Nazis in Australia: Fact, Fiction, Print and Screen

Mark Aarons, Danny Ben-Moshe, Dan Goldberg – moderator Simon Holloway 

How did Australia become a refuge for alleged Nazi war criminals after WWII, and what happened when investigators set out to find them? This session explores fact, fiction, print and screen through the work of Danny Ben-Moshe, Mark Aarons and Dan Goldberg, moderated by Simon Holloway. From the Special Investigations Unit’s pursuit of justice for Holocaust victims, to the documentaries Our Dad the Nazi Killer and The Hunt for the Last Nazis, and most recently the novel The Watchmaker’s War, this discussion uncovers hidden histories, family secrets and unsettling truths in Australian suburbs.

About the artists:

Mark Aarons was an investigative reporter on ABC Radio National for twenty years, and was the founding executive producer of Background Briefing. He is also the author of the definitive history War Criminals Welcome: Australia, a Sanctuary for War Criminals Since 1945.

Danny Ben-Moshe is a Walkley Award winning documentary filmmaker who has made multiple films for the ABC, SBS and broadcasters worldwide including the BBC. As well as TV networks, his films have had impact screenings at eminent institutions including the Tate Modern in London and the Knesset.  Danny recently published his first novel with Harper Collins, The Watchmaker’s War, which is inspired by the true story he told in his documentary film Revenge: Our Dad the Nazi Killer.

Dan Goldberg is the Creative Director of Mint Pictures, and has written, produced and directed many of Mint’s award-winning documentaries over the last 20 years, including several with Jewish themes: Code of Silence (ABC, 2014), Breaking the Silence (ABC, 2015), Strictly Jewish (SBS, 2016), Hitler’s Jewish Soldier? (SBS, 2024) and The Hunt for the Last Nazis (SBS, 2026). He was previously editor of the Australian Jewish News (2002-2007) and Australian correspondent for Haaretz newspaper in Tel Aviv, Jewish Telegraphic Agency in New York and The Jewish Chronicle in London.

Dr Simon Holloway (moderator) is the Manager of Community and Corporate Programs at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum. He has a passion for teaching, and a deep commitment to the preservation of the legacy of Australia's Holocaust survivors. Prior to moving to Melbourne, Simon served as a sessional academic at the University of Sydney and as an Education Officer at the Sydney Jewish Museum (SJM). At the SJM, Simon delivered seminars on Nazi racial hygiene, Jewish resistance and the history of the Holocaust. At the University of Sydney, Simon taught Hebrew poetry, Biblical apocalyptic and Roman Palestine in the First Century. Simon holds a PhD in Classical Hebrew and Biblical Studies, for which he received an Australian Postgraduate Award. He is an avid student of the Mishna and the Babylonian Talmud, and occasionally runs courses for local institutions, in person and online. He has a particular interest in the ways in which Jewish people referenced the biblical and rabbinic literature in documents produced during the Holocaust.

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