Trailblazing New Zealand Jewish refugee Inge Woolf’s memoir – Resilience: A story of persecution, escape, survival and triumph – will be published by the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand on 11 April.
The book will be available directly from the Holocaust Centre at https://www.holocaustcentre.org.nz/store/p19/Resilience.html, and also at booksellers around the country.
Proceeds from the book will help fund education at the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand.
… Here is some more information about Resilience: A story of persecution, escape, survival and triumph:
Resilience is a Holocaust story and a New Zealand story
Born to a prosperous Jewish family, Inge Woolf witnessed the Nazis marching into her home-town, Vienna in March 1938. To escape certain death, the family audaciously boarded a train to the heart of Nazi Germany – Berlin – and from there caught a plane to England, pretending they were going on holiday. Hiding their Jewish identity until after World War II, Inge and her family began a new life as impoverished refugees.
A move to New Zealand signalled new beginnings. Inge met the love of her life, Ronald Woolf, and together they created the country’s pre-eminent photographic studio in Wellington. There they raised two children – photographer and city councillor, Simon Woolf and prominent director and consultant, Deborah Hart.
Tragedy struck again with Ron killed at age 57 in a helicopter crash in 1987.
Responding to the desecration of Jewish graves in Makara, Wellington, Inge determined to use her experiences for good. Resilience is ultimately the story of a woman who harnessed her past and used it to encourage a more cohesive, inclusive society.
In her later years, Inge was pivotal in establishing the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand and was its founding director. She was the driving force in creating the programme to send teachers to Yad Vashem in Israel – in her honour it has been renamed The Inge Woolf Memorial Seminar for NZ Educators at yad Vashem. She educated thousands on the Holocaust and the dangers of antisemitism.
Inge Woolf received a QSO in 1992 for services to the community. She was a finalist in the 2019 Women of Influence Awards – Community Hero category. Inge Woolf died in 2021 aged 86.
‘Inge will be remembered for her relentless enthusiasm in helping to build a better future for the country she loved. She understood the power of her story and was determined that it be published to record her testimony and to help guard against antisemitism, prejudice and apathy.’ – Deborah Hart (Inge Woolf’s daughter)
‘A remarkable story about a remarkable woman whose legacy will live on forever’ – Dame Susan Devoy
‘A chapter heading in Inge Woolf’s memoir, Resilience, offers up the essence of her valiant approach to an extraordinary life: “Disaster, Grief and my Mission”. Escape from Hitler’s Europe, starting again in New Zealand, the country she came to love and to which she contributed so much: her story is a memorial candle lit in the darkness.’ – Diana Wichtel
‘An understated and moving account of a life resolutely refusing to be defined by the catastrophe of the Shoah. Both exceptional and paradigmatic, Inge’s story reminds us of how personal stories can illuminate history and its impacts’ – Associate Professor Giacomo Lichtner
Resilience: A story of persecution, escape, survival and triumph by Inge Woolf | Published by the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand | 11 April 2023 | $35
