Linking the Generations.
Esteemed elder and longtime resident Sadie Goldsmith was honoured recently at a special afternoon, facilitated by the Rosh Chodesh Women’s Circle community group.
Aided by her son Michael Goldsmith, who travelled especially from Israel, and her daughter Barbara Belfer, Sadie spoke of her youth, raised in the small shtetl of Nasielsk near Warsaw. Born in 1922, Sadie was the oldest of four siblings. As the dark clouds of 1938 began to gather, Sadie emigrated to Australia under the insistence of her Melbournebased aunt, while the rest of her family waited for their papers to arrive. Sadie was 15 when she undertook the ocean crossing alone; she never realised that it would be the last time she would ever see her beloved family.
Sadie met her husband, Arthur (Nosson Yitzchok), at a Kadima dance in Lygon Street, Carlton. A fellow immigrant, Nosson left his hometown of Lublin
when he was 17. Together, they imbued their family with a love of Yiddishkeit, education, and commitment to one another. Nearly fourteen years after his passing in 2005, Sadie reflects on their 62 nachas-filled years of marriage.
Despite the challenges of her early life, Sadie radiates positivity. She relishes the Jewish atmosphere of Gary Smorgon House, fondly referred to by her family as “Super Bubba’s house”. We are grateful to Sadie for sharing wisdom accumulated over a lifetime. Surrounded by her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, Sadie is testimony to a life well-lived.