An event for Erwin Fabian

Jewish Artists in Post-War Melbourne

The Lamm Jewish Library of Australia is dedicating an exhibition to the painter, sculptor, and Dunera deportee Erwin Fabian (1915–2020) and his artistic influence in Australia. On June 16, artist Eleanor Hart and historian Seumas Spark presented Fabian’s work—including his role as part of the community of Jewish refugees and migrants in postwar Melbourne.

Erwin Fabian was a descendant of the family of the Jewish Berlin painter Max Fabian. He studied at the Municipal School of Arts and Crafts in Berlin-Charlottenburg. In 1938, he was forced to leave Germany and was able to make a living for a short time in London—where his mother had also managed to flee—as a freelance commercial artist. He also used this time to further his education in the library of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
On June 28, 1940, he was interned as an “enemy alien,” even though he was recognized as a refugee and a victim of Nazi persecution. On July 10, 1940, he was deported to Australia on the Dunera. At Camp 7 near Hay, and later in the internment camps at Orange and Tatura, he met other deported artists. Like several others, he put his impressions of the journey on the Dunera and life in the camps down on paper. Like over 500 of his comrades, he volunteered in April 1942 for an unarmed labor unit of the Australian Army. They were deployed, among other things, for loading work at train stations. He served there until June 1946, ultimately as a Staff Sergeant, the highest rank attained by former internees.

He then worked for some time in London before returning to Australia, settling in Melbourne, and becoming an Australian citizen. By 1965, he had held more than 60 exhibitions of his sculptures and paintings in Australia, England, and Germany. He died in Melbourne in 2020 at the age of 104.