Melbourne Holocaust museum witness to anti-Semitism vows

In the darkest hour for Jewish Australians since the Holocaust, they came from all over to say we are with you and to call out the scourge of anti-Semitism.

Anthony Albanese and Holocaust survivors at the Wednesday opening of the Melbourne Holocaust Museum in southeastern Elsternwick. Picture: NCA Newswire / Nicki Connolly

In the darkest hour for Jewish Australians since the Holocaust, they came from all over to say we are with you and to call out the scourge of anti-Semitism.

The who’s who of Australian leaders who turned up for the opening of the refurbished Melbourne Holocaust Museum in Elsternwick in the city’s southeast were there not only to honour the losses of the past but to address the grim reality of the present.

It seemed fitting that the speaker who captured the moment best was Auschwitz concentration camp survivor Abram Goldberg. “At 99 years of age, I never thought we would be faced with such vehement anti-­Semitism in our wonderful country,” he told an audience that included Anthony Albanese, Peter Dutton, Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan and her opposition counterpart, local federal members and Jewish leaders.

“Our voices need to be heard, the voice of reason needs to be heard.”

The crowd rose to applaud the words of the man whose life mission was to honour the promise he made to his mother before she was murdered in Auschwitz that he would survive, tell their story and call out anti-Semitism.

He was one of 16 Holocaust survivors who listened intently as the Prime Minister vowed that the country would never allow a rising tide of anti-Semitism around the globe gain a foothold in Australia.

The Opposition Leader spoke of the need for “moral courage and clarity” in opposing anti-­Semitism. Those in attendance observed a minute’s silence for the 1200 Israeli victims and 240 hostages of the Hamas terror raid of October 7.

The opening of the refurbished museum comes at a time when anti-Semitic incidents are at record level across the country amid fallout from the October 7 attack and the high civilian death toll in Gaza from Israel’s war on Hamas.

Shops and businesses in the Jewish suburb of Elsternwick, where the MHM is located, have recorded a slump in business since a violent pro-Palestinian protest in nearby Caulfield two weeks ago. Shop owners say the local Jewish community is staying at home in the current environment.

Among those attending the MHM opening was former treasurer and prominent Jewish community member Josh Frydenberg, who said the event was both significant and timely. “To see our political leaders from both sides of the political aisle send an unequivocal message that anti-Semitism is not tolerated in Australia was very timely,“ he said.

‘What we are seeing in Aus­tralia and around the world has echoes of the 1930s and it is incumbent to speak out and to stamp out anti-Semitism.

“Here at the museum, current and future generations can learn about the atrocities of the past and how intelligent, cultured people could descend so low. In order to know where we are going, we have to know where we have come from and the horrors of the Holocaust are a lesson to us all.”

His comments came as the Education Department in Victoria toughened its advice about a planned “School Strike for Palestine” scheduled for Thursday, saying schools should be conscious of its impact on the increase of anti-Semitism and its impact on the Jewish community.

The department’s previous advice did not mention the Jewish community, which subsequently obtained more than 6000 signatures of parents, students and teachers to oppose a strike they said would be divisive and damaging to Jewish students.

Ms Allan has said she expected students to stay at school rather than strike but she has not gone as far as her NSW counterpart Chris Minns, who said a similar strike planned for NSW was wrong.