Object numberM2000/032:018
DescriptionAlbum belonging to Franz and Anny (née Hirsch) Heller, of Karlsbad (Karlovy Vary). It contains photographs from a skiing holiday in 1936. Most of the photos appear to have been taken at Mallnitz, a municipality in Carinthia (Austria). It is likely these photos are from a honeymoon trip as the first page contains three newspaper clippings of notices announcing the Hellers’ recent marriage on 22 December 1936. On either side of the clippings are photographic cut-outs of Anny and Franz Heller in skis—the illustrations on the front cover (in white ink / paint) are drawn in clothing that resembles those worn by the couple in the photographs (down to the details of Anny’s short-sleeve sweater in Argyle pattern and mittens with alpine-style star knitted pattern).
The front cover depicts the couple in typical ski attire of the 1930s, posing in an alpine landscape. The inside front cover depicts the couple standing below a chuppah before a rabbi (in typical rabbinical garb of the time: black clerical gown and rabbinical/cantoral hat); the couple are fashionably dressed: woman in skirt suit and hat, the man in suit, hat and tie. The inside back cover depicts the couple dressed in typical 1930s ski attire—wide trousers, roll-neck sweaters (the woman wearing an alpine hat with feather sticking out)—cross-country skiing through alpine landscape; the caption reads: ‘Familie Heller in 10 Jahren’; sketch dated 1937.
Other images include:
- Scenic photography of Mallnitz town and surrounding area, including ski huts/accommodation
- Photos of Franz and Anny engaged in different activities (example, Franz waxing his skis with the handwritten caption: ‘Schwerarbeit nach dem Mittagessen’ [Hard work after lunch]
- ‘Ausflug nach Bad Gastein’ [excursion/day trip to Bad Gastein (a popular tourist location in Salzburg state)
- The captions and photographs indicate that the couple spent New Year’s Eve 1937 at the Hagener Hütte near Mallnitz.
- Picture postcard with the printed caption: Mallnitzer Tavern Alpenhaus Hochalmblick m. Ebeneck 2692m u. Hannoverhaus 2700m.’. A hand-written caption underneath reads: ‘Unsere Sehnsucht aus Hannover-Haus sahen wir nur vom Hochalmblick-Alpenhaus’.
- The last page includes the handwritten caption: ‘Mallnitz Ade!’ with photos depicting Anny and Franz, with another older couple, dressed in urban attire, with horse-drawn sleigh in front of the entrance to a hotel/pension.
Anne Heller was the youngest of three children born to Leopold and Irna Hirsch in the spa town of Karlsbad in the Sudetenland. Her father was an optician.
In October 1938, Hitler occupied the Sudetenland, and the family fled to Prague leaving their possessions and property. In March 1939 German troops entered Prague.
By chance, Anne’s brother Eric met a German soldier whom he recognised from Karlsbad, and with whom he had served in the Czech army some years before. This soldier agreed to use his connections to help obtain exit visas for Eric, his wife Helen, Anne and husband Frank Heller, who then all made their way to England.
But their parents, older sister Wilma, her husband and 9-year-old child were waiting for visas to South America which never eventuated; they were sent to the camps and only Wilma's husband survived.
Anne and Frank came to Australia around the same time as Anne’s brother Eric Hurst and wife Adele and daughter Eva - in 1949. Around 1950, they started a business in Parramatta called Helco, manufacturing swimsuits and rain wear for adults and children.
The front cover depicts the couple in typical ski attire of the 1930s, posing in an alpine landscape. The inside front cover depicts the couple standing below a chuppah before a rabbi (in typical rabbinical garb of the time: black clerical gown and rabbinical/cantoral hat); the couple are fashionably dressed: woman in skirt suit and hat, the man in suit, hat and tie. The inside back cover depicts the couple dressed in typical 1930s ski attire—wide trousers, roll-neck sweaters (the woman wearing an alpine hat with feather sticking out)—cross-country skiing through alpine landscape; the caption reads: ‘Familie Heller in 10 Jahren’; sketch dated 1937.
Other images include:
- Scenic photography of Mallnitz town and surrounding area, including ski huts/accommodation
- Photos of Franz and Anny engaged in different activities (example, Franz waxing his skis with the handwritten caption: ‘Schwerarbeit nach dem Mittagessen’ [Hard work after lunch]
- ‘Ausflug nach Bad Gastein’ [excursion/day trip to Bad Gastein (a popular tourist location in Salzburg state)
- The captions and photographs indicate that the couple spent New Year’s Eve 1937 at the Hagener Hütte near Mallnitz.
- Picture postcard with the printed caption: Mallnitzer Tavern Alpenhaus Hochalmblick m. Ebeneck 2692m u. Hannoverhaus 2700m.’. A hand-written caption underneath reads: ‘Unsere Sehnsucht aus Hannover-Haus sahen wir nur vom Hochalmblick-Alpenhaus’.
- The last page includes the handwritten caption: ‘Mallnitz Ade!’ with photos depicting Anny and Franz, with another older couple, dressed in urban attire, with horse-drawn sleigh in front of the entrance to a hotel/pension.
Anne Heller was the youngest of three children born to Leopold and Irna Hirsch in the spa town of Karlsbad in the Sudetenland. Her father was an optician.
In October 1938, Hitler occupied the Sudetenland, and the family fled to Prague leaving their possessions and property. In March 1939 German troops entered Prague.
By chance, Anne’s brother Eric met a German soldier whom he recognised from Karlsbad, and with whom he had served in the Czech army some years before. This soldier agreed to use his connections to help obtain exit visas for Eric, his wife Helen, Anne and husband Frank Heller, who then all made their way to England.
But their parents, older sister Wilma, her husband and 9-year-old child were waiting for visas to South America which never eventuated; they were sent to the camps and only Wilma's husband survived.
Anne and Frank came to Australia around the same time as Anne’s brother Eric Hurst and wife Adele and daughter Eva - in 1949. Around 1950, they started a business in Parramatta called Helco, manufacturing swimsuits and rain wear for adults and children.
Production placeKarlsbad, Czechoslovakia
Production date 1936
Subjectworld that was, marriage, skiing
Object namephoto albums
Materialpaper
Dimensions
- width: 250.00 mm
height: 170.00 mm
depth: 10.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Eva Scheinberg