Memories of Jewish Child Refugees in Australia

Abstract

Located in the city of Melbourne, Australia, the Jewish Holocaust Museum and Research Centre (JHC) is an important repository of memories of Jews subjected to Nazi persecution who subsequently migrated to Australia. Among those who found refuge in Melbourne were a small number of children who came under organised schemes. These included 20 teenagers who sailed on the Jervis Bay in May 1939 under the auspices of the Welfare Guardian Society and the Save the Children Fund, and 17 children sailing on the Orama in June 1939. Some of the Kindertransport children and adolescents also later migrated to Australia from Great Britain. The JHC has documented their Holocaust experiences, especially the aftermath, through its ever-expanding videotestimony collection and the ‘Shelter from the Storm’ exhibition. It becomes clear through their testimonies that these now elderly survivors were highly traumatised through the separations and displacements forced upon them as children.