Joice Loch

Joice Loch: Queensland’s “Oskar Schindler”

It’s likely you know the story of Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist and spy who saved the lives of 1200 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories.

Queensland has its own “Schindler” – a woman called Joice Nankivell Loch.

Joice was born in Queensland in 1887, but her extraordinary life took her to places such as Ireland, Poland, and Greece.

During World War Two, Joice saved thousands of refugees’ lives, and because of her bravery and ingenuity became one of the world’s most decorated women.

At her funeral in 1982, she was remembered as “one of the most significant women of the twentieth century”.

Telling Joice’s story in the newly revised book “Blue Ribbons, Bitter Bread” is Australian author and historian Susanna De Vries.

Listen to the full radio segment from ‘Afternoons with Kelly Higgins-Devine’ at ABC.