From Australia’s Jewish past

 Jonas Pushett – a generous community member

Jonas was born on 16 February 1898 in Warsaw Poland.  His father was very much involved in the Jewish community and served as the Secretary of the Warsaw Jewish Cemetery.  Jonas’s early Jewish education was at a traditional cheder.  He attended night school and qualified as a bookkeeper.

Times were particularly difficult in Poland in the early part of the twentieth century and, in an attempt to better his prospects Jonas sought to immigrate to a country that offered greater opportunities.  He arrived in Melbourne in 1927 with fifty pounds in his pocket.  He tried his hand at several jobs, including motor mechanic, lace maker and cigarette paper manufacturer.  All were not quite what he wanted to take on as a career, and he eventually opened a family printing business.  In 1929, he married Sara Dabscheck, with whom he had three children, Bernard, Eva, and Jack.

From the time he arrived in Melbourne, Jonas was involved in the life of the Yiddish community.  He joined the Kadimah organisation serving as its treasurer in 1943 and continued as a committee member for many years.  He represented the organisation at the Victorian Board of Deputies, was associated with the Carlton Synagogue and took on the role of treasurer.  In the late 1930s, he became one of the founders of the Polish Jewish Relief Fund.

Between 1943 and the early 1970s, he served on the Board of Jewish Welfare in different capacities; as an executive member from 1943 to 1944; vice president from 1944 to 1945 and again from 1952 to 1956 and took on the role of honorary treasurer between 1947 and 1950.  He served as a Jewish Welfare Board member and trustee for over three decades.  He was also a trustee of the Montefiore Homes, Carlton Synagogue and the Yeshivah.  His financial generosity and in-kind support were given to Yiddish writers and translators such as Pinchas Goldhar, Yehoshua Rapaport and Herz Bergner.  He also sponsored the arrival and resettlement of new immigrants in the pre- and post-war period and served on the original committee that established Mount Scopus College in the late 1940s.

The AJHS acknowledges the following references in the preparation of this story:

Monash University, Melbourne

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