The Denver Jewish news., 1919-05-21
JEWISH RESIDENTS IN DISTANT
LANDS,
a Few Facts Of Interest About the
Achieveasea,ts Of Our L. keliy' /.
ionlsts In Australia.
BY MISS aEssIE COHEN.

The Jewish population Of Australia,
numbering about seventeen thousand
five hundred. play an important part
in the DEVELOPMENT OF that country.
The first Jewish settlement there was
jn 1871. their main centers of popular
tion being Melbourne. Sydney, Adelaide
and the larger island towns. Anti
Semitism is thing unknown there.
Jewish immigrants come mostly
from Russia and Poland. A very sue
cessful experiment has been n,ads
recently In bringing Russian Jewish
farmers TO Australia and placing them
I'm the irrigation lands in victoria. D.
As rule the Jews Of Australia are
generally prosperous. The charitable
activities are In connection with The
immigrants. Their mercantile actiri'
ties are along the lines of tailoring
and manufacturing. Many Of ti.c most
proniiiicnt stores in the large: cities
ere owned by Jews. They lave at
tanned prominence in the professions
of law. medicine aud dentistry.
There are three fine synagos;S III
Melbourne and several sualler chev-
ras. Altho Sydney has II larger Jew
ish population than Melbourne, II has
only one synagog, but that is the fin
est in Australia. There are, however,
numerous smaller congregations there.
other large Australian cities nave fine
synagogs. The entire Jewish p,pula-
tion in Australia is orthodox.
Melbourne has five thousand ami
sydney six thousand Jews. There are
No ghettoes In Australia nor anything
like them. There are some localities
where there is very large Jewish
population.
Jewish residents in Australia have
occupied important civic positions,
There have been Jewish mayors IN al'
tho capital cities ,as well as In tic
smaller towns. Among them were the
late V. L. Solomon. premier of South
australia, and member of the ma
tional parliament: Sir John Vogel,
who was lord mayor of Melbourne, tc
late Joseph Krochnheimcr, n to
hacco merchant, whose philanthropics
in Australia and Palestine Is uni
vcrsaliy known. His donations to
Jewish and noD-Jewish charities
amount to muny millions Of dollars.
Mr.. Krochnhein,er was strict orth-
olox. Hon. Justirc Isaacs VI the high
court Of Australia, which Is tho same
us the supreme court in this co,n-
try, formerly attorney general of Aus
tralia, is one Of the most eminent
Jiirists there. Mr. Isaac jacobs, faith
er-iu-law of Justice Isaacs. IN prom
incnt scholar and philanthropist. Rev.
Abrahams. the senior rabbi Of Mel
bourne. who is a talented scholar and
orator. is the brother of Israel -Abra'
hams of London. the well known editor
and author. Justice Cohen of New
South Wales supreme court. dis
tinguished member Of the Legal fra
ternity and an active Jewish com'
munnl worker. Dan Levy, prominent
member Of the state parliament Of
Ecw South Wales. Dr.. Boas of Ade-
liidc, brilliant Shakesperean scholar.
The University of Melbourne has 4
few Jewish professors. All Of the
prominent Jewish men and women
with but few exceptions In Australia
take un active part In Jewish comA
Eiunal affairs.
The Jewish charitable organizations
occupy foremost rank In Australia.
Some of them are the Montefiore
Home for Aged and Infirm lsraelites
and the Jewish Philanthropic society
OF Melbourne. The latter organiza
ton assists immigrant Jews. Other
similar organiza tions are found in all
australian cities having jewish rest
dents. The cemeteries in Melbourne
are under municipal control, every
creed having its own plot of ground
allotted to it.
The war record of the Jews in Aus
tralia is rema rkable. out Of Jew
ish population of seventeen thOusahu
five hundred, which was one-tlird pi
one per cent of the entire population
four thousand Jews enlisted. rms
was one per cent of the entire Aus
tralian army. In other words, the
number of Jewish soldiers was three
times as great as that of the general
population of Australia. The entire
Australian army of four hundred thou
sand was made up Of volunteers, TINS
makes the Jewish confirmation to the
fighting forces all the more remark
able as there is no ecnscription Ill