January 22, 2025.
Keith Masnick has fowarded the B'nei Etzel photo of 1959 with the names of its members and notations of those who have passed.
He also noted:
1. Micheline has just died
2. Sid says he lost contact with news about Chava after I learnt that she had married A J Harle, a chemistry lecturer for 1st years at Sydney Uni who joined the uni in 1959.
To see the photo enlarged, go here and review NOTE #34 near the bottom of the page to see the updated names.
December 9, 2024.
From Evie Katz/Aaron Ninedek: Garry Stock passes away in Israel.
Description by a funeral attendee: It was very long.. 1 and a half hours of hespedim, 4 songs: the Collingwood anthem, מעל פסגת הר הצופים (this was the Scopus school song Me'al Pisgat Har Hatsofim), The Betar anthem (Was this Shtei G'dot Layarden?) and Hatikvah. The choice of songs was indicative of the forces that influenced him. I think Garry would have been proud to get the email with details of the new Scopus College in Caulfield and it was symbolic that it arrived today.
It was a very big funeral which showed how highly people thought of him.
Garry's eulogy can be seen here.
September 11, 2024
Susan Aufgang has posted Eric's eulogy here.
From Aaron Ninedek:
Sorry to report, Eric Aufgang passed away today, 18th July 2024. He was 85y 5m.
Eric was one of my closest friends. Over many, many years we were active in Betar together, went to Teachers College together, played squash together, shared meals together and spent time together. He was my Best Man at my first wedding. Recently, both of us had medical issues which caused us to lose contact. A great loss.
Quadrant Magazine
This issue of Quadrant is tribute to Larry Sitsky at Ninety. Four friends have united in this editorial each with their own story.
The articles appeared in the January-February edition of Quadrant. (Archived articles, such as these, are only available online on subscription, at $A98 per year.)
However, clicking on the link (below) will enable you to open the site and, by searching for "Larry Sitsky" will give you access to a small number of the tributes.
Quadrant link.
Congratulations to Jenny Morris who was awarded the OAM in the King's Birthday Honours.
Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the General Division
Ms Jennifer Lea Morris, Roseville NSW 2069
For service to women through leadership and mentoring roles. Women for Election (Australia) • Emeritus Chair, since 2021. • Former Chair. • Founder, 2014. Women and Leadership • Board Member, Women's Indigenous Network, 2014-2015. • Co-Chair and Executive Council Member, NSW Equal Employment Opportunity Practitioners Association (NEEOPA - now The Inclusion Circle), 2006-2010. • Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Orijen Group, since 2000. • Facilitator, Women in IT Executive Mentoring (WITEM) Coaching Circles, DELL, since 2012. Other • Chair, NSW Volunteer Council, National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN), 2007-2009. • Former Teacher and School Counsellor. Awards and Recognition include: • Westpac/AFR 100 Women of Influence
A friend sent an article, in Hebrew, regarding events at the kibbutz last weekend. You may recall that in 1967 a group of us from Betar Australia volunteered at the kibbutz.
For those with lesser Hebrew skills than I, I have tried to translate it. Apologies, in particular, for the spelling of people's names. Download the 5 page article here.
Trusting you are all safe.
Best wishes to you all,
Peter Keeda
Over the past 2 months (June-August, 2023), a dedicated team of film restorers have produced two new videos showing the life and times our Betar Sydney (mostly), Canberra, Brisbane and Melbourne families experienced in the mid 1950s to mid-1960s.
The restoration team: John Ziegler retransferred the 8mm films to digital; Peter Keeda, Sid Agranoff and Keith Masnick identified (sometimes correctly) those in the films, and Harry Stuart re-organised, added the captions to the videos, and processed them in his 'studio' in the US. Using the advantages of digital technology, some of the scenes look like they were taken just yesterday - although our arthritis tells another story. These two productions (with a musical background) have been added to the history captured in the 1962 Kenes Artzi video of 2 years ago.
Are YOU captured in these films? Go HERE to see the lists of identified people in each video. All videos are hosted on YouTube and are private, meaning that only the link provided will allow them to be seen.
Please enjoy the fruits of our labour. Pass the links on to your children and grandchildren - and in some cases, great-grandchildren - who can now get a glimpse of 'the olden days' when we could enjoy one another without the interferience of the world we live in today.
-Harry Stuart
Jan's book "From Vienna to Sydney:Migration, Refuge, Modernity and Culture" based on her doctorate thesis has just been published.
Jan passed away in December 2020. Her obituary can be seen here.
An essay on the book, written by Thomas Kampe, csn be downloaded here.
Thanks to Peter Keeta for the news.
Sid Agranoff has gathered information on the pioneers of Betar Melbourne from data supplied by Bob Sitsky. The chart contains many names whom you may recognise along with some interesting facts you probably did not know.
The chart can be seen here.
At about 13:45 in the Camps video, there is a scene where a trophy is presented to a scout leader during a Misdar (parade). Read the Jewish News article in the January 16, 1959 issue on the purpose of the presentation here.
Thanks to Sid Agranoff for the research.
Danny Rosing pased away.on August 1st, 2023 in Israel.
Condolences to Danny's family and Peter Keeda and family, Danny's brother in law.
Danny's obituary has been added (September 27, 2023), written by Sid Agranoff and Peter Keeda.
The obituary and condolences can be seen here.
.
Sid Agranoff exposes the name of the composer who wrote the FIRST opera ever staged at the Sydney Opera House on the 25th July, 1973. It was Larry Sitsky. Read the article here.
In the King’s Birthday Honours announced last Monday, Ruth Marshall was awarded an AO “for distinguished service to rehabilitation medicine, particularly to people living with spinal cord injury or disorder, as a leader, mentor and clinician”. She is the medical director of the South Australia Spinal Cord Injury Service and Consultant in Charge, of Spinal Cord Injury at Royal Adelaide Hospital. She is also a clinical professor at the University of Adelaide Medical School.
Ruth was one of the younger Betarim during my time and was one of my chanichim for a while. She joined Betar around 1958 and was still an active member, together with her sister Susan, when I left Betar in 1966.
She had a baby brother, Warren, who had the distinction of sitting on Menachem Begin’s lap as a baby at a Betar meeting in Sydney when Begin visited Australia in 1963.
Read the Australian Jewish News article.
- Sid Agranoff
Link to document forwarded by Danny Rosing.
Detailed acticle, written by Yitzhak Shichor, PhD, London School of Economics and Political Science and professor emeritus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, outlines the influence Betar had in China in the period 1929-1949. Mentioned in the article are some Betar members who had a profound influence in the establishment of Betar Australia.
From Danny: Bob [Shteinman] was only one of many Betarim from China who restarted Betar in Sydney in the early 1950's.
Hans Dreyer was Mefaked Machoz Sydney (after same in Shanghai) before Bob but among the Chinese Betarim there were also Larry Sitsky, Alex Auswaks, Jesse Trantegerz, Gershon Mosesson. Chanichim Mary Gershberg and Irene Saraginsky and later children of also joined, including Sid Agranoff, Leo Rogovin, Larry Levin, Leo Goorevich, David Leymanstein and Norman Sarajinski.
I am sure I have also forgotten some. - Danny.
Download here (500 mb pdf).
See also http://162smilingfaces.com/2018_Bulletin.html article 2018-04.
Following the consecration of his tombstone, a gathering was held at David Burstyner's home to honor Henry on January 8, 2023. Go here to read/view a couple of the contributions made by his lifelong friends John Goldlust and Harry Stuart. As John characterized it, Henry was 'the most unforgetable character I ever met'.
Diana Rozenman, or as many of us knew her, Diana Minky Fabian, passed away on April 7, 2022 in Sydney. More details as they become available. Reported by Michael Price.
Diana's obituary was published in the Australian Jewish News on October 20, 2022. It can be seen here. Thanks to Evie Katz and Sid Agranoff for forwarding
To read about the background of all videos made (ranging from 1954 onwards), first click Videos on the menu bar. For direct access to the Celebration videos, see the list further down this home page.
To view the background of any video before playing, click Video and scroll down the list of all videos spanning from 1954 through the present.
Direct link
#25 Peter Keeda https://vimeo.com/user15972226
#24 Ron Isaacs https://vimeo.com/729806314
#23 Les Berger https://vimeo.com/717258688
#22 Dov Rosenfeld https://vimeo.com/697864330
#21 Henry Ben Ezra https://vimeo.com/684557007
#20 Ian Groden https://vimeo.com/670729504
#19 Harry Stuart https://vimeo.com/658267471
#18 Geoff Williamson https://vimeo.com/642671348
#17John-Ziegler https://vimeo.com/617883571/bc87d28c33
#16: Miriam Briggs https://vimeo.com/595318652
#15: Ed Adamek https://vimeo.com/579033694
#14: Sid Agranoff https://vimeo.com/571509090
#13: Danny Rosing (Part 2] ttps://vimeo.com/552750006
#12: David Golomb https://vimeo.com/540515954
#11: Lionel Bomzon https://vimeo.com/537205921/6dee5dc6bb
#10: Adam Graycar https://vimeo.com/530212673
#09: David Layman ttps://vimeo.com/527175314
#08: Michael Price (Part 2) ttps://vimeo.com/515077393
#07: Michael Price (Part 1 ) ttps://vimeo.com/505849359
#06: Elizabeth Kornhaber ttps://vimeo.com/510065593
#05: Roland Gridiger https://vimeo.com/478316530
#04: Danny Rosing (Part 1] ttps://vimeo.com/464835862
#03: Judy Behar https://vimeo.com/454272251
#02: Zvi Berkovic https://vimeo.com/517009680
There are many volumes of downloadable items which can be accessed on this site. Here are the direct links to those data for ease of access - listed in chronological order of the addition to the site. All files are PDFs and require Adobe Acrobat to be opened.
1. The Evolution of a Zionist Movement (1948-56) - Shimshon Feder & Jack Mirjam (147 pp)
2. Survivors and 1967 Volunteers Get Together in Israel - Peter Keeda (5 pp)
3. My Story - Lily Skall (117 pp)
4. A Different Silence: The Survival Of More Than 200,000 Polish Jews In The Soviet Union During World War II As A Case Study In Cultural Amnesia - John Goldlust (48 pp)
5. 40 Years Betar 1964 - Halapid (16 pp)
6. 50 Years Betar - Program (44 pp)
7. 60 Years Betar - Program (10 pp)
8. 80 Years Betar - Program (36 pp)
9. 8th Kenes Artzi - 1960 Sydney (24 pp)
10. 10th Kenes Artzi - 1962 Sydney (29 pp)
11. 12th Kenes Artzi - 1964 Sydney (21 pp)
12. Rinse the Blood off my Kafia - Script (6 pp)
13. Altalena March 1964 - Jabotinsky Remains to Israel (17 pp)
14. My life as an Artist - Jack Mirjam (311 pp)
15. Another Reunion in Rosh Pinah - Peter Keeda (4 pp)
16. The Rare Film that Uncovered the Story of a Family that was Obliterated - Lionel Bomzon (3 pp)
17. Melbourne Betar Reunion 1988 - Organizing Papers (10 pp)
18. Really Trivial Pursuit - Spouse Edition (1988) - (3 pp)
19. Whatever Happened to Emmanuel? - Peter Keeda (31 pp)
20. Tales from Old Harbin - Sid Agranoff (2 pp)
21. A Short History of Harbin and Tientsin Jewry (6 pp)
22. Historic letter from Betar Harbin China (1938) (1 pp)
23. Henry Reminiscences - our memories
24. Betar China_ The Impact of a Remote Jewish Youth Movement, 1929-1949 (43 pp)