Journals and journeys

Diary used by Susi Cohen (nee Katz) from November 1935 to November 1937, in Essen, Germany. The diary was given to Susi by her boyfriend Heinz Feniger, when she was 15 years old. She wrote about her life in Essen and her heartbreak after her boyfriend moved to Leipzig with his family. The pages are smudged with tears when she wrote about her goodbye to Heinz.

It is in many ways a typical diary of a 15 year old girl, strewn with commentary about the Jewish situation in Essen. In 1937 she wrote "Here in Essen, everything is so quiet. Almost every month Jews drive away. Young ones and old ones. When will we be next?” She asked herself if she was worthless and in which way she was different to her female classmates in school, as she was the only Jewish girl in class.

Towards the end of 1937 the family began planning their emigration. Susi wrote about the change in her parents as a result of the escalating antisemitism. Her mother Esther became very nervous and superstitious. Her father, Ephraim, became funnier and more courageous; though he blamed his wife for her opposite reaction.

In January 1938, after a visit from the Gestapo, Susi and her parents escaped from Essen to Amsterdam. In November 1938, the family received a visa to go to Australia as refugees. Susi remembered that it was very hard to say goodbye to the dear friends she’d made in Amsterdam, friends she would never see again. They arrived in Sydney on board the Ormonde in January 1939.