The Family Story We Didn't Know: Leslie's Death in World War Two

Journal article

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In Journal Issue

Australian Jewish Historical Society Journal, 25, 3 (2021)

Author(s) Erica Cervini AbstractFamily history can provide evidence that may help us to question and reshape established historical narratives. It is also important in encouraging people to contextualise events in their families' lives within a wider historical context. This paper focuses on my Jewish great-uncle Leslie Pearlman (1908-1942), who served in the 2/22nd Battalion during World War Two and was killed in the Tol Plantation massacre in New Guinea. While researching my PhD on family history, I realised that the Tol Plantation massacre was little known in Australia because a report about the massacre had been buried for decades. This article, therefore, challenges the silence in official military texts about the Tol Plantation massacre and assumptions about the Australian government looking out for its soldiers. This article combines personal narrative with scholarly research, a practice used in writing family history.
Year2021
Pages476-490
Keyword(s)Family history; Jewish soldiers; Tol Plantation; World War Two