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120-518: Jewish people have lived in Australia from the beginning of European settlement but the Jewish population only grew significantly after World War II , largely due to migration from Europe. The 2006 Australian Census put the Jewish population of Melbourne ( Victoria's capital) at 40,547, with a national Jewish population of 88,834. It is estimated, however, that there may well be under-counting of up to 30% for

240-637: A Neutrality Pact in April 1941, and Japan adopted the doctrine of Nanshin-ron , promoted by the Navy, which took its focus southward and eventually led to war with the United States and the Western Allies. In Europe, Germany and Italy were becoming more aggressive. In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria , again provoking little response from other European powers. Encouraged, Hitler began pressing German claims on

360-564: A cautious French probe into the Saarland . The Western Allies also began a naval blockade of Germany , which aimed to damage the country's economy and war effort. Germany responded by ordering U-boat warfare against Allied merchant and warships, which would later escalate into the Battle of the Atlantic . On 8 September, German troops reached the suburbs of Warsaw . The Polish counter-offensive to

480-761: A dual Israeli-Australian citizen, fled under suspicious circumstances shortly before a warrant could be issued, and remained in Israeli-controlled territory from 2008 until January 2021, under varying levels of police and court supervision, pending the resolution of her extradition case. Leifer's trial did not address other alleged sex crimes in Israel and the West Bank because they did not occur in Australia. The degree of freedom she enjoyed under Israeli jurisdiction prompted worldwide media coverage and criticism of Israel's judicial system ; activist Manny Waks described

600-458: A former Adass Israel counselor regarding emails from 2011, describing two of the accusers as motivated by financial gain. Leifer was nevertheless ordered to stand trial on 70 charges, including multiple counts each of rape , indecent assault, committing an indecent act with a child, and sexual penetration of a child. The trial, before a jury, began on 7 February 2023, and was planned to last five weeks, before Judge Mark Gamble. The judge imposed

720-607: A gag order on the trial, restricting the media from reporting some of the details of the case. On 22 March 2023, both the prosecution and the defense finalized their cases in front of the court and the jury was sent to deliberate the case. On 3 April 2023, Leifer was found guilty of the rape and indecent assault of Dassi Erlich and Elly Sapper but not guilty of abusing Nicole Meyer. One of Leifer's accusers, Dassi Erlich, revealed her allegations publicly in March 2017 and began campaigning for Leifer's extradition from Israel and for changes in

840-443: A large number of communal organisations situated in these suburbs, including schools, synagogues and cultural centres. There are also significant pockets of Jews in other areas of Melbourne including Malvern , Hawthorn East , Bentleigh , Brunswick , and Doncaster , although these locations do not have the same communal structure and are arguably not served as well by communal organisations.. The Victorian Jewish community comprises

960-562: A name change and the VJBD became the Jewish Community Council of Victoria on 10 October 1989. The new name was promoted as having greater meaning for a cosmopolitan Jewry entering the 1990s. The JCCV became an incorporated entity in 2000. The new organization continued to grow, and today the JCCV has over 50 affiliates. The JCCV's affiliation is drawn from various organisations that constitute

1080-632: A new constitution which would allow input from the non-Orthodox communities. The MJAB renamed itself the Victorian Jewish Advisory Board (VJAB). During World War II the representational base of the VJAB was further expanded to include 18 constituents by 1947. At a meeting on May 7, 1948, delegates to the VJAB agreed formally to rename and reconstitute themselves as the Victorian Jewish Board of Deputies (VJBD). In 1988 delegates approved

1200-414: A normal life, even though her defense team claimed that she was incapacitated due to her mental illness. Her legal team claimed that the arrest and the reopening of the case had been spurred by political pressure from Australia, and were not a legal matter. A new psychological assessment showed her fit to stand trial in Australia, but her extradition was temporarily delayed, to allow her legal team to review

1320-514: A pretext to initiate the invasion. The first German attack of the war came against the Polish defences at Westerplatte . The United Kingdom responded with an ultimatum for Germany to cease military operations, and on 3 September, after the ultimatum was ignored, Britain and France declared war on Germany. During the Phoney War period, the alliance provided no direct military support to Poland, outside of

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1440-765: A pretext to worsen relations. On 29 August, Hitler demanded that a Polish plenipotentiary immediately travel to Berlin to negotiate the handover of Danzig , and to allow a plebiscite in the Polish Corridor in which the German minority would vote on secession. The Poles refused to comply with the German demands, and on the night of 30–31 August in a confrontational meeting with the British ambassador Nevile Henderson , Ribbentrop declared that Germany considered its claims rejected. On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland after having staged several false flag border incidents as

1560-595: A range of reasons. One reputable analysis of the Census figures estimates that 60,080 Jews live in Victoria, constituting 1.2% of the total Victorian population. Other estimates, based on the numbers of the various Jewish funeral houses, put the number possibly as high as 100,000 during the early 2000s. This community has a high concentration around the Melbourne suburbs of Caulfield , St Kilda East , and Elsternwick , and there are

1680-422: A range of sub-groups including strong Progressive, Yiddishist , Modern Orthodox, secular, Conservative, and ultra-Orthodox communities. It is a commonly held belief that most of the community can be described as strongly Zionist. Victoria's Jewish population has continued to grow due to immigration from the former Soviet Union , South Africa , Israel and New Zealand . The Jewish Community Council of Victoria

1800-469: A secret protocol that defined German and Soviet "spheres of influence" (western Poland and Lithuania for Germany; eastern Poland , Finland, Estonia , Latvia and Bessarabia for the Soviet Union), and raised the question of continuing Polish independence. The pact neutralised the possibility of Soviet opposition to a campaign against Poland and assured that Germany would not have to face the prospect of

1920-695: A similar pact and rejected ceding part of its territory to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union invaded Finland in November 1939, and was subsequently expelled from the League of Nations for this crime of aggression. Despite overwhelming numerical superiority, Soviet military success during the Winter War was modest, and the Finno-Soviet war ended in March 1940 with some Finnish concessions of territory . In June 1940,

2040-472: A text message to the editor of the Australian Jewish News , accusing the father of being "a lunatic on the fringe, guilty of neglecting his own children". The father's evidence had been that his family had been targeted and ostracised by religious leaders when he had gone public with his allegations. The Victorian minister of education said he understood the concern and asked for an explanation from

2160-519: A two-front war, as it had in World War   I. Immediately afterwards, Hitler ordered the attack to proceed on 26 August, but upon hearing that the United Kingdom had concluded a formal mutual assistance pact with Poland and that Italy would maintain neutrality, he decided to delay it. In response to British requests for direct negotiations to avoid war, Germany made demands on Poland, which served as

2280-864: A wide range of issues on behalf of Victorian Jewry. In the past these have included reforms into the Sentencing Act, Racial Vilification legislation, Child Protection and Equal Opportunity legislation. The JCCV also coordinates with local governments where there is a significant Jewish population. One such issue is setting traffic lights in the city of Glen Eira to automatic during Shabbat . They are involved in interfaith and multicultural activities and dialogue. This includes establishing bilateral ties and hosting functions with other faiths and communities, and by participating in various multicultural and multi-faith organisations, both government and non-government organisations. The JCCV has engaged in overt advocacy of Israeli policies in partnership with Zionism Victoria. This

2400-416: Is " ultra-Orthodox ". Children are raised without television, Internet access, or radio, but have access to Jewish newspapers and magazines that cover worldly matters. After the age of eight, boys and girls are kept entirely separate outside family homes, and the stories they are told never involve friendships between boys and girls. There is no sex education in schools of the community, but before marriage

2520-598: Is despite having affiliates such as the Australian Jewish Democratic Society who are not supportive of Israel's policies. The JCCV has, however, come in for considerable criticism for a number of public relations failures. Arguably the greatest of these was the JCCV's inability to accommodate the community's LGBTQI community until 2015, although they did apologise for the exclusion in 2019. The JCCV has also been heavily criticised for its failure to tackle key communal issues, such as drug and alcohol abuse,

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2640-834: Is eligible for parole in June 2029. In 2015, the Supreme Court of Victoria awarded a judgement of over AU$ 1 million against the school, as well as $ 150,000 of exemplary damages personally against Leifer. A further investigation, into the actions of some members of the Adass Israel community for helping Leifer leave Australia, continued after the Supreme Court judgement. Israeli police investigated and indicted former Minister of Health Yaakov Litzman , following an investigation into official interference with Leifer's extradition case. Litzman eventually pleaded guilty to breach of trust in

2760-588: The Anglo-German Naval Agreement and the German–Polish declaration of non-aggression . The situation became a crisis in late August as German troops continued to mobilise against the Polish border. On 23 August the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact with Germany, after tripartite negotiations for a military alliance between France, the United Kingdom, and Soviet Union had stalled. This pact had

2880-583: The COVID-19 pandemic . In January 2021, after more than 13 years as a fugitive, Leifer was extradited to Australia; she appeared before a Melbourne judge via video link in April 2021, her first appearance in Australian court. On 3 April 2023 Leifer was found guilty of 18 charges, including rape and child sexual abuse. Leifer was sentenced in August 2023 to 15 years' prison for sexually abusing two students in her care and

3000-566: The German Revolution of 1918–1919 , and a democratic government, later known as the Weimar Republic , was created. The interwar period saw strife between supporters of the new republic and hardline opponents on both the political right and left. Italy, as an Entente ally, had made some post-war territorial gains; however, Italian nationalists were angered that the promises made by the United Kingdom and France to secure Italian entrance into

3120-588: The Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV) due to its invitation of anti-Islam academic Daniel Pipes to address the community. Pipes is noted by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an "anti-Muslim extremist" and his presence caused the ICV to cancel their official partnership in the annual Jewish Muslim Comedy Debate, and they temporarily broke off all contact with the JCCV. The JCCV have other functions within

3240-683: The Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War   II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939. Others view the Spanish Civil War as the start or prelude to World War II. The exact date of the war's end also is not universally agreed upon. It

3360-682: The League of Nations as a force to preserve peace. Both Italy and Ethiopia were member nations, but the League did little when the former clearly violated Article X of the League's Covenant . The United Kingdom and France supported imposing sanctions on Italy for the invasion, but the sanctions were not fully enforced and failed to end the Italian invasion. Italy subsequently dropped its objections to Germany's goal of absorbing Austria . When civil war broke out in Spain, Hitler and Mussolini lent military support to

3480-693: The Nationalist rebels , led by General Francisco Franco . Italy supported the Nationalists to a greater extent than the Nazis: Mussolini sent more than 70,000 ground troops, 6,000 aviation personnel, and 720 aircraft to Spain. The Soviet Union supported the existing government of the Spanish Republic . More than 30,000 foreign volunteers, known as the International Brigades , also fought against

3600-574: The Paris Peace Conference . The organisation's primary goals were to prevent armed conflict through collective security, military, and naval disarmament , as well as settling international disputes through peaceful negotiations and arbitration. Despite strong pacifist sentiment after World War   I , irredentist and revanchist nationalism had emerged in several European states. These sentiments were especially marked in Germany because of

3720-677: The Rome–Berlin Axis . A month later, Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact , which Italy joined the following year. The Kuomintang (KMT) party in China launched a unification campaign against regional warlords and nominally unified China in the mid-1920s, but was soon embroiled in a civil war against its former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) allies and new regional warlords . In 1931, an increasingly militaristic Empire of Japan , which had long sought influence in China as

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3840-581: The Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1941. By contrast, the Germans were steadily making preparations for an attack on the Soviet Union, massing forces on the Soviet border. Hitler believed that the United Kingdom's refusal to end the war was based on the hope that the United States and the Soviet Union would enter the war against Germany sooner or later. On 31 July 1940, Hitler decided that

3960-530: The Stresa Front in April 1935 in order to contain Germany, a key step towards military globalisation ; however, that June, the United Kingdom made an independent naval agreement with Germany, easing prior restrictions. The Soviet Union, concerned by Germany's goals of capturing vast areas of Eastern Europe , drafted a treaty of mutual assistance with France. Before taking effect, though, the Franco-Soviet pact

4080-689: The Sudetenland , an area of Czechoslovakia with a predominantly ethnic German population. Soon the United Kingdom and France followed the appeasement policy of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and conceded this territory to Germany in the Munich Agreement , which was made against the wishes of the Czechoslovak government, in exchange for a promise of no further territorial demands. Soon afterwards, Germany and Italy forced Czechoslovakia to cede additional territory to Hungary, and Poland annexed

4200-682: The Tanggu Truce was signed in 1933. Thereafter, Chinese volunteer forces continued the resistance to Japanese aggression in Manchuria , and Chahar and Suiyuan . After the 1936 Xi'an Incident , the Kuomintang and CCP forces agreed on a ceasefire to present a united front to oppose Japan. The Second Italo-Ethiopian War was a brief colonial war that began in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war began with

4320-568: The Trans-Olza region of Czechoslovakia. Although all of Germany's stated demands had been satisfied by the agreement, privately Hitler was furious that British interference had prevented him from seizing all of Czechoslovakia in one operation. In subsequent speeches Hitler attacked British and Jewish "war-mongers" and in January 1939 secretly ordered a major build-up of the German navy to challenge British naval supremacy. In March 1939, Germany invaded

4440-601: The Treaty of Craiova . The loss of one-third of Romania's 1939 territory caused a coup against King Carol II, turning Romania into a fascist dictatorship under Marshal Ion Antonescu , with a course set towards the Axis in the hopes of a German guarantee. Meanwhile, German-Soviet political relations and economic co-operation gradually stalled, and both states began preparations for war. In April 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway to protect shipments of iron ore from Sweden , which

4560-683: The Wehrmacht rapidly advanced to the Channel and cut off the Allied forces in Belgium, trapping the bulk of the Allied armies in a cauldron on the Franco-Belgian border near Lille. The United Kingdom was able to evacuate a significant number of Allied troops from the continent by early June, although they had to abandon almost all their equipment. On 10 June, Italy invaded France , declaring war on both France and

4680-571: The 1880s, but it was a visit from Chief Rabbi Hertz in 1921 that was the trigger for the formation of the organization, where he convinced a number of prominent Melbourne Jews of its need. The membership of the resulting Melbourne Jewish Advisory Board (MJAB), was drawn from the three major synagogue congregations. In 1936, the secular Judean League, the Yiddishist Kadimah and the Victorian Zionist Organisation pushed MJAB to form

4800-526: The 1917 Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia , which led to the founding of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the victorious Allies of World War I , such as France, Belgium, Italy, Romania, and Greece, gained territory, and new nation-states were created out of the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian Empires. To prevent a future world war, the League of Nations was established in 1920 by

4920-522: The Adass Israel community. Before revealing her name, she had sued the school in a civil case. In September 2015, after the school had refused to settle out of court, the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne awarded Erlich A$ 1.27 million in damages from the Adass Israel School and the alleged perpetrator. As part of her evidence, Erlich described the extreme sexual naivety of the children in

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5040-510: The Allies were attempting to cut off . Denmark capitulated after six hours , and despite Allied support , Norway was conquered within two months. British discontent over the Norwegian campaign led to the resignation of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain , who was replaced by Winston Churchill on 10   May 1940. On the same day, Germany launched an offensive against France . To circumvent

5160-410: The Asia-Pacific , and by 1937 was at war with the Republic of China . In December 1941, Japan attacked American and British territories in Southeast Asia and the Central Pacific , including Pearl Harbor in Hawaii , which resulted in the US and the UK declaring war against Japan, and the European Axis declaring war on the US. Japan conquered much of coastal China and Southeast Asia , but its advances in

5280-400: The Axis war against the Soviet Union, in Romania's case partially to recapture territory ceded to the Soviet Union . In early June 1940, the Italian Regia Aeronautica attacked and besieged Malta , a British possession. From late summer to early autumn, Italy conquered British Somaliland and made an incursion into British-held Egypt . In October, Italy attacked Greece , but the attack

5400-421: The Blitz , but largely ended in May 1941 after failing to significantly disrupt the British war effort. Using newly captured French ports, the German Navy enjoyed success against an over-extended Royal Navy , using U-boats against British shipping in the Atlantic . The British Home Fleet scored a significant victory on 27   May 1941 by sinking the German battleship Bismarck . In November 1939,

5520-410: The French possessions of Syria and Lebanon , assisted by the Free French . With the situation in Europe and Asia relatively stable, Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union made preparations for war. With the Soviets wary of mounting tensions with Germany, and the Japanese planning to take advantage of the European War by seizing resource-rich European possessions in Southeast Asia , the two powers signed

5640-426: The Germans, and the last large operational unit of the Polish Army surrendered on 6   October . Despite the military defeat, Poland never surrendered; instead, it formed the Polish government-in-exile and a clandestine state apparatus remained in occupied Poland. A significant part of Polish military personnel evacuated to Romania and Latvia; many of them later fought against the Axis in other theatres of

5760-445: The Holocaust of European Jews, as well as from massacres, starvation, and disease. Following the Allied powers' victory, Germany , Austria , Japan , and Korea were occupied, and war crimes tribunals were conducted against German and Japanese leaders . The causes of World War II included unresolved tensions in the aftermath of World War I and the rise of fascism in Europe and militarism in Japan . Key events leading up to

5880-446: The Khust Hasidic, Grand Rabbi Baruch Pinchas Leifer, was arrested, in January 2022, and charged with historical sexual abuse of a minor to whom he is related, and a then 18-year-old male; he denies the charges, which are before Jerusalem Magistrate Courts . As a result of an investigation by Victoria Police, a warrant was issued against Leifer in 2014 for 74 child sex offences concerning at least eight pupils, and an extradition request

6000-423: The Minister of Justice, the senior prosecutor in the department of international affairs and members of the Knesset . The following month Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull met his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu , and raised the matter of the delayed extradition with him. Two premiers of Victoria supported the efforts to extradite Leifer. Ted Baillieu supported the family, and helped set up

6120-450: The Nationalists. Both Germany and the Soviet Union used this proxy war as an opportunity to test in combat their most advanced weapons and tactics. The Nationalists won the civil war in April 1939; Franco, now dictator, remained officially neutral during World War   II but generally favoured the Axis . His greatest collaboration with Germany was the sending of volunteers to fight on the Eastern Front . In July 1937, Japan captured

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6240-444: The Pacific were halted in mid-1942 after its defeat in the naval Battle of Midway ; Germany and Italy were defeated in North Africa and at Stalingrad in the Soviet Union. Key setbacks in 1943—including German defeats on the Eastern Front, the Allied invasions of Sicily and the Italian mainland , and Allied offensives in the Pacific—cost the Axis powers their initiative and forced them into strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944,

6360-452: The Royal Navy putting three Italian battleships out of commission after a carrier attack at Taranto , and neutralising several more warships at the Battle of Cape Matapan . Italian defeats prompted Germany to deploy an expeditionary force to North Africa; at the end of March 1941, Rommel 's Afrika Korps launched an offensive which drove back Commonwealth forces. In less than a month, Axis forces advanced to western Egypt and besieged

6480-423: The Soviet Union occupied the entire territories of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as the Romanian regions of Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, and the Hertsa region . In August 1940, Hitler imposed the Second Vienna Award on Romania which led to the transfer of Northern Transylvania to Hungary. In September 1940, Bulgaria demanded Southern Dobruja from Romania with German and Italian support, leading to

6600-418: The Soviet Union and Mongolia . The Japanese doctrine of Hokushin-ron , which emphasised Japan's expansion northward, was favoured by the Imperial Army during this time. This policy would prove difficult to maintain in light of the Japanese defeat at Khalkin Gol in 1939, the ongoing Second Sino-Japanese War and ally Nazi Germany pursuing neutrality with the Soviets. Japan and the Soviet Union eventually signed

6720-575: The Soviet Union should be eliminated and aimed for the conquest of Ukraine , the Baltic states and Byelorussia . However, other senior German officials like Ribbentrop saw an opportunity to create a Euro-Asian bloc against the British Empire by inviting the Soviet Union into the Tripartite Pact. In November 1940, negotiations took place to determine if the Soviet Union would join the pact. The Soviets showed some interest but asked for concessions from Finland, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Japan that Germany considered unacceptable. On 18 December 1940, Hitler issued

6840-400: The Soviet Union was ever signed, although the state of war between the two countries was terminated by the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956 , which also restored full diplomatic relations between them. World War I had radically altered the political European map with the defeat of the Central Powers —including Austria-Hungary , Germany , Bulgaria , and the Ottoman Empire —and

6960-424: The United Kingdom and France guaranteed their support for Polish independence ; when Italy conquered Albania in April 1939, the same guarantee was extended to the Kingdoms of Romania and Greece . Shortly after the Franco - British pledge to Poland, Germany and Italy formalised their own alliance with the Pact of Steel . Hitler accused the United Kingdom and Poland of trying to "encircle" Germany and renounced

7080-489: The United Kingdom attacked on 3   July in an attempt to prevent its seizure by Germany. The air Battle of Britain began in early July with Luftwaffe attacks on shipping and harbours . The German campaign for air superiority started in August but its failure to defeat RAF Fighter Command forced the indefinite postponement of the proposed German invasion of Britain . The German strategic bombing offensive intensified with night attacks on London and other cities in

7200-401: The United Kingdom. The Germans turned south against the weakened French army, and Paris fell to them on 14   June. Eight days later France signed an armistice with Germany ; it was divided into German and Italian occupation zones , and an unoccupied rump state under the Vichy Regime , which, though officially neutral, was generally aligned with Germany. France kept its fleet, which

7320-473: The United States was assisting China and the Western Allies, and had amended the Neutrality Act to allow "cash and carry" purchases by the Allies. In 1940, following the German capture of Paris, the size of the United States Navy was significantly increased . In September the United States further agreed to a trade of American destroyers for British bases . Still, a large majority of the American public continued to oppose any direct military intervention in

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7440-420: The Victorian Jewish community. Their affiliates represent a range of religious, political, cultural, welfare, educational and social associations. Affiliates are able to share views through the JCCV's Plenum, which meets seven times per calendar year. The JCCV devotes much of its resources to advocating for the Jewish community with government and the media. The JCCV regularly provides submissions to government on

7560-412: The Western Allies and the Soviet Union, culminating in the fall of Berlin to Soviet troops; Hitler's suicide ; and the German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945 . Following the refusal of Japan to surrender on the terms of the Potsdam Declaration , the US dropped the first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August. Faced with an imminent invasion of the Japanese archipelago ,

7680-413: The Western Allies invaded German-occupied France at Normandy , while the Soviet Union regained its territorial losses and pushed Germany and its allies westward. At the same time, Japan suffered reversals in mainland Asia, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy and captured key islands . The war in Europe concluded with the liberation of German-occupied territories ; the invasion of Germany by

7800-434: The Yellow River ; this manoeuvre bought time for the Chinese to prepare their defences at Wuhan , but the city was taken by October. Japanese military victories did not bring about the collapse of Chinese resistance that Japan had hoped to achieve; instead, the Chinese government relocated inland to Chongqing and continued the war. In the mid-to-late 1930s, Japanese forces in Manchukuo had sporadic border clashes with

7920-501: The abuse monstrous. The evidence discloses the sole motivation of the suspect in her dealings with the plaintiff was her own sexual gratification." He described the breach of trust as evil, and ordered the perpetrator to personally pay $ 150,000 exemplary damages to Erlich. Justice Rush said that, at the time Leifer had fled Australia for Israel, the president of the school board knew of eight additional allegations of sexual abuse of other girls. The school had had an obligation to report

8040-452: The aerial Battle of Britain and the Blitz , and naval Battle of the Atlantic . Through a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany took control of much of continental Europe and formed the Axis alliance with Italy , Japan , and other countries. In June 1941, Germany led the European Axis in an invasion of the Soviet Union , opening the Eastern Front and initially making large territorial gains. Japan aimed to dominate East Asia and

8160-428: The allegations to the police prior to arranging her departure. He rejected the school's argument that it had been a "legal obligation" to pay her air fares. The school argued that it was not liable because it was the congregation, not the school, that was the employer, but the judge also rejected this. Two of Erlich's sisters, Ellie Sapper and Nicole Meyer, who had also been abused, received out-of-court settlements from

8280-437: The beginning of the Pacific War include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or the earlier Japanese invasion of Manchuria , on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor , who stated that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously, and the two wars became World War II in 1941. Other proposed starting dates for World War II include

8400-413: The bride and groom attend educational classes to discuss sex and other topics about marriage. The rabbi of the community acts as the ultimate authority for members. In 2007, a woman in Israel, Dassi Erlich, sought counseling when she started to have recurrent nightmares and anxiety about events that had taken place at Adass Israel School when she was in high school. These incidents allegedly happened at

8520-405: The capital Nanking in December 1937. After the fall of Nanking, tens or hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians and disarmed combatants were murdered by the Japanese . In March 1938, Nationalist Chinese forces won their first major victory at Taierzhuang , but then the city of Xuzhou was taken by the Japanese in May. In June 1938, Chinese forces stalled the Japanese advance by flooding

8640-489: The case as "a farce" and "an embarrassment". Leifer lived an apparently normal life for some time in the Israeli settlement of Emmanuel in the West Bank , despite a court ruling that she was mentally unfit for proceedings. She was eventually rearrested after media and police scrutiny of her behavior, but continued to evade extradition, with more than 70 court hearings and appeals requested by her legal team, and delays due to

8760-583: The case could potentially be delayed up to a decade. In June 2016 an Israeli court suspended Leifer's extradition hearings and home detention altogether, requiring only biennial psychiatric reviews to determine whether she was capable of attending court in Israel. In February 2018, Leifer was rearrested by Israeli police after an investigation into whether she had been systematically feigning mental illness to avoid extradition. The police investigation followed revelations by private investigators, who captured over 200 hours of video of Leifer, showing her leading

8880-582: The case in early 2022. The Adass Israel Congregation is a Jewish group in Melbourne that traces its origins to a split in the Elwood Shule in the early 1940s; some of its early members were boys and men who had been sent to Australia by the British on the infamous Dunera in 1941. The community's synagogue is in Ripponlea , and its school and chevra kadisha (Jewish funeral society) are located in nearby East St Kilda and Elsternwick . The community

9000-658: The community such as: World War II Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers . Nearly all the world's countries —including all the great powers —participated, with many investing all available economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities in pursuit of total war , blurring

9120-428: The community, and how that was used against her, even being unaware of the most basic elements of relationships and any sexual activity. This continued through high school and after, when Erlich was given a job at the school, where the abuse continued. The judge, Jack Rush, said "that the sexual abuse occurred under the guise of Jewish education by the headmistress of the school makes the breach of trust associated with

9240-403: The conflict well into 1941. In December 1940, Roosevelt accused Hitler of planning world conquest and ruled out any negotiations as useless, calling for the United States to become an " arsenal of democracy " and promoting Lend-Lease programmes of military and humanitarian aid to support the British war effort; Lend-Lease was later extended to the other Allies, including the Soviet Union after it

9360-515: The creation of a " New Roman Empire ". Adolf Hitler , after an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government in 1923, eventually became the Chancellor of Germany in 1933 when Paul von Hindenburg and the Reichstag appointed him. Following Hindenburg's death in 1934, Hitler proclaimed himself Führer of Germany and abolished democracy, espousing a radical, racially motivated revision of

9480-633: The directive to prepare for an invasion of the Soviet Union. Sexual abuse incidents at Adass Israel School, Melbourne The Adass Israel School sex abuse scandal ( Hebrew : פרשת מלכה לייפר , lit.   'the Malka Leifer scandal/affair' ) is a criminal case and extradition dispute regarding incidents of child sex abuse at a Jewish religious school in Melbourne , Australia. A former principal, Malka Leifer, faced trial on 70 sex offence charges laid by Victoria Police , with accusations from at least eight alleged victims. Leifer,

9600-402: The distinction between military and civilian resources. Tanks and aircraft played major roles , with the latter enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and delivery of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, resulting in 70 to 85 million deaths , more than half being civilians. Millions died in genocides , including

9720-637: The end of May completed the German conquest of the Balkans. Partisan warfare subsequently broke out against the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia , which continued until the end of the war. In the Middle East in May, Commonwealth forces quashed an uprising in Iraq which had been supported by German aircraft from bases within Vichy-controlled Syria . Between June and July, British-led forces invaded and occupied

9840-472: The extradition of Leifer was a bi-partisan issue, with Mark Dreyfus confirming in 2018 that Labor would continue to press for her to face justice in Australia. Members of Australia's Jewish community also called for the extradition. Israeli victim advocates and assault survivors rallied outside the Jerusalem District Court in March 2019, calling for Leifer to be deported. In February 2019, it

9960-617: The first step of what its government saw as the country's right to rule Asia , staged the Mukden incident as a pretext to invade Manchuria and establish the puppet state of Manchukuo . China appealed to the League of Nations to stop the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Japan withdrew from the League of Nations after being condemned for its incursion into Manchuria. The two nations then fought several battles, in Shanghai , Rehe and Hebei , until

10080-843: The former Chinese imperial capital of Peking after instigating the Marco Polo Bridge incident , which culminated in the Japanese campaign to invade all of China. The Soviets quickly signed a non-aggression pact with China to lend materiel support, effectively ending China's prior cooperation with Germany . From September to November, the Japanese attacked Taiyuan , engaged the Kuomintang Army around Xinkou , and fought Communist forces in Pingxingguan . Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek deployed his best army to defend Shanghai , but after three months of fighting, Shanghai fell. The Japanese continued to push Chinese forces back, capturing

10200-424: The hands of Leifer, the principal of the school. After an arranged marriage in 2006, Erlich had moved to Israel with her husband. In February 2008, Erlich's therapist in Israel contacted a psychologist in Melbourne, who, in turn, contacted a senior teacher she knew at the school. The information passed on is that there were substantial allegations of "inappropriate conduct" by Leifer. The teacher phoned Erlich, and

10320-512: The invasion of the Ethiopian Empire (also known as Abyssinia ) by the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy ( Regno d'Italia ), which was launched from Italian Somaliland and Eritrea . The war resulted in the military occupation of Ethiopia and its annexation into the newly created colony of Italian East Africa ( Africa Orientale Italiana , or AOI); in addition it exposed the weakness of

10440-489: The meeting between Malcolm Turnbull and Erlich, Sapper and Meyer. Baillieu also accompanied the sisters to Israel to meet with officials there. Daniel Andrews also raised the case with Netanyahu, who said he would have a fresh look at the situation. David Southwick , representing the electorate of Caulfield , where the school is located, delivered a petition of 17,000 signatures in July 2017 to lawmakers in Israel. Federally,

10560-481: The new information. She was being kept in detention rather than house arrest. Rosenbaum Communications public relations firm owner Ronen Tzur led a strategic smear campaign to block Leifer's extradition. Once the smear campaign was uncovered by the Yedioth Ahronoth , Leifer cut ties with Tzur; her attorney, Yehuda Freid, described the campaign as "inappropriate". On 7 March 2018, the judge ruled that Leifer

10680-583: The port of Tobruk . By late March 1941, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia signed the Tripartite Pact ; however, the Yugoslav government was overthrown two days later by pro-British nationalists. Germany and Italy responded with simultaneous invasions of both Yugoslavia and Greece , commencing on 6 April 1941; both nations were forced to surrender within the month. The airborne invasion of the Greek island of Crete at

10800-414: The possibility of further atomic bombings, and the Soviet declaration of war against Japan and its invasion of Manchuria , Japan announced its unconditional surrender on 15 August and signed a surrender document on 2 September 1945 , marking the end of the war. World War II changed the political alignment and social structure of the world, and it set the foundation of international relations for

10920-693: The remainder of Czechoslovakia and subsequently split it into the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and a pro-German client state , the Slovak Republic . Hitler also delivered an ultimatum to Lithuania on 20 March 1939, forcing the concession of the Klaipėda Region , formerly the German Memelland . Greatly alarmed and with Hitler making further demands on the Free City of Danzig ,

11040-557: The rest of the 20th century and into the 21st century. The United Nations was established to foster international cooperation and prevent conflicts, with the victorious great powers—China, France, the Soviet Union, the UK, and the US—becoming the permanent members of its security council . The Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers , setting the stage for the Cold War . In

11160-481: The rise of the far right, soaring costs of Jewish living, and the refusal to engage in meaningful public advocacy to extradite accused paedophile , former [Addas] Principal, Malka Leifer. The JCCV also organises a number of communal events, and is the host of a communal event for Yom HaShoah and Yom HaAtzma'ut , the later being co-hosted with Zionism Victoria. Some events in the past have caused problems for them. The JCCV did significantly strain their relations with

11280-618: The same night, without having informed the police. The police later investigated the school. Leifer's husband, Rabbi Yaakov Yosef (Jacob) Leifer, fled to Israel with her, where he now heads the small Chust Hassidic community in Immanuel where he and his wife had been living since 2016, and where she was arrested. In June 2018, Immanuel was cited as a "haven for paedophiles" by The Sydney Morning Herald , which exposed further alleged child sexual abuse there by Leifer, committed "without consequence." The father of Rabbi Leifer and former leader of

11400-591: The school, independent of Erlich's case. Erlich remained in the public eye, campaigning for the return of Leifer and for abuse survivors, including meeting with many community leaders and politicians. Her coming forward to secular authorities made her a traitor in the eyes of some in her community, which she subsequently left. Erlich and her siblings stated that they wanted to face Leifer personally in court, as opposed to over video conferencing; many victims in Israel and other countries would have to resort to video conferencing in order to testify. Meir Shlomo Kluwgant

11520-538: The school. The head of Adass Israel, Rabbi Zvi Beck asked for further consultation on the appointment. In August 2017, Kluwgant resigned from the school. In 2018, Kluwgant commenced an action for defamation against a spokesman for the victims at the school who, he claimed, had contacted the school when his pending appointment was announced, to say he was "the scum of the earth" and later to call for him to be dismissed. In October 2017, Erlich and two of her sisters went to Israel to campaign for Leifer's extradition, meeting

11640-410: The significant territorial, colonial, and financial losses imposed by the Treaty of Versailles . Under the treaty, Germany lost around 13 percent of its home territory and all its overseas possessions , while German annexation of other states was prohibited, reparations were imposed, and limits were placed on the size and capability of the country's armed forces . The German Empire was dissolved in

11760-575: The strong Maginot Line fortifications on the Franco-German border, Germany directed its attack at the neutral nations of Belgium , the Netherlands , and Luxembourg . The Germans carried out a flanking manoeuvre through the Ardennes region, which was mistakenly perceived by the Allies as an impenetrable natural barrier against armoured vehicles. By successfully implementing new Blitzkrieg tactics,

11880-586: The wake of European devastation, the influence of its great powers waned, triggering the decolonisation of Africa and Asia . Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery and expansion . World War II began in Europe on 1 September 1939 with the German invasion of Poland and the United Kingdom and France 's declaration of war on Germany two days later on 3 September 1939. Dates for

12000-521: The war included Japan's invasion of Manchuria , the Spanish Civil War , the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War , and Germany's annexations of Austria and the Sudetenland . World War II is generally considered to have begun on 1 September 1939, when Nazi Germany , under Adolf Hitler , invaded Poland , prompting the United Kingdom and France to declare war on Germany. Poland

12120-504: The war were not fulfilled in the peace settlement. From 1922 to 1925, the Fascist movement led by Benito Mussolini seized power in Italy with a nationalist, totalitarian , and class collaborationist agenda that abolished representative democracy, repressed socialist, left-wing, and liberal forces, and pursued an aggressive expansionist foreign policy aimed at making Italy a world power, promising

12240-475: The war. Germany annexed western Poland and occupied central Poland ; the Soviet Union annexed eastern Poland ; small shares of Polish territory were transferred to Lithuania and Slovakia . On 6 October, Hitler made a public peace overture to the United Kingdom and France but said that the future of Poland was to be determined exclusively by Germany and the Soviet Union. The proposal was rejected and Hitler ordered an immediate offensive against France, which

12360-503: The west halted the German advance for several days, but it was outflanked and encircled by the Wehrmacht . Remnants of the Polish army broke through to besieged Warsaw . On 17 September 1939, two days after signing a cease-fire with Japan , the Soviet Union invaded Poland under the supposed pretext that the Polish state had ceased to exist. On 27 September, the Warsaw garrison surrendered to

12480-687: The world order , and soon began a massive rearmament campaign . France, seeking to secure its alliance with Italy, allowed Italy a free hand in Ethiopia , which Italy desired as a colonial possession. The situation was aggravated in early 1935 when the Territory of the Saar Basin was legally reunited with Germany, and Hitler repudiated the Treaty of Versailles, accelerated his rearmament programme, and introduced conscription. The United Kingdom, France and Italy formed

12600-614: Was invaded by Germany. The United States started strategic planning to prepare for a full-scale offensive against Germany. At the end of September 1940, the Tripartite Pact formally united Japan, Italy, and Germany as the Axis powers . The Tripartite Pact stipulated that any country—with the exception of the Soviet Union—that attacked any Axis Power would be forced to go to war against all three. The Axis expanded in November 1940 when Hungary , Slovakia , and Romania joined. Romania and Hungary later made major contributions to

12720-469: Was acting "for the good of the public". It was revealed that Leifer had previously held a position at a school run by the ultra-Orthodox group Litzman is associated with. In April 2021, Israeli police recommended prosecution of Litzman for his actions to protect Leifer. In June 2022, Litzman resigned from the Knesset after he signed a plea agreement admitting breach of trust in January that year. He received

12840-524: Was appointed principal of Adass Israel school in June 2017. There was significant anger in the community with the appointment, because of Kluwgant's performance as a witness in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse . In February 2015, he stepped down from the numerous communal posts he held because of his response to the evidence of the father of a sexual abuse victim at another ultra-Orthodox school in Melbourne. He had sent

12960-414: Was convinced of the claims that there had been "clearly sexualised behaviour" by Leifer and that "important boundaries had been crossed". The teacher then confronted Leifer who denied that there was any problem and subsequently reported the matter to two senior rabbis and with other rabbis, a barrister and a psychologist. A meeting was arranged with the president and some members of the school board. Leifer

13080-746: Was divided between Germany and the Soviet Union under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , in which they had agreed on " spheres of influence " in Eastern Europe. In 1940, the Soviets annexed the Baltic states and parts of Finland and Romania . After the fall of France in June 1940, the war continued mainly between Germany and the British Empire , with fighting in the Balkans , Mediterranean, and Middle East ,

13200-481: Was established 10 October 1989. It was the successor of a series of communal peak bodies that claimed to be the official voice of Victorian Jewry. The previous versions were the Melbourne Jewish Advisory Board (est. 1921), the Victorian Jewish Advisory Board (est. 1938) and the Victorian Jewish Board of Deputies (est. 1948). There was a desire for a unified representative voice for the community since

13320-495: Was fit to stand trial for extradition to Australia, and rejected the claim of mental illness that she had been asserting since extradition proceedings were initiated in 2014. Leifer was extradited to Australia on 25 January 2021. Leifer did not request bail in her first Australian court appearance and was thus remanded and remained jailed pending trial. Her legal team announced an intent to cross-examine accusers Dassi Erlich, Elly Saper and Nicole Meyer, and called testimony from

13440-532: Was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 15 August 1945 ( V-J Day ), rather than with the formal surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945, which officially ended the war in Asia . A peace treaty between Japan and the Allies was signed in 1951. A 1990 treaty regarding Germany's future allowed the reunification of East and West Germany to take place and resolved most post–World War   II issues. No formal peace treaty between Japan and

13560-480: Was ordered held in Israel's only women's prison until extradition proceedings were complete. The Jerusalem District Court then remanded Leifer and ordered a second round of psychiatric testing to see whether she was fit to stand trial for extradition. The court's medical committee ruled in July 2019 that the accused had faked mental illness in order to avoid extradition. In May 2020, the Israeli court held that Leifer

13680-505: Was placed with Israel. Leifer was arrested by Israeli police in August 2014, and placed under house arrest in Bnei Brak , where she was required to wear an electronic tag . At her various extradition hearings, Leifer claimed that she suffered extreme anxiety and panic attacks in the lead-up to the hearing; she received a delay. She subsequently deferred the hearings numerous times, claiming mental health issues, with one judge suggesting that

13800-452: Was postponed until the spring of 1940 due to bad weather. After the outbreak of war in Poland, Stalin threatened Estonia , Latvia , and Lithuania with military invasion, forcing the three Baltic countries to sign pacts allowing the creation of Soviet military bases in these countries; in October 1939, significant Soviet military contingents were moved there. Finland refused to sign

13920-761: Was repulsed with heavy Italian casualties; the campaign ended within months with minor territorial changes. To assist Italy and prevent Britain from gaining a foothold, Germany prepared to invade the Balkans, which would threaten Romanian oil fields and strike against British dominance of the Mediterranean. In December 1940, British Empire forces began counter-offensives against Italian forces in Egypt and Italian East Africa . The offensives were successful; by early February 1941, Italy had lost control of eastern Libya, and large numbers of Italian troops had been taken prisoner. The Italian Navy also suffered significant defeats, with

14040-602: Was required to go through the bureaucracy of the League of Nations, which rendered it essentially toothless. The United States, concerned with events in Europe and Asia, passed the Neutrality Act in August of the same year. Hitler defied the Versailles and Locarno Treaties by remilitarising the Rhineland in March 1936, encountering little opposition due to the policy of appeasement . In October 1936, Germany and Italy formed

14160-402: Was revealed that Israel's deputy health minister, Yaakov Litzman , was questioned by police on the suspicion that he had been using his position to prevent Leifer's extradition. It was alleged that Litzman pressured doctors to falsify psychiatric evaluations that deemed Leifer unfit to stand trial, thereby preventing her extradition. Litzman claimed that everything he did was legal, and that he

14280-434: Was telephoned at the meeting and denied the allegations, saying: "You have destroyed my reputation. I'm not going to stand for this." On the evening that the allegations came to light, in March 2008, the wife of a school board member rang a travel agent to say a flight to Israel was needed urgently. The school arranged, paid for, and booked tickets for Leifer and four of her eight children on an aircraft that departed at 1:20 am

14400-572: Was to be released, while further investigation was to take place. She was released into the custody of Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman , who had given testimony in her favor, claiming it was a "humiliation" for her to remain in custody. In 2016, Grossman had also twice appeared before a court in South Africa to negotiate the release from prison of former Shuvu Banim Torah Academy school dean Rabbi Eliezer Berland , who would later confess to rape and assault. Grossman soon withdrew his support, and Leifer

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