Lost Jewish digger identified
ONE of the diggers buried in Fromelles was this week identified as Jewish Anzac Berrol Mendelsohn.
CHANTAL ABITBOL
ONE of the diggers buried in Fromelles was this week identified as Jewish Anzac Berrol Mendelsohn.
For almost a century, relatives of the Australian soldier were left wondering what happened to him after he went missing in the 1916 Battles of Fromelles.
Then on Tuesday morning, retired Melbourne professor Oliver Mendelsohn received a phone call from military authorities informing him that his great uncle was among the 75 identified troops that were unearthed from a grave containing 250 bodies two years ago.
“I was quite emotional,” said 65-year-old Oliver when he found out his DNA sample had helped identify his lost uncle. “I’m kind of amazed with this technology.”
Lieutenant Mendelsohn enlisted in the Australian Army at age 24 and served in Gallipoli before heading to the Western Front in 1916. According to military records, he was hit by a shell during the advance near the German trenches on July 20 and died instantly. His body was never recovered.
“His mother was tormented with not knowing where his body lay, and she corresponded with the army for years, trying to make sense of his death,” the nephew said.
Last month, the soldiers — apart from one — were re-interred in individual, unmarked graves. Those who have been identified will now have their headstones inscribed and unveiled in a commemorative ceremony on July 16.
The family said it was making arrangements to organise a Jewish headstone for the soldier.
Oliver said he would like to attend the service, but “it would depend on its nature”.
He and relatives of other missing Jewish diggers recently expressed anger that a ceremony earlier this year to re-inter the soldiers was “exclusively Christian”.
Federation of Australian Jewish ex-Servicemen president Wes Browne said his organisation would make every effort to ensure Lieutenant Mendelsohn was honoured as a Jew.
Senior defence force rabbi Ralph Genende said he was also hoping to have rabbinic representation at the unveiling of the tombstone.
“The positive identification of Jewish remains has only intensified our efforts to ensure that there be Jewish rabbinical representation — preferably Australia — at the service. We are heartened by the support we have received in many quarters,” he said.
Often described as the bloodiest 24 hours in Australia’s history, the Battle of Fromelles is the military’s biggest single loss of life to date, costing almost 2000 Australian lives.
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