HAYNT is the magazine of the Australian Society of Polish Jews and Their Descendants.

It is published three times annually and features articles on the ASPJ’s events and other activities, as well as articles on Polish-Jewish issues in Australia and Poland.

Click HERE to read this current issue!

It is with immense sadness that we mourn the passing of David Prince z”l – Holocaust Survivor – a founding and, until his passing, continuing member of the Board of Management of the Australian Society of Polish Jews & Their Descendants.

We invited his daughter, Frances Prince, to write a tribute to her late father on behalf of his family.

Frances Prince writes:

David Prince passed away in the early hours of Monday, 28th March 2022, with both his adult children (my older brother Issy and myself) by his side. This was a few weeks before what would have been his 97^th birthday.

David was an inaugural Board Member of the ASPJ. He felt honoured to have been approached to join the organisation. He sincerely believed in its aims and aspirations.

Dad was born in Łódź, Poland, to Frymet Chaya (nee Klejnbaum) and Israel Princ. He, and his twin brother, Heniek, were born during Pesach/Passover, 1925.

They enjoyed a lower-middle class, family-oriented childhood in the heart of Jewish Łódź. In David’s words, “What were kids doing? Hanging around other kids, skating in winter, soccer in summer, running 400 metre and 800 metre races, indoor gym, chatting up girls.”

His primary education was undertaken at the Fajnhaus School at ul. Zawadska 26 and No. 123 State School 123 ul. Wolczańska 21. His one precious year of secondary education took place at the Szwajcer School. In my many conversations with Dad about his childhood and identity, he was always clear that his Jewish and Polish identities sat side-by side comfortably.

As he said, “Polish is my first language. It’s my mother tongue. We spoke Polish at home. But my grandparents spoke Yiddish to us. At school, I learnt Polish history, Polish literature, Polish geography. The books which I read as a child were all in Polish. It was a normal part of my life. Polish and Jewish – Jewish and Polish. That’s just how it was.”

On 1st September 1939, this carefree childhood ended. David was fourteen years old.  Within weeks of the German invasion of Poland, David, together with all the Jews of Łódź, was subjected to a slew of anti-Jewish laws and the enforced wearing of the blue armband and then, later, the yellow star.

When the Łódź (Litzmannstadt) Ghetto was formed, Frymet Chaya, Israel, Heniek and Dad moved into the ghetto’s designated borders in Baluty. They lived with Dad’s youngest aunt, Mala and her husband, Salek. As Dad would describe, “It was the oldest, poorest, shabbiest, and the unsewered part of town.”

Dad and his family were incarcerated in the Łódź Ghetto from the day it was “closed”, 1st May 1940 until the end of August 1944. They experienced forced labour, diminishing food supplies, unhygienic living conditions, resultant disease, and on-going violence. The transportations to the Chełno death camp claimed countless family members and friends.

Frymet Chaya, Israel, Heniek and Dad were pushed onto the very last train that left the Łódź Ghetto, the last ghetto in Europe, bound for Auschwitz-Birkenau. Upon their brutal arrival, Frymet Chaya was viciously separated from Israel, Heniek and Dad. Dad would say, “It all happened so quickly. There was no time for a motherly kiss or hug goodbye.”

After one week in Auschwitz-Birkenau, Israel, Heniek and David were placed on a train to a slave labour camp called Friedland. There, they made propeller parts for the German air force. On 8th May 1945, they were liberated.

The immediate years after the war saw Dad living in Munich as a university student, studying pharmacy. How Dad ever passed the entrance exams to the Ludwig Maximillian University- with his one year of high school education – confounded him for the rest of his life. As he often said, “How could I have ever aspired to such a thing as a university education?”

Unbeknownst to him, another survivor from Poland, Ella Salzberg, was undergoing the same grueling study regime in order to gain entrance to the same university. Dad, the pharmacy student met Mum, the dentistry student, at the Jewish Students Cafeteria. They married on 23rd December 1947.

Mum and Dad immigrated to Australia in January 1950.

Dad worked as a fitter and turner, on a lathe, in factories. This was a skill he learned in the Łódź Ghetto. His German pharmacy degree was not recognised in Australia and they did not have the finances for him to return to university. Through determination, perseverance, and hard work, Dad went back to university in the mid-1950’s to study pharmacy. He was ten years older than the rest of the students, with a wife and child, my brother, Issy. When Dad graduated, I was born.

Throughout the decades, Mum and Dad focused on building his professional, pharmacy career and on raising Issy and me. They created a loving Jewish home for the two of us. Our well- being was their priority.

Dad had a love of life and energy levels to be admired and emulated. He liked to engage with all those around him, no matter what age or generation. Always the life of the party.

His interests and passions included Yiddishkeit, an appreciation of the State of Israel, loyalty in friendship, professional excellence, integrity, service to the community, having a sense of humour, pride in a job well-done and love of family.

May his memory be for a blessing

It is with immense pleasure that the Australian Society of Polish Jews & Their Descendants can announce that our 2022 ASPJ Oration, in Melbourne and in Sydney, will be delivered by Dariusz Popiela, Polish champion kayaker and the founder of the “People, Not Numbers” project.

Dariusz’s project researches the names of Holocaust victims, who are buried in mass graves inside cemeteries and elsewhere. Monuments are then erected bearing the names of these victims, so that their memory will live on.

Through his efforts, more than 5,000 Holocaust victims from Krościenko nad Dunajcem, Grybów, Czarny Dunajec and Nowy Targ have, thus far, been commemorated by name. For many years, Dariusz has also co-organised anniversary commemorations related to the Jewish history of his home town of Nowy Sącz.

The “People, Not Numbers” project also holds meetings with young people in schools, during which the history of the local community is presented. It conducts educational trips to the Extermination Museum at Bełżec, where young people learn the tragic history of the former inhabitants of their town, and then schools and their students become patrons of their local monument-memorial site.

Dariusz also searches for matzevot and for items left behind by Jewish inhabitants. With the cooperation of and dialogue with local communities, it has been possible to recover tombstones, which have spent decades in backyards outside of cemeteries. These matzevot undergo specialist restoration and are then placed inside cemeteries.

For his work, Dariusz Popiela, was named as the winner of the 2021 POLIN Award, presented at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. This honour, awarded annually since 2015, is presented to non-Jewish people or organisations, whose activities protect the memory of the history of Polish Jews and who contribute to the shaping of a common future, mutual understanding and respect. The POLIN Award jury recognised Dariusz’s incredible energy to act and to inspire others to become involved in this project.

FILM PREMIERE SCREENINGS

Accompanying Dariusz’s Oration will be the Australian premiere screenings of this compelling film, which follows him and a group of young Polish students as they work to restore old, forgotten Jewish cemeteries in order to honour the memory of those murdered in the Shoah and whose tombstones were damaged or destroyed.

Combining personal and collective narratives, the film showcases their selfless efforts , which challenge the stereotype of Jewish-Polish antagonism, as they bring attention to the memory of the Polish Jewry.

DETAILS OF EVENTS

(Bookings open 1st August! Seating is limited!)

HAYNT is the magazine of the Australian Society of Polish Jews and Their Descendants.

It is published three times annually and features articles on the ASPJ’s events and other activities, as well as articles on Polish-Jewish issues in Australia and Poland.

Click HERE to read this current issue!

HAYNT is the magazine of the Australian Society of Polish Jews and Their Descendants.

It is published three times annually and features articles on the ASPJ’s events and other activities, as well as articles on Polish-Jewish issues in Australia and Poland.

Click HERE to read this current issue!

It is with immense pleasure that we learned that the great friend of the ASPJ, Dariusz Popiela, has been named as the winner of the 2021 POLIN Award, presented at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. This honour, awarded annually since 2015, is presented to people or organisations whose activities protect the memory of the history of Polish Jews and who contribute to the shaping of a common future, mutual understanding and respect.

The Award jury acknowledges those  who have demonstrated important, extraordinary activity which has made a significant impact on the social awareness of the history of Polish Jews and on building Polish-Jewish relations.

Polish champion kayaker, Dariusz Popiela, is the founder of the “People, Not Numbers” project, which researches the names of Holocaust victims who are buried in mass graves inside cemeteries and elsewhere. Monuments are then erected bearing the names of these victims, so that their memory will live on.

Through his efforts, more than 5,000 Holocaust victims from Krościenko nad Dunajcem, Grybów, Czarrny Dunajec and Nowy Targ have, thus far, been commemorated by name. The Award jury recognised Dariusz’s incredible energy to act and to inspire others to become involved in this project. For many years, Dariusz has also co-organised anniversary commemorations related to the Jewish history of his home town of Nowy Sącz.

The “People, Not Numbers” project also holds meetings with young people in schools, during which the history of the local community is presented. It conducts educational trips to the Extermination Museum at Bełżec, where young people learn the tragic history of the former inhabitants of their town, and then schools and their students become patrons of their local monument-memorial site.

Dariusz also searches for matzevot and for items left behind by Jewish inhabitants. With the cooperation of and dialogue with local communities, it has been possible to recover tombstones, which have been spent decades in backyards outside of cemeteries. These matzevot undergo specialist restoration and are then placed inside cemeteries.

Dariusz Popiela is a Beijing Olympian, a nine-time Polish Champion (last title in 2021) and multiple medalist of the World and European Championships in kayaking.

The ASPJ sincerely congratulates Dariusz. This honour is well-deserved!

COVID notwithstanding, we hope to welcome Dariusz to Australia in 2022 to deliver the 2022 ASPJ Oration,
and to screen the Australian premiere of his film “Edge of Light”.

Watch this video to learn about this year’s POLIN Award nominees.

Source: POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.

HAYNT is the magazine of the Australian Society of Polish Jews and Their Descendants.

It is published three times annually and features articles on the ASPJ’s events and other activities, as well as articles on Polish-Jewish issues in Australia and Poland.

Click HERE to read this current issue!