Secord praises Sydney Jewish Museum in parliament
On the eve of 30th-anniversary celebrations, former NSW Labor frontbencher and NSW Parliamentary Friends of Israel deputy chair Walt Secord told NSW State Parliament that the Sydney Jewish Museum “ranked among the best Holocaust museums in the world”.
Walt Secord at the Sydney Jewish Museum
Mr Secord made the comments in an adjournment speech on Shoah education to the NSW Parliament’s Legislative Council on Wednesday night (November 9). He was reporting on his recent visit to Brisbane, where the Premier announced a plan to build Queensland Holocaust Museum and Education Centre.
“As the NSW Parliamentary Friends of Israel deputy chair, I visited Brisbane last month for Shoah education. I have been a supporter of the Sydney Jewish Museum and its fine work for years. It turns 30 this weekend, and I remember working at The Australian Jewish News when it was first proposed,” Mr Secord said.
“I have seen and visited many Jewish, Holocaust and genocide museums around the world, including the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington; the Jewish Museum Berlin, which is the largest Jewish museum in Europe; Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre; and national genocide museums in Iraqi Kurdistan and Armenia. I have also visited Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland in the bitter winter.
“That said, for me, the Sydney Jewish Museum ranks among the best Holocaust museums in the world.
“For the past three decades it has been commemorating the six million Jews murdered in the Shoah. It has been keeping the survivor memory alive and educating the community about the dangers of hate.
“With the last of the generation of Holocaust survivors passing into history, it is now incumbent on all of us—especially in nations like Australia, which fought to defeat this evil—to maintain their stories. It is up to us to hold up the uncomfortable truth: that this horror has happened before, and without continual vigilance it will happen again.”
On October 27, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk revealed plans for the Queensland Holocaust Museum and Education Centre, which is scheduled to open in 2023.
A first for Queensland, it will be set up through $3.5 million in funding from the State and Federal governments, with Brisbane City Council also pledging $500,000. Under a partnership between the museum and the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane, it will be located in the city’s cathedral precinct.
While it will be physically in Brisbane, it will have mobile and online exhibits by providing 360-degree tours, webinars and educational resources across Queensland. Exhibitions and education resources about the Holocaust will be complemented by exhibitions focused on other genocides as well as Australia’s First Nations peoples.
Mr Secord also cited the work of Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies president Jason Steinberg, who is also the chair of the Queensland Holocaust Museum and Education Centre project.
At a meeting with Mr Secord, Mr Steinberg shared August 2021 research indicating that six in 10 Queensland Jews had reported they had experienced antisemitism and that neo-Nazi groups were also active there, as they are in New South Wales and Victoria.
“I commend Mr Steinberg for his communal leadership, his work to ban the public display of Nazi symbols and his support for Holocaust education,” Mr Secord said.
It might have been a nice thought to include mention of the Melbourne Holocaust Museum, founded in 1984 – so 38 years old – by Holocaust survivors themselves. It was founded without much in the way of public or private funding, relying on the ongoing support of Holocaust survivors, their families, volunteers and philanthropists. It’s the largest institution we have in Australia dedicated to Holocaust education, research and remembrance.
Melbourne, as I’m sure you will know, has the greatest number of Holocaust survivors per capita outside of Israel. Not so many left now though due to time taking its toll. The Melbourne Holocaust Museum (originally the Jewish Holocaust Centre) is an extraordinary place to experience.