'During the darkest days of the Holocaust, Europe's Jews faced annihilation. In faraway Melbourne, immigrants Leo and Mina Fink rallied to rescue the survivors. It was a massive task. Undaunted, they battled bureaucrats, public opinion and at times the Minister for Immigration Arthur Calwell. Marshalling the might of local and international agencies, they spearheaded the urgent relief and resettlement of thousands of displaced Holocaust survivors desperate to leave a shattered Europe, a graveyard continent of dust and ashes. By 1954, 17,000 survivors called Australia home.
'Following the chaos of war, Leo and Mina remained at the forefront of communal life. They initiated expansive welfare programs, while personally helping countless individuals. Mina's devotion to a group of war orphans known as the 'Buchenwald boys' was testament to her and Leo's relentless efforts to improve the lives of others.
'But survival of the Jewish world remained paramount. Leo pioneered the first Australian business venture in Israel, in a bid to underpin the young nation's fragile economy. Mina's global outreach and humanitarian vision transformed the National Council of Jewish Women into a proactive force with a clear feminist agenda. When 'Holocaust denial' launched its assault on historical truth and memory, Mina championed the establishment of Melbourne's Holocaust Museum, pushing its mandate beyond remembrance to education, to combat all forms of racism.
'Leo and Mina Fink's remarkable story is skilfully told through the turbulent, rapidly changing times in which they lived. This is a compelling account of how and why two individuals set out to change the world for the greater good.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
'My grandparents and their baby, my uncle, arrived in Melbourne aboard the RMS Mooltan on 16 February 1939. They were met by the Australian Jewish Welfare Society, formed only two years before to assist Jewish refugees upon their arrival. It is possible that either Leo or Mina Fink, or both, were among those who greeted them off the boat. It stuck in my grandparents’ minds for the rest of their lives, the kindness shown by these Jewish strangers, and their gratitude. Leo and Mina Fink had been in Australia less than 10 years before my grandparents arrived, yet in this short time were already spearheading the relief and reception of Jewish refugees from Europe. After the war, Leo Fink also gained the ear of Australia’s first immigration minister Arthur Calwell, travelling regularly to Canberra determined to plead the case for the acceptance of Jewish survivors in Australia’s first mass immigration intake. For decades, the Finks were synonymous with Jewish life in Melbourne. Even today, as Margaret Taft notes in her history of this remarkable couple, it is impossible to venture far in the Jewish community of Melbourne without stumbling across their names engraved on plaques or enshrined in education and philanthropic endowments.' (Introduction)
'My grandparents and their baby, my uncle, arrived in Melbourne aboard the RMS Mooltan on 16 February 1939. They were met by the Australian Jewish Welfare Society, formed only two years before to assist Jewish refugees upon their arrival. It is possible that either Leo or Mina Fink, or both, were among those who greeted them off the boat. It stuck in my grandparents’ minds for the rest of their lives, the kindness shown by these Jewish strangers, and their gratitude. Leo and Mina Fink had been in Australia less than 10 years before my grandparents arrived, yet in this short time were already spearheading the relief and reception of Jewish refugees from Europe. After the war, Leo Fink also gained the ear of Australia’s first immigration minister Arthur Calwell, travelling regularly to Canberra determined to plead the case for the acceptance of Jewish survivors in Australia’s first mass immigration intake. For decades, the Finks were synonymous with Jewish life in Melbourne. Even today, as Margaret Taft notes in her history of this remarkable couple, it is impossible to venture far in the Jewish community of Melbourne without stumbling across their names engraved on plaques or enshrined in education and philanthropic endowments.' (Introduction)
