Summary: The International Holocaust Memorial Day, the 27th January, was commemorated in Sydney with the awarding of Yad Vashems medals of the Righteous Among the Nations to a Dutch couple who rescued a Jewish boy and settled with him after the WWII in Syd... (The International Holocaust Memorial Day, the 27th January, was commemorated in Sydney with the awarding of Yad Vashems medals of the Righteous Among the Nations to a Dutch couple who rescued a Jewish boy and settled with him after the WWII in Sydney and testimony by Olga Horak, 91, who survived 5 concentration camps, including Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen. The Jewish and general Australian community were shocked and angered by the deliberate car-ramming of pedestrians in the centre of Melbourne, which resulted in the death of 5 people including 10 year old Jewish girl Thalia Hakin, a student of the Beth Rivka Ladies College. The renowned painter Yosl Bergner, who recently died in Israel at the age of 96, was also remembered for his artistic legacy in Australia, where he lived for 10 years from 1937 to 1947 and where he studied with some of Australias best known artists, and painted memorable works depicting Aborigines and other subjects from a Jewish, immigrant artists perspective. Some 30 Jewish Australians, including the Governor of Victoria Linda Dessau AC were among the 727 recipients of this years Australia Day honours. The principals of Melbournes Bialik and Mt Scopus Colleges expressed their deep dismay over the rejection of their request for a special mass meeting of Jewish students with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to visit Australia next month. Anns: Commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the infamous Wansee Conference, will take place today Sunday 29th January at the Elwood Synagogue, Elwood, Vic., at 7.30PM The International Holocaust Memorial Day will be commemorated on Monday 30th January at 7.00PM, at the Melbourne Jewish Holocaust Centre and Museum, in Selwyn St., Elsterwick. Vic. )
