Summary

Book mark advertising the M & L. Balberyszski Jewish bookshop in Rathdowne Street Carlton, circa 1960. It was found in a Hebrew language book, published by the Shilo Publishing House, USA in 1949, which belonged to Stephen Schmideg, whose parents purchased it for him in Carlton to learn Hebrew soon after they migrated. The book was presumably purchased there. Stephen's son also used the book for Hebrew language learning from the age of three. Stephen and Peter Schmideg fled Budapest with their parents Zoltan and Margit after the Soviet repression of the Hungarian revolution in 1956. Zoltan and Margit had already survived appalling experiences and loss of family as Jews during World War II. They managed to escape to Austria, before being processed and joining their ship the Aurelia in Genoa, before finally arriving in Melbourne on 28 January 1957.

Mendel Balberyszski (1894-1966) was born in Vilna, Lithuania, one of a few thousand Vilna Jews to survive out of a population of more than 70,000 in 1941. He is chiefly known today for his book Stronger Than Iron - The Destruction of Vilna Jewry 1941-1945: An Eyewitness Account, published in 1967 a year after his death. A Yiddish orator, Polish politician and cultural activist, he, his wife and two children migrated to Australia in 1949. In Melbourne he returned to active Jewish communal activities, including becoming President of the Carlton Hebrew Congregation, an official of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, a contributor to the Jewish press and proprietor of the Balberyszski Jewish Bookstore in Rathdowne Street Carlton which he acquired and expanded in the early 1950s. The bookshop became the focal point for the Yiddish-speaking intellectuals and a communal landmark. The family lived in a small flat behind the bookshop where Mendel would sit at a table and write, while his family we would sit around and listen to him read aloud.

Physical Description

Pale blue card book mark with English and Hebrew black printed text.

Significance

Statement of Historical Significance:
This item provides an insight into Jewish cultural life in Melbourne after World War II, including language and prayer education, and Jewish small businesses.

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