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Robert Salter, Austrian Jewish Migrant & Tailor, 1938
Image: Letter - Commonwealth of Australia, 21st Jul, 1938
Source: Museum Victoria
Robert Salter, a Jewish clothing manufacturer, was forced to flee Vienna just before the German annexation of Austria in 1938 or risk being arrested. The only way he could obtain a ticket on a ship leaving the country was by pretending he was going on a holiday and would return to Vienna. So on 20 July 1938 Robert left Rotterdam on board the holiday ship the Dempo, with just over 200 pounds - the amount required to land in Australia - and an overnight bag.
His journey took him to Batavia (Jakarta) in Dutch East India (Indonesia), where he obtained a six month tourist visa for Australia from the British Embassy. Five months before leaving Vienna, Robert had applied for residency in Australia, but had been forced to flee before it was approved. Arriving in Brisbane on a holiday ship called 'the Nieuw Zeeland' Robert was informed his application for residency had been rejected. He remained on the ship while it traveled to Sydney and Melbourne, and on his arrival in Melbourne with the help of William Maloney, a federal Member of Parliament who befriended him, he was finally able to obtain permits for himself, his parents, his fiancee Ida and his friend who had accompanied him on the journey. While fortunate in obtaining residency in Australia the Salter family did not completely escape the horrors of the Second World War, with Robert's sister and her family perishing at the Auschwitz concentration camp.
In Vienna Robert had managed his father's menswear and sportswear manufacturing business, but he was unable to find work in that trade in Melbourne. However using women's fashions drawings that his father had sent him from Austria, and contacts he made in the Flinders Lane rag trade, Robert set up a showroom with fashion samples. He went on to establish a well-known women's fashion label, Elegance, and remained in business until the mid 1970s. Robert passed away in 2005.
Items per page: 10 50 (showing 1 - 10) 20 items
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Trunk - Canvas & Wood, circa 1900s
Wooden trunk brought out to Australia by Robert Salter, a Jewish refugee who migrated to Australia from Austria, in 1938, just before the German annexation of Austria. Robert had used t ...
From: Melbourne, Australia Images: 5 -
Coat Hanger - Wood, Metal, circa 1920s-1930s
Coat hanger brought out to Australia by Robert Salter, a Jewish refugee who migrated to Australia from Austria, in 1938, just before the German annexation of Austria. When Robert arri ...
Images: 1 -
Overcoat - Josef Blau, Dark Blue, Wool, circa 1930s
Dark blue, double-breasted, woollen overcoat made by Josef Blau in Vienna, circa 1930s. It was brought out to Australia by Robert Salter, a Jewish refugee who migrated to Australia from ...
Images: 1 -
Keys - Trunk, circa 1900s
Two keys for wooden trunk brought out to Australia by Robert Salter, a Jewish refugee who migrated to Australia from Austria, in 1938, just before the German annexation of Austria. Robe ...
Images: 1 -
Letter - W Maloney to Robert Salter & Rudolph Brill, 8 Nov 1938
Letter from W. Maloney to Robert Salter and Rudolph Brill, dated 8 November 1938. The letter provides instructions that the men need to following in order to obtain permission to bring ...
From: North Melbourne, Australia Images: 3 -
Letter - PW Masterson to Robert Salter, 21 Jul, 1938
Letter from P. W. Masterson to Robert Salter, dated 21 July 1938. Robert migrated to Australia from Austria, fleeing Vienna just before the German annexation of Austria in 1938. He had ...
From: Canberra, Australia Images: 3 -
Letter - W Maloney to Robert Salter, 16 Jan 1940
Letter from W. Maloney to Robert Salter, dated 16 January 1940. The letter congratulates Robert Salter on the finalising of his parents' admission to Australia. Robert fled Vienna just ...
From: Melbourne, Australia Images: 3 -
Letter - TH Garrett to Dr W Maloney, 9 Jan 1940
Letter from T.H. Garrett to Dr W. Maloney, dated 9 January 1940. It relates to the granting of Australian visas for Robert Salter parents'. Salter migrated to Australia from Austria, fl ...
From: Canberra, Australia Images: 3 -
Receipt - Department of the Interior to Mr Brill & Mr Salter, 24 Jan 1940
Receipt for Mr Brill and Mr Salter, dated 24 Jan 1940. This receipt for 13 shillings was issued by the Department of the Interior for cablegram costs. This receipt relates to the letter ...
From: Canberra, Australia Images: 4 -
Telegram - To Robert Salter, 2 Sep 1938
Telegram to Robert Salter dated 2 September 1938. It informs him that both his applications seeking permission to remain in Australia have been declined, but that the decision may be re ...
From: Sydney, Australia Images: 6
