Sydney Jewish Museum guide and Holocaust survivor George Grojnowski has passed away in Sydney at the age of 94.
The museum’s CEO Norman Seligman writes:
George belonged to that special group of people that made, and still make, the Sydney Jewish Museum so special – our Holocaust survivors.
It’s actually difficult to put into words what an impact he had on all of us whenever we met him and now with his passing.
George was an active volunteer and survivor guide at the Museum for 15 years.
His dedication to and passion for the Museum was extremely gratifying and George was in high demand to meet VIP visitors and school groups and was a special favourite of the Federal and NSW Police force – as part of their senior management training.
George was actually not that comfortable being in the Museum because of the bad memories that it brought up for him, but he considered it an imperative to talk, especially to counter Holocaust deniers.
One of the extremely important artefacts that we have on display in the Museum is the striped jacket that George wore on the death march from Buchenwald to Theresienstadt where he was liberated in May 1945.
Some of the things we will always remember about George was that he believed in the ultimate goodness of people, that he was very fair-minded, and that when he laughed, it was with so much joy.
We can all be so grateful for the miracles that saved George’s life at a time of incredible tragedy for him personally and the whole Jewish people.
He inspired us and taught us about resilience and how to persevere when things did not go according to plan.
On behalf of the Museum family, I want to pay tribute to George’s dedication and generosity, with his time and knowledge, over all the years. I wish Ella, Ian and Frank and their family members a long life.
George will be sadly missed by us all.
George Grojnowksi
Born: 23 January 1927, Radziejow, Poland
Died: Sydney, 31 March 2021, Australia