Letter sent to Leon Edmund Bowman
Object numberM2021/013:004
TitleLetter sent to Leon Edmund Bowman
DescriptionLetter sent by the Australian Jewish Welfare Society to Leon Edmund Bowman. This letter sent on 27 May 1948 details the financial arrangements of Jacob, Sarah and Henry Brodaty's emigration from Munich, Germany to Australia. Leon Bowman was a Polish immigrant who came to Australia during the war years. He established L E Bowman and Co Pty Ltd, a timber and joinery business in Rozelle, and sponsored a number of other Jewish Polish immigrants to come to Australia to work in his factory.
Part of a collection of correspondence relating to the immigration of Jacob Brodaty, Sarah (nee Getz) and their son Henry (Zwi). Fleeing the Nazis in c. 1941, Sarah and Jacob Brodaty left Luck, Poland with Sarah's sister Zlate Dreisin (nee Getz), her husband and two children. Sarah's mother, Chana Getz, was left behind and was murdered in the Shoah. The majority of the Jewish community remaining in Luck were murdered by mobile killing squads.
The Brodaty and Dreisin families escaped to the Russian border before travelling to Kiev, Ukraine where the two families separated. Sarah and Jacob travelled to Khar'kov, Ukraine where she gave birth to their daughter Bronye, who later died from gastroenteritis.
Henry Brodaty has stated that his parents, Sarah and Jacob were interned in Soviet labour camps in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan where they contracted typhus and malaria. He has also stated that upon returning to Warsaw, the couple were unable to find Jacob's family and their block of flats were occupied. The family were settled by the Red Cross in a displaced person's camp in Kirchseeon, Germany where the donor, Henry (formerly Zwi) Brodaty was born in 1947.
The Brodaty family applied to immigrate to the United States, Australia, and Israel with the assistance of their relatives. This included Jacob Brodaty's cousin, Haim Lister (formerly Liskowski) from London and Dina Halpern, a leading Yiddish theatre performer from Chicago. Their application to Australia was sponsored by Mr Leon Edmund Bowman. The Brodaty family moved to Paris for three months before being flown to Sydney.
Upon their arrival in Sydney on 24 August 1948 on the 'Sebena', they met Mr Bowman who found them accommodation in a basement located in Balmoral. Arriving penniless, Jacob worked in a timber yard and the Brodaty family lived in a one bedroom boarding house in Kings Cross. Jacob eventually established a knitted women's wear factory in Randwick in 1954 where Sarah also worked sewing and overlocking. Following economic improvement, the family prospered and the company was merged with another to set up a larger factory in Broadway, Sydney. Henry graduated after studying Medicine and became a professor of psychiatry. Jacob Brodaty passed away in 1979 aged 59. Sarah Brodaty passed away aged 93.
Part of a collection of correspondence relating to the immigration of Jacob Brodaty, Sarah (nee Getz) and their son Henry (Zwi). Fleeing the Nazis in c. 1941, Sarah and Jacob Brodaty left Luck, Poland with Sarah's sister Zlate Dreisin (nee Getz), her husband and two children. Sarah's mother, Chana Getz, was left behind and was murdered in the Shoah. The majority of the Jewish community remaining in Luck were murdered by mobile killing squads.
The Brodaty and Dreisin families escaped to the Russian border before travelling to Kiev, Ukraine where the two families separated. Sarah and Jacob travelled to Khar'kov, Ukraine where she gave birth to their daughter Bronye, who later died from gastroenteritis.
Henry Brodaty has stated that his parents, Sarah and Jacob were interned in Soviet labour camps in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan where they contracted typhus and malaria. He has also stated that upon returning to Warsaw, the couple were unable to find Jacob's family and their block of flats were occupied. The family were settled by the Red Cross in a displaced person's camp in Kirchseeon, Germany where the donor, Henry (formerly Zwi) Brodaty was born in 1947.
The Brodaty family applied to immigrate to the United States, Australia, and Israel with the assistance of their relatives. This included Jacob Brodaty's cousin, Haim Lister (formerly Liskowski) from London and Dina Halpern, a leading Yiddish theatre performer from Chicago. Their application to Australia was sponsored by Mr Leon Edmund Bowman. The Brodaty family moved to Paris for three months before being flown to Sydney.
Upon their arrival in Sydney on 24 August 1948 on the 'Sebena', they met Mr Bowman who found them accommodation in a basement located in Balmoral. Arriving penniless, Jacob worked in a timber yard and the Brodaty family lived in a one bedroom boarding house in Kings Cross. Jacob eventually established a knitted women's wear factory in Randwick in 1954 where Sarah also worked sewing and overlocking. Following economic improvement, the family prospered and the company was merged with another to set up a larger factory in Broadway, Sydney. Henry graduated after studying Medicine and became a professor of psychiatry. Jacob Brodaty passed away in 1979 aged 59. Sarah Brodaty passed away aged 93.
Production placeSydney, New South Wales, Australia
Production date 1948-05-27
Object nameletters
Materialpaper
Dimensions
- width: 205.00 mm
height: 266.00 mm
Language
- English
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Henry Brodaty
In appreciation to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) for supporting this archival project.