Book launch reveals bright future
The launch of a new book at the Jewish Holocaust Museum on 18 November 2012 marked not only one man’s triumph over unspeakable adversity but an important contribution to Jewish community Holocaust memoirs.
Henri and Sandra Korn
My Past Is My Future: Searching for Identity follows Henri Korn’s earlier release Saviours: The story of a Jewish Altar Boy. It recounts Korn’s journey from the last year of WWII, living in hiding from the Nazis, through to 1950, when he and his family left for Australia.
Launching the book, Jewish Care CEO Bill Appleby reflected on an amazing life. He said that despite everything he had experienced, Henri had chosen to live a rich and giving life and could look forward to a future where, in his own words, “my dreams, fill me with anticipation.”
Appleby said: “During his formative years as a young man, Henri witnessed the worst of human behaviour, deceit, distrust, exploitation, violence, theft and abuse. For many there would have been helplessness, yet Henri remained positive to make a better world for himself.”
For seven years, Henri has been a committed volunteer on Jewish Care’s Claims Conference Holocaust Survivors Committee, dedicated to providing a ‘measure of justice’ for survivors, through negotiation, compensation, restitution and advocacy.
“I volunteer because I remember my past, and I want our survivors to be living in old age as comfortably as possible,” Korn said.
More recently, he was invited to be a regular speaker at Jewish Care’s monthly Ethos Day, where he helps staff and volunteers to develop empathy and understanding of Jewish lifestyle and the significant trauma associated with the Holocaust experience.
Korn is also on the Holocaust Museum Board of Directors; and a Holocaust Museum guide; he is President of Melbourne Child Survivors of the Holocaust, speaks at many schools and builds alliances with disadvantaged groups, including an Aboriginal Rehabilitation Centre.
Proceeds from sales of Henri Korn’s books will be donated to Jewish Care Victoria and the Melbourne Holocaust Museum.
