of Programming and Exhibitions, Breann leads the strategy and delivery of education, collections and curatorial in order to create meaningful, relevant and lasting experiences for the visitor.
Nearly 80 years after the Holocaust we still face many unanswered and perhaps unanswerable questions: what were the dilemmas faced by Jews who sought to leave Europe? How do we understand the role of ‘bystanders’ and notions of complicity? When atrocities are occurring in the fog of war, how can moral evaluation and imperatives to act be hampered? What questions are raised by the renewed focus on the perpetrators, through representations in film and theatre? How might these complexities be represented in Holocaust museums?
In this event, moderator Jayne Josem will facilitate a conversation exploring the complexities of such moral questions between Deakin University philosopher Associate Professor Patrick Stokes and Associate Professor of Ethics and Impact and Resident Ethicist at the Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership, Leslie Cannold.
Please join us for the inaugural event of a new annual series featuring conversations between experts on themes related to Holocaust history and memory. The event honours the contribution made by Jayne Josem to the Melbourne Holocaust Museum over two decades.
Patrick Stokes is associate professor of philosophy at Deakin University, and a writer, radio producer, and media commentator on philosophical matters. He is currently engaged in a three-year Australian Research Council-funded project, ‘Digital Death and Immortality.’ His most recent book is Digital Souls: A Philosophy of Online Death (Bloomsbury, 2021).
Dr Leslie Cannold is the Associate Professor of Ethics and Impact and Resident Ethicist at the Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership. A medical ethicist and fiction and non-fiction author who began her career studying under and later working towards Peter Singer, Leslie is known for her ability to translate complex ideas for non-specialist audiences on social media, radio and TV, including a widely watched TEDx talk and repeated appearances on ABC TV’s Compass and Q & A.
Leslie has been twice recognised as one of Australia’s foremost public intellectuals, has won an EVA award for gender-sensitive reporting and was the 2011 Humanist of the Year.
Jayne Josem is CEO of the Cranbourne Foundation, whose purpose is to advance and strengthen the Victorian Jewish community for generations to come.
Former CEO of the Melbourne Holocaust Museum, and long-time Curator and Head of Collections, Jayne was the recipient of the AMaGA Victoria Award for Excellence in 2022. Jayne spear-headed a substantial museum redevelopment project, was lead curator of the permanent exhibition Everybody Had a Name and executive producer of the powerful VR survivor testimony film Walk with Me.
Her work focussed on amplifying the voices of Holocaust survivors and sharing the MHM Collections widely through the physical and digital space, for the purpose of broader civic education. Over the years this has meant adapting and learning different modalities of presentation to attract and engage audiences. Throughout her career she has mentored students and young professionals and delivered papers at conferences and programs to share her knowledge.
Image | Courtesy of Sav Schulman.
Join us at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum for the rare opportunity to hear first-hand from Holocaust survivor Abram Goldberg OAM.
Abe was born in Lodz, Poland in 1924.
Following the Nazi invasion his family was sent to a camp near Krakow; Abe’s older sister fled east.
Abe’s and his parents escaped and return to Lodz, but two of his sisters remained in the camp.
Abe and his parents were imprisoned in Lodz Ghetto and forced to work as labourers. Abe’s father was deported in 1942 and murdered at Chelmno. In 1944 Abe and his mother were sent to Auschwitz, where his mother was gassed upon arrival.
Abe was sent to a series of camps before being liberated in 1945 in Wobbelin.
Only Abe’s older sister survived.
Abe arrived in Australia in 1951.
Join us on the 11th of August to meet Abe and learn about his experiences.
