76 The Australian Women’s Weekly|OCTOBER 2019
Exclusive
year,whentheywouldcruiseto
EnglandfromPerthonextravagant
visits.ButmyCzechgrandparents–
HelenaandRudolf– werelocked
awayin PraguebehindtheIron
Curtain,inaccessible.
Theycouldn’tvisitusbecause
thecommunistregimewouldn’tlet
them,I wastold.AndDadcouldn’t
visitthembecausehehadfledhis
homelandin a rushin troubledtimes,
andif hewentbackhefearedhe
wouldn’tbeallowedoutagain.
I knewmygrandparentshad
spentthewarin Theresienstadt,a
concentrationcampnorthofPrague,
andthattheyhadsomehowmadeit to
liberation.I alsoknewtheyhadsent
theironlychildtosafetyin England
witha ChristianmissioncalledThe
BarbicanMissiontotheJews.A week
latertheNazisarrivedin Prague.Dad
hadescapedin thenickoftimeand
whiletheMissionleader,Reverend
Davidson,hadcourageouslymanaged
tosave 68 CzechJewishchildren,
it wasontheprovisothathecould
convertthemtoChristianityand
shouldtheythenbewilling,baptise
themwhentheyturned16.
DadwasbornJewish,buthis
familyweren’tespeciallyreligious,
andthemanI knewabhorred
organisedreligion.SoI don’tthink
heevermissedhisJudaism,nordidhe
succumbtoChristianity,althoughthe
Reverendactuallybaptisedhimat 13,
I laterdiscovered.
It wouldhaveseemeda smallprice
to payforescapefromHitler.Dadnever
spokeoftheHolocaustandrefusedto
watchanyTVshowsorfilmsonthe
subject.Whenhetalkedof hischildhood
in Pragueit wasabouthangingoutin
coffeehouseswithhismum,sothe
ideaofwiderfamilyneverreally
occurredtomeuntilI stumbledupon
thewritingonPinkasSynagoguewalls.
OnmyreturntoSydney,I immersed
myselfin research.I lodgedrequests
withHolocaustandnationalarchives
in England,theCzechRepublic,Poland,
IsraelandtheUS.I wantedtofindout
whothesepeoplewere,whattheywere
likeandhowtheyhaddied.I hadalways
longedforrelatives and now I had
found them.
I quicklyrealisedI wouldneedto
gobacktoEurope,visitthecamps
at TheresienstadtandAuschwitzin
Poland– whereI discoveredFelix
Riedenwasin alllikelihoodmurdered- andthengotoEnglandtotrace
whathappenedtomyfather,a lost
boyalonein a foreignland.I also
decidedtowritea bookaboutmy
journey.I wantedmyfamilytobe
remembered,notforgotten.I wanted
tobreakthroughthewallofsilence.
TheWritingontheWallis that book.
Flighttosafety
I hadnoideawhat,if anything,I
wouldfind.ButI especiallywanted
tosolvethemysterythathad
alwaysbaffledmeabouthowmy
grandparentsmanagedtosurvive
whensomanyothersaroundthem
wereexecuted.Didtheycollaborateto
savetheirskin,orwasmygrandfather
oneoftheeldersin thecontroversial
“Altestenrat”,theJewishcouncil
whichranTheresienstadtandchose
thosewhoweretransportedeastto
their deaths, and those who weresaved?Andthenhavinggonethrough
allthat,why,ohwhy,didn’tthey
comebacktofindtheirson?
Myinvestigationsuncoveredfar
morethanI imagined.WhatI found
wasshocking,revelatoryanddeeply
personal.ThiswasaboutfamilyI
neverknewI hadandthedarkand
twistedtalesoftheirfates.Themore
I foundthemoreI neededtoknow,
andit startedtobecomea pilgrimage
toremembermykin,tofollowin
theirfootstepsandpayhomageto
theirstories.
Butit thenalsobecamesomething
else.It becameaboutgettingtoknow
mydadalloveragain,toreallyknow
whathewentthroughforthefirst
timewithmyeyeswideopenand
myjournalist’sbrainonhighalert.
OnthenightbeforeDaddied,in
2006,whenwewereallsittingaround
hisbedwithhisfavouriteMozart
sonataplaying,helookedstraightat
Nick,myeldestbrother,hisfirstborn,
andsaidin a clearvoice:“theplaneis
in thehangar”.Hewashallucinating,
morphineandcancerplayingtricks
onhisbrain.Butwhatwashetalking
about?Wasthistheairplanethathad
takenhimawayfromhisparents and
his homeland in 1939?Dad would
never see
his father
Rudolf again.
Mygrandparents,HelenaRiedenova
and Dr Rudolf Rieden.