About this work
With the rise of fascism in Europe and the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the subsequent influx of European immigrants to Australia offered socially aware artists, including Vic O’Connor, a graphic vision of social isolation and cultural dislocation. This painting was used as the frontispiece for a story written by Yosl Bergner’s uncle which evocatively captured the momentous struggle and journey of Europe’s dispossessed Jewish people.