In ‘Soldiers and Aliens’, June Factor explores the forgotten history of the remarkable contribution of non-British subjects to Australia in World War II.
In this Book Chat, June discusses the ‘Employment Companies’, a uniquely multicultural force in the Army long before the term ‘multicultural’ was coined.
In conversation with David Slucki, Sarah Abrevaya Stein discusses her ground-breaking book, ‘Wartime North Africa: A Documentary History, 1934–1950’ (with Aomar Boum). A collection of primary documents on North African history and the Holocaust that gives voice to the diversity of those involved—Muslims, Christians, and Jews; women, men, and children; black, brown, and white; the unknown and the notable.
They will also discuss her review, ‘The Sassoon dynasty: Worldly Jews in a globalised world’ in the latest issue of Jewish Quarterly.
Special event to commemorate National Reconciliation Week.
Daniel James, a descendent of Aboriginal activist William Cooper, in conversation with Simon Holloway, Head of Education, Melbourne Holocaust Museum, discussing Cooper’s extraordinary life of activism, including his protests against Nazi persecution of Jews.
Daniel James and Dr Simon Holloway
Famed concert pianist, Simon Tedeschi, and New Zealand poet, Bryan Walpert, discuss the place of memory, music, poetry and prose in their creative and personal lives, in conversation with popular ABC RN radio presenter, Sarah Kanowski.
Two recent books have offered new insights into the remarkable exploits and achievements of the ‘Dunera Boys’. Leah Garrett’s X Troop recounts the story of a secret commando group made up of Jewish refugees in Australia and elsewhere, who returned to Europe to liberate concentration camps. The Passenger, a lost novel by Ulrich Boschwitz, a Dunera Boy, describes the descending cloak of Nazi atrocities in Germany, and has been translated and published to universal acclaim. Sarah Krasnostein and Gideon Haigh discuss the enduring legacy of the Dunera Boys.
Jonathan Pearlman (moderator), Sarah Krasnostein, Gideon Haigh
MJBW and JQ present the latest in our series of Global Conversations. Join internationally acclaimed author and academic Eva Hoffman and Melbourne poet, writer and book editor Alex Skovron.
Eva has written an important new essay for Jewish Quarterly about the remarkable but almost forgotten Polish Jewish poet Zuzanna Ginczanka (Gincburg), who was murdered by the Nazis in January 1945, aged just 27. The discussion – while focusing on Ginczanka, her life and her poetic legacy – will also explore some broader issues raised by the subject, as well as touching on other aspects of Hoffman’s work and concerns.
Elissa Goldstein will be in conversation with Michael Twitty, a riveting storyteller and a 21st-century multi-hyphenate talent. Michael is a culinary historian and educator with a focus on African, African-American and Jewish cuisines; a Judaic studies teacher; and a historical interpreter who specialises in the foodways of enslaved people, which profoundly influenced contemporary America.
Our first MJBW seasonal book club selection – Juliet Rieden’s ‘The Writing on the Wall’ — was a memoir uncovering a personal Holocaust tragedy of epic proportions. The conversation between Rieden and Bram Presser offered readers an intriguing and rewarding chat with particular viewpoints from audience members being eloquently answered.
