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[nb-NO]Object number[nb-NO]M2018/008:049
[nb-NO]Description[nb-NO]Postcard, from Betty to Leo, featuring sheep in a meadow on the one side, and the printed words 'Hearty Birthday Wishes' and rhyming 'With love sincere I send away this birthday wish for you today, And darling my most earnest prayer is that you'll be happy everywhere'. Betty writes on the reverse, 'Here's wishing you a happy birthday and although I won't be with you I'll be thinking of you just the same.'
In March 1938, Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in the “Anschluss”. From May 1938, the racist Nuremberg laws applied in Austria, and Austrian Jews were steadily ostracised from their societies during the process of “Aryanisation.” This tension came to a climax in the Kristallnacht pogrom from 9th-10th November.
In the meantime, Hardy Brothers, a British jewellery-making firm, offer young Leo Steiner from Vienna employment in Sydney, Australia as a jewellery mounter in July 1938. However, the Gestapo threaten to arrest Jews issued with travel documents who do not leave within a short time. Whilst Leo’s Australian landing permit is pending, it is therefore prudent to seek temporary refuge in a third country. Before he is discharged from his erstwhile firm Vienna Art Designs, Leo’s employer Oscar Fastlich writes that his stay in Switzerland is necessary for business. In July, Leo moves to Zurich on a temporary stay visa, leaving his parents, Adolf and Hermine, and brother Paul, behind in Vienna.
Once established in Australia, Leo keeps in contact with a wide network of family and friends. This postcard (without postal address, used as a birthday card) is from Leo’s girlfriend at the time and future wife, Betty Woolf, conveying her birthday wishes.
In Australia, Leo tries to secure landing permits for his family to join him, but to no avail. All three of his immediate family members would ultimately perish during WWII. Leo and Betty marry in December 1941 at the Great Synagogue in Sydney. They go on to run an independent jewellery business together from 1944.
In March 1938, Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in the “Anschluss”. From May 1938, the racist Nuremberg laws applied in Austria, and Austrian Jews were steadily ostracised from their societies during the process of “Aryanisation.” This tension came to a climax in the Kristallnacht pogrom from 9th-10th November.
In the meantime, Hardy Brothers, a British jewellery-making firm, offer young Leo Steiner from Vienna employment in Sydney, Australia as a jewellery mounter in July 1938. However, the Gestapo threaten to arrest Jews issued with travel documents who do not leave within a short time. Whilst Leo’s Australian landing permit is pending, it is therefore prudent to seek temporary refuge in a third country. Before he is discharged from his erstwhile firm Vienna Art Designs, Leo’s employer Oscar Fastlich writes that his stay in Switzerland is necessary for business. In July, Leo moves to Zurich on a temporary stay visa, leaving his parents, Adolf and Hermine, and brother Paul, behind in Vienna.
Once established in Australia, Leo keeps in contact with a wide network of family and friends. This postcard (without postal address, used as a birthday card) is from Leo’s girlfriend at the time and future wife, Betty Woolf, conveying her birthday wishes.
In Australia, Leo tries to secure landing permits for his family to join him, but to no avail. All three of his immediate family members would ultimately perish during WWII. Leo and Betty marry in December 1941 at the Great Synagogue in Sydney. They go on to run an independent jewellery business together from 1944.
[nb-NO]Production place[nb-NO]Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
[nb-NO]Date[nb-NO] 1940-01-01 - 1940-02-29
[nb-NO]Subject[nb-NO]Holocaust, refugee experiences, refugee experiences in Australia, rebuilding lives
[nb-NO]Object name[nb-NO]postcards
[nb-NO]Dimensions[nb-NO]
- length: 140.00 mm
width: 88.00 mm
[nb-NO]Language[nb-NO]
- English
[nb-NO]Credit line[nb-NO]Sydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Pauline Shavit