| Place | Europe: Poland |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | AWM2017.1330.1 |
| Collection number | AWM2017.1330.4 |
| Collection type | Private Record |
| Record type | Collection |
| Measurement | Extent: 1 cm; Wallet/s: 1 |
| Object type | Card, Certificate |
| Maker |
Commonwealth of Australia Unknown |
| Place made | Australia: Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Poland |
| Date made | 1943; 1954 |
| Access | Open |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
| Copying Provisions | Copyright expired. Copying permitted subject to physical condition. Permission for reproduction not required. |
Slawik, Bernard (b.1904 - d.1991)
Description
Collection relating to the Second World War and immigration experience of Bernard Slawik, a Polish Holocaust survivor. The collection consists of a falsified Polish Government identity card for Zygmund Teitelbaum, dated 1943. His religion is falsely noted as Roman Catholic. Additionally, the collection contains a Certificate of naturalization, signed by Minister for Immigration Harold Holt.
Bernard Slawik and his family were Polish Jews who survived the Holocaust, then moved to Australia in 1948 where Slawik continued a successful career in architecture. Bernard Slawik was originally known as Zygmund Teitelbaum. After school he studied architecture, writing a doctoral thesis on Jewish monuments and religious artistic objects in Europe. He married Alma in 1939, and the couple had a daughter, Eva.
In 1942 he was imprisoned in a concentration camp. After a year he managed to escape from Janowska camp and changed his name. Post-war Slawik worked in construction, including the rebuilding of Warsaw's synagogue. Slawik left for Sweden in 1946, and emigrated to Australia in 1948. Throughout his life, he went by several variations of his name, however settled upon Bernard Slawik following his immigration to Australia.