‘The birds were hungry too’:  Olga Horak’s private passion

Olga Horak is one of Australia’s most prominent Holocaust survivors, whose words inspire politicians and students alike. But few know about her other life as an artist.

“I was always creative, as a small girl, I loved colours and was always making things. My parents encouraged me to draw and make models. In my teens I was enrolled in Professor Rosenthal’s art school in Bratislava. But that soon finished. I pinned the yellow Star of David to my clothing and everything changed.”

Olga Rosenberger was 17 when the Nazis occupied Slovakia and the persecution of Jews began. Jewish children were excluded from schools, their homes were looted and parents attacked on the streets. After a short-lived hiding, the family was denounced and deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in August 1944.

Olga endured a gruelling death march to Bergen-Belsen, where she was eventually liberated in April 1945. She was the sole survivor of her family. Her physical and emotional recuperation was slow, but two years later in Bratislava, Olga met her future husband, Jan (John) Horak, also a Holocaust survivor. The young couple emigrated to Australia in 1949 and started new life with admirable force and determination, a trait seen in the generation of survivors around the world.

Soon, their two little daughters were born and by 1960, the Horak family settled into a busy routine between their Dover Heights home, school and their flourishing textile factory in Woolloomooloo. Olga designed blouses and fashionable garments and was eager to return to her passion for art. Encouraged by her husband, the young mother and businesswoman set up a small studio in the laundry of her home, and started painting... but it was far from easy.