Margaret Taft Libri

They came from an old world to a new land. The Yiddish speakers from Eastern Europe brought few material possessions but clung to a language and a culture that defined who they were, a way of life that had endured pogroms, persecution, and a genocide that pushed them to the brink of extinction. Melbourne gave them a second chance at life, an opportunity to rebuild a secular Yiddish world that sat at the core of their existence. The arts flourished, newspapers were launched, and schools were established. But these immigrants also brought their competing political ideals, hotly contested notions of what it meant to be a Jew, and how to live life in this furthest corner of the world.Yiddish speakers, with their boisterous demeanour and high visibility challenged the authority of the established Jewish community, which traced its origins to the first settlement and which believed that 'blending in' was the antidote to antisemitism. Using the voices of the immigrants themselves and archival sources, the authors give a compelling account of how these Yiddish speakers came to shape, change and define an entire community.

During the darkest days of the Holocaust, Europe's Jews faced annihilation. In faraway Melbourne, immigrants Leo and Mina Fink rallied to rescue the survivors. It was a massive task. Undaunted, they battled bureaucrats, public opinion and at times the Minister for Immigration Arthur Calwell. Marshalling the might of local and international agencies, they spearheaded the urgent relief and resettlement of thousands of displaced Holocaust survivors desperate to leave a shattered Europe, a graveyard continent of dust and ashes. By 1954, 17,000 survivors called Australia home. Following the chaos of war, Leo and Mina remained at the forefront of communal life. They initiated expansive welfare programs, while personally helping countless individuals. Mina's devotion to a group of war orphans known as the 'Buchenwald boys' was testament to her and Leo's relentless efforts to improve the lives of others. Leo and Mina Fink's remarkable story is skilfully told through the turbulent, rapidly changing times in which they lived. This is a compelling account of how and why two individuals set out to change the world for the greater good.