Object numberM2014/004:007
DescriptionReport card for Egon Sonnenschein, 1936/1937.
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 parents Albert and Erna, and older brother 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 parents Albert and Erna, and older brother 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 1936 - 1937
Subjectschoolchildren
Object nameacademic transcripts
Materialpaper
Dimensions
- width: 100.00 mm
height: 154.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Egon Sonnenschein