Israel / Australia / Jewish Holocaust

Israelis Honour Aboriginal Activist Who Led Protest against Holocaust
By Lenore Taylor
The Sydney Morning Herald, December 13, 2010
"Fifteen descendants of the Aboriginal activist William Cooper were in Jerusalem yesterday for the announcement of a new academic chair at the Holocaust History Museum of Yad Vashem named in honour of their forefather. Less than a month after Kristallnacht, the night of ransacking of Jewish shops and homes across Nazi Germany, Mr. Cooper led a march from his home in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray to the German consulate to denounce the 'cruel persecution of the Jewish people by the Nazi government of Germany.' German officials in Australia refused to accept the written denunciation from Mr. Cooper after the march on December 6, 1938, but 72 years later his actions are being acknowledged with a professorship for the study of resistance during the Holocaust. Mr. Cooper's grandson, Uncle 'Boydie' Turner, his great grandson, Kevin Russell, and 13 other descendants were in Jerusalem for the event, organised through the Australian Israeli Leadership Forum. Uncle Boydie Turner, now 82, said the family had been trying to get recognition for Mr. Cooper for a long time. 'We've always known about this story ... we've always wanted other people to know about it,' he said. Kristallnacht -- 'the night of broken glass' -- is seen by many historians as the start of the Holocaust, and it was widely reported around the world. However, Mr. Cooper's march is believed to be the only private protest organised at the time. Mr. Cooper was already 77 in 1938 and died three years later. He helped establish the Australian Aboriginal League, which campaigned for land rights and representation in parliament."
[n.b. This is the complete text of the dispatch]