Notes
His name is not on the Historic Obelisk in Melbourne General Cemetery. Perez attested that he was Church of Christ. There is a Star of David on gravestone but his mother was Baptist. His two brothers returned from War service and were buried as Christians. Brother 1: date of birth 30th March 1896. WWI: 1079 and 59318 as PTE Samuel GERSHOM, then 8805A as CPL George Harold ADAMS MM. Attested as Church of England all three times. WWII: VX39852 CAPT Gershom Samuel Abramovitch, attested as Baptist. Married Lucy Millicent née HOLLIS. Brother 1 is interred at Fawkner Cemetery, Baptist Section buried 9th July 1957 age 61 as Gersham S Abramovitch. Brother 2: date of birth 1898 Reg 29206 South Yarra. 15337 PTE Elroi David ABRAMOVITCH, attested as Baptist. He married Eva Caroline née Crotty and he is interred at Coburg Cemetery, Presbyterian Section buried 11th September 1963 age 64. Perez Othniel Abramovitch is the son of Lewis Abramovitch and Mary Bertha Lily née Dalwood (Baptist) of Sturrock Street, Brunswick. Married 1893 Reg No 182 Sydney, NSW. Perez's father, Lewis Abramovitch, is buried at Coburg Pine Ridge Cemetery, Presbyterian Section buried 27th July 1933. Perez's mother died 8th September 1969 Wahroonga, Sydney, New South Wales Reg 27201/1969 age 98. She was cremated at Northern Suburbs Crematorium, NSW - the religious minister was F G Kyte, Church of England. She requested the following inscription on his headstone: He loved his mother, served his country, and now serves the King (Jews do not refer to G-d as “King”. We use Melech Malchei HaMelachim the “King of the King of Kings”.) The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) was notified of the wrong religious emblem, citing the evidence of the above information. Their reply, “This case has been rejected on the basis that, at the time, relatives of Sapper Abramovitch requested that a Star of David be inscribed upon his headstone - supported through a full register entry, the headstone schedule and the presence of a personal inscription. Therefore, this case is now closed, and no further action can be taken in this regard.” CWGC were not able to supply documents from relatives to support this claim. Rabbi’s decision: Ruled to not be Jewish. Therefore he is not to be on the list for future memorials.
John Monash (Monasch) born
in Melbourne, Australia on 27 June 1865, the son of
German Polish Jewish migrants, can be researched in any
military history encyclopaedia or in fact by just
‘Googling’ his name on the internet. His history
and list of achievements are long and far too many to detail
in this brief summary. However, might I say that reading his
history is well worth the effort and I can assure you that
his deeds will amaze you. I have found that the deeds are
better labelled on more than one man and in more than one
lifetime.
An
announcement was made in the weeks leading up to the
Centenary of ANZAC by Judy Landau, President VAJEX Aust.
She stated that it gave her great delight to announce
that VAJEX Aust (Victorian Association of Jewish Ex
& Servicemen & Women Australia Inc) has
successfully raised the required funds to build a new
Victorian Jewish Memorial after the style of the
historic Memorial located in the Jewish section of the
Melbourne General Cemetery. After an extensive two year
process, Judy has single-handedly sought letters of
support, raised the funds, and obtained approval from
the City of Port Phillip.
