Ilse The Story of a Remarkable Life

Journal article

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In Journal Issue

Australian Jewish Historical Society Journal, 25, 1 (2020)

Author(s) Miriam Gould AbstractIlse Presch was born in Berlin in 1918 and grew into a bright and plucky girl with literary inclinations. With the rise of Hitler, she reluctantly abandoned her hopes of becoming a journalist in order to study dressmaking, a portable trade that, her father realised, would better enable her to earn a living if she emigrated. In 1938, following Kristallnacht, she and her husband, Werner Baer, left for Shanghai, settling instead in Singapore, which had employment opportunities for musician Werner, and where their daughter Miriam would be born. Subsequently removed along with other so-called 'enemy aliens' by the British to the Tatura camp in Australia, Ilse and Hans Baer eventually divorced and she married another refugee musician, Hans Blau, who changed his surname to Blair. The rest of this article tells of their life in Melbourne, where she became a successful dressmaker and fashion retailer and he a well-known figure in musical circles. Ilse died aged 101.
Year2020
Pages117-126
Keyword(s)Biography; Refugees; Women; Tatura camp; Temple Beth Israel