There are six Jews living in Devonport, Tasmania, and 18 on Magnetic Island, Queensland. It is these far-flung Australian Jews, believed to number 8000 across the continent, that Saul Spigler and his team are in search of. ANGIE FOX meets this Melbourne man with a (massive) mission.
Volunteers use the census figures as a starting point, then search for Jewish names in local phone books, often cold-calling doctors or lawyers. Upon arrival in a town they will visit cemeteries, post offices, town halls and historical societies to look for Jewish names. They also advertise in local papers and follow up on leads by word of mouth.
THERE once was a Jew living in Proserpine, far-north Queensland. When he died, his non-Jewish wife … Read More »