Nina Bassat

Last updated
Nina Bassat
AM
Born1939
Lwowiec
Known for Holocaust survivor
Notable workJewish Community Council of Victoria
AwardsVictorian Honour Roll of Women

Janina "Nina" Bassat AM (born 1939) is a leader in the Victorian Jewish community. She served as president of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) between 1996 and 1998. [1] Then she was again president for three years before retiring again in 2014. [2] She has also served as president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) [3] between 1999 and 2001. [4]

Contents

Biography

Bassat was born in Lwow, Poland. [5] Bassat is a survivor of the Holocaust. [6] She and her mother went to Melbourne, Australia in 1949 after living in a "displaced person's camp in Germany." [7] She attended the University of Melbourne, studying law and graduating in 1965. [4] Bassat started her own law practice in 1980. [7]

During her time as president of JCCV she provided welcome support for LGBT Jews in Victoria. [8] She also set up a National Restitution Hotline as president of the ECAJ for survivors of the Holocaust in order to facilitate restitution claims. [7] She has also been involved in "resettling Jews from the former Soviet Union." [4]

Bassat was inducted in the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2003. [9] In 2004, she was made a Member of the Order of Australia in recognition of her services as an executive member of "peak Jewish organisations and through the promotion of greater community understanding." [10] In 2009, she received the JCCV General Sir John Monash Award for her "outstanding service to the Victorian Jewish community." [4]

Related Research Articles

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), represents the interests of the Australian Jewish community to government, politicians, media and other community groups and organisations through research, commentary and analysis. The organisation is directed by Colin Rubenstein, who was previously a political science lecturer at Monash University. AIJAC has office locations in Melbourne and Sydney. AIJAC is formally associated with the American Jewish Committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elisabeth Murdoch (philanthropist)</span> Australian philanthropist and mother of international media proprietor Rupert Murdoch (1909-2012)

Dame Elisabeth Joy Murdoch, Lady Murdoch, also known as Elisabeth, Lady Murdoch, was an Australian philanthropist and matriarch of the Murdoch family. She was the wife of Australian newspaper publisher Sir Keith Murdoch and the mother of international media proprietor Rupert Murdoch. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1963 for her charity work in Australia and overseas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Crennan</span> Former Justice of the High Court of Australia

Susan Maree Crennan is a former Justice of the High Court of Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy.

The history of Jews in Australia traces the history of Australian Jews from the British settlement of Australia commencing in 1788. Though Europeans had visited Australia before 1788, there is no evidence of any Jewish sailors among the crew. The first Jews known to have come to Australia came as convicts transported to Botany Bay in 1788 aboard the First Fleet that established the first European settlement on the continent, on the site of present-day Sydney.

The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, or Claims Conference, represents the world's Jews in negotiating for compensation and restitution for victims of Nazi persecution and their heirs. According to Section 2(1)(3) of the Property Law of Germany, the Claims Conference is a legal successor with respect to the claims not filed on time by Jewish persons. This fact was reasserted in decisions of some lawsuits which attempted to redefine the Claims Conference as a "trustee" of these assets. These lawsuits were dismissed. The Claims Conference administers compensation funds, recovers unclaimed Jewish property, and allocates funds to institutions that provide social welfare services to Holocaust survivors and preserve the memory and lessons of the Holocaust. Julius Berman has led the organization as chairman of the board, and currently president, as of 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Cooper (Aboriginal Australian)</span> Political Activist and Leader

William Cooper was an Aboriginal Australian political activist and community leader; the first to lead a national movement recognised by the Australian Government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Dessau</span> Australian judge and former Governor of Victoria

Linda Marion Dessau is an Australian jurist and barrister who served as the 29th Governor of Victoria from 2015 to 2023. She is the first female and the first Jewish holder of the office. She was previously a judge of the Family Court of Australia from 1995 to 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Alberti</span> Australian businesswoman (born 1947)

Susan Marie "Sue" Alberti is an Australian businesswoman, philanthropist and former Vice President of the Western Bulldogs Football Club.

Dvir Abramovich is an Israeli-Australian Jewish studies academic, columnist, and editor. Abramovich is the chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC), a former division of B'nai B'rith in Melbourne, and director of the Program for Jewish Culture and Society at The University of Melbourne. Abramovich's areas of study are the Hebrew language, Israel and Holocaust studies.

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, or ECAJ, is an official peak national body representing the Australian Jewish community. It is the umbrella organisation for over 200 Jewish organisations across Australia. It is the Australian affiliate of the World Jewish Congress, the worldwide umbrella organisation of Jewish communities. It is also affiliated with the Commonwealth Jewish Council, the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, and the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stella Young</span> Australian comedian, journalist and disability advocate (1982–2014)

Stella Jane Young was an Australian comedian, journalist and disability rights activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lilian Helen Alexander</span> Australian surgeon (1861–1934)

Lilian Helen Alexander was an Australian surgeon and one of the first women to study medicine at the University of Melbourne.

Hyllus Noel Maris was an Aboriginal Australian activist, poet and educator. Maris was a Yorta Yorta woman. She was a key figure in the Aboriginal rights movement of the 1970s and 1980s, a poet, an educator and an award-winning scriptwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irene Capek</span> Australian politician

Irene Capek was a Jewish Holocaust survivor, humanitarian and local Australian politician. She was the fourth ever female member of the Caulfield City Council, was the recipient of the Caulfield City Council Citizen of the Year award, and went on to become a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleanor Harding</span> Australian Aboriginal activist (1934–1996)

Eleanor Harding was an Indigenous Australian from the Torres Strait Islands who worked to attain civil rights for Aboriginal Australians. She advocated for women's rights and adequate educational opportunities, as well, serving with numerous organizations to attain equality for indigenous people. In 2012, she was inducted into the Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll by the State of Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fanny Reading</span> Medical practitioner and Jewish communal leader

Fanny Reading was a Jewish Australian community leader and medical practitioner.

Hilary L. Rubinstein is an Australian historian and author. She researches and writes on British naval history and modern Jewish history.

Frances Barkman was a Jewish Australian schoolteacher and community worker. Born in Kiev, in the Russian Empire, she emigrated to Australia in 1891, with her parents, who were fleeing the pogroms. She was raised in Melbourne, and became a French language teacher at the Melbourne Continuation School, and later the MacRobertson Girls High School. Outside of teaching, she was active in charity work with the Victorian branch of the Australian Jewish Welfare Society. During World War II, she played a vital role in providing assistance to Jewish refugees arriving in Melbourne, particularly children. She led efforts to establish a children's home for orphans and unaccompanied refugee children, which was renamed the Frances Barkman Home after her death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eva Duldig</span> Austrian-born Australian-Dutch tennis player (born 1938)

Eva Ruth de Jong-Duldig is an Austrian-born Australian and Dutch former tennis player, and current author. From the ages of two to four, she was detained by Australia in an isolated internment camp, as an enemy alien. She later competed in tennis, representing Australia at the Wimbledon Championships in 1961. She also played at Wimbledon in 1962 and 1963 for the Netherlands, and competed in the Australian Open, French Championships, Fed Cup, and in the Israel-based Maccabiah Games, sometimes called the Jewish Olympics, where she won two gold medals.

Miriam (Mina) Fink was an Australian social activist and charity worker of Polish-Jewish origin. She was actively involved in the establishment of Melbourne's Jewish Holocaust Museum and Research Centre and awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of her service to Jewish women.

References

  1. "Bassat Returns as JCCV President". The Australian Jewish News. 16 November 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  2. "A Fond Farewell to Nina". The Australian Jewish News. 1 December 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  3. Harvey, Claire (12 April 2001). "Holocaust Victims Fear Tax on Payout" . The Australian. Retrieved 11 December 2015 via Newspaper Source - EBSCOhost.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Kohn, Peter (28 October 2009). "Nina Bassat Honoured For Communal Work". The Australian Jewish News. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  5. "JHC Social Club: Nina Bassat AM". Jewish Holocaust Centre. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  6. Rutland, Suzanne (1 March 2009). "Australia: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 Victorian Honour Roll of Women (booklet). Victorian Government: Office of Women's Policy. 2003. p. 5.
  8. Riley, Benjamin (27 August 2014). "Promoting LGBTI Inclusion a Key Issue for Victoria's Jewish Community". Star Observer. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  9. "2014 Victorian Honour Roll of Women" (PDF). The Office of Women's Affairs. State of Victoria. March 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  10. "Bassat, Janina". It's an Honour. Australian Government. Retrieved 12 December 2015.