Object numberM2018/008:094
DescriptionPhotograph of Betty and Leo Steiner, walking on the street, Sydney, 1941/42. Leo is wearing Australian military uniform.
In March 1938, Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in the “Anschluss”. From May 1938, the racist Nuremberg laws applied in Austria, and Austrian Jews were steadily ostracised from their societies during the process of Aryanisation. This tension came to a climax in the Kristallnacht pogrom from 9th-10th November. At this time, Hardy Brothers, a British jewellery-making firm, offered Leo Steiner from Vienna employment in Sydney as a jewellery mounter in July 1938. Whilst Leo’s Australian landing permit is pending, he found temporary refuge in Switzerland. In July, Leo moved to Zurich on a temporary stay visa, leaving his parents, Adolf and Hermine, and brother Paul, behind in Vienna.
Once established in Australia, Leo made numerous applications to the Australian government for landing permits on behalf of his parents and Paul, all of which are denied. All three family members would eventually perish during WWII.
Leo met Betty Woolf, a Palestine-born British national, at a dance in the city, after she had caught his eye several times at the pictures in Leichhardt. They married in December 1941 at the Great Synagogue, Sydney. In 1941, although still technically stateless, Leo took a break from jewellery-making and enlisted in the Australian Army Reserve, then called the Citizen Military Services.
In March 1938, Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in the “Anschluss”. From May 1938, the racist Nuremberg laws applied in Austria, and Austrian Jews were steadily ostracised from their societies during the process of Aryanisation. This tension came to a climax in the Kristallnacht pogrom from 9th-10th November. At this time, Hardy Brothers, a British jewellery-making firm, offered Leo Steiner from Vienna employment in Sydney as a jewellery mounter in July 1938. Whilst Leo’s Australian landing permit is pending, he found temporary refuge in Switzerland. In July, Leo moved to Zurich on a temporary stay visa, leaving his parents, Adolf and Hermine, and brother Paul, behind in Vienna.
Once established in Australia, Leo made numerous applications to the Australian government for landing permits on behalf of his parents and Paul, all of which are denied. All three family members would eventually perish during WWII.
Leo met Betty Woolf, a Palestine-born British national, at a dance in the city, after she had caught his eye several times at the pictures in Leichhardt. They married in December 1941 at the Great Synagogue, Sydney. In 1941, although still technically stateless, Leo took a break from jewellery-making and enlisted in the Australian Army Reserve, then called the Citizen Military Services.
Production placeSydney, New South Wales, Australia
Production date 1941 - 1942
Subjectstreet photography, refugees, street scenes, refugee experiences in Australia, World War II (1939-1945), rebuilding lives, WWII, enemy aliens, conscription, military service, Australian Defence Force, Australian Army Reserve, Citizen Military Services, armed forces, Australian armed forces
Object namephotographs
Dimensions
- length: 89.00 mm
width: 69.00 mm
Language
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Pauline Shavit