Passover is the foundational event where the Jewish people recall their liberation from slavery and their exodus from Egypt.
Some 2400 years after that liberation, Jewish people faced their most catastrophic time – the Holocaust, or ‘Shoah’.
Author Heather Morris has written an extraordinary account from the Holocaust in her new book ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’.
It’s based on the true story of Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian-Jew who was sent to Auschwitz concentration camp in 1942 and given the job of chief tattooist.
After the horrors of war, Lale ended up in Melbourne with his wife Gita.
Other Jewish survivors also made their way to Australia, including children.
In fact, Jewish child refugees featured in a 2004 book, ‘Interrupted Journeys: Young Refugees From Hitler’s Reich’, by former Sydney Morning Herald religion writer, Alan Gill.
We pay tribute to Alan Gill, who died in February this year.
And, we hear from Jewish Holocaust survivor Ruth Rack.
We also hear an excerpt from ABC TV’s Compass program ‘Fay’s Journey’, about Jewish Klezmer singer Fay Sussman.
Listen to the ABC Spirit of Things program.