Survivor of five camps built good life in Australia
OTTO KOHN March 21, 1928-April 11, 2025
The remarkable Otto Kohn, a survivor of the Holocaust, was born in Prague in 1928 and grew up in a comfortable, loving home. When barely a teenager in 1942, he was transported with his family to the Terezin concentration camp.
Soon after this, he was separated from his mother Zdenka and sister Olga in Auschwitz, where they were murdered. Together with his father Arnold, he endured another four concentration camps – Landsberg, Kaufering, Landshut and Dachau.
(Mark Baker, son of survivors, historian and eloquent recorder of the impact of the Holocaust on Australian Jewry, once wrote: 'The ruptures of our times can never be wholly mended, they must be a gash that we wear openly on our hearts.')
Otto's life was ruptured by the Holocaust, and he carried this throughout his life. The Melbourne Holocaust Museum had a feature story on him in a 2016 periodical.
I was struck not only by the story of his wondrous survival, but also by a poignant photo of the Kohn family seated at a festive table. It pictures a beaming Otto surrounded by his parents, grandparents and extended family. Here is a handsome, well-dressed child looking into the camera and future with so much confidence and happiness. One's heart is torn with the dreadful knowledge of what lay ahead for the family and a young boy brimful of promise.
The truth of a life is always more complex and subtle than we allow or present it. Such was the long and variegated life of Otto Kohn.
He always had a strong awareness of the darkness, but he also never let go of the assuredness and vitality of the young boy in the photo. His friend Hannah Piterman – they first met when he recorded his testimony with her for the Holocaust Museum – reflected on this. She recalled him as a man of enormous talent and resilience, mindful of the darkness that haunted us all, but imbued with a radiant inner light. He shared the terrors of his concentration camps experience including physical and sexual abuse, the infamous selections of Dr Josef Mengele, the horrors and the humiliation.
Someone who knew well the light at the heart of Otto's blackness was his adopted god-daughter Deborah Glass. Her family embraced him from his arrival in Melbourne as a penniless, orphaned refugee in 1950, and he in turn embraced them as he rebuilt his life, establishing in time a highly successful business, O K Timbers.
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SBS Australia
20 hours ago
- SBS Australia
Far From Home, In Touch With Memory: Young Austrians Volunteer at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum
The Austrian Service Abroad programme allows young adults to go abroad and serve in Holocaust remembrance institutions around the world Four Austrian volunteers are at serving the Melbourne Holocaust Museum They guide Australian school students through the museum SBS Hebrew 14/06/2025 08:16 Tim: My name is Tim. I'm 19 years old. I've been at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum for almost 10 months now. I come from Austria, from, uh, uh, from the district of Corne work in a small town called uh Stetten. Julian: My name is Julian. I am from Upper Austria, from a small village called, and I've been at the museum for 8.5 months now. Ellis: My name is Ellis. I'm also here at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum since 9 months, and I'm from Lower Austria in a small town called Presbaum. Gregor: My name is Gregor. I've been here at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum for about 9 months, and I'm originally from a small Austrian village called Mihildorf. Julia Grewe: Could you explain what the Austrian exchange services? Gregor: So the Austrian Service abroad programme is a programme that enables uh mostly young civil servants to go and serve abroad. So in Austria we still have compulsory military conscription for young men who can also serve in civil institutions like hospitals, and then there's the Austrian Service abroad programme, which, as I said, allows us to go abroad and serve mostly in institutions that remember the Holocaust and work on Holocaust remembrance. Julia: What motivated you to choose this service at the Holocaust Museum? Tim: For me, I have to say it was intriguing That there was a Holocaust museum so far away from Europe, from where everything happened. What I didn't know at the time is that Melbourne had one of the highest survivor population in the world. I think it's the 3rd highest. I definitely don't regret coming here and uh, the community has been so welcoming and amazing and it's, it's awesome, yeah. We're the last generation who gets to ask survivors questions and and talk to them. That's what has impacted me the most - Talking to survivors over coffee. Tim Julian: For me, it's my history teacher. She was really engaged in the memorial service in Mathausen in Austria, and she brought us the Holocaust era. And since then, I've been really interested in the Second World War and the Holocaust. And I chose Australia just because it's that far away. And I was also similar as Tim. Interested in how this topic is being treated here so far away from Austria. Gregor: For me, the reason why I wanted to do a remembrance service, or something in a Holocaust institution was because my history teacher in school organised a meeting and an interview with a Holocaust survivor from Terrisianstadt, near Prague in Czechoslovakia at the time. And that really made me interested on a personal level in, uh, like the Holocaust. And also just like Julian and Tim was really wanting to get far away from Austria for once. Ellis: For me as well, just the whole topic, the Holocaust was always a really emotional topic, especially in school when we visited the former concentration camp, Motthausen, that's when I knew I just want a more detailed deep dive into this whole topic and also engage in the memorial culture and yet to come here was just the perfect opportunity to be able to experience so many new things and yeah, just to work in this really great museum with a great environment. Yeah, it's just truly amazing, I think. The Holocaust is such a big topic and there's so much to explore, so much to know, and yeah, it's not always easy to have the best answers Ellis Julia: What kind of work have you been doing day to day? Can you give an example of your typical day? Tim: Work starts for us at at 9:30. Most of the time we're with the education programme, which works with the schools all over Victoria. They usually arrive in the morning and our task is to guide them through the museum. We each have like a few stops through the exhibition, and we give them a tour through the exhibition and later, later on, they also have the chance to listen to a Holocaust survivor speak and ask them questions Which is incredible because we're the last generation who, who can, who gets to ask survivors questions and and talk to them. And I think that's uh what the what the museum is is doing and and pushing with that uh with the programme is wonderful. Julia: You've spent a lot of time in the museum, which specific artefacts or stories in the museum made a lasting impression on you? Gregor: There are two models of certain locations. Uh, one is of a synagogue in the Polish town of Chenhova, and one is a model of Treblinka, the, uh, extermination or death camp in Poland. Both of these models were built by one of our survivors here. His name was Haim Steier. He was really involved in the like in the setup of the museum. These models are a big part of the exhibition. And also his daughter is still volunteering here at the museum quite a lot. These models have made quite an impact also because of Haim's personal story. He was one of the only 67 survivors of Treblinka, a camp where almost 920,000 people were murdered. I didn't know that these stories were so individual to all the people. It's different for everybody, and everybody of those 6 million that also died had a different story, and it was all different people. Julian Tim: It's, it's not a, it's not a specific artefact, but it's more a survivor. It's Abram Goldberg. He is 100 years old now and he's one of our oldest survivors and he used to be in a, in the lodge ghetto and he also was in the, in the resistance. He buried some documents in the ghetto to have it as evidence after the war. These documents are in the museum now, and I think his dedication and his like will to live and keep going, uh, impacted me the most in the museum and also to be able to talk to him comes in the museum every other week to talk to the students and to have the chance to be able to, to talk to him, ask him questions has been amazing. So I think that's, that's what has impacted me the most, talking to the survivors over coffee. Julia: You've guided Australian high school students through the museum. What questions or reactions from the students stood out to you? It's Ellis: pretty different and also depends on the schools. Sometimes we get really deep questions, for example, how the Holocaust was humanly possible, and sometimes it can be quite difficult to have the answer of these questions because the Holocaust is such a big topic and there's so much to explore, so much to know, and yeah, it's not always easy to have the best answers because um some of the questions are still getting discussed today, but we also get like simple questions, for example, students asking the survivors if they met Adolf Hitler, for example, because this is the only thing that they are associating with the Holocaust. So yeah, it's pretty different, but yeah, we do get a lot of great questions from the students. The Austrian Service Abroad programme allows us to go abroad and serve in institutions that remember the Holocaust and work on Holocaust remembrance Gregor Julia: You've been working with elderly Holocaust survivors who speak to students at the museum. How has that shaped your understanding of what happened and whose story impacted you the most and why? Julian: Personally, I didn't know that these stories were so individual to all the people. Some of them travelled around all of Europe trying to find a safe place. Some of them were in a concentration camp, so it's different for everybody, and everybody of those 6 million that also died had a different story, and it was all different people, so that was the thing that really stuck to me. The story that sticks out is the one of Henry Eckhart, who is actually still alive and and still comes to our museum to talk to school students. He actually was a child, a child during the Holocaust. He came to Australia and just went to school like everybody else, and he specialised in medicine, specialised in bone marrow cancer of children, and he Invented a treatment that was able to bring down the death rate of children with this cancer from 90% to below 10%, so that was a really huge achievement, and we've actually had students coming in saying they know Henry Eckert because he saved their relatives' lives or our life or their mother's life or stuff like that, which is really, really moving. So that's what I took away. Julia: What message would you like to share with the Jewish community in Australia who may be listening now? Tim: Thank you for, for taking us in, uh, ever since my first day I got here, I've been, I've been welcomed. I've got to learn a lot of new traditions, new holidays. It has been a really welcoming and, and nice experience and I, I'm very grateful for that.
The Advertiser
2 days ago
- The Advertiser
No Australians believed dead in Air India plane crash
No Australian citizens or residents are believed to have been in a plane crash that killed more than 240 people in India's west. The aviation disaster in the city of Ahmedabad was the worst the world has seen in a decade. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia's thoughts were with all those affected by the crash. "I know I speak for all Australians when I say this is heartbreaking," she told reporters on Friday. "I had a message exchange with (External Affairs Minister) Dr Jaishankar, expressing the condolences of Australians to him. "We also think of our good friends in the United Kingdom and in many other countries. It is a devastating and distressing day for these two countries and many others." More than 200 bodies have been recovered from the crash site, but authorities say some of those may be people killed on the ground. The aircraft passengers included 217 adults, 11 children and two infants, a source told Reuters. Of those, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian, according to Air India's latest advice. Senator Wong said she had not been advised that any Australians were on board but diplomatic staff were closely engaging with Indian authorities. "We've not had any anyone reach out for consular assistance. Obviously, we stand ready to provide support to Australians as required," she said. The Australian High Commission in New Delhi and the Consulate-General in Mumbai were following up with local authorities to determine whether there were any Australians on board, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the disaster was devastating. "In this time of tragedy, Australia's thoughts are with everyone affected," he posted on the social media platform X. The Air India plane was heading to London's Gatwick Airport when it crashed just minutes after take-off. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner came down in a residential area, crashing onto a medical college hostel outside the airport during lunch hour. Only one passenger survived the crash, Air India confirmed. Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed," 40-year-old survivor Ramesh Viswashkumar told the Hindustan Times from his hospital bed. "It all happened so quickly. When I got up, there were bodies all around me. "I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me." with Reuters No Australian citizens or residents are believed to have been in a plane crash that killed more than 240 people in India's west. The aviation disaster in the city of Ahmedabad was the worst the world has seen in a decade. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia's thoughts were with all those affected by the crash. "I know I speak for all Australians when I say this is heartbreaking," she told reporters on Friday. "I had a message exchange with (External Affairs Minister) Dr Jaishankar, expressing the condolences of Australians to him. "We also think of our good friends in the United Kingdom and in many other countries. It is a devastating and distressing day for these two countries and many others." More than 200 bodies have been recovered from the crash site, but authorities say some of those may be people killed on the ground. The aircraft passengers included 217 adults, 11 children and two infants, a source told Reuters. Of those, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian, according to Air India's latest advice. Senator Wong said she had not been advised that any Australians were on board but diplomatic staff were closely engaging with Indian authorities. "We've not had any anyone reach out for consular assistance. Obviously, we stand ready to provide support to Australians as required," she said. The Australian High Commission in New Delhi and the Consulate-General in Mumbai were following up with local authorities to determine whether there were any Australians on board, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the disaster was devastating. "In this time of tragedy, Australia's thoughts are with everyone affected," he posted on the social media platform X. The Air India plane was heading to London's Gatwick Airport when it crashed just minutes after take-off. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner came down in a residential area, crashing onto a medical college hostel outside the airport during lunch hour. Only one passenger survived the crash, Air India confirmed. Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed," 40-year-old survivor Ramesh Viswashkumar told the Hindustan Times from his hospital bed. "It all happened so quickly. When I got up, there were bodies all around me. "I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me." with Reuters No Australian citizens or residents are believed to have been in a plane crash that killed more than 240 people in India's west. The aviation disaster in the city of Ahmedabad was the worst the world has seen in a decade. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia's thoughts were with all those affected by the crash. "I know I speak for all Australians when I say this is heartbreaking," she told reporters on Friday. "I had a message exchange with (External Affairs Minister) Dr Jaishankar, expressing the condolences of Australians to him. "We also think of our good friends in the United Kingdom and in many other countries. It is a devastating and distressing day for these two countries and many others." More than 200 bodies have been recovered from the crash site, but authorities say some of those may be people killed on the ground. The aircraft passengers included 217 adults, 11 children and two infants, a source told Reuters. Of those, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian, according to Air India's latest advice. Senator Wong said she had not been advised that any Australians were on board but diplomatic staff were closely engaging with Indian authorities. "We've not had any anyone reach out for consular assistance. Obviously, we stand ready to provide support to Australians as required," she said. The Australian High Commission in New Delhi and the Consulate-General in Mumbai were following up with local authorities to determine whether there were any Australians on board, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the disaster was devastating. "In this time of tragedy, Australia's thoughts are with everyone affected," he posted on the social media platform X. The Air India plane was heading to London's Gatwick Airport when it crashed just minutes after take-off. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner came down in a residential area, crashing onto a medical college hostel outside the airport during lunch hour. Only one passenger survived the crash, Air India confirmed. Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed," 40-year-old survivor Ramesh Viswashkumar told the Hindustan Times from his hospital bed. "It all happened so quickly. When I got up, there were bodies all around me. "I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me." with Reuters No Australian citizens or residents are believed to have been in a plane crash that killed more than 240 people in India's west. The aviation disaster in the city of Ahmedabad was the worst the world has seen in a decade. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia's thoughts were with all those affected by the crash. "I know I speak for all Australians when I say this is heartbreaking," she told reporters on Friday. "I had a message exchange with (External Affairs Minister) Dr Jaishankar, expressing the condolences of Australians to him. "We also think of our good friends in the United Kingdom and in many other countries. It is a devastating and distressing day for these two countries and many others." More than 200 bodies have been recovered from the crash site, but authorities say some of those may be people killed on the ground. The aircraft passengers included 217 adults, 11 children and two infants, a source told Reuters. Of those, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian, according to Air India's latest advice. Senator Wong said she had not been advised that any Australians were on board but diplomatic staff were closely engaging with Indian authorities. "We've not had any anyone reach out for consular assistance. Obviously, we stand ready to provide support to Australians as required," she said. The Australian High Commission in New Delhi and the Consulate-General in Mumbai were following up with local authorities to determine whether there were any Australians on board, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the disaster was devastating. "In this time of tragedy, Australia's thoughts are with everyone affected," he posted on the social media platform X. The Air India plane was heading to London's Gatwick Airport when it crashed just minutes after take-off. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner came down in a residential area, crashing onto a medical college hostel outside the airport during lunch hour. Only one passenger survived the crash, Air India confirmed. Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed," 40-year-old survivor Ramesh Viswashkumar told the Hindustan Times from his hospital bed. "It all happened so quickly. When I got up, there were bodies all around me. "I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me." with Reuters
Sky News AU
2 days ago
- Sky News AU
Australian airline Captain Byron Bailey details why he believes 'pilot error' the reason behind crash of Air India Flight 171
An experienced Australian airline captain has explained why he believes pilot error is to blame for the crash of Air India Flight 171 which has left hundreds of people dead. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner departed Ahmedabad airport, in India's north-west, on Thursday but came down in a densely populated neighbourhood seconds later. Footage showed the 11-year-old aircraft slowly descending about 15 seconds after lifting from the runway before it hit a medical college hostel and exploded into flames. Speaking to Sky News Australia, former commercial pilot Captain Byron Bailey said pilot error was "highly likely" the cause of the crash after he watched the video. He pointed to a "remarkable" part of the clip which showed the landing gear was still down, despite the plane reaching 190 metres in the air, according to Flightradar24. Captain Bailey said pilots are in constant communication during the takeoff process and when the required speed is reached for takeoff, they pull back on the yoke. "And the pilot flying will say 'gear up' and that's it for that moment. That occurs at a couple of hundred feet. So why, it's 600 feet, the undercarriage is still down means they haven't selected the gear," he told Sky News. "The other thing that's remarkable is it appears the flap, which is the high lift devices that enables you to fly slower, they appear not to be down. "Now, you can't take off without flap." Captain Bailey suggested it was around this time a fatal error was made. "But my own suspicion is that when the pilot flying called for gear up, the other pilot inadvertently grabbed the flap lever and pushed it through to zero," he said. "And once you've done that, immediately you're in a deep stall and at 600 feet you cannot recover. There's not enough height even though the engines are at full power." The Dreamliner had been labelled as the safest plane up until the crash of Air India. The 787-8 had not been in a fatal incident since its introduction. It is one of the most advanced jets and was brought into service in 2011, with Boeing selling more than 2,500 of the model to airlines, including 47 to Air India. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg has offered his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and has spoken to Air India's chairman to offer his "full support". He was due to attend an air show in Paris, but cancelled his appearance. The company was last year plagued with a series of incidents around the world involving its aircraft. Boeing shares fell about 4.2 per cent after the crash. India's Aircraft Accident Bureau Investigation has started a formal investigation. The National Transport Safety Board said a team of US investigators will be flown over to India to support local authorities to find the exact cause which led to the fatal incident. British Air Accidents Investigation Branch has also offered its assistance. Air India on Friday confirmed 241 of the 242 passengers and crew were killed. It said there were 230 passengers and 12 crew on board, including 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian, and seven Portuguese nationals. The sole survivor has been named as Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, a British-Indian national who was assigned seat 11A, according to officials and media on the ground. Police have taped off the scene at the site of the crash. Medical technicians transported blue boxes, which contained human remains, to be forensically tested to confirm their identity as most bodies were badly burnt.
