From Australia’s Jewish past
Rachel Holzer – one of the greatest internationally acclaimed Yiddish Actors of the Twentieth Century
Rachel Holzer
Rachel (Rochl) was born in Krakow on 8 November 1899 to Anna and Ignacy (Isaac). Her mother was a homemaker, and her father was a house painter and local Yiddish Workers’ Union chairman.
Rachel’s debut on the Yiddish stage was at age six, appearing in Di Emese Kraft, a play by the Russian American playwright Jacob Gordin. It is said that this experience created her ambitions to become an actress. After completing her schooling, she attended Krakow Polish Drama School, graduating in 1925. She became a professional actor with the Polish National Theatre, entering the world of Yiddish theatre in 1926 and travelling throughout Poland. In 1927, she joined the celebrated Vilne Trupe (Fareyn Fun Yiddishe Dramatishe Artistn and later Dramă şi Comedie), moving next to Warsaw, where she performed at Ida Kaminska’s Yiddish Art Theatre and the Polish National Theatre. She toured with her famous ‘word concerts’ and in 1936 she starred in one of the first Yiddish talking movies to be made on Polish soil Al Chet (I Have Sinned).
In 1938, with the rise of anti-Semitism, Rachel farewelled Poland and, began a world tour which ultimately brought her on a private visit to Australia where she had a sister living in Melbourne. Through the efforts of Kadimah, a Jewish cultural centre and library, Rachel and her husband, playwright Chaim Rozenstein arrived in Melbourne on 2 April 1939. Kadimah was founded several years before World War 1, with its mission to raise Yiddish folk consciousness in Melbourne, and across Australia, as there was no Jewish consciousness in any sense of the word. The main aim was to anglicise the local community and keep it under the influence of religious institutions. Two weeks after arriving in Melbourne Rachel performed at the Assembly Hall in Collins Street to rapt applause and outstanding reviews.
With the outbreak of World War II, Rachel and her husband were compelled to remain in Melbourne. She immediately became a central figure in Melbourne’s Yiddish-speaking community and, together with Jacob Waislitz, a world-renowned Yiddish actor and director revolutionised Yiddish theatre. They were joined by the Yiddushe Bine, a group combined with other passionate amateur Yiddish groups, to form the David Herman Theatre Group at Kadimah. Rachel and Jacob propelled Yiddish theatre in Melbourne to new heights and many believed, the 1940s and 1950s to be the Yiddish theatre’s greatest years in Australia. The company became a stage phenomenon that spanned five decades and forged Melbourne’s legacy as one of the world’s most vibrant centres for Yiddish culture.
One of her most important performances was in 1966 when she recited Yevgeny’s Yevtushenko’s Babi Yar in poetry. Rachel, with Yevgeny present, performed the poem, which told how thousands of Jews had been massacred by the Nazis, to an audience of 6,000 people. She used her skills to speak in the voice of a mother whose children were killed. The audience and the Australians were deeply moved.
For nearly forty years Rachel performed and directed Yiddish plays both in Australia and overseas for appreciative audiences, producing over twenty full-length productions in Australia in that period. In addition, she also appeared as a guest artist on Melbourne’s 3LO in several radio dramas, performed many one-woman shows and gave many riveting recitations at commemorative, celebratory and literary evenings. Rachel became synonymous with the best of Yiddish theatre, both here and internationally. She retired from the stage in 1977 and remained a mentor for others, always ready to offer advice and guidance.
Rache passed away in Melbourne in 1998 at the age of 99.
On 15 April 1939, the Argus theatre critic Geoffrey Hutton wrote of Rachel Holzer that she was “an artist of distinction and the product of a great theatrical tradition.” The Listener-In Magazine called her “one of the truly great actresses of Europe.”
*The Story – We Played On — The David Herman Theatre Group – is part of the 2024 Jewish Film Festival. It is the world premiere of the latest documentary by filmmaker Rebecca Albeck, produced by Kadimah Jewish Cultural Centre and National Library, and celebrating one hundred ten years of continuous Yiddish theatre, language, and cultural programs.
The AJHS acknowledges the following references in the preparation of this story:
Wikipedia; Monash University – Kadimah – Jewish Cultural Centre and National Library; Wanderers and Dreamers – Tales of the David Herman Theatre Hyland House, Melbourne – author Arnold Zable, Obituary written by Arnold Zable in The Australian Jewish News 4 December 1998
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