From Australia’s Jewish past

January 28, 2025 by Ruth Lilian
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Signora Rosina Tedeschi – Amazing woman and Italian tutor – extraordinaire – Part 1

Rosina was born in Torino (Turin) on 29 December 1893 to Sephardic parents, Gustavo and Adelina Falco, who were both born in Torino, their families having settled there during the days of the Spanish Inquisition.

Rosina Tedeschi

Her father was a bookkeeper and an amateur musician.  She was fortunate to have completed high school and beyond, as education was rare for Italian girls at that time.   She later studied classics and received a Diploma in English in Turin.  During the nineteen thirties, Rosina having become a teacher of Italian, Latin and French, ran a private coaching college teaching Italian and Latin in her parents’ home.   She also taught summer schools in Gstaad, Switzerland.   Rosina married Guido in 1921 and, with their only child, Robert, aged sixteen, left Italy for Switzerland in 1938, fleeing the discriminatory racial laws introduced by the Fascist government of Benito Mussolini. This ended Robert’s excellent secondary education at the classical Liceo D’Azeglio in Turin.  Her parents and brother remained in Italy.

After a year in Switzerland and the friendship of Rosina and an Australian girl who offered to sponsor the family, a few weeks before the outbreak of World War II, the family arrived in Sydney on 26 July 1939.  During August that year, Rosina received three postcards from her brother, who was travelling around Europe and having a grand time, she had thought to herself, “What on earth have I done coming here to the other side of the world?” She became convinced she had made a terrible mistake leaving her beloved Italy. Within a few weeks, Rosina was so overcome by the trauma of their migration that she had a complete nervous breakdown and had to be hospitalised. She was taken to the “Reception House” in Forbes Street, Darlinghurst, and then transferred to Gladesville Hospital where she stayed for the next 12 months.  In late 1940, she had a remarkable recovery, and within a couple of weeks, she was discharged completely cured.  She was full of energy and enthusiasm to make a new life for herself and her family and determined to secure Guido’s release from internment.

As we know, Australia was a very different country in the late thirties with very little understanding of European culture or cuisine.  Few people knew what a cappuccino was, or a pizza.  Mark Tedeschi, Rosina’s grandson has documented that once you ventured out of the capital cities, the best sit-down food you would generally get was a counter lunch at a pub, or a meal at a Greek milk bar or a Chinese restaurant. There was no such thing as pavement dining, and the standard fare in any Australian restaurant was roast beef or lamb with chips veggies and gravy.  No one had seen an avocado or an artichoke. Australia’s wine industry was still in its infancy. The White Australia Policy was strictly applied, there were no government schemes to assist migrants, with little leeway given to those whose English was less than perfect.

Rosina was fortunate to have completed a course in English while still in Italy, and she picked up more on the ship coming over, so within a short time of her arrival, she spoke English quite acceptably, as did Robert.  Unfortunately, Guido, who was forty-seven when he arrived, struggled with the language and it was difficult for him to cope with his new country.

On 1 September 1939, World War II broke out and by 10 June 1940, Italy joined the war on the Axis side with Germany.  Guido, who had not yet been in Australia long enough to become a citizen, was categorised as an enemy alien. On 5 August 1940, policemen came to his home, arrested him, and took him to Long Bay gaol.  He was informed that he would be interned in a camp for the duration of the war.  He responded to the effect: “But, I am a Jewish refugee who left Italy fleeing persecution by the Fascists”. They replied: “If you are Jewish, show us the ‘J’ in your passport, like all the other Jewish refugees from Europe”. He informed them: “There is no ‘J’ in Italian!” He produced evidence of having belonged to the Jewish faith, but the authorities seemed to think that all Italians were Catholics, that there was no such thing as an Italian Jew, and that Guido’s explanation was suspicious and pose a risk to national security.  As a result, a formal order was made for Guido’s internment. From Long Bay, he was taken firstly to a camp at Orange and then to another at Hay where he remained incarcerated.  Robert, who was not subject to an internment order, was able to visit him there several times.

Over the next six months of internment, Guido’s physical and mental health deteriorated. He suffered from myocarditis and anaemia, and he became confused, disoriented and withdrawn. The distance from family, his almost non-existent language skills in English, and the occasional sandstorm isolated him further from most of the other people in the camp.  On 25 February 1941, he was admitted to the Reception House and then transferred to Gladesville Hospital, where he remained for a lengthy period – still confined as an internee.  Rosina was determined to have her husband released from internment, she sought the help of Archbishop Panico, the Apostolic Delegate from the Holy See (the equivalent of the Ambassador of the Vatican). Perhaps she thought that at his level, he would be able to verify to the Australian authorities that there had been a Jewish community in Italy at the outbreak of the war and convince them that Guido did not pose any threat to the security of Australia.  Although Archbishop Panico assured her that he would help, Rosina did not realise that the one thing that a foreign diplomat would not do is interfere in the internal judicial or administrative processes of a foreign country, and therefore, nothing was done.

By mid-1941, with her husband still unwell but slowly recovering with some good medical care and still subject to an internment order, Rosina was desperate to reunite her family. One day, she was on a Sydney tram going home to the rented flat in Bellevue Hill, where she and Robert lived. At that time, Bellevue Hill was an unpopular suburb because, being close to the coast, it was considered at risk of attack by the Japanese from the sea. On her way home, Rosina mentioned to the tram conductor how her family had not been acknowledged as genuine refugees by the Australian authorities, resulting in her husband being unjustifiably interned, which had caused his health to deteriorate.

Mark, Rosina’s grandson, tells how the conversation with the tram conductor changed his grandparents’ lives. “I’m going to speak to my friend, the Premier”.  To an Italian, for a tram conductor to say such a thing was an indication of insanity and, certainly a tram conductor would never be ‘friends’ with the premier of a region.  At the time, the Premier was William McKell, later Sir William McKell – a highly respected, self-made man who had climbed to great heights from very modest origins.  One job during his early years was as a boilermaker in the Eveleigh railway workshops at Redfern, where presumably he befriended the tram conductor.  William later studied and became a lawyer, barrister and then a politician.   In August 1939, he became Party Leader of the New South Wales Parliamentary Labor Party and in May 1941 won the election to become Premier of New South Wales.  The tram conductor did indeed go to see his friend.  Within a few weeks of Rosina’s fortuitous tram journey, a judicial enquiry had been ordered in the Aliens Tribunal to investigate Guido’s internment. His case was heard on 8 August 1941 and was presided over by Justice Ian Pike. Several witnesses gave evidence at the hearing, including Robert Shaw, a lecturer in Italian at the University of Sydney, who stated that “he knew the family well and spoke well of them”. On 11 August 1941, the Tribunal recommended that Guido be released, noting that the family were Italians of the Jewish race, were forced to leave Italy owing to the anti-Jewish legislation and had arrived before the end of 1939. Twelve days later, on 23 August, a formal order was made for his release. Guido was asked to sign a document with parole conditions, requiring him to reside with his wife and preventing him from seeking any employment. Guido, Rosina, and Robert were finally reunited.

The story will continue next week

The AJHS acknowledges the following references in the preparation of this story:

Beginning with Esther – Lysbeth Cohen; Mark Tedeschi AM QC – Inside History; Traces – Uncovering the Past

The Australian Jewish Historical Society is the keeper of archives from the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 right up to today. Whether you are searching for an academic resource, an event, a picture or an article, AJHS can help you find that piece of historical material. The AJHS welcomes your contributions to the archives. If you are a descendant of someone of interest with a story to tell, or you have memorabilia that might be of significance for the archives, please make contact via www.ajhs.com.au or [email protected].

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