Object numberM2019/012:006
DescriptionPhotograph of Grete and Fritz Stern taken in a park in Austria, 1937. The identity is unknown of the person on the ground. Grete wears a dirndl, a traditional dress originating in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland is based on the customary costume of Alpine peasants. Fritz wears a traditional costume, the lederhosen. Prior to the Anschluss in 1938, Grete and Fritz Stern and their daughter Eva, considered themselves assimilated and were proud to wear the traditional garb of their homeland.
Eva Engel (nee Stern) was born in Vienna, Austria in 1932, only child to Fritz and Grete Stern. Fritz was a successful engineer with his own business and an active member of the Social Democratic Party. The day following the Anschluss, his factory was confiscated by the Nazis, as was the family’s other assets and possessions of value. After assessing the danger as both Jewish and Socialist, the family of three went into hiding, seeking refuge with many of Fritz’s non-Jewish colleagues. Eventually, a contact in Zurich, Switzerland was able to smuggle the family across the border; from there, Eva’s father applied for a job in Australia, where his qualifications as an engineer, tool and die maker were in demand.
After almost a year in Australia in December of 1939, Eva moved with her parents to New Zealand; they travelled on the T.S.S Strathaird and Grete was seasick for weeks. Initially, young Eva was fearful of separation from her parents, but as life in NZ settled, she joined the Zionist Youth League, sang in the school choir and helped some of the displaced youths arriving from Europe and attending the Zionist Youth Club holiday camp. In 1949, the family returned to Australia.
Building on her experience working with displaced youths, Eva continued working in outreach, counselling, migrant integration, and conducting interviews which formed the basis of support groups. In 2002, she received an OAM for her work in community welfare, establishment of Child Survivors of the Holocaust group and volunteer service.
Eva Engel (nee Stern) was born in Vienna, Austria in 1932, only child to Fritz and Grete Stern. Fritz was a successful engineer with his own business and an active member of the Social Democratic Party. The day following the Anschluss, his factory was confiscated by the Nazis, as was the family’s other assets and possessions of value. After assessing the danger as both Jewish and Socialist, the family of three went into hiding, seeking refuge with many of Fritz’s non-Jewish colleagues. Eventually, a contact in Zurich, Switzerland was able to smuggle the family across the border; from there, Eva’s father applied for a job in Australia, where his qualifications as an engineer, tool and die maker were in demand.
After almost a year in Australia in December of 1939, Eva moved with her parents to New Zealand; they travelled on the T.S.S Strathaird and Grete was seasick for weeks. Initially, young Eva was fearful of separation from her parents, but as life in NZ settled, she joined the Zionist Youth League, sang in the school choir and helped some of the displaced youths arriving from Europe and attending the Zionist Youth Club holiday camp. In 1949, the family returned to Australia.
Building on her experience working with displaced youths, Eva continued working in outreach, counselling, migrant integration, and conducting interviews which formed the basis of support groups. In 2002, she received an OAM for her work in community welfare, establishment of Child Survivors of the Holocaust group and volunteer service.
Production date 1937 - 1937
Object namephotographs
Materialphotographic emulsion, pencil, paper, paper
Dimensions
- width: 62.00 mm
height: 87.00 mm
Language
- German
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Eva Engel