‘More urgent than ever’: Celebrating the last survivor at the legendary Buchenwald Ball

Standing on the polished wooden floorboards of St Kilda Town Hall’s grand auditorium, 94-year-old Buchenwald concentration camp survivor, Joe Szwarcberg, is at the centre of concentric horra circles made up of around 200 family and friends.

As the last remaining survivor from a contingency of about 65 men known as the ‘Buchenwald Boys’, he was, so to speak, the belle of Melbourne’s 65th ‘Buchenwald Ball’. And this year’s Ball, held on 6 April 2025, was particularly momentous as it marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald.

While there was a certain poignancy with only one enduring survivor, the atmosphere remained electric.

A klezmer band played the usual songs sung at the Ball: Tumbala Laika, the Football Song, the Buchenwald Song, the Partisan’s Song. Australian-Israeli diplomat Mark Regev delivered a speech on the importance of Holocaust remembrance in these trying times. Shots of whiskey were passed around for the staple L’Chaim.

The day delivered on what the Buchenwald Ball is renowned for: a celebration of survival replete with raucous dancing, rowdy singing and plenty of booze.