Object numberM2014/004:002
DescriptionTallis belonging to Egon Sonnenschein. Relates to photo M2014/004:022, dated May 1944, in which Egon and six other boys had their 'bar mitzvah' (coming of age ceremony) in Switzerland. The oldest boy was 17. The bar mitzvah was taught by the Chief Rabbi of Switzerland, Dr Schachnowich. The Tzitzit on this Tallis (Tallit), made of wool, were added by Egon.
Egon Sonnenschein was born in 1930 in Ptuj, Yugoslavia. He was 10 when Germany attacked Yugoslavia in April 1941 and his life on the run began. The journey of escape with his family look him through Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Italy and Switzerland: The family fled to his grandparents in Croatia, a puppet Nazi State run by the Ustashi. The brutality and murders he witnessed there remain ingrained in his memory. The Sonnenscheins survived thanks to the town mayor who saved over 300 Jews and Serbs from death. Desperate to leave Croatia for Italian-occupied Slovenia, the family purchased false identity papers. Despite paying a large sum for help, upon arrival they had no permits to enter the country legally. In 1943, the family moved again, crossing Lake Como and struggling up mountains, they made it to Switzerland, where they discovered people willing to help. Egon was entrusted to the care of a foster family in 1943 until reunited with his parents in August 1945. After the war the Sonnenscheins left communist Yugoslavia, living in Israel for seven years, and after that in South Africa for 26 years. In 1983 Egon, his wife Miriam and their four children immigrated to Australia.
Egon Sonnenschein was born in 1930 in Ptuj, Yugoslavia. He was 10 when Germany attacked Yugoslavia in April 1941 and his life on the run began. The journey of escape with his family look him through Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Italy and Switzerland: The family fled to his grandparents in Croatia, a puppet Nazi State run by the Ustashi. The brutality and murders he witnessed there remain ingrained in his memory. The Sonnenscheins survived thanks to the town mayor who saved over 300 Jews and Serbs from death. Desperate to leave Croatia for Italian-occupied Slovenia, the family purchased false identity papers. Despite paying a large sum for help, upon arrival they had no permits to enter the country legally. In 1943, the family moved again, crossing Lake Como and struggling up mountains, they made it to Switzerland, where they discovered people willing to help. Egon was entrusted to the care of a foster family in 1943 until reunited with his parents in August 1945. After the war the Sonnenscheins left communist Yugoslavia, living in Israel for seven years, and after that in South Africa for 26 years. In 1983 Egon, his wife Miriam and their four children immigrated to Australia.
Production date 1944 - 1944
Object nameTallit
Materialsilk
Dimensions
- width: 1.00 m
height: 660.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Egon Sonnenschein