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4
Interview with Amelie Rauner
Amelie Rauner, the second oldest member of our congregation was born in Essen (Ruhrgebiet- an area
of heavy industry in the west of Germany) in 1922. She was a tiny baby, weighing only 1.5 kg, with dark
black hair. It was a very hot day in August, ‘all my mother wanted was a cup of black coffee.’
Amelie has many anecdotes from her childhood. ‘We had an Irish Setter which was very protective of me
and wouldn’t let anyone come close to me’. She remembers that one day when she was very young she
put a piece of soap in her mouth. Her carer panicked: ‘Amelie is foaming from the mouth!!’
Ruth was born 3 years after Amelie. There was also a baby boy but he died as a baby.
Then the war started.
‘We were lucky enough not to have to wear the yellow star.’ In the autumn of 1940 Strasbourg was
evacuated. Amelie and family moved and lived in the Perigord. Ruth had actually been imprisoned for
some time by the Nazis, but Amelie and her parents managed to evade the hunt for Jews and were
subsequently all re-united after 1944.
‘I had a job with a Jewish woman but she took off. I then asked a grocer, who was working for the
underground, if he knew of any work that I could do. He told me that the doctor was looking for someone
to work for him, so I became the receptionist at the doctor’s house. The doctor was also active in the
underground. He had a lot of patients from the country who couldn’t pay him with money but who could
give him food, eggs and flour. It was during the time when there was a great shortage of food and the
bread was horrible.’
After the war the family lived in Strasbourg where they attended English classes. Amelie’s cousin, also
named Ruth, had arrived in Australia before the doors closed (before the war). As there was a great fear
of the Russians the family decided to migrate to Australia. They arrived in Australia in 1948 having paid
100 pounds sterling for each passage. They set out to make a new start for themselves and started life in
Australia in a little red brick cottage in North Hobart.
‘My father was a typical Frenchman of the time. Generally he had a strong aromatic cigarette hanging
down from the corner of his mouth with cigarette ash often on his waistcoat and a blue beret on his head.
My mother was rather frail and small but I think she was the boss in her own quiet way. English was a
problem for my parents but Ruth and I soon picked it up. This enabled us to start up, with the help of
mum and dad, a small leather bag business. Ruth would go out and get the orders and then at home we
all pitched in to manufacture the bags.’
There was a Jewish community in Hobart. Amelie remembers that Hedi and Ferry Fixel, Betty and Fritz
Coniston and Tom Schlesinger were already here when they arrived. Amelie became a member of
Alliance Française, joined the Hobart Hebrew Congregation, WIZO and a photography club; and in doing
so made many friends.
The synagogue played a very important part in Amelie’s life. For many, many years she was very
involved with the Jewish community and was the honorary secretary of the Board. (She remembers that
things like crumbs on the synagogue carpet were simply not allowed. The place had to be spotless!). She
used to make big stacks of latkes with her frying pan every year for Chanukah and her matzo balls,
chicken soup and potato salad for pot lucks and communal Seders were famous. If by misfortune you
were unlucky to be ill, she would visit you, probably bearing a gift of some sort.
Her stint as secretary was during a very successful period in the synagogue’s history. It was a period of
growing membership, social activity, visiting rabbis, and included the occasion of our 150th anniversary of
the founding of the synagogue. Amelie also did a lot of networking with mainland congregations and
national Jewish organisations.
After working for many years for TAA (Trans Australia Airlines), Amelie eventually retired from that
organisation after working for them as an accounts clerk.
She loves classical music and regularly attended TSO concerts when they were held at The Odeon
Theatre in Liverpool Street, and today she is still a regular at their new home.
Amelie now resides at St Ann’s Nursing Home and we are very fortunate to have her in our congregation
and so we wish her good health and long life.
Interviewed by Michal Golebowicz with additional information provided by Tom Schlesinger.
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