Sydney Jewish Museum

Sydney Jewish Museum
Sydney Jewish Museum with NSW Jewish Board of Deputies on the left of it
Sydney Jewish Museum is located in Sydney
Sydney Jewish Museum
Location within Sydney
Established18 November 1992; 32 years ago (1992-11-18)
Location148 Darlinghurst Road, Darlinghurst, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Coordinates33°52′45″S 151°13′12″E / 33.879075°S 151.220017°E / -33.879075; 151.220017
TypeHolocaust museum
Websitesydneyjewishmuseum.com.au

The Sydney Jewish Museum is a history museum located in the Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst. It showcases exhibits relating to the Holocaust and the history and achievements of Jewish people in Australia.[1] The Museum displays personal objects of Holocaust survivors and other Jewish Australians and hosts presentations of their personal testimonies.[2]

The Holocaust exhibition

History

Prior usage of the site

The museum is housed in the historic Maccabean Hall, and was originally built to commemorate the contributions of the Jewish community from New South Wales who served in World War I.[3] The building was formally opened on Armistice Day 1923 by Jewish-Australian civil engineer and Australian Army commander General Sir John Monash. Before Maccabean Hall was chosen to become the Sydney Jewish Museum, it served as a hub for Jewish life in Sydney. After World War II Maccabean Hall was employed for various uses, including migrants' English lessons, weddings, rallies, and commemorative events for Anzac soldiers and Holocaust victims.[1][3][4]

Establishment

The Sydney Jewish Museum was established in 1992 by Holocaust survivors who came to Australia. It was officially opened by Rear Admiral Peter Sinclair, the Governor of New South Wales, on 18 November 1992.[1] The museum was founded by the late John Saunders and members of the Australian Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors. Australia has a higher proportion of Holocaust survivors (per capita) than any country except Israel.[5][6][7]

Resource Centre and Library

The museum library was originally created from the collection of books donated by the Australian Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors.[8] The Resource Centre and Library comprises over 6,000 volumes, journals, and tapes, including over 2,500 personal testimonies of Holocaust survivors in Australia.[3] The centre is open to the public during museum hours and staffed by a librarian. The collection provides materials for exhibitions and covers themes such as antisemitism, war crimes, the Holocaust in art and literature, and Australian Jewish history.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Sydney Jewish Museum : a museum of Australian Jewish history and the Holocaust ; a publication to mark the opening of the Museum on 18 November, 1992 by His Excellency Rear Admiral Peter Sinclair AC, Governor of New South Wales". Catalogue. State Library of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  2. ^ sjmadmin. "Our Story". Sydney Jewish Museum. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d "Sydney Jewish Museum". Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  4. ^ "Australian Jewish community and culture". Discover collections. State Library of NSW. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  5. ^ "Obituaries: John Saunders, AO". Sydney Morning Herald. 8 December 1997.
  6. ^ Joffe, Charmaine; Brodaty, Henry; Luscombe, Georgina; Ehrlich, Frederick (February 2003). "The Sydney holocaust study: posttraumatic stress disorder and other psychosocial morbidity in an aged community sample". Journal of Traumatic Stress. 16 (1): 39–47. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.486.4640. doi:10.1023/a:1022059311147. PMID 12602651. S2CID 26736396.
  7. ^ Paratz, Elizabeth D; Katz, Benny (21 February 2011). "Ageing holocaust survivors in Australia". Medical Journal of Australia. 194 (4): 194–197. doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2011.tb03771.x. PMID 21401461. S2CID 12959503. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  8. ^ Jacobs, Alan (August 1993). "From the Director's desk". The Sydney Jewish Museum Newsletter (2): 2.

Further reading

  • Sydney Jewish Museum : a museum of Australian Jewish history and the Holocaust ; a publication to mark the opening of the Museum on 18 November, 1992 by His Excellency Rear Admiral Peter Sinclair AC, Governor of New South Wales. The Museum. 1994.
  • "The Sydney Jewish Museum newsletter". The Museum (1993-2015). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  • "Yearbook Sydney Jewish Museum". The Museum (2010-2015). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)