World of Yesterday

Without Regret is the edited collection of twenty-eight testimonies gathered from the transcribed interviews of Holocaust survivors living in Western Australia during the 1990s. The interviews were conducted and transcribed for this edited collection by Louise Hoffman and Shush Masel and the survivors interviewed were mainly from German-speaking Europe. Their experiences of the Holocaust are varied; some suffered internment in ghettos and/or concentration camps, others were forced into the Hungarian labour battalions or survived in hiding. However, the largest number of interviewees endured persecution in Nazi Germany or Austria, fleeing before the onset of the war. Many of these were youngsters. One survivor in the collection fled the fascist dictatorship in Italy, another enlisted in the Australian labour battalion after the Japanese bombed Darwin and another spent years in British internment camps in East Africa after fleeing Nazi-occupied Austria for Palestine.

Each of the testimonies recount the survivors’ life chronologically, covering their upbringing, religious and political persuasions and experiences of antisemitism. Depending on their age and experiences, the bulk of the individual testimonies recount the survivors’ experiences in Nazi Germany and its territories and/or war-torn Europe, concluding with their emigration to and life in Australia. The testimonies also include brief reflections on whether the survivor has or would ever return to their country of origin. Many provide detail on the emigration process which led to their coming to Australia; some were sponsored by the Australian government, whereas others came with the assistance of Jewish aid organisations and/or family members.

Pages 11-31 discuss the history of the Holocaust and of Jewish migration to Western Australia as well as the process of recording the survivor testimonies for the collection. Pages 32-390 present the testimonies of twenty-eight survivors with accompanying photographs, documents and summaries.

Without Regret has the unique value of providing an overview of Jewish migration to Western Australia and though the testimonies are relatively short, they provide a detailed overview of the experiences of survivors living in Western Australia during the 90s. An overview of the survivors’ experiences is provided in a brief summary preceding each testimony. The testimonies recount details of daily life and events during and after the war, as well as providing reflections and insights into their emotions.