Presenter: Daniela Torsh
Daniela Torsh grew up in Sydney with Jewish parents. She knew they’d survived the war, but they never told her the full story.
Years later, she’d discover they were Holocaust survivors, who’d met when they were interned in a Nazi concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. When they fell in love, they were both married, just not to each other. Daniela was born the year after they were liberated. But then the Communists came to power in Czechoslovakia, so they fled to the furthest place they could imagine.
Daniela Torsh is a writer, journalist and film producer. She worked for The Australian newspaper and was a fierce advocate for girls’ education. By 1975, she had published two books, Schools Out and Good morning boys and girls. This led to her working as Executive Officer for The Australian Schools’ Commission enquiry into girls’ education, published as Girls, School and Society. Daniela went on to the Australian Film Radio and Television School, training as a film and television producer. She worked freelance in the film industry, then for the Australian Film Commission.
Crying in the Archives is her third book. It can be purchased from Gleeboks and will be available online at the SJM Store from July 1, 2025.
This event was held on Sunday, May 18, 2025.