Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Convicts and Early Settlement
- 2 Waves of Migration
- 3 A Place in Australian Society
- 4 The Watershed Years
- 5 Diverse Voices
- 6 Israel and Zionism
- 7 Transformation or Disappearance?
- 8 Jewish Women
- 9 The Broader Community
- 10 Recent Immigrants
- Conclusion
- Appendix 1 Synagogues
- Appendix 2 Parliamentarians
- Appendix 3 Hostels, 1945–1960
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
9 - The Broader Community
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Convicts and Early Settlement
- 2 Waves of Migration
- 3 A Place in Australian Society
- 4 The Watershed Years
- 5 Diverse Voices
- 6 Israel and Zionism
- 7 Transformation or Disappearance?
- 8 Jewish Women
- 9 The Broader Community
- 10 Recent Immigrants
- Conclusion
- Appendix 1 Synagogues
- Appendix 2 Parliamentarians
- Appendix 3 Hostels, 1945–1960
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Since World War II, Jews have continued to make a substantial contribution to Australian society, particularly in business, the professions and the arts. Most Jewish immigrants embraced their new life in Australia. This was particularly true for the post-1945 refugee groups, including the survivors of the Holocaust and, later, the Hungarian and Egyptian ‘escapees’. For all these groups, the greatest benefit was to live in a free, democratic society. They no longer feared that someone would knock on the door in the middle of the night with a pair of handcuffs. This sense of security is attested to in numerous contemporary accounts. After the Chip Chase immigrant hostel was opened by the Jewish Welfare Society in 1950, one survivor wrote an article called ‘On Coming Home’:
It is a very peculiar feeling. It is almost midnight. We are in the middle of a city with two million residents. We are in Sydney. We are in Australia. You who were born here or have been living here for many years, you might not understand these feelings. Though it is midnight, though it is just our second day in Sydney, we seem to be at home. Already we start to have the same sense of security as Australian citizens. We are beginning to share the confidence in their fellow citizens and in their country.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Jews in Australia , pp. 120 - 134Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005