Arnold Zable reminisces to the AJHS (Vic) about Cosmopolitan Carlton
 Drawing on his numerous stories,
essays, and research projects on Carlton, his own childhood, and his Carlton-based novel
Scraps of Heaven, Arnold Zable discusses the evolution of immigrant communities Carlton
in the post-war era. While the talk has a major focus on Yiddish Carlton, including the grand era
of Yiddish theatre at the Kadimah, the emphasis is on the cultural borders that were crossed,
making this a vibrant multicultural suburb long before the term was in vogue.
The talk is available for instant hearing here: Arnold Zable is one of Australia’s best-loved storytellers and an acclaimed writer, novelist and human rights advocate. His books include Jewels and Ashes, The Fig Tree, Wanderers and Dreamers, and three novels, Café Scheherazade, Scraps of Heaven and Sea of Many Returns. His new book, Violin Lesson, was published in August 2011. Arnold is the author of numerous stories, columns, features, essays, and works for theatre, including co-authorship of the play Kan Yama Kan in which asylum seekers tell their stories. He is president of the Melbourne Centre of PEN International, and has a doctorate in creative arts at Melbourne University, where he has been recently appointed a Vice Chancellor’s Fellow. | ||||
| Julie Meadows
100 Stories Presented at AJHS meeting of 22 October, 2011 Julie Meadows has created and coordinated the ‘Write Your Story’ project for Makor Jewish Community for over the past ten years. She collected and had published in book form the memoirs of 100 elderly community members including 70 Holocaust survivors.
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Emanuel Solomon and Mary McKillop | In this video historian Trevor Cohen, who is the great great great nephew of Emanuel Solomon, explains how Solomon twice came to the aid of Sister Mary McKilliop, when she was in dire difficulty. Solomon, who had come to Australia as a convict, had succeded against the odds to become a successful businessman and parliamentarian in Adelaide. Aged almost 70 years, he came to be a friend of Sister Mary McKillop, then aged under thirty, despite their manifold differences. But they had similarities in overcoming extreme difficulties through great strength of character. Emanuel Solomon came to the aid of Sister Mary Mckillop through providing free accommodation for her and members of her order. |
This video comprises an interview conducted by
Peter Jane Madam of SBS with Trevor Cohen.
Video. Duration 5:53 min Trevor Cohen: In order to understand Emanuel [Solomon] and the development of the kindred spirit that he shared with Mary [McKillop], who was born some 40 years after he was, we need to look at the extraordinary suffering he endured as a convict. We do know that that Mary reflected on her own childhood as one of sorrow, and her home life was most unhappy. And then for a while, after all her efforts, she was an outcast in her own church. | |
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The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Committee to Combat Fascism and Antisemitism 1942-1970 | ||||
Associate Professor Philip Mendes teaches Social Policy and Community Development at Monash University, and has been writing about the history of the Jewish Council since 1987. Philip is the author or co-author of seven books including The New Left, the Jews and the Vietnam War 1965-72 (1993) and Jews and Australian Politics (2004). His publications have appeared in a range of journals, including the Australian Journal of Politics and History, Australian Historical Studies, the Journal of Australian Studies, Labour History, and our own Australian Jewish Historical Society Journal. |
Presented on Thursday 7 October 2010
In this talk well known political scientist Philip Mendes outlined the history of the Jewish Committee to Combat Fascism and Anti Semitism (JCCFAS) from 1942, explains why the Council rose to a position of influence in the Melbourne Jewish Community, and equally how the Council disintegrated in 1952-53. His long-term study of this organization has been recently enriched by the release of various ASIO reports of that period. This fascinating history of the Council is placed within the context of broader reflections on the dilemmas facing Jewish Left groups, historically and today. In discussions with audience members Prof Mendes drew attention to the close similarity of the extreme lefties of the JCCFAS and contemporary Jewish Left winger groupers who have forged active links with Palestinian groups. In the earlier period these left-wingers were isolated from the mainstream community because of their refusal to acknowledge the existence of state sponsored antisemitism under both Stalin and Kruschev; while certain contemporary Jewish Lefties refuse to admit the goals advocated by Palestinian Groups, including both destruction of the Jewish state and removal of Jews from there and anywhere else. HAC 7/10/2010 |
At the meeting, there was a very sizeable group of people once affiliated with the Melbourne JCCFAS, leading to a most spirited discussion that is included in the podcast. The podcast includes this discussion and questions from the audience, , concluding with the vote of thanks moved by Rabbi Dr John Levi. The text of this podcast is available online, click here. to open in a new window. To download as the entire talk plus discussion as a podcast,  Click here
Included in this recording are comments from significant participants in the events discussed. |
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