From Darkness to Light: Surviving the Holocaust

Based on interviews with 11 Polish Jews, who immigrated to Australia after World War II, this book explores the experiences of Holocaust survivors. It discusses life in Poland during the 1920s–30s, including the exclusion of Jews from social circles, and antisemitism, especially in schools and universities. The book describes the interviewees’ wartime experiences – life in the ghettos, in concentration and extermination camps, or in hiding – and analyses the Jewish response to these experiences, as well as reflecting on Polish antisemitism during and after the war, and the effect on the survivors’ Jewish identity. The Australian immigration policy and the reception of immigrants is also studied.