Inge Woolf: Resilience

Inge Woolf’s memoir, Resilience, was launched on 11 April 2023. The book is a Holocaust story and a New Zealand story. It includes captivating stories of escape, survival, resilience and triumph over many adversities. Included is a history of the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand, which Woolf was so pivotal in creating.

Born to a prosperous family, Inge Woolf witnessed the Nazis marching into Vienna in March 1938 and fled with her family to England, escaping certain death. Hiding their Jewish identity until after World War II, Inge and her family were impoverished refugees.

A move to New Zealand signalled new beginnings. Inge met the love of her life, Ronald Woolf, and together they created the country's pre-eminent photographic studio – before catastrophe struck.

In her later years, Inge was pivotal in establishing the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand and was its founding director. She was dedicated to educating thousands on the Holocaust and the dangers of racism and prejudice, often observing that hate start small.

After experiencing so much loss, Inge's life is a testament to the power of resilience. The book makes fascinating reading.

What others have said about the book:

'A remarkable story about a remarkable woman whose legacy will live on forever'

Dame Susan Devoy.

'A chapter heading in Inge Woolf's memoir, Resilience, offers up the essence of her valiant approach to an extraordinary life: “Disaster, Grief and my Mission". Escape from Hitler's Europe, starting again in New Zealand, the country she came to love and to which she contributed so much: her story is a memorial candle lit in the darkness.'

Diana Wichtel.

‘An understated and moving account of a life resolutely refusing to be defined by the catastrophe of the Shoah. Both exceptional and paradigmatic, Inge's story reminds us of how personal stories can illuminate history and its impacts’

Associate Professor Giacomo Lichtner 

To purchase or find out more:

https://www.holocaustcentre.org.nz/resilience.html

Listen to Inge tell her story in the video below.