Lesley Hewitt
Michael Gawenda’s memoir My Life as a Jew was published last October, just before the violence of October 7th when Hamas murdered 1200 men, women and children, citizens of Israel and more than 30 countries and took 254 people hostage leading to the current conflict with tragic consequences for the Palestinian people. Michael Gawenda was recorded for Hepburn Community Radio on 14th October talking about his memoir. Before writing this review, I woke this morning to the news that the Israel Defence Force (IDF) had confirmed the killing of Yahya Sinwar, the alleged mastermind behind the October 7th massacre. An illustration of the constantly changing dynamic in this conflict.
But without the October 7th massacre it’s unlikely that Gawenda’s book would have been discussed on the Hepburn Community Radio Book review program. I probably would not have read it. However I have become increasingly worried about the rise of antisemitism in Australia (an example being the words ‘Jew Die” graffitied on the wall of a Melbourne Jewish school) and then recently reading a report of a young girl kicked out of a university share house by people she thought were some of her best friends because she supported Israel’s existence as a Jewish state. Holding Australian citizens responsible for the actions of a foreign government that they have no influence over is irrational and engenders hatred. I sought to understand it better and My Life as a Jew was one of the books that I read.
Gawenda is a well-known and respected journalist who had over 37 years of experience as a journalist in Australia and overseas before becoming an editor (1997- 2003) and then senior editor (2003-2004) at The Age. He was appointed as the inaugural director of the Centre of Advanced Journalism at the University of Melbourne.
Gawenda’s family is from Lodz. Poland. His parents and two older sisters fled to Siberia after Hitler invaded in 1939. They returned to Poland after WW2 to find that few of his family survived. He was born in 1947 in a displaced persons camp in Austria. His family migrated to Australia. His memoir describes his life growing up in a secular household – what he describes as a non-Jewish life – a secular Yiddishist, attending a socialist non-Zionist youth group, the Bund, his years as a journalist where he was often questioned about whether or not his being Jewish influenced his decision-making, his growing affection for Israel (he had family, including his sister there) , his growing identification with Zionism and how this led to his personal rejection by Jews on the left, and his increasing involvement in Jewish life, in particular his Yiddish heritage – a secular Jew who loved the Yiddish language and culture. Gawenda is not uncritical of Israel or the current Israeli government but his rejection by the left has led him to reflect on his own Jewish identity and what that means, to examine the factual basis of the criticisms of Israel and to consider how this connects with rising antisemitism and anti-Zionism. It is a book that encourages the non-Jewish reader to move beyond a simple binary understanding of the current conflict in the Middle East. It is also a difficult book for the non-Jewish reader to understand the complexity of Jewish identity (for example what is meant by ‘a secular Yiddishist’?). The book in detailing Gawenda’s significant contribution would also be of value to those readers interested in Australian journalism. Gawenda was generous with his time on HCR and any prospective reader would find it helpful to listen to the podcast before starting to read the book.
Michael Gawenda (2003) My Life as Jew, ISBN 9781761380471 is available in the Daylesford Library and can be ordered from Paradise Books.
Lesley Hewitt is a Daylesford resident who hosts The 2nd Thursday Book Review on Hepburn Radio.
The podcast is not yet available but will be linked to this storysoon so check back if you want to hear it.
