NAJEX Communal ANZAC Day Service
It was a full house as The NSW Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen & Women (NAJEX) hosted the Communal Wreath Laying and Anzac Day Service at the Sydney Jewish Museum.
Governor David Hurley
The service remembers and honours Jewish servicemen and women, past and present, who have served in the Australian Defence forces. NAJEX is one of the oldest Jewish organisations in Australia. Founded in 1920, its purpose is to perpetuate the memory and deeds of those Jews who served in Australia’s armed forces from the time of the Sudan Campaign right up to Afghanistan.
In fighting for their homeland, these servicemen and women made sacrifices to protect the freedom and ideals that Jewish Australians enjoy today.
Distinguished guests included NAJEX Patron His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley, AC DSC (Ret’d), Governor of New South Wales. Federal and State politician. Student representatives from Jewish day schools across Sydney including Emanuel, Kesser Torah, Masada College, Moriah and Mount Sinai participated in the ceremony.
One audience member told me she had come to honour her grandfather, who had survived Gallipoli only to die on a battlefield in Northern France a short time before World War I ended.
The occasional address was given by Professor The Honourable Dame Marie Bashir AD CVO, who commended the contribution of the many Jews who served in campaigns from the Boer War through to the end of World War II. She described Lt.-General Sir John Monash as a “great man in every aspect of character, an illustrious man who will always hold a place in Australia’s history”.
Photos: Noel Kessel
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