VOLUME 10 NO 3
Dear Child Survivors of the Holocaust, We trust you are well and managing as best you can in these challenging times. Who would have thought since our last edition here we are again back in lockdown (writing this letter, late July). I am not a big fan of Zoom meetings and when I am invited to join in, I do hesitate; technology is not one of my strong points. Often the discussion turns to how much everyone is missing the football, dining out, retail therapy and of course visits from friends and family. I can see myself in the little square on the screen starting to look like someone who is about to launch into a speech... and then I do just that! I asked “Do you have any idea what Child Survivors went through during the Holocaust? What do you know about the child survivors who were fortunate enough to land in Australia with and without families, arriving with nothing, zero? No language, no money, no extended government support? Against all the odds Child Survivors and their surviving family members carved out lives for themselves in turn creating future generations who benefited by receiving the type of education Child Survivors could only dream about. Hard work and getting on with providing
AUGUST 2021
the necessities of life, was the only magic formula”. It seems my words are appreciated. I have been told the Child Survivors’ history does present a “different perspective” to this pandemic; as it should. We invited some of our child survivor members to write in and tell us how they are going and reflect on what is important in their lives at this time; a big thank you to all our contributors. If you would like to email me, Viv Parry at viv.parry@bigpond.com I would be really pleased to receive your contribution for our next edition. If you have changed your email address or contact phone number please let Lena know lena@lenafiszman.com.au. To any of our Child Survivor members who are going through difficult times right now be it health concerns or other please know you are in our thoughts as you always will be; we wish you well, speedily and soon. Lena and I wish you and yours Le Shana Tova! We are still over 265 Child survivor members strong here in Melbourne, let’s send out a big warm hug to each and every one. Kindest regards, Viv and Lena.
From Lena’s Desk The following is article about the ‘Dunera’ exhibition in Tatura, which highlights the artwork of the late Paul
Mezulianik who was interned as an ‘Enemy Alien’ along with 2,000 other ‘Dunera Boys’ in 1940.
The secret artwork of a former ‘Dunera Boy’ shipped to Australian internship camp in WWII The secret artwork of a 19-year-old man who was one of thousands of mostly German and Austrian refugees sent to internment camps in Australia during the 1940s is being displayed in north-east Victoria. Paul Mezulianik, along with about 2,000 others, was shipped on board the British passenger ship the Dunera after being designated an “Enemy Alien” by the British government in 1940. They were interned in camps in rural areas of Australia but released when no longer seen as a threat. Most, but not all, were Jewish. It was not until about the time of Mezulianik’s death in
Many artworks created by Paul Mezulianik during the war are on display at the Tatura Irrigation and Wartime Camp Museum. (Supplied: Michelle Frenkel)