A Boy's Favourite Toy

Victor Schwartz was born in 1935 to Joseph and Ilona Schwartz in Oradea, a part of Romania annexed by Hungary.

When he arrived home from school one day in May 1944, his mother told him that he was to be "taken on a journey". He was part of the round-up and transportation of Jews from Oradea to Auschwitz. Together with his grandmother and two aunts, he was murdered immediately upon arrival. It was just after his 9th birthday.

Before departing, Victor asked his neighbours to look after some of his possessions: his sticker book, tin Schuco car and school satchel. He said he would come back to collect them. The neighbours bundled his possessions together and kept them safe until the war was over. Victor's mother Ilona returned after her liberation from Auschwitz. The neighbours returned Victor's possessions to her. At that point, Ilona, who had not acknowledged that her son had been murdered, was struck with such terrible grief that she apparently tried to kill herself. Her husband Joseph had died in an unknown labour camp. Only Ilona's sister Katalin survived Auschwitz. The sisters immigrated to Australia in the 1960s.

The Sydney Jewish Museum has few toys in its collection. Those we do have, like these, tell a story of tragedy and loss and remind us that 1.5 million children were murdered during the Holocaust; 1.2 million of whom were Jewish.