Caplan, Sophie & Leslie

Personal Papers Archives

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Authority Biography/Administrative HistorySophie Caplan          
     Year    Event    References in Collection
     20/03/1933    Born Eschweiler, Germany     See PP/CAPLANS/1/8/001/001.68 for Sophie Caplan CV
     1939    Family Fled to Belgium     
          Primary school /junior in France before immigration to Australia     
          Rescued by OSE in wartime France     
     1947    Migrated to Australia     
          3 years high school in Australia at Crown Street Girls; Sydney Girls High School      
          1950 - Leaving Certificate      
     1947 - 1953    Active in Habonim Labour Zionist Youth Movement     
     1951- 1953     Sydney University     
     1953    Elected honorary Secretary of Australian Zionist Youth Movement     
     1954    Bachelor of Arts      
     1955    Married Leslie Caplan President of Australian Zionist Youth Council      
     1955    Sydney Teachers' College, Diploma in Education     
     1957 - 1958    Graduate Assistant teacher in NSW High Schools, teaching English, French, History and Social Studies     
     1958    Retired from teaching to start a family     
     1958 - 1960    Sydney University, Honours degree of MA in Education     
     1966 - 1975    Founded Masada College - first post World war II progressive Jewish School in NSW      
     1966 - 1969    Member of Education Committee; founded primary school library and chaired Library Committee     
     1972 - 1974    Thesis The Jewish Day School in NSW 1940 - 1974     
     1975    Founded and edited parent's bulletin "Masada College Newsletter"
Founded Dr Hans Kimmel Memorial essay Competition in Contemporary Jewish History for 5-16 year old students of Moriah College
Committee Member of the AJHS      
     1975    Awarded Master of Education (Hons)     
     1980    First interviewer in Australia of Holocaust survivors as research assistant to Associate Professor Konrad Kwiet in the Oral History Project of the German Studies Department of the UNSW     
     1980 -1989     Oral Historian of Jewish Refugees and Holocaust survivors in Australia     
     1982-1983; 1988 -1990    Sole organiser for Australia and NZ of census for the Department of Education Statistics of the Department of Demography in the School of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University     
     1984 - 1992    Named foundation chairman of the Edgar Seitel Newman Award in Contemporary Jewish History, biennial award for Jewish youth aged 15 - 25 of Australia and NZ     
     1991    Founded the Australian Jewish Genealogical Society (AJGS)     
     1991 - 1993    President of the Australian Jewish Genealogical Society (AJGS)     
     1993    Founded Newsletter The Kosher Koala for AJGS     
     1986    Editor to AVOTAYNU, the international Review of Jewish Genealogy, succeeding the Australian foundation contributing editor Rabbi Dr Israel Porush     
     1983 - 1989    Visiting Lecturer to Professor Kwiet's course on "The Persecution and the Destruction of the European Jews 1933 - 1945"     
     1990 - 1992    Teaching follow and lecturer in charge of course "The Persecution and the Destruction of the European Jews 1933 - 1945"     
     1992    Article "The Legacy of Childhood Exile" in German translated in German "Exil Der Kleine Leute"     See PP/CAPLANS/1/8/001/001.69 & PP/CAPLANS/1/8/001/001.71 (in German)
          Articles on Genealogy in Avotaynu " The Quest for the Topf Family, The origins of Australian Jewry, Jewish Life in Ethiopia and Kenya, Student essays and the Barbie Trial      
          Articles on Education in Masada College Newsletter      
          Articles on Holocaust and on Jewish History in Australia, unpublished lectures  "A unique case of Survival During the Holocaust, The Story of Salam Bully Schott     See PP/CAPLANS/1/21/001/001.227 & PP/CAPLANS/1/21/001/001.228
 

Leslie Caplan    Year    Event    References in Collection
     1932    Born in Sydney    See PP/CAPLANS/1/25/002/002.1 for Leslie Caplan CV
          North Sydney Boy's High school     
          Sydney University Law School      
     1951    Joined Zionist Youth League      
     1952    President, Zionist Youth Council NSW     
     1953    President, Australian Zionist Youth Council      
     1955    LLB     
     1955    Married Sophie Caplan     
     1965    Member of Parents Planning Committee of North Shore Kindergarten, participating in the foundation of Masada College in 1966     
     1966 - 1971    District Chairman, Cremorne Jewish National Fund     
     1966 - 1969    Chairman of Education Sub-Committee of Masada     
     1967 - 1971    Founding VP, Masada College     
     1970 - 1978    Elected to Board of Management , North Shore Synagogue     
     1971-1974    President, Masada College     
     1974 - 1975    President, North Shore Synagogue     
     1974    Deputy to the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, representing North Shore Synagogue     
     1976    Sabbatical for one year in Israel     
     1970 - 1978    Together with Sophie ran Cultural Committee at North Shore Synagogue     
     1978    Elected General Francise Member of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies     
     1979    Elected to Executive of NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, then appointed as Education Chairman     
     1980    Elected VP of NSW Jewish Board of Deputies      
     1982 - 1985    President, NSW Jewish Board of Deputies      
     1984    Awarded an AM (Member of the Order of Australia) in the Australia Day Honours     
     1985    Visited the USSR to contact a group of Refuseniks     
     1985 - 1987    President, ECAJ     
     1988 - 1997    Elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Communal Appeal of NSW     
     1988    Visited Ethiopia     
     1989 - 1992    President, ECAJ     
     1989    Trustee of Rookwood Jewish Cemetery Trust     
     1990    Attended World Jewish Congress Executive in Berlin and visited Auschwitz     
     1990 - 1991    Attended various international conferences     
     1992    Appointed Honorary Life Membership of NSW Jewish Board of Deputies     
     1993    Appointed Honorary Life Membership of ECAJ     
     1996    Elected president Jewish Cemetery Trust Rookwood      
                
          Leslie and Sophie Caplan were Drawing Room Hosts for the UIA for a number of years and were involved with the JCA since its inception     
 
ProvenanceCAPLAN, Sophie (CAPLANS)
Scope & ContentPersonal Papers - Letters, correspondence, both typed and handwritten, in English, German and in French; diaries, photographs; drawings; notes and essays; addresses; printed material such as external articles and essays, ephemera such as personal invitations; reports; photographs; genealogical histories; conference notes; etc. These series were collected and created by Sophie Caplan as part of her personal papers and as they related to the Caplan's involvement, participation, activities and contributions in the community. The series are a way of "evidencing and memorialising" their lives, activities, interests, contributions, involvement, experiences, relationships with others and to portray their identity, significance and place in the Jewish community. The primary concern in the analysis is to ascertain why the records were created rather than what they contain, how they were created and utilised by the original user, in this instance, rather than how they might be used in the future, and what formal functions and mandates of the creator they supported rather than what internal structure or physical characteristics they may or may not have. The personal papers were part of a donation by the family and might not contain papers relating to all the activities, roles and positions occupied as outlined above. They are incorporated into the "collective archives" of AJHS so that this "evidence" is made an accessible part of the society's memory and cultural identity. There was no delineation between Sophie Caplan Series 1 and 2, hence, material relating to Sophie Caplan might inadvertently be in this series, especially in relation to the invitations from various organisations in the capacity in their roles, Masada College and North Shore Synagogue. T. However, best effort was made to distinguish Sophie Caplan's series to Leslie Caplan's papers and vice versa. It was decided to incorporate the papers relating to Masada, North Shore Synagogue into Caplan Series 1 as these papers were acquired in her name. Please note that the overall date range of series /001 includes items specifically, personal ephemera such as passports, identity cards, birth and marriage certificates and photographs from Holocaust survivors. The dates often predate her birth, involvement/role in the community.
Related RecordsAAJ SC 29 & LC 1-4; B1/10/1/129/003/003.71; B1/10/1/87/042/042.33, B1/10/1/120/042/042.106 & B1/10/1/125/042/042.111; B1/10/1/64/056/056.12; B1/10/1/115/059/059.225; B1/10/1/115/059/059.225; B1/10/1/118/059/059.255; B1/10/1/85/069/069.2; B1/10/1/029
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