Where They Settled: Australia

In the post-war years, Melbourne and Sydney were the principal centers of Holocaust survivor settlement in Australia, with more than 30,000 arrivals between the late 1930s and 1960, almost tripling the size of the country’s small Jewish population. Melbourne received the largest number of survivors, to have one of the highest per-capita survivor populations outside Israel. Many were from eastern Europe, with largest numbers from Poland, and their arrival transformed Melbourne’s Jewish community which to that time had been dominated by Anglo-Jewish Australians, fostering a vibrant Yiddish-speaking culture.

Melbourne's survivors formed tight-knit networks, often working in manufacturing, textiles, and small businesses in the city’s garment district. A handful of suburbs became centers of survivor life, with a network of Jewish welfare organizations and cultural institutions. Survivor-led landsmanshaftn, Yiddish cultural societies and newspapers, schools, and new synagogues flourished, fostering communal continuity. Holocaust education and memorialization was a priority, leading to the establishment of the Holocaust Museum in 1984, now a major communal institution.

In contrast, Sydney attracted larger numbers of survivors from Hungary, Germany and Austria and was more dispersed geographically and culturally. Survivors often entered small business, textiles, and trades. Sydney’s Jewish life became more diverse, although less tightly concentrated and with less Yiddish influence. The talk highlights how these divergent urban settings produced distinct patterns of rebuilding, identity formation, and community leadership among Australia’s Holocaust survivors.

Andrew Markus is Emeritus Professor in Monash University’s School of International, Historical and Philosophical Studies. In 2004, he was elected a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and in 2021 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO). He served as the founding Director of the Monash University's Australian Centre for Jewish Civilization. His research specialization is in the field of racial and ethnic relations and public opinion. He is the author or co-author of more than 100 academic articles, reference works and reports, and a number of books, including Australian Race Relations 1788–1993 (1994); Australia’s Immigration Revolution (2009); and Second Chance: A History of Yiddish Melbourne (2018).

Please note that this talk will be held Thursday at 4:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time (PDT)/Friday at 10:00 AM Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST)

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