Shema Koleinu
Object numberM1992/015:002
TitleShema Koleinu
DescriptionPrayer book given to the donor Ilona Blair (nee Reichman) when she was recuperating in an orphanage in Sweden. The book is in Hebrew, with the title page in English, stating that it has been printed for the destroyed Jewish communities now to be rebuilt, issued under the supervision of the Chief Rabbi Marcus Ehrenpreis and that 50,000 copies had been printed "through the Swedish Section of World Jewish Congress and by the Aid-Committee in Stockholm for the Jews of Europe." Published in Stockholm, January 1946. Ilona has written her Hebrew name in Hebrew at the front of the book - Rachel Reichman.
Ilona was born 12 December 1929. She died 22 November 2018. She was born in Uzhhorod, Czechoslovakia into an orthodox Jewish family and was one of ten children. After the Germans occupation of Hungary, they were forcibly moved into one of the two established ghettos, sometime in April 1944. The family were deported to Auschwitz in May 1944. Most of the family perished there. Ilona was 14 years-old. Left alone and bereft.
After spending 6 to 8 harrowing weeks in Auschwitz, she and a large group of girls were transported to Hamburg, Germany. They were used as slave labour to clear rubble from the incessant Allied bombing of German cities. The work was not only back-breaking but also highly dangerous, as they were used also to scout for undetonated bombs. From there they were transported to Bergen-Belsen—a living graveyard composed of starved and seriously ill prisoners. She had no recollection when British forces liberated the camp as she was too ill with typhus and dysentery.
She was eventually sent to Sweden to recuperate. She was reunited with two of her sisters—Edith and Eva. Ilona chose to emigrate to Australia arriving on Australia Day—25 January 1951. She married Fred Blair on 20th May 1954, exactly ten years to the day that she was deported to Auschwitz.
Ilona was born 12 December 1929. She died 22 November 2018. She was born in Uzhhorod, Czechoslovakia into an orthodox Jewish family and was one of ten children. After the Germans occupation of Hungary, they were forcibly moved into one of the two established ghettos, sometime in April 1944. The family were deported to Auschwitz in May 1944. Most of the family perished there. Ilona was 14 years-old. Left alone and bereft.
After spending 6 to 8 harrowing weeks in Auschwitz, she and a large group of girls were transported to Hamburg, Germany. They were used as slave labour to clear rubble from the incessant Allied bombing of German cities. The work was not only back-breaking but also highly dangerous, as they were used also to scout for undetonated bombs. From there they were transported to Bergen-Belsen—a living graveyard composed of starved and seriously ill prisoners. She had no recollection when British forces liberated the camp as she was too ill with typhus and dysentery.
She was eventually sent to Sweden to recuperate. She was reunited with two of her sisters—Edith and Eva. Ilona chose to emigrate to Australia arriving on Australia Day—25 January 1951. She married Fred Blair on 20th May 1954, exactly ten years to the day that she was deported to Auschwitz.
Production placeStockholm, Sweden
Production date 1946-01
Subjectreligious observance, survivors, praying
Object nameprayer books
Dimensions
- width: 115.00 mm
height: 185.00 mm
depth: 20.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Mrs Ilona Blair