Eric Aufgang

Eric had asked his sister Susan to prepare a eulogy for his funeral. He particularly wanted an accurate description of his early years to be known, as they formed the basis of the man he became. Circumstances prevented Susan from actually delivering the eulogy as he had wanted, so she has penned this summary of his early life (with a few extra bits thrown in).

Israel Aufgang was born on 11 February 1939 and died on 18 July 2024. He was never known as Israel, even within the family. He was always known as Eric. This led to some difficulties for him later in life, especially when he wanted a passport, as he had to produce his birth certificate. Even on his sister’s birth certificate he is referred to as Eric.

Eric was the grandson of Esther (Frumkin) and Mendel Odonov and Hannah Leah (Borowski) and Israel Aufgang. He had been named after his paternal grandfather.

Like Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, Israel had been a milkman in the small town of Garwolin in Poland. He died in 1917 from diphtheria. At some time after his death the family moved to Warsaw. They lived in a poor part of town. It had been assumed that Hannah Leah died in the Holocaust, together with her second son, Mattias, daughters, Ziesel, Rivka and Faige (another daughter Devorah had died in 1932) and three granddaughters. At least that’s what Eric, Tony and Susan had been told. Susan now has reason to believe that Ziesel survived the war and went to live in Israel, but she has no idea what happened to her there. Hannah Leah’s elder son, Abraham, left Poland in 1919 and lived in Berlin in Germany for the next 18 years. In 1937, with the help of sponsorship from an uncle in Melbourne, he migrated to Australia and joined his cousins here.

Esther and Mendel arrived in Australia from Vitebsk in Byelorussia in 1928 with their two daughters, Grunia and Masha. Two other children, Hannah and Moshe had died as toddlers. The family settled in Melbourne. Esther worked as a seamstress in a factory making men’s suits while Mendel stayed home. He had been a hawker when he first arrived in Australia. Esther and Mendel were to play an important role in Eric’s life.

Shortly after arriving in Melbourne in June 1937, Abraham met Grunia, they were engaged in October and married on 14 November 1937 at East Melbourne Synagogue. Eric was their first born. His brother Tony was born when Eric was two years old.

Abraham was a leather goods manufacturer and throughout the 1940s and 1950s he owned his own factory in Exhibition Street in the city. He made handbags, purses and belts. Grunia concentrated on raising her three children and other home duties.

Grunia and Abraham, together with their two sons had their first home in rented accommodation at 4 Irwell Street in St Kilda, a few steps from the Village Belle and about a 15 minute walk to Esther and Mendel, who lived at 8 Acland Street in St Kilda. Eric started school at St Kilda Park State School but wasn’t there long. When he was about 5 or 6 years old the family moved to 13 Aylmer Street in North Balwyn. A year or two later, his sister Susan was born. Eric continued his schooling at East Kew Primary School and then East Kew Central School. He completed his secondary education at Melbourne High School from 1953 to 1956.

The years in North Balwyn were mixed; outside the home the three children enjoyed a happy childhood but within the home there was the constant spectre of domestic violence, which was rarely spoken about in the 1950s. The effect of witnessing the domestic violence and its aftermath was to haunt Eric, Tony and Susan throughout their lives. Being the oldest, Eric did what he could to protect his mother from the abuse she was subjected to by his father. Finally, he got to be old enough and big enough to be effective in this.

Grunia suffered a stroke in November of 1952 and recovered with very few side effects after seven weeks in hospital and rehabilitation. However, she died on 24 January 1954, aged just 42. Eric was 14, Tony was 12 and Susan was 7. On 19 March 1954, the three children went to live with Esther and Mendel in St Kilda. Their father did not join them but visited once or twice a week for an hour or so.
The loss of Grunia had a marked effect on each of her children. It changed their lives. The debt that the three children owed to Esther and Mendel was a great one. It was Esther who insisted on taking them in and they appreciated the sacrifices that both their grandparents made for them. They were also able to develop a close relationship with their aunt, Masha.
There were unexpected advantages to their new lives. When Grunia was alive, they had only spoken English. This changed dramatically once they moved in with their grandparents, as they needed to learn Yiddish to communicate with them.
Another major change for Eric was his choice of footy teams. In North Balwyn he had been an enthusiastic follower of Collingwood but, once he moved to St Kilda, he changed allegiances and followed St Kilda for the rest of his life.
Other interests in his life were having a flutter on the ponies, a trait he had inherited from his father, and music of the 1940’s and 1950’s. He was a huge fan of Al Jolson and Judy Garland. He had leant piano while Grunia was alive but didn’t pursue this afterwards. However, he did subsequently learn to play the recorder. Other musical instruments in the house were a guitar and a mouth organ. Eric’s other childhood pastimes included chess, card games such as 500, and board games such as Monopoly. Later in life, he enjoyed playing squash and going to the gym and generally keeping fit.

At Melbourne High School, Eric acquired friends who were in Betar. He joined in 1954. Tony joined a few months later and Susan followed in late 1955. All three became staunch Zionists and contributed in various capacities to Betar in Melbourne.

When he was about 18, and for the next few years part-time, Eric did his national service in the army. He was in the intelligence corps. Around this time, he also went fruit picking during the summer holidays. He enjoyed the outdoor life and physical activity.

After Melbourne High School, Eric went to Toorak Teachers College and became a primary school teacher. He taught in Glenroy and St Albans. In the mid 1960’s, Eric commenced an Arts degree part-time at Monash University which he completed in 1969. He was then able to transfer to become a secondary school teacher. He spent many years at McKinnon Secondary College, even acting as its vice principal for some time.

After leaving the Education Department when he was just shy of 55, Eric taught at King David School and Leibler Yavneh College and subsequently became principal of Sholem Aleichem College, where his earlier exposure to Yiddish stood him in good stead.

After his teaching career concluded, Eric took on the challenge of Executive Director of the United Jewish Education Board. He also spent many years on the committee of Magen David Adom and was made an honorary life member in 2021.

Eric developed dementia towards the end of his life and was placed in aged care at the end of 2020. His gradual deterioration and increasing confusion was painful to observe over his last few years. It was a sad ending for a man who had contributed much to both the Jewish community and the general community through his teaching of thousands of students.

- Susan Aufgang