Bessie Kahn

Notes:

Beta Kahn was born on 22 Sep 1901 in the small south German village of
Gemmingen. Her parents were Sigmund Kahn, a grain merchant born in 1870,
and Sofie Dreyfuss, born in 1876.
The family moved to the larger town of Heilbronn, where Beta went to
school, as did her older brother, Leopold, and her younger brother,
Reinhold. A young sister Gertrud died in childhood.
All the family dates of birth, marriage and death were meticulously
entered on the fly-leaf of a book called Stunden Der Andacht (Hours of
Prayer). Those dates show, for instance, that Beta (later Bessie) became
engaged on 21 Oct 1923, and was married to Josef Mayer on 14 Feb 1924.
The young couple had two sons, Fritz in May 1925 and Heinz in Mar 1927.
But happiness did not last long. Beta's husband died at the age of 39 on
13 Jun 1930, leaving her with two small boys to bring up in a Germany
that was about to plunge into the Nazi darkness.
Bessie showed tremendous determination and stamina in combating the
increasingly ominous circumstances. She had lived in the small town of
Schwaebisch Gmund, but the Jews were hounded out from there, and she
moved to the city of Stuttgart, where there was a Jewish school to which
her boys could still go, for a while.
But the writing on the wall became frighteningly clear. Towards the late
1930s Bessie met, or rather re-met, Arnold Weissenklee, and they decided
marry - but Germany was not the place for this in 1937/8, and Bessie
courageously made plans to get her two boys out of Germany and then get
out herself. One boy, Fritz, was dispatched to England, the other,
Heinz, to Holland, and Bessie herself escaped under a pretext to
Switzerland, having to leave many possessions behind, while Arnold also
reached Holland. Eventually all four were re-united in Holland, and
after frantic search for a country - any country - that would give them a
visa, sailed for Australia on the liner Jervis Bay.
On 30 Dec 1938, they saw Australia for the first time, in Freemantle.
Bessie was 37, her boys 13 and 11. On 9 Jan 1939, they reached Sydney; a
few days later Bessie and Arnold were married, looking forward to a new
life, a new language, a new name. [The name Weissenklee was changed to
Blanks in order to sound less German.] The marriage was repeated in a
religious ceremony in Melbourne more than 14 years later, on 15 May 1953
(1 Sivan 5713). Beta's Hebrew name was Beela bat Shmuel. Arnold's is
not known.
Life in the new country was far from easy, but Bessie Blanks over the
years threw herself with dedication and enthusiasm into many community
causes. She was closely connected with Jewish cultural organizations,
with Bnai Brith Lodge groups, above all with the early history of the
North Shore Synagogue while she was living in the area; later her
allegience was transferred to the Temple Emmanuel in Woollahara. She did
much charity work, and actively enjoyed her love of fine music, which she
transmitted to her sons. Above all, she made the time to be an exemplary
mother, encouraging, where necessary, advising and warning where
required. She kept in touch with the tastes of the times, and became
famous, among other things, for culinary excellence.
Her sons married, and eventually she became a proud grandmother with four
grandchildren, and finally, two great-grandchildren. And as long as she
was able, she created marvellous meals for her family and friends, and
helped them in every possible way. And as a faithful letter-writer, she
maintained contact with family survivors in many countries.
Arnold passed away in Sep 1988, and Bessie has now followed, at the age
of 88 and 5 months. Her memory and influence are ineradicable and of
infinite advantage.

MAYER Beta born 22 September 1901; Fritz aged 13; Heinz Sigmund aged 11;
nationality German; travelled per JERVIS BAY arriving in Sydney on 30
December 1938. [source: National Archives of Australia A12508
 Item
barcode 7120606 Series number A12508 Series accession number
2002/05147625 Control symbol 21/2940]