Dunera

No One Knows Their Destiny by Tonia Eckfeld, tells the story of the ‘Dunera boy’ brothers Reinhold and Waldemar Eckfeld from Kristallnacht in Vienna to V-E Day in Melbourne. Newly discovered primary sources (family and archival) – photographs and drawings, diaries, letters, and official records – reconstruct with immediacy, the refugee experiences of Reinhold and Waldemar. Tonia reveals the brothers’ very different responses going through the same experiences at the same time, from leaving Vienna, to refuge in the UK, transportation on the HMT Dunera, internment and finally freedom in Australia. New information about Waldemar sheds light on events leading to the 1941 court martial trials of Dunera British Pioneer Corps guards. Very different outcomes for the brothers challenge popular mythology about the Dunera-boys.

This talk challenges us to ask: Why is the story of the Dunera boys important today? What can we learn from it? How do we as descendants come to terms with the experiences of our Dunera forebears? And what should we celebrate as well as understand?

Speaker: Professor Tonia Eckfeld
Tonia Eckfeld grew up in Melbourne in the shadow and the light of the Dunera refugee experience of her family and their friends. Despite a lifetime of knowledge gained about the ‘Dunera experience’ as the daughter and niece of two ‘Dunera boys’ – Reinhold and Waldemar Eckfeld – many questions remained. She found the truth of events in a trove of primary sources which are traced in her book No One Knows Their Destiny – The Eckfeld Records, Inside the Dunera Story (Monash University Publishing, 2024). Tonia is a professor of Art History and Principal Fellow at the University of Melbourne.

Dr Seumas Spark is an Adjunct Research Fellow in History at Monash University and a leading expert on the history of the Dunera Boys. He is the co-author of the two-volume Dunera Lives – A Visual History & Dunera Lives – Profiles, the co-created (With Kate Garrett) of the website Stories From the Dunera and Queen Mary and the past president of the Dunera Association.

Join us for an afternoon with Tonia Eckfeld, the acclaimed art historian and author of No One Knows Their Destiny. In this compelling work, Eckfeld delves into the deeply personal history of her father and uncle, Jewish refugees whose lives were profoundly shaped by their wartime experiences and internment, resulting in two very different outcomes. Her book offers a gripping and fresh perspective on the Dunera Boys, challenging conventional narratives and exploring the complex impacts of war, trauma, and legacy on family dynamics.

Don’t miss this chance to hear directly from the author and gain new insights into this poignant story of resilience and history.

MUSEUM MEMBERS: Please select General Admission tickets, then add your discount code at the checkout to receive your member discount.

A moving portrait of two Dunera Boys, from Kristallnacht in Vienna to VE Day in Melbourne, that complicates the traditional story of the Dunera.

Popular culture has mythologised the Dunera Boys – but who were the real men who sailed on the infamous ship, and how did the voyage transform their lives?

Art historian Tonia Eckfeld draws on a deeply personal history to tell the story of her father and her uncle, Jewish refugees whose lives were shaped indelibly by their wartime experiences and internment – each to very different outcomes.

In 1939, Reinhold and Waldemar Eckfeld fled Hitler’s Austria to Churchill’s United Kingdom. There they were unjustly arrested and transported on the troopship Dunera to Tatura prison camp, where it took many months to gain their freedom.

The ship docked in Sydney at Wharf 21 Jones Bay, Pyrmont , just next to the Maritime Museum.

Their experiences of internment were often harrowing, riven with violence, deprivation and frustration. Waldemar, who was beaten by British guards aboard the Dunera, found himself entangled in court martial proceedings – the records of which were reportedly destroyed by the British government to hush up a human-rights scandal. Reinhold, classified as an ‘enemy alien’, joined the Australian Army after release and served the country that would not legally recognise him for so long.

Drawing on a trove of historical artefacts – including previously unseen artworks, photographs and official documents – Tonia Eckfeld takes the reader inside these events as they unfold. Gripping and illuminating, this book asks us to reconsider the conventional narrative of the Dunera Boys, unearthing new perspectives on the impact of war, trauma and legacy on family relationships.

The author will also be in conversation with the Museum’s curator of Post-War Immigration, Roland Leikauf.

Whilst you are at the Museum, make sure you visit the plaque commemorating the Dunera story, outside the waterside entrance to the Museum.

Professor Tonia Eckfeld is an internationally renowned art historian and a principal fellow at the University of Melbourne. She was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship to the University of Chicago and a research fellowship to Harvard University, and was an honorary professor at Zhengzhou University and a distinguished research fellow at Northwestern Polytechnical University in China. Tonia lectures internationally and is a consultant for documentary films for National Geographic, Smithsonian Networks, BBC, Channel 4 and others.

Copies of the books will be available for purchase and be signed by the author.