Indigenous anti-Nazi protests recognised

26 Aug 2010, 3:09 pm   -   Source: SBS - Luke Waters
A vandalised Jewish-owned shop in Germany after the Nazi pogrom known as Kristallnacht in November 1938. (Getty)

A vandalised Jewish-owned shop in Germany after the Nazi pogrom known as Kristallnacht in November 1938. (Getty)

The final chapter in a 72-year old Australian story of oppression, protest and pride is finally set to be written. 

The final chapter in a 72-year old Australian story of oppression, protest and pride is finally set to be written. 

It involves formal recognition of an Aboriginal elder who led a march against Nazi attacks in the 1930s.

William Cooper was one of the few voices to formally rebuke what became known as ‘Kristallnacht’ and his stand is about to be recognised.

Returning to the ‘sacred place’, Cumragunga Cemetery on the New South Wales/ Victorian border is always emotional for proud Yorta Yorta men Alfred Turner and Kevin Russell.

The pair has returned to honour their Grand Father William Cooper, who led a rare demonstration against the 1938 Nazi attacks which became known as ‘Kristallnacht.’

Mr Cooper's grandson, Alfred Turner, remains extremely proud of his grandfather's actions.

George Ginzburg, now a volunteer guide at Melbourne's holocaust museum, was 15 on the now notorious November day in1938 when the Nazis launched their night of terror.

“I woke up and the sky was black and red. Black from smoke and red from fire.

“I was trying to save some valuables at the burning synagogue and that was the beginning of the holocaust.”

Mr Ginzburg spent years, many of them in Auschwitz as a prisoner, defying Nazi rule, and says he feels gratitude to the late William Cooper

“I feel very proud of those people who have been subservient, their rights, their civilian rights in Australia; it takes a lot of courage.”

According to William Cooper's grandson that courage, and indeed an affinity with the plight of the Jews, developed as indigenous Australians occupied missions under the rule of the so-called "protection board".

“We were always told if you saw a big black car coming onto the mission run and hide and that's what most of the kids did because we were just scared stiff of being taken away.”

William Cooper channelled that fear into action.

“When he arrived at the German consulate in South Melbourne in 1938 he delivered a petition condemning the Nazi's behaviour.”

It's widely considered a visionary act. Just a few weeks after Kristallnacht, it is a gesture for which William Cooper is only now being recognised.

But his great- grandson Kevin Russell insists the story still resonates.

“That message was about equal rights, harmony, give a bloke a chance. He wasn't asking for a lot and the message is the same today.

“I don't think William would be seeking recognition. It's about making the world a better place.”

But it's recognition he will get in December

After researching the story for more than a year, historians at Yad Vashem, the world's pre-eminent holocaust museum will mark William Cooper's protest with a memorial garden named in his honour.

“I was very proud of my Grandfather and I'm just proud to be his grandson. He was a great man.”

And a proud family will attend the ceremony at "another" sacred place on the "other" side of the globe.
 

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