School of Language Studies
Russian and East European Seminar Series
Monday 4 Augustl, 4.00 p.m. in Building 110, Room W3.03.
Research Fellow, Division of Pacific and Asian History, Australian National University
Jewish Anzacs from Russia : breaking stereotypes
Jews were the only nation in Australia which made an inventory of its Anzacs soon after the First World War. In my study of ‘Russian Anzacs' I explored the lives of one thousand Russian born Anzacs, who included 130 Jews. This approach provided some new dimensions to the Jewish participation in the AIF. First of all it made it possible to find a number of new names missing in the official lists. Study of archival documents – service records, naturalisation, alien registration - and contacts with descendants of some of the Anzacs provided rich statistical data for comparison of Jews with other ethnic groups of émigrés from the Russian Empire. It also made it possible to establish some general demographic, socio-economic and political tendencies characteristic of Russian Jewish émigrés in Australia . It uncovered a remarkable tendency of Jews to break away from their traditional occupations in the business/professional area and a city-dwelling life-style and take up less usual occupations as, for instance, seafarers. Another interesting feature was their adaptation to local conditions before and after the war in an archetypically Australian way – I found Anzacs among bushmen, swagmen, rabbit trappers and fossickers. The documentary evidence provided materials to explore the complex relations of Jewish Anzacs with their Russian and Jewish heritage.
I studied their military service not only as a military historian but also through an ethno-sociological approach, which showed their complex attitudes to the Army and often painful process of becoming Australian Anzacs. Along with such outstanding heroes as Captain Margolin or Norman Myer, I was interested in those whose service did not go well, and in seeking the reasons for this. My study is accompanied by a website where the page of every Jewish Anzac contains links to archival documents, mostly digitised and available online (http://russiananzacs.narod.ru/Jews.htm).
Enquiries:
Dr K. M. Windle,
Reader, School of Language Studies,
Faculty of Arts,
Australian National University,
Canberra A.C.T. 0200
Australia
Telephone: (61) (02) 6125-2885
Fax: (61) (02) 6125-3252
E-mail: Kevin.Windle@anu.edu.au
