Object numberM1996/036:001
DescriptionYellow cloth Star of David, slightly dirty and appears to have blood stains. The word Jew is not printed in the centre. Worn by Stephen Selby (as seen in the photograph M1995/075:001).
Stephen Selby (born Istvan, and known to family and friends as Pista), born 10 September 1926, died August 2010, aged 84. He was the first child of Dezso and Erzsebet Sarkozi. His brother Laci was born three years later. The family lived in Ujkecske, a small town in Hungary. Stephen's father owned a general store in the town and a small vineyard. Pista had a happy childhood, playing with his brother and cousins and swimming in the river nearby.
In 1941 anti-Jewish measures meant that Jews could no longer own land or a business. Dezso’s business and vineyard were confiscated, so in 1942 the family relocated to a nearby Szolnok. The Nazis occupied Hungary in March 1944; Pista's father was sent to a military labour camp in Transylvania. In May 1944 all Jews of Szolnok were made to leave their homes and report to the ghetto. Erzsebet and her sons walked a mile to the ghetto where they lived in a room with two other families. At the beginning of June Pista, along with other Jewish boys born in 1926, was taken away to a military labour camp; he had no news of his family for over a year. His mother and brother were deported, and taken to Theresienstadt.
Pista escaped and returned home. In June 1945 he was reunited with his parents and brother. He went on to study as a dental technician and in 1949 became certified as a Master Dental Technician, becoming the manager of the dental laboratory in Szolnok. Towards the end of 1951 he met Zsuzsi Strasser who had lost both parents and a sister in the Holocaust. In June 1952 they married and a year later their only child Sanyika (Alex) was born.
Life under the Communist regime was harsh and oppressive. On 9 November 1956, they crossed over the border into Austria with three-year-old Sanyika.
In Vienna they were reunited with Laci who had escaped earlier. The family were given passage on the boat Flaminia and travelled from Genoa, around Africa, arriving in Australia in February 1957.
Initially Stephen found shift work at night in the Slazenger factory making tennis balls. In a makeshift work-bench in the bathroom of their flat in Bondi Junction, he worked at night on private jobs to supplement his job. Later when they moved to Waverley, there was a dental chair in Alex's bedroom where Stephen treated patients after hours. He eventually established a laboratory, Modern Dental, with partner Laci Vajda. During that time Stephen was considered one of Sydney's most highly respected dental ceramists and was invited to demonstrate his techniques both interstate and in Europe.
History of the yellow star:
Since the Middle Ages Jews had been intermittently forced to wear markings that separated them from the general population. Signalling a return to such discrimination in Nazi occupied Poland in October 1939, the Jews of Wloclawek were forced to wear a yellow badge. Similar initiatives occurred throughout occupied Poland, and on the 23 November 1939, a general order was issued that all Polish Jews over the age of 11 wear a white armband with a blue Star of David. In September 1941, the Nazis introduced a yellow star in Germany. This Jewish badge became the distinguishing emblem that Jews in Nazi Germany and Nazi-occupied countries were forced to wear to enable their debasement and identification as Jews.
This regulation required all Jews over the age of six to wear a yellow, six-pointed star, the size of a fist, on the left side of the breast, with ‘Jude’ inscribed on it in black. The date of its application, as well as the word embossed on it, varied across Nazi-occupied territories. In occupied France, the decree to wear the yellow star inscribed with ‘Juif’ (Jew), came into effect on 3 June 1942; in the Netherlands, the yellow star was inscribed with Jood (Jew), issued on 29 April 1942, and in Bulgaria, the distinctive sign for a Jew/Jewess took the form of a yellow and black button sewn onto clothing, issued in August 1942. In some countries like Hungary, Romania and Moldavia Jews wore yellow stars without any lettering. The distinctive mark imposed on Jews became an integral part of the preparation for the Final Solution.
Stephen Selby (born Istvan, and known to family and friends as Pista), born 10 September 1926, died August 2010, aged 84. He was the first child of Dezso and Erzsebet Sarkozi. His brother Laci was born three years later. The family lived in Ujkecske, a small town in Hungary. Stephen's father owned a general store in the town and a small vineyard. Pista had a happy childhood, playing with his brother and cousins and swimming in the river nearby.
In 1941 anti-Jewish measures meant that Jews could no longer own land or a business. Dezso’s business and vineyard were confiscated, so in 1942 the family relocated to a nearby Szolnok. The Nazis occupied Hungary in March 1944; Pista's father was sent to a military labour camp in Transylvania. In May 1944 all Jews of Szolnok were made to leave their homes and report to the ghetto. Erzsebet and her sons walked a mile to the ghetto where they lived in a room with two other families. At the beginning of June Pista, along with other Jewish boys born in 1926, was taken away to a military labour camp; he had no news of his family for over a year. His mother and brother were deported, and taken to Theresienstadt.
Pista escaped and returned home. In June 1945 he was reunited with his parents and brother. He went on to study as a dental technician and in 1949 became certified as a Master Dental Technician, becoming the manager of the dental laboratory in Szolnok. Towards the end of 1951 he met Zsuzsi Strasser who had lost both parents and a sister in the Holocaust. In June 1952 they married and a year later their only child Sanyika (Alex) was born.
Life under the Communist regime was harsh and oppressive. On 9 November 1956, they crossed over the border into Austria with three-year-old Sanyika.
In Vienna they were reunited with Laci who had escaped earlier. The family were given passage on the boat Flaminia and travelled from Genoa, around Africa, arriving in Australia in February 1957.
Initially Stephen found shift work at night in the Slazenger factory making tennis balls. In a makeshift work-bench in the bathroom of their flat in Bondi Junction, he worked at night on private jobs to supplement his job. Later when they moved to Waverley, there was a dental chair in Alex's bedroom where Stephen treated patients after hours. He eventually established a laboratory, Modern Dental, with partner Laci Vajda. During that time Stephen was considered one of Sydney's most highly respected dental ceramists and was invited to demonstrate his techniques both interstate and in Europe.
History of the yellow star:
Since the Middle Ages Jews had been intermittently forced to wear markings that separated them from the general population. Signalling a return to such discrimination in Nazi occupied Poland in October 1939, the Jews of Wloclawek were forced to wear a yellow badge. Similar initiatives occurred throughout occupied Poland, and on the 23 November 1939, a general order was issued that all Polish Jews over the age of 11 wear a white armband with a blue Star of David. In September 1941, the Nazis introduced a yellow star in Germany. This Jewish badge became the distinguishing emblem that Jews in Nazi Germany and Nazi-occupied countries were forced to wear to enable their debasement and identification as Jews.
This regulation required all Jews over the age of six to wear a yellow, six-pointed star, the size of a fist, on the left side of the breast, with ‘Jude’ inscribed on it in black. The date of its application, as well as the word embossed on it, varied across Nazi-occupied territories. In occupied France, the decree to wear the yellow star inscribed with ‘Juif’ (Jew), came into effect on 3 June 1942; in the Netherlands, the yellow star was inscribed with Jood (Jew), issued on 29 April 1942, and in Bulgaria, the distinctive sign for a Jew/Jewess took the form of a yellow and black button sewn onto clothing, issued in August 1942. In some countries like Hungary, Romania and Moldavia Jews wore yellow stars without any lettering. The distinctive mark imposed on Jews became an integral part of the preparation for the Final Solution.
Subjectstigma, forced labour, badges, Star of David
Object nameyellow Star of David
Materialfibres (fabrics)
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Mr. Stephen Selby