Wharf number five at Sydney's Circular Quay was the venue for a special anniversary on the weekend.
At that spot 70 years ago, the SS Luciana Manara docked, having sailed from the Mediterranean port cities of Marseille and Genoa with hundreds of passengers – many of whom survived the Holocaust in Germany and Poland.
It was one of the hundreds of boats that brought Holocaust survivors to Australia, including the parents of Velvel Lederman.
Luciana Manara docks in Sydney 1949 Source: Supplied
"A few of us came on the ferry and arrived into the same wharf. It was incredible for me to think how those people came to Australia, not knowing the language," he told SBS Hebrew.
"This is unbelievable, I thought, we’re going to come to Circular Quay the way they arrived, it's such a symbolic trip."
Descendents of the original passengers onboard Luciana Manara gathered to mark the 70th anniversary of the ship docking in Sydney. Source: Supplied
Some of the descendants of the 350 Jewish people aboard the Luciana Manara - and even some of the original passengers, then just infants but now in their 70s, gathered at the wharf at 11 o'clock - the same time the boat docked seventy years ago - for a thanksgiving ceremony celebrating the start of a new life in Australia.
"Seeing three 70-plus-year-olds who were there – one was completely overwhelmed at seeing so many descendants of those original passengers," he said.
Some of the passengers disembarked in Fremantle after the six-week journey, others went on to Melbourne and Sydney.
Among the Luciana Manara's passengers were survivors of the Holocaust beginning a new life in Australia. Source: Supplied courtesy Elizabeth Holtzer
A newspaper article from The Canberra Times dated May 10 1949 details the condition of passengers as the ship docked in Fremantle.
"Two doctors boarded an Italian migrant ship at Fremantle this morning to attend to nearly 100 Polish-Jewish babies and children needing medical attention," the article reads.
"The ship, the Luciano Manara, arrived last night with 550 passengers. Conditions on board were crowded and one doctor said that much of the sickness was due to undernourishment.
From 'The Canberra Times', 10th May 1949 Source: Trove
"He said that passengers complained that no provision had been made for babies, and adults had to live on spaghetti. The assistant purser admitted that one Polish baby had died at sea from the sickness."
The Luciana Marana docked in Sydney on Saturday, May 21, the Sabbath - a holy day in Jewish custom.
"There were a few observant families on the boat," Mr Lederman said.
Onboard the Luciana Marana. Source: Supplied
"One of the families was the famous Mr and Mrs Stark. They had the famous delicatessen in Bondi. Being observant Jews they asked permission from the captain of the boat - and they didn't care how much it would cost - they didn't want to get off the boat on the Sabbath as is the custom."
They were allowed to disembark the next day, on Sunday.
Sydney wharf circa 1940s. Source: Supplied
"My mother asked my father, 'Why didn't you want to get off?'," he recounted.
And my father said, 'We've come to a new land and I wanted the first steps that I take in this new land to be according to Jewish law,' and that's why they stayed on the boat."
Listen to the interview with Velvel Lederman in English above
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