POL
Object numberM2017/001
TitlePOL
DescriptionThis is the first issue of POL magazine printed in 1969 and donated by Olga Horak (nee Rosenberger). After surviving the horrors of Auschwitz and death march to Bergen-Belsen, Olga immigrated to Australia with her husband John Horak in 1949. Two weeks after their arrival, Hibodress was established, manufacturing women’s blouses and wholesaling to department stores across Australia.
The success of Hibodress was multifaceted. John – a qualified textile engineer from the Czech Republic – worked alongside Olga who, despite no formal training, had an innate eye for fashion resulting in a bold line of wash-and-wear blouses. For many post-war Jewish immigrants, the fashion industry offered accessible opportunities for realising a new life, particularly if they were prepared to work hard, innovate and adapt. In addition, it was often easy to operate in the rag trade where language barriers were less acute. In the climate of a post-war Australia, the European influence of new immigrants was well received, thus shifting the country’s collective sensibilities and the cultural landscape of fashion.
In line with this maturing Australian awareness of style and expression POL magazine emerged. Established by the controversial entrepreneur, Gareth Powell, this publication tapped into the radical spirit of its time. Adopting high production values and edgy editorial design, its fresh approach attracted an influx of progressive photographers and contributors. Budgets were tight and resources limited and yet by embracing grassroots creative input, POL’s legacy is evident in both its experimental photography and challenging features.
During his tenure as the magazine’s editor in the 1980’s, Don Dustan had this to say: ‘Pol delights in excellence, individuality, creativity and zest for life. We chronicle Australia’s maturity. We pursue the causes of the good. Australians of the world unite and read POL – you have nothing to lose but your cultural cringe’.
Among the pages of the first issue is Hibodress, with an accompanying article touting the rise of the see-through blouse; testament to the brand’s position at the fore of Australian fashion and the ingenuity of its founders.
Olga Horak (nee Rosenberger) was born in August 1926 in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia to Hugo and Piroschka Rosenberger. She was 17 when first deported to Sered, then Auschwitz- Birkenau, Kurzbach, Gross Rosen and Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated. She immigrated to Australia in 1949. Olga received an OAM in 2014 for service to her community.
Olga witnessed the Nazi Regime turn Czechoslovakia into a 'puppet republic'. The government agreed to laws that restricted the lives of Jews. They weren't allowed to go to school, be out after dark, go to the movies or sit on a park bench.
In 1942, Olga's sister Judith was taken in a roundup of 16-year-old Jewish boys and girls to Auschwitz. She never saw her sister again. Out of fear, her parents made plans to escape; they illegally crossed the border into Hungary, but Budapest wasn't easy because they didn't have papers or a home. When bombings began in 1944, Olga and her parents couldn't take refuge in the shelters without being caught. They returned to Bratislava, crossing illegally over the border again.
Back home, Olga's family had false papers. But a cousin was found out and these documents were no longer secure. The family went into hiding with the help of a family friend, but the same friend denounced them two weeks later. The family was taken to a collection camp in Sered before being put in cattle cars to Auschwitz. During the selection process, her father, grandmother, aunts and cousins were taken away and murdered. Olga and her mother were stripped, shaven, registered, and sent to Germany into a camp where they had to carry logs and dig trenches. One morning, the women were evacuated on a Death March, walking through the snow until reaching Gross Rosen. After three days, they marched again until they arrived in Dresden, eventually ending up in Bergen-Belsen. On 15 April 1945, they were liberated by British and Canadian troops. Inmates were registered as survivors, but just as her mother received her card, she collapsed and died. A day that was supposed to be celebratory turned out to be one of the saddest of Olga's life.
Olga was taken to a German hospital where she was left to die. A Catholic Padre from the British Army came to give her last rites. Instead she asked for a Rabbi who arranged for her to be returned back to the sick bay at the camp. She stayed there until late August and was then transported to a hospital in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, weighing 29 kilos. She was placed next to a Catholic woman named Bozena. When Olga was discharged, Bozena took her home with her. Soon, Olga found distant relatives in Bratislava who survived and she lived with them for two years before she met her husband, John Horak, a survivor who had trained as a textile engineer in Brno.
They were determined to leave Czechoslovakia. Eventually they got a tourist visa for Switzerland and then landing permits for Australia. They arrived on the TSS Cyrenia on 16 September 1949 where they established a business manufacturing blouses, Hibodress, within two weeks after arriving.
The success of Hibodress was multifaceted. John – a qualified textile engineer from the Czech Republic – worked alongside Olga who, despite no formal training, had an innate eye for fashion resulting in a bold line of wash-and-wear blouses. For many post-war Jewish immigrants, the fashion industry offered accessible opportunities for realising a new life, particularly if they were prepared to work hard, innovate and adapt. In addition, it was often easy to operate in the rag trade where language barriers were less acute. In the climate of a post-war Australia, the European influence of new immigrants was well received, thus shifting the country’s collective sensibilities and the cultural landscape of fashion.
In line with this maturing Australian awareness of style and expression POL magazine emerged. Established by the controversial entrepreneur, Gareth Powell, this publication tapped into the radical spirit of its time. Adopting high production values and edgy editorial design, its fresh approach attracted an influx of progressive photographers and contributors. Budgets were tight and resources limited and yet by embracing grassroots creative input, POL’s legacy is evident in both its experimental photography and challenging features.
During his tenure as the magazine’s editor in the 1980’s, Don Dustan had this to say: ‘Pol delights in excellence, individuality, creativity and zest for life. We chronicle Australia’s maturity. We pursue the causes of the good. Australians of the world unite and read POL – you have nothing to lose but your cultural cringe’.
Among the pages of the first issue is Hibodress, with an accompanying article touting the rise of the see-through blouse; testament to the brand’s position at the fore of Australian fashion and the ingenuity of its founders.
Olga Horak (nee Rosenberger) was born in August 1926 in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia to Hugo and Piroschka Rosenberger. She was 17 when first deported to Sered, then Auschwitz- Birkenau, Kurzbach, Gross Rosen and Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated. She immigrated to Australia in 1949. Olga received an OAM in 2014 for service to her community.
Olga witnessed the Nazi Regime turn Czechoslovakia into a 'puppet republic'. The government agreed to laws that restricted the lives of Jews. They weren't allowed to go to school, be out after dark, go to the movies or sit on a park bench.
In 1942, Olga's sister Judith was taken in a roundup of 16-year-old Jewish boys and girls to Auschwitz. She never saw her sister again. Out of fear, her parents made plans to escape; they illegally crossed the border into Hungary, but Budapest wasn't easy because they didn't have papers or a home. When bombings began in 1944, Olga and her parents couldn't take refuge in the shelters without being caught. They returned to Bratislava, crossing illegally over the border again.
Back home, Olga's family had false papers. But a cousin was found out and these documents were no longer secure. The family went into hiding with the help of a family friend, but the same friend denounced them two weeks later. The family was taken to a collection camp in Sered before being put in cattle cars to Auschwitz. During the selection process, her father, grandmother, aunts and cousins were taken away and murdered. Olga and her mother were stripped, shaven, registered, and sent to Germany into a camp where they had to carry logs and dig trenches. One morning, the women were evacuated on a Death March, walking through the snow until reaching Gross Rosen. After three days, they marched again until they arrived in Dresden, eventually ending up in Bergen-Belsen. On 15 April 1945, they were liberated by British and Canadian troops. Inmates were registered as survivors, but just as her mother received her card, she collapsed and died. A day that was supposed to be celebratory turned out to be one of the saddest of Olga's life.
Olga was taken to a German hospital where she was left to die. A Catholic Padre from the British Army came to give her last rites. Instead she asked for a Rabbi who arranged for her to be returned back to the sick bay at the camp. She stayed there until late August and was then transported to a hospital in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, weighing 29 kilos. She was placed next to a Catholic woman named Bozena. When Olga was discharged, Bozena took her home with her. Soon, Olga found distant relatives in Bratislava who survived and she lived with them for two years before she met her husband, John Horak, a survivor who had trained as a textile engineer in Brno.
They were determined to leave Czechoslovakia. Eventually they got a tourist visa for Switzerland and then landing permits for Australia. They arrived on the TSS Cyrenia on 16 September 1949 where they established a business manufacturing blouses, Hibodress, within two weeks after arriving.
Production placeAustralia
Production date 1969 - 1969
Object namemagazines
Materialpaper
Production reasonLifestyle publication for the Australian woman
Dimensions
- width: 210.00 mm
height: 277.00 mm
Language
- English
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Mrs Olga Horak