Survivors’ lives rebuilt in Australia to shape Sydney Yom Hashoah commemorations

This year’s Yom HaShoah commemorations in Sydney will shift the focus from the horrors of the Holocaust itself to what followed: how survivors rebuilt their lives in Australia and how doing so helped shape the country they came to call home.

Organised by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, the commemorations span four events over three days. A Rookwood Memorial Service this Sunday, 12 April is followed by a Youth HEAR Yom HaShoah commemoration in the evening, an eastern suburbs communal commemoration on Monday 13 April, and a North Shore event on Tuesday, 14 April.

Shoah Remembrance Committee chair Dane Stern explains that this year’s theme, “Survivors in Australia: Rebuilding Lives,” continues from last year’s, which commemorated the 80th anniversary of liberation.

“We’re not focusing on survivors’ experience during the Shoah as much this year,” Stern told JWire. “We’re highlighting how they rebuilt their lives in Australia.”

For the first time since 2022, the North Shore commemoration returns, a sign, Stern said, of a deliberate effort to give more of the community access to the annual observance.

Stern said the central message of this year’s commemorations is the extraordinary contribution survivors made after arriving in Australia.

In place of a keynote speaker, the survivors themselves will take centre stage. Ernie Friedlander will speak about his survival and his life in Australia, while Dr Richard Haber will speak about the Righteous Among the Nations who saved him, especially Polish rescuer Danuta Gelles. Friedlander’s address will focus on rebuilding, on the gratitude he feels for the opportunities Australia gave him, and how that led him to give back through initiatives promoting harmony, inclusion and opposition to racism.

Stern said the intention was to show not only what survivors endured, but how deeply they valued the chance to begin again.

“We’re focusing on migration, survivors migrating to Australia, as well as their contributions to Australia and their appreciation for Australia,” he said.

“Having lost family, community and the fabric of their pre-war lives, survivors who came to Australia transformed profound loss into lives of resilience and contribution.”

Both evening programs open with a musical segment reflecting the journey to a new life, featuring Dvorak’s “New World Symphony”, performed by Chutney Unplugged with trumpeter Rafi Owen.

This will be followed by a tribute to the late Syd Einfeld. Widely credited with helping reshape Australia’s post-war migration settings, Einfeld played a hands-on role in welcoming Jewish arrivals, often coordinating housing, employment, and community connections for those who arrived with nothing. Edward Einfeld, Syd’s grandson, will deliver the tribute.

The eastern suburbs program also includes tributes to prominent pre-war refugee Albert Scheinberg and businessman Frank Lowy. Scheinberg’s story will be presented by his granddaughter Rosalie Hirsch and great-granddaughter Nicole Mann, reflecting a multi-generational legacy shaped by his arrival in Australia. Lowy’s story will be shared by his granddaughter Rina Ryba.

On the North Shore, the program includes a video presentation from Holocaust survivor Peter Halasz on building a life in Australia. A next generation address will be delivered by Steven and Romy Milch, the son and granddaughter of survivor Leon Milch.

One of the closing moments centres on a story that is itself a testament to the evening’s theme. Tommy Tycho was a Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor who arrived in Australia and became one of the country’s leading composers and arrangers, working extensively in television, film and orchestral music.

His arrangement of “Advance Australia Fair” became the version heard at major public and sporting events across the country. His daughter Vicky Tycho, will introduce the piece at the eastern suburbs event, reflecting on his life, survival and contribution to Australian culture.

The Rookwood Memorial Service on Sunday morning will centre on remembrance and the reading of names. NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip will open the service.

Warren Hurst of JewishCare will deliver the English address, reflecting the organisation’s historic role, under its former name, the Australian Jewish Welfare Society, in helping Holocaust survivors settle in Australia. Aaron Hechtman will deliver a Yiddish address, with a next generation address from Miriam Hechtman.

Dr George Foster, president of the Australian Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants, will introduce “Unto Every Person There is a Name”, followed by a communal reading of names.

YOUTH Hear

This year’s Youth HEAR Yom Hashoah commemoration carries the theme “Lo Levad – You Are Not Alone”, centred on the story of Holocaust survivor Dasia Black-Gutman, who, as a child, was given up by her family in a desperate act of love and survival. Her story is a testament to the courage and human connection that made survival possible even in the darkest of times.

The program will feature Dasia’s story through interview footage, alongside a message from her to young adults in Australia, presented live on stage.

As antisemitism continues to rise sharply across Australia, the theme takes on renewed urgency. It stands as both a tribute to those who refused silence during the Holocaust and a call for Australians today to stand alongside the Jewish community so that no one is left to face hatred alone.

Yom Hashoah is observed annually on 27 Nisan, with communities across Australia holding ceremonies to remember the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust and to reinforce the importance of confronting antisemitism.

Bookings for the communal commemorations can be made here.

Book for Youth HEAR’s Lo Levad event