Hebrew Date
30 Sivan 5773
Hebrew Date
ל׳ בְּסִיוָן תשע״ג
Where Died
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Cemetery
MCK Cemetery, Springvale, Victoria, Australia
Service Details
Ghetto fighter & Partisan
Date of Enlistment
1/1942
Country of Enlistment
Poland
Notes
Born 25/5/1924 Vilna. Avram Zeleznikow was born in Vilna on 25 May 1924 to a father who was both a trade union leader and member of the Vilna Jewish Council and a mother who was a midwife. His family were supporters of the Bund and as a child and teenager Avram enjoyed a Yiddish secular education while also attending Bund social and cultural activities. When the German army invaded Vilna in 1941, Avram was incarcerated in the Vilna ghetto. He remained there until 1943 when he made his perilous escape through the sewers to the neighbouring forests. He joined the partisans and fought with them until his liberation in 1944. His courage and heroism were recognised by both the Soviet and Polish governments. Avram briefly returned to Vilna, but then journeyed on to Lodz where he remained for three years. He attended Lodz University where he met his beloved lifelong partner and wife Masha. When the Communist Party took control of Poland in 1948, Avram and Masha decided to leave Poland and journeyed to Paris. They remained there for three years. Both a desire to leave Europe and the offer of a visa to Australia ensured that the Zeleznikows were to become ‘new Australians’. They arrived in Melbourne in 1951. Avram worked as a labourer for seven years before opening the now iconic Scheherazade restaurant in Acland Street St Kilda in 1958. Avram’s commitment to Yiddishkeit and the ideals of the Bund never left him. He became a committee member of the Kadimah in 1952. He was elected to the Board of the Australian Jewish Welfare and Relief Society in 1969 where he was honorary secretary from 1971-1977, treasurer from 1982-1985, vice president in 1986 and president from 1990-1992. From 1993-1996 he was chairman. Throughout this period he also served on the executive of the Victorian Jewish Board of Deputies, was chairman of the Jewish Community Council and a representative of the Jewish community on the Ethnic Communities Council. He was also a member of the Board of Governors at Mt Scopus College. For many years Avram was a leading teacher of Yiddish at the Sholem Aleichem Sunday School. Even in retirement Avram remains an active member of the Raul Wallenberg Chapter of B’nai B’rith and a life member of the Australian Labour Party.
John Monash (Monasch) born
in Melbourne, Australia on 27 June 1865, the son of
German Polish Jewish migrants, can be researched in any
military history encyclopaedia or in fact by just
‘Googling’ his name on the internet. His history
and list of achievements are long and far too many to detail
in this brief summary. However, might I say that reading his
history is well worth the effort and I can assure you that
his deeds will amaze you. I have found that the deeds are
better labelled on more than one man and in more than one
lifetime.
An
announcement was made in the weeks leading up to the
Centenary of ANZAC by Judy Landau, President VAJEX Aust.
She stated that it gave her great delight to announce
that VAJEX Aust (Victorian Association of Jewish Ex
& Servicemen & Women Australia Inc) has
successfully raised the required funds to build a new
Victorian Jewish Memorial after the style of the
historic Memorial located in the Jewish section of the
Melbourne General Cemetery. After an extensive two year
process, Judy has single-handedly sought letters of
support, raised the funds, and obtained approval from
the City of Port Phillip.
