Jane Lothringer (on right) receiving her Volunteer of the Year Award
At Jewish Care’s recent Staff and Volunteers Awards Ceremony, Jewish Care’s resident and longstanding volunteer Jane Lothringer, received the Volunteer of the Year Award.
Jane Lothringer is an inspiration. You can often find her at the library immersed in a book with a cup of coffee, getting a manicure, browsing the Internet or heading off to shopping centres. But more often, Jane is busy volunteering at our fundraising telethons.
Jane was born in London in 1927 to Yetta and Marcus Carrier. Her father managed a dress shop, while her mother took care of six children.Continue reading →
I was 17 when I met my future husband Samuel who was 27.
The year was 1936 and we both lived in Shklov, Mogilev Uezd, Belarus. During the Civil War in Russia, Samuel was a partisan.
Being my brother’s friend, Samuel frequently came to visit him at our home.
Then he started bringing flowers and sweets for me. My parents saw a change in his attitude and quickly held a family meeting to discuss our future. Continue reading →
Berta was born in 1934; Froim was born in 1926.They moved to Melbourne from St Petersburg (former Leningrad)
Berta and Froim Goland, Montefiore residents
It all started on New Year’s Eve in 1955 at a friend’s party. I was 21 and Froim, or as I call him Fima, was 29.
The celebration ended quite late and Fima walked me home. I told him that I was finishing TAFE and was about to get my baker’s diploma in a week and then I was going to leave to far away Ural region to do my internship placement for a year.
After that, I went to Moscow where my mother lived. It was a 9-hour train ride.Continue reading →
Born inVeliki Beckerek, Yugoslavia in 1923; moved to Melbourne in 1964
Elizabeth Gocs, Gary Smorgon House resident
With the rise of Nazism in Europe my family was able to move to Kenya in East Africa in 1939, leaving behind our belongings in Europe.
My father bought a farm and we all worked on it.
I didn’t like farm life so when the opportunity arose a few years later, after the war had finished, I moved to the capital, Nairobi, and found a job in a shop.
Nairobi Hebrew Congregation
There were about 200 Jewish people in Nairobi, mostly those who had left war-torn Europe. We spent time together in a so-called Jewish hall and that’s where I met my future husband, Alexander, playing table tennis.Continue reading →
At Jewish Care’s Annual Appeal Dinner, 400 guests were treated to a very special performance by incredible Moshe Fried and talented Chazan Dov Farkas.
Moshe is a 94-year-old resident at Gary Smorgon House whose voice is still captivating the audience.
Sit back and enjoy this selection of songs and make sure you hear the final song… it gets a standing ovation!!
About Moshe Fried
Born in Poland, the oldest of 3 brothers, Moshe lost his parents and one brother during the war, but together with his brother Avraham, miraculously survived. Continue reading →
Resident of Jewish Care’s The Mark and Dina Munzer Community Residence
Born in 1928 in Pressburg (now Bratislava, Slovakia); lives in Melbourne
When the war ended, I was liberated from the concentration camp in Slovakia where I lost my mother at the age of 14. After reuniting with my father I continued my education in a boarding school in Switzerland and in Oxford.
In 1947, my sister got engaged in our home in Pressburg (Bratislava) and I came for the party. I was 19 and had no idea that this trip home would change my entire life.
Post-War Pressburg (Bratislava)
My father introduced me to a young man Richard, who made aliya to Israel in 1939.Richard offered to go out for a walk and I agreed. Obviously, some people saw us outside and made it their duty to ring my grandmother and tell her “Mazal tov!”
“What is the ‘Mazal tov’ for?”, asked my grandma.“What do you mean? Your Trudie is engaged!”
“Are you sure?”
“We hope so! Otherwise, why would she walk on the streets of Pressburg in the company of a stranger?!”
They were right; back then it was unusual for a young girl to date a man without an intention to get married.
Trudie and Richard Aldor
Richard and I got married in 1948 and then we moved to Paris, even though we were both eager to go to Israel. I tried to apply to the Israeli Army but the officer didn’t believe my age and suggested to come back when I ‘grow up.’
Later we immigrated to Melbourne and had our son Lesley, who blessed us with 2 grandchildren – Judith and Jonathan. I started a clothes retail line but this is a different story…
Please share our stories with your loved ones and on social media using our hashtag #Mylove
Our popular ‘Bissel’ series of videos continues this month with a new instalment titled A Bissel of Songs.
We asked our aged care residents to sing their favourite songs in any language. What we heard was a wonderful collection of tunes in Yiddish, Russian and Hebrew. See if you can recognise any.
You want to know how we met with my husband? It was simple.
Issy approached me at the Kadimah Dancing night and said: “Thank G-d, I met you.” I couldn’t disagree with such a statement.
I was 21; he was 27. Can you believe it? I am 94 now. Issy was a very caring person and we just clicked. My entire family loved him — rightly so — Issy was one in a million.
We got married after 4 months at the Kadimah in North Carlton.
The Kadimah Dance Hall
Issy had an idea of moving to New Zealand to work in butchery but I strictly said ‘no way’. He looked at me and said, ‘It seems like you aren’t that impressed with my idea.’ So he bought a taxi service and we stayed in Melbourne.
Watkins’, The first Jewish Kosher Butcher Shop in Carlton
We lived in a house in North Balwyn and we only bought kosher meat!
We had 3 children: Stephen, Michael and Hettie.
When my brother’s wife suddenly passed away, it was a terrible time for him and his kids. Issy and I welcomed them into our home and we lived as one family for many years.
Together with Issy, we flew to London and Israel for holidays and always made sure to return by ship, so we could see more.
Please share our stories with your loved ones and on social media using our hashtag #Mylove
Boris and Yevgenia Feldman, resident of Smorgon Family Nursing Home
I was introduced to Yevgenia, or as I call my wife, Jenya, through a childhood friend in 1958. I was 23 and she was 2 years younger.
We lived nearby each other and I started picking up Jenya from work.
We would sit on a bench in a park and eat cold cuts and bread – when we were lucky to get some. The times were tough after the war. There was a housing shortage and we couldn’t get married for a few years because we had nowhere to live. So, for 2 years we were going out to cinemas, dancing halls, restaurants — you name it!
We got married on 25 December 1961. I ordered wedding rings in advance; you couldn’t simply go and buy those. Everything was in deficit and was hard to get.
The wedding was held at a simple dining hall, across the road from our synagogue. We brought some benches from shul to sit our 50 guests; the Rabbi showed up too. No, we didn’t have a chuppah. It was forbidden in the Soviet Union.
Thankfully, having a wedding dress was permitted! We bought a beautiful snow-white fabric and shoes in Moscow, the very capital of the USSR.
We share many good memories. We went to Sochi – the best Soviet resort one could dream for. We had a car, the famous “Zhiguli Pobeda”; it was like a Mercedes, only better. I used to search the city to buy French perfume for Jenya; it was called ‘Climat Lancome’ and was very popular and expensive.
(Sighs) But she gave me her whole life…
We have one son, Gregory, and 2 grandchildren, and, most importantly, we are lucky to still have each other.
Zhiguli Pobeda and Climat Lancôme
Please share our stories with your loved ones and on social media using our hashtag #Mylove
Neshama Blog 