ASPJ Life Members
ASPJ Life Members
BERNARD KORBMAN, OAM
Life Membership awarded December 2021
Since its foundation back in 2009, Bernard Korbman OAM has been the philosophical and spiritual driving force behind the Australian Society of Polish Jews & Their Descendants. It was his ideal and motivation that inspired the rebirth of a Polish-Jewish organisation after what had been a hiatus of more than twenty-five years.
For the past eleven years, Bernard has served the ASPJ as its Founding President, President, Co-President, Vice-President and Board member. However, he has felt that now was the right time for him to step down and allow others to take the reins.
IZYDOR MARMUR, OAM
Life Membership awarded December 2021
Izydor Marmur OAM is one of the foundation members of the Australian Society of Polish Jews and Their Descendants. Since its foundation in 2009, Izy has served our organisation in many capacities, including as President, Vice-President and, until today, as Editor of the ASPJ’s publication “Haynt”.
He was a co-Instigator of the Friends of Poland Victorian Parliamentary Group. In 2014, he was presented with a Volunteer Award by Jewish Community Council of Victoria. Izydor, along with others, has been a driving force in bringing Victoria’s Polish and Jewish communities closer together.
From Our Webmaster
From Our Webmaster
Andrew Rajcher - Melbourne, Australia
Welcome to the new and upgraded website of the Australian Society of Polish Jews and Their Descendants!
Our original website went online in 2009, following the emergence of the ASPJ from the dormant remains of the Worldwide Fedaration of Polish Jews. Since then, the website underwent a minor facelift but, with the advent of more advanced website, multi-platform and multimedia technology, it was really time to take advantage of these advancements and to develop an entirely new website.
In putting this new website online, I’d like to draw a few of its new features to your attention:
- The top left-hand corner now features the ability to instantly translate everything from English into either Polish or Hebrew.
- The top right-hand corner now features the ability to search the entire website for specific text (the magnifying-glass symbol). Next to that are two other symbols – the envelope symbol which will allow you to email me directly and the house symbol which will return you to the website’s home page.
- Notifications of new material on this website will be automatically posted onto our Facebook group with a link back to the relevant part of the website itself.
- When future major events occur, you will be able to register for them directly through this website.
Finally, I’d like to thank our website programmer Viv Rotstein for her work in setting up the structure of our new website and for her patience, both now and ongoing, in teaching me how to use it all.
I hope that everyone likes our new web home. As always, I welcome comments and suggestions which can be emailed to me by using the envelope symbol in the top right-hand corner of any page on the website.
Enjoy!
The ASPJ Logo
The ASPJ Logo
The Symbolism
The ASPJ’s logo, as is the case with most logos, is symbolic.
The Magen David (Star of David) speaks for itself – that,
as members of this organisation, we are first and foremost Jews.
The white background with the red symbolises Poland,
where our roots lie, while the white combined with the
red and blue represents our home, Australia.
The grey symbolises the Holocaust and the horrific events that
affected all Survivors from Poland, and their descendants,
and which will forever be part of who we are today.
ASPJ Membership
ASPJ Membership
Even though the name of our Society is indicative of
our general identity, our membership policy is intended
to be as inclusive as possible.
Naturally, we encourage all Jews, whose roots lie in Poland,
to become a Member and join in our activities.
However, even if you are not Jewish but are interested in
Polish-Jewish relations, history and/or dialogue,
we also encourage you to join us and invite you to apply for
Associate Membership.
Even though Membership is open to Jews aged sixteen years and over,
we also encourage young members under the age of sixteen,
who are interested in their heritage and history, to become an
Associate Member.
ASPJ Board Members
ASPJ Board Members
LENA FISZMAN
Co-Secretary
Lena is a child of Holocaust Survivors from Radom and Kraków. For many years, she worked for the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Melbourne. She is also a professional actress.
Lena has visited Poland three times and is deeply committed to preserving and fostering her Polish-Jewish heritage and promoting Polish/Jewish dialogue.
EVA HUSSAIN
Board Member (Melbourne-based)
Eva Hussain was born in Poland and immigrated to Australia in 1985. She is an accredited NAATI translator and interpreter and the Director of Polaron, a translation and European citizenship consultancy.
Eva’s former voluntary roles include Deputy President of the Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators AUSIT, President of the Polish-Australian Chamber of Commerce and board member of Polish Community Services of Victoria.
EZRA MAY
President
Ezra, born in Australia , is the son and grandson of Polish Jews from Kraków, Poland.
He has a strong interest in learning about and preserving the memory of the dynamic, rich and vibrant pre-War Jewish communities of Poland. He is also committed to exploring and engaging in contemporary Polish/Jewish dialogue.
KAREN PAKULA
Board Member (Sydney-based)
Karen is the daughter of Holocaust survivors from Chorzew and Vienna. A former journalist with The Sydney Morning Herald, she is writing about her family’s history through a second-generation lens.
Her work explores the re-emergence of Polish Jewry and the ongoing Polish-Jewish dialogue. She lives in Sydney with her husband and two daughters.
DAVID PRINCE
Board Member (Melbourne-based)
David was born and lived in Łódż, and the Litzmannstadt Ghetto. He was deported on the last train to Auschwitz-Birkenau and then to a working camp (a sub-camp of Gross-Rosen) in Germany. He was liberated on 9th May 1945 by the Soviet Army.
Educated in Munich and Melbourne, David now works as a volunteer guide at the Jewish Holocaust Centre and considers it his duty to remember his origins and improve relations with Christian Poles by remembering the atrocities committed on Polish soil.
ANDREW RAJCHER
Treasurer and Webmaster
Andrew is the son of Holocaust Survivors from Częstochowa and Sosnowiec. As a former professional consultant to non-profit and charitable organisations, he has been actively involved in the Jewish community for many years, both professionally and as a volunteer.
As a regular visitor to Poland, Andrew has worked as a longtime volunteer with numerous Jewish organisations in Poland. As a Polish-to-English translator, Andrew is the longest serving volunteer at Warsaw’s POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
Andrew is a member of the Executive of the World Society of Częstochowa Jews and Their Descendants. He is a dual Australian/Polish citizen, speaks fluent Polish and is actively involved in Polish/Jewish dialogue.
ESTELLE ROZINSKI
Vice-President (Sydney-based)
Estelle was born in Melbourne and is the daughter of Holocaust survivors. Her entire professional life has been in education and she is most proud of her work mentoring Aboriginal youth at risk and students.
More recently, through her Tikkun Olam series, she has worked as a curator, bringing together artists of Aboriginal, Jewish, Hindu and Korean descent looking for common ground and shared experiences.
The Mezzuzah Project is her most recent passion, celebrating the diverse and vibrant Jewish communities of Poland from before 1939. The “Missing Mezzuzot of Zduńska Wola” is the first exhibition in this series – it is now on permanent display in the museum there.
PETER SCHNALL
Co-Secretary
Peter is the son of Holocaust survivors from Kraków and Łódż. He is President of the President of the Kraków Memorial Committee in Melbourne, which was created by Survivors and is now run by their descendants to honour and remember loved ones who perished in the Holocaust from Kraków.
Peter is strongly committed to preserving the memory of the large and vibrant pre-war Jewish Community of Poland. This task involves actively seeking ways to support education about the Holocaust to honour the memory of the Jewish community of Poland.
Interested in commemorations, Peter is very pleased to receive suggestions and ideas from Survivors, their children and friends. He is also actively seeking vital perspectives for the third generation so as to ensure that their heritage will be remembered for future generations to come.
LUCY TAKSA
Board Member (Sydney-based)
Lucy was born in Poland and came to Australia as an infant. Her family originated in Poland and the Ukraine and survived the Holocaust in the far eastern regions of the USSR. Lucy is a professor, who undertakes research into various dimensions of migrant employment and well-being.
Lucy has been an academic at the University of New South Wales and Macquarie Universities. She was previously a non-judicial member of the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal Equity Division, Chair of the Board of the NSW State Records and Archives and a non-executive board member of Settlement Services International Ltd.
From the ASPJ President, Ezra May
From the ASPJ President
Dear Members and Friends,
Thankfully. 2022 has seen us emerge from the COVID-impacted 2020 and 2021. Although there are still some legacy pandemic adjustments, it is pleasing to report that the Australian Society of Polish Jews & Their Descendants (ASPJ) is back full throttle.
We recommenced our first in-person event in December 2021, with the presentation of the 2021 Henryk Sławik Award. It was a wonderful evening, where we caught up with friends we had not seen for a while, heard wise words from our recipient, Arnold Zable, and awarded .
Since then, the ASPJ has hosted further live events.
It was a great thrill, in July 2022, for the ASPJ to host, in a packed Beth Weizmann Jewish Community Centre auditorium in Melbourne, the acclaimed creative project curated by our Vice-President Estelle Rozinski from NSW, “… and he taught the canaries to sing”, featuring animations and stories celebrating vignettes of pre-War Jewish life in Poland.
Most recently, in September 2022 in Melbourne and in Sydney (for the first time), the ASPJ hosted its 2022 ASPJ Oration, featuring Dariusz Popiela of “People, not Numbers” and the Australian premiere of his film “Edge of Light”. Dariusz’s visit to Australia, highlighted by the film and his Orations, were an outstanding success. Darek’s charming personality coupled with his humility, universally impressed and inspired all those who took the opportunity to hear about his work in restoring forgotten cemeteries and identifying forgotten victims.
As well as these live events, during the past few months, the ASPJ has continued hosting high quality Webinars, which included
- in August 2022, an online tour of the Galicia Jewish Museum from Kraków, followed by a discussion with its director Jakub Nowakowski
- in June 2022 a webinar “Jewish-Poland and its Role in the Ukraine Refugee crisis” with Poland Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich.
Recordings of these plus a host more webinars, functions and material are available for viewing on this website and on our ASPJ Youtube channel.
On the diplomatic front, the ASPJ was invited to farewell the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Australia His Excellency Mr Michał Kołodziejski in July 2022 at both a public gathering and also in a private meeting. The ASPJ formally acknowledges the friendship and efforts of His Excellency the Ambassador in further developing Polish-Jewish relations. The ASPJ was also pleased to hear from His Excellency Lloyd Brodrick, Australian Ambassador to Poland, the Czech Republic and Lithuania, who personally advised that, in July 2022, he accompanied Australian Governor-General David Hurley, on the first-ever visit to Poland by an Australian Governor-General, or an Australian Governor-General’s first-ever official visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where he paid respects to the victims on behalf of the Australian Government and people.
I’ll also take this opportunity to reiterate publicly our very warm and heartfelt congratulations to the Polish Community Council of Victoria (PCCV) on the milestone of the 60th anniversary of their establishment. The strong relationships developed, both personally and communally, between the ASPJ and the PCCV, reflects the genuine commitment and cooperation of our organisations to strengthen our areas of common interest. It is also an indication of the remarkable people involved in both organisations since their establishment.
The ASPJ’s Statement of Purpose is “To preserve and promote the historical and cultural heritage of Jewish life in Poland and to foster understanding between current and future generations of the Polish and Jewish communities“.
These are ambitious and noble aims, yet ones, at least I think, we do well. Notwithstanding the challenges, it is the work the ASPJ and its members and supporters do, as highlighted earlier, at grass roots, communal and high level governmental and diplomatic levels, that is very much at the forefront of preserving and promoting the historical and cultural heritage of Jewish life in Poland and fostering increased understanding between the Polish and Jewish communities.
We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible both online and especially in person at our upcoming functions. There are already many and varied webinars, events and functions in planning for the coming months.
As we approach the Jewish New Year season, the ASPJ wishes everyone a Sweet and Happy New Year. May it be a year full of health, happiness and peace for all.
Shana Tova, Szczesliwego Nowego Roku, Happy New Year,
Ezra May,
President, ASPJ.