Dear Friend,

Welcome to the August 2023 newsletter.

We hope that this edition will continue to engage, inform and hopefully inspire you.

In this edition (if viewing this on a desktop, click on each heading to skip to that section):

Whilst we didn't have the opportunity to appropriately celebrate the 21st anniversary of March of the Living Australia, recent developments have seen major strategic initiatives that will position the organisation to transition to a place of greater maturity and major impact in this country.

It gives me great pleasure to highlight some (not all) of these significant developments:

• Focus on young adults.  Acutely aware that there are many competing opportunities for educational excursions for Year 10 and 11 students – the bedrock of March of the Living Australia's focus for many years - and that there is an untapped demand among young adults for experiential learning, coupled with identity and heritage exploration, we decided to switch our focus to enable young adults to undertake this extraordinary journey. In 2023 about 60 young adults expressed interest in participating in the program and about 30 of them underwent a rigorous application process. With limited funding restricting the number of subsidies we could offer, 14 impressive young women and men were eventually selected. This highly subsidised Young Adult program will continue to be a key part of the March of the Living Australia operation, dependent on our ability to raise the necessary funds.

• Broaden our outreach and encourage members of the broader community to undertake the program. While our student program focused overwhelmingly on Jewish participation, our adult program has always attracted a small number of participants from wider society. However, we have lacked the means to engage broadly with the wider community, which meant our universal humanistic messages and learnings were mostly directed inwards. It is now our intention to actively encourage participation from all communities. The 2023 program marked the start of this initiative, with 15% of the contingent comprising participants from other faiths. In addition, we had the pleasure and privilege of being joined by three impressive community leaders - Dr Kate Hadwen, Ian Thorpe and Nick McKenzie - who will hopefully be instrumental in assisting us to bring the March of the Living message to a more diverse audience. Again dependent on funding, we hope to continue with this initiative for years to come.

• Achieving DGR (Deductible Gift Recipient) status. As a not-for-profit organisation, March Of The Living Australia is completely dependent on donors and sponsors for its funding. In the past, we have been reliant on the goodwill of the Jewish Holocaust Centre/Melbourne Holocaust Museum under an Auspice Agreement which enabled us to provide tax-deductibility to our generous donors. We recently achieved DGR status in our own right, which will afford us and our donors substantial benefits. We are extremely grateful for the support of the JHC/MHM and thank them for their tremendous support over the years. As part of the process of being granted DGR status, we have transitioned from an Incorporated Association to a Limited by Guarantee Company, which leads us into the next development and initiative.

• Succession and Capacity Building. For 22 years, March Of The Living Australia has been successfully and passionately led by dedicated volunteers and a part-time administrator. However, the potential for growth in both scale and impact now exceed the capacity of the volunteers, and the time has come to employ a full-time paid chief executive. As the outgoing de-facto voluntary chief executive for the past 12 years, I am pleased to advise that we have found the private and corporate financial and advisory backing to enable this transition and have begun a search for the inaugural CEO of March of the Living Australia Ltd. We urge everyone to assist us to find a capable, passionate and committed individual to take this extraordinary enterprise into the future. Please forward the following links to anyone who you believe fits the profile:  

https://www.seek.com.au/job/69054791

https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/3682307097/?capColoOverride=true

I hope you are as excited about these developments as are all of us who have dedicated so much time and passion to March of the Living Australia, and that you will continue to show your interest, support and commitment to this noble cause.

If you are interested in joining the program in 2024 - we are accepting Expressions of Interest for our 2024 programs, so click on the button below if you would like to be added to our mailing list and to receive details about our 2024 programs.

MOTL in conjunction with ACCJ and CCJ Vic warmly welcome you to our next online event: "A fraction too much Holocaust fiction?"

How can writers and creators ethically tell stories that enlighten younger generations about the Holocaust in the hope that it will never happen again? Is the Holocaust becoming just another exotic location for a romantic love story? Are Jews and the culture of Judaism being edited out of Holocaust fiction? Does that open Australian readers to a kind of antisemitism?

That's what romantic fiction writer and researcher Kim Kelly has argued. Join Kim Kelly and New Zealand Holocaust "faction" author Navina Clemerson in a conversation with actor/writer and ACCJ chair Ron Hoenig.

We warmly invite you to our next online event:

Destruction and Renewal: Luck, Coincidence, and the Story of a Jewish Lubliner Family with Anat Harrel

The Trachtenbergs and Kelners are Anat's family. They were were Lubliners. They lived, worked and loved in Lublin as part of large families, surrounded by friends and community. Most of the Trachtenbergs and Kelners were murdered in the Shoa, but some survived the war by immigrating to Canada, Israel, and Australia, or escaping eastward towards the Soviets. This is the story of Anat's father, his journey around the world, and his eventual return to his Polish roots.

Ever since Anat Harrel remembers, she has loved history.  This fascination with the lessons of the past shaped her career choices as she spent many years teaching history, language arts, ancient civilizations, geography and humanities in public schools, Jewish day schools and synagogue religious schools in Northern California. Although born in Israel, Anat spent most of her childhood abroad. Then after serving in the IDF, she ended up in the San Francisco Bay Area where she raised a family. She returned to Israel in 2011 and became a licensed Israel tour guide, taking her passions to a new level. Anat now lives in the beautiful Galilee, on Kibbutz Hannaton, a small, religious, egalitarian, multi denominational, intentional community kibbutz.

March of the Living Australia is incredibly proud to have been instrumental in bringing Michael Kretzmer, Grant Gochin and Silvia Foti to Australia.  With them and our partners, the Lamm Jewish Library of Australia and the Holocaust Institute of WA, we have undoubtedly raised the consciousness about the Lithuanian Holocaust and the horrendous acts of Holocaust distortion that the Lithuanian government continues to espouse in both Perth and Melbourne. 

In addition to spending 7 days in Melbourne and Perth, where we reached more than 2000 people in 2 public screenings of the full documentary; 5 partial screenings at Jewish Day schools and 5 panel and individual presentations and discussions at various shules, libraries and other community venues; our esteemed guests were also hosted for an additional 7 days and attended similar events with similar numbers in both Sydney and Brisbane.  

Bringing this "J'Accuse!" Roadshow to Australia is central to our core mission of expanding the knowledge of the Holocaust as it effected so many communities around the world and if we were able to increase the awareness of and raise the consciousness to the Holocaust as executed in Lithuania, we remain true to that ongoing mission we hold so dear. 

We received many positive comments and feedback but the following conversation, from a non-Jewish gentleman who attended the event in Perth, is probably the most noteworthy in this forum:

"Watched a shocking, but highly recommended (especially to anyone with a Lithuanian connection) documentary film last night. "J'Accuse!" is about the shameful way over 200,000 Jews were murdered in Lithuania between 1941-42. Jonas Noreika was just one of many 🇱ithuanian nationalist leaders responsible for the horrific massacres that took place in those months of Nazi occupation (and just before.) However, despite a bestselling book by his brave granddaughter, Silvia Foti, documenting all this, the 🇱ithuanian government stubbornly refuses to acknowledge these, and other crimes, continues to practice holocaust distortion, and treats Noreika and others as national heroes.
Sitting among 200+ members of Perth's Jewish community watching all this, made me feel ashamed of mano tevynė but proud of the true 🇱ithuanian hero in the room, Silvia, who urges Lithuania to face the truth and begin the path towards something like redemption.

I was in Perth with my wife for the film, Silvia. It is a truly excellent documentary that everyone should watch, especially those with a Lithuanian connection. We are both atheists, so maybe your point about being the only Catholic in that room is true. I think you are a "tikra lietuvių herojė", the opposite of your grandfather. I loved your dream that Lithuania should be brave, face this most ugly truth, and begin to lead that part of the world to a path of something like redemption. Valio"

I urge all of us to continue supporting Grant, Silvia and Michael in taking the message further and thereby playing a small but significant part in eventually forcing Lithuania to admit and face the truth by any / all of the very minimalistic acts of consciousness - read and hopefully sign and spreading the word about this petition; buy and read Silvia's book which tells the almost incredulous but true story of who her grandfather actually was (and encourage others to do the same) and by continuing to stand up (day in and day out) against any form of Holocaust denial and / or distortion. We need to stand up for the truth in order to honour all those who are no more; all those who survived but bear the scars and all the future generations.

The Director / Producer - Michael Kretzmer has graciously provided us this link so that as many people as possible can see this amazingly powerful and meaningful documentary (please note a small fee applies which is directed to the cause). Please click here.

Click here for Q&A session after movie screening.

Here is a small collection of photos taken at the Melbourne and Perth screenings of the documentary:

Gary and Rhonda Kagan (participants in 2019)

Trevor and Caron Rosenthal (participants in 2018)

Mike Zervos (CEO C2C); Ruth and Tony Grusd (participants in  2019)

Gidon Fixler; Ma'ayan Geffen (participant in 2010); Cedric Geffen; Ricki Sher; Daniel Shandler

Henry and Debbie Buch, Daniella and Ivor Winik, Cedric Geffen (participants in 2023)

Selma Gochin, Dani, Leanne and Jesse Peer

Josh Garkawe (participant in 2023), Justin Fulop, and Mia Singer,  Romy Fulop

Judith Lawrence, Michael Kretzmer, Grant Gochin, Silivia Foti, Shirley Atlas and survivor Risa Silbert in Perth

MOTL together with the ZDVO hosted an online session with Yoseph Haddad, a Christian Arab Israeli who voluntarily served in the IDF.

During the 2006 Lebanon War, a month before his service was to end, Yoseph was sent to the Lebanon border. A rocket fired from Hezbollah hit close to where Yoseph was standing and Yoseph lost his foot as a result. After several operations, it was reattached and a year later, Yoseph's dream of playing soccer was realised. The experience left Yoseph with the deep desire to do more for and became increasingly involved with advocacy.

Yoseph is a proud member of Beit Halochem (ZDVO) where he receives various treatments and therapies. He travels all over the world speaking out against the BDS movement and standing up for and against the bias toward the State of Israel in front of large gatherings and on university campuses.

At Teach the Shoah our main focus it to help people tell true stories of those who experienced the Holocaust. We use professional storytelling techniques to create custodians of memory who share about lives and lessons from what is an increasingly remote past. We work with students, educators, museum guides and docents, family members of survivors, and the general public.

In this 6-week online course, you will learn to build a scene from what you know, to fill in the historical gaps, and to organise disparate scenes into a coherent story.

This program is timed for Australia (but all are welcome). Classes run from 8 - 10 pm AEST.

Following the  recent events in Sweden, which included the burning of the Qur'an and the subsequent threat to burn a Torah scroll, last week the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) with whom we, at March of the Living Australia, are honoured to be affiliated, hosted a special virtual Jewish-Muslim Solidarity Rally to share our joint values and commitment to religious freedom in the face of these heinous actions with the Muslim community. As attacks against our respective faiths continue to grow and our holy books continue to be desecrated, we will not falter in our strong stance with all faith groups threatened by baseless hatred and shameless violence.

In line with this unwavering commitment, leaders from both the Jewish and Muslim communities joined the program from countries around the world, including the US, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Panama, India, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates to speak on this important matter. Across borders and cultures, we stand united against the threat to religious freedom and interfaith coexistence.

We invite you to watch the full recording of the program on the  event landing page and on YouTube. With the highest number of registrations ever for a CAM virtual event, 671 individuals registered (including March of the Living Australia) and thousands viewed the program across CAM social media channels. Following in the lead of this important gathering, we hope to build upon this forum and continue bridging the gap between different faith groups in this collective fight for a better future; free of antisemitism, islamophobia, and all forms of faith-based hatred and to grow our partnership with CAM on this front – watch this space.

Poignant moments at the Kotel, summers spent meandering the Tel Aviv shoreline, and the lingering taste of the best hummus. EVER. We all have our reflections on time spent in Israel – and The Australian Jewish News wants to hear yours!

In celebration of Israel's 75th birthday, each week the AJN has been running a special column entitled, 'My Israel Story', where Australians pause to reflect on their treasured memories and relationship with the Holy Land.

The AJN are accepting submissions for editorial consideration!

How to participate:

In 500 – 650 words, share your personal memories of Israel. This could be from one particular trip, or from several. What were the moments that moved you? Challenged you? Inspired you? Made you laugh… or cry? Describe your relationship to Israel, and how it may have evolved over years.

Include 5-10 high-resolution images from the trip/s (several of which depict you), and relevant accompanying captions.

Submit your essay to me – rdavis@jewishnews.net.au – with 'MY ISRAEL STORY SUBMISSIONS' in the subject header; and please, feel free to share this invitation amongst your family, friends, colleagues and networks too!

Terms & Conditions: By participating in The Australian Jewish News' My Israel Story, you grant The AJN full rights to publish your name and images for the article both in print and digital formats. 

We look forward to sharing your Israel Story.

Are you a 2nd or 3rd generation holocaust survivor, who also has your own mental health experience to share? We're exploring the link between the holocaust and our current experiences of mental health, as a community, at Brave Talks. Brave Talks is an event that invites 3 community members to share their mental health story from the stage, with the aim of reducing stigma and making it easier for us to reach out for help. Our last two events have sold out; we're determined to keep bringing honest, vulnerable stories out of the shadows, so you feel less alone in whatever you're experiencing. If you would like to know about sharing your story at Brave Talks, please email t.rabinovitz@jewishcare.com.au

Here is a selection of recent articles and videos from around the world, many of which we have shared across our social media over the past few weeks:

• MOTL 2023 Participant Mai Gutman sat down with Henry Greener from The Shtick to share her experience.
• Remembering Rhodes: 'Who could care about us, so far away?'
• 'The Nazi's Granddaughter': Author uncovers grandfather's hidden past
• Rosensaft: If we forget Srebrenica and its victims, our souls will turn to stone
• 'Jews in the Garden' uproots Poland's homegrown Holocaust perpetrators

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