What was the Holocaust impact on Australia?

The Holocaust had substantial impact on Australia through the Jewish refugees who escaped Nazi Europe between 1933 and 1939 and through the much larger post-war migration of Holocaust survivors who settled in Australia from 1946 onwards. Australia accepted about 7,000 Jewish refugees before the war and about 30,000 to 35,000 Holocaust survivors and their families after the war, making it home to one of the largest communities of Holocaust survivors per capita in the world.

Pre-war refugee acceptance was limited. The 1938 Evian Conference, called by US President Franklin Roosevelt to address the European Jewish refugee crisis, saw most participating countries (including Australia) commit to small intake numbers. Australia's representative Thomas White made the much-quoted statement that 'undue privileges cannot be given to one particular class of non-British subject without injustice to others' and committed Australia to accepting just 5,000 Jewish refugees over three years. Actual acceptances were slightly higher, with about 7,000 Jewish refugees arriving between 1938 and 1939.

Post-war acceptance was much larger. The Chifley Labor government's post-war immigration programme from 1947 included substantial intake of European displaced persons, including about 30,000 to 35,000 Holocaust survivors and their family members between 1946 and 1954. Most settled in Melbourne and Sydney, with smaller communities in Adelaide, Perth, and Brisbane. The post-war Jewish community of Melbourne became particularly significant, with the suburbs of Caulfield, Elsternwick, and St Kilda developing as centres of Jewish life. The Australian population grew from about 20,000 in 1933 to about 70,000 by 1961, with the Holocaust survivors and their descendants forming the core of the post-war Australian Jewish community.

Holocaust commemoration is now substantial. The Jewish Museum of Australia in Melbourne and the Sydney Jewish Museum (both in former Jewish community buildings) document the Holocaust and its survivors. Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day, usually in April) is observed across the Jewish community and increasingly by the broader Australian community. International Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January (the anniversary of the 1945 liberation of Auschwitz) is marked at Parliament House in Canberra and at state parliaments. The Anti-Defamation Commission, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, and various Holocaust education programmes work to preserve the memory of the Holocaust and address contemporary anti-Semitism, with anti-Semitic incidents rising sharply since October 2023 prompting expanded federal responses.