Jewish Lives spoke to Boyd Klap, the Chairman of Anne Frank NZ, the organisation which has organised the travelling exhibition remembering Anne Frank in NZ and Australia.

Shirley-Anne Hodgson tells the story of how her family left Eastern Europe for new beginnings in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Gisèle Schenirer was a complex and charming person, of another age and another time. She was intellectually rigorous, had zero tolerance for those who weren’t, but also displayed great compassion and generosity for the less privileged.

Jossie Bem was a founding member of Kibbutz Kfar Ruppin, located in the North and close to the border with Jordan. It is one of the ‘tower and stockade’ Kibbutzim establish by young pioneers in an area considered distant and dangerous.

John Shrimski of Sydney tells the story of the last 200 years of the Shrimski family from Posen (Poznan) in Poland to the Antipodes.

Samuel Shrimski was one of the most colourful and effective figures of early Oamaru. He was known for speaking up for the marginalized in society, including the Chinese community, which was persecuted at this time.

In 2014 Ruth Greenaway wrote an article on Sir David Levene for a wider publication. When Sir David passed away in August 2021 during Covid, Juliet Moses was one of those present at his funeral. We share her moving eulogy, along with Ruth’s article.

Marcus Tetro shares the story of his grandparents, Jack and Ettie Nieman, who like many immigrants went through massive upheaval in order to build a better life for their family in New Zealand.

Professor Ian Kaplan combined a love of science with a love for Israel.  Hebrew University Institute of Earth Sciences now holds a biennial symposium/workshop in his name:  the Kaplan Workshop. 

Amongst her achievements, Margot Klippel developed the New Start Programme at the University Centre for Continuing Education to provide an opportunity for a university education to those adults who had not had that opportunity. She had a “deep thirst for knowledge, with a rare vitality and charm, and outstanding and genuine concern for others”.

The Theomin family of Dunedin, is perhaps better known to New Zealanders through the gift of the magnificent ‘Olveston’ Historic Home to the City of Dunedin.

From the apparel business to acting, magic shows and film, to name just a few of Danny Phillips’ interests, he is indeed a man with many talents. His film, ‘No Turning Back’ has won 13 awards from Best Screenplay to Best Film award, including a Remi Award from WorldFest Houston, the oldest independent film festival in the world.

Roger Benjamin, a pioneer in Israeli agriculture, he played a key role in producing food in areas where it was not believed anything would grow. He dared to challenge the impossible and by his efforts and determination, helped the Israeli desert to bloom.

Michael Kuttner’s story begins in Wellington where his parents arrived as refugees from Germany. He describes his life in Wellington and how he and his wife, Margaret, decided it was right for them to move to Israel.

The second part of Peter Baruch’s story - the final leg of the family’s journey to New Zealand and all the colourful characters in post-war Wellington.

Dr Eugen Hirst: New Zealand pioneer in the use and development of contact lenses. In 1943, Dr Hirst made the first contact lens in New Zealand for a near-blind young woman. His unique experience in dental technique and in working with the clear acrylics was applied to making contact lenses.

From 18 July to 28 August 1940, Chiune Sugihara hand-wrote visas for between 18-20 hours per day producing a month's worth of visas each day, until 4 September when he was forced to close the Consulate in Kaunas by the Russians.

Amongst Peter Baruch’s belongings there is a rug made of ‘plush’ fabric which was made in his grand-father’s factory in Lodz. Peter’s mother wrapped it around him to keep warm as the family made their escape from Poland. It remains his only tangible memory from his brief life in Poland.

Freda Narev was born Freda Malacka, the youngest of three daughters, in 1937, in the Polish shtetl Widze (Vidzy), now part of Belarus. Her older sister, Liza, was born in 1926 and her middle sister, Ester, in 1929.

Rachel Israel tells the history of Indian Jews and how she came to be in New Zealand