Object numberM2017/008
DescriptionThis is an image of Holocaust survivor Braham Stern at work in his chosen profession, watch making. The location is Feher’s Jewellery and Watchmaking in Sydney’s Royal Arcade.
Braham Stern was born October 8, 1930 in Svarlava, Czechoslovakia. As an adolescent, he was incarcarated in a ghetto, before being deported to Auschwitz and later to Mauthausen. Braham was subjected to hard labour, forced to work in stone mines and exposed to abhorrent conditions. Mathausen was liberated by American troops in May 1945; by this point, Braham could no longer work and was confined to his bunk.
Following his recovery, he returned to Czechoslavkia and on advice from his sister, obtained an apprenticeship as a watchmaker. He then took up an offer from the Australian Jewish Welfare society to migrate to Australia, travelling on the Rudnick with small group of children. He arrived in Sydney in February 1948 and was taken to the Maccabean hall where he met Syd Einfeld; this meeting had a lasting impression on Braham. He completed his apprenticeship first at Saunders, before he took up a role at Feher’s Jewellery.
In his one and only testimony, as part of the Twelfth Hour Project in 1990, Braham speaks with pride of his profession and his family. He also remarks that in his opinion, life is not measured by material means and that the bonds of friendship and love are his greatest personal triumphs:
“…a strong bond is the foundation of anybody’s happiness’’
Braham Stern was born October 8, 1930 in Svarlava, Czechoslovakia. As an adolescent, he was incarcarated in a ghetto, before being deported to Auschwitz and later to Mauthausen. Braham was subjected to hard labour, forced to work in stone mines and exposed to abhorrent conditions. Mathausen was liberated by American troops in May 1945; by this point, Braham could no longer work and was confined to his bunk.
Following his recovery, he returned to Czechoslavkia and on advice from his sister, obtained an apprenticeship as a watchmaker. He then took up an offer from the Australian Jewish Welfare society to migrate to Australia, travelling on the Rudnick with small group of children. He arrived in Sydney in February 1948 and was taken to the Maccabean hall where he met Syd Einfeld; this meeting had a lasting impression on Braham. He completed his apprenticeship first at Saunders, before he took up a role at Feher’s Jewellery.
In his one and only testimony, as part of the Twelfth Hour Project in 1990, Braham speaks with pride of his profession and his family. He also remarks that in his opinion, life is not measured by material means and that the bonds of friendship and love are his greatest personal triumphs:
“…a strong bond is the foundation of anybody’s happiness’’
Subjectpost war life, migration, survivors, transport ships, concentration camps, apprenticeships, jewellery
Object namephotographs
Materialphotographic emulsion, paper, paper
Dimensions
- width: 146.00 mm
height: 102.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Braam Stern