Books & Blokes Breakfast with Tomas Fleming

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Edmund Burke

And so began a very confronting, poignant and moving presentation by Holocaust survivor and Joeys grandfather, Tom Fleming (formerly Fleischmann). It is hard to fathom that this dark part of our history actually occurred and such incredible evil was able to flourish; hearing the stories firsthand from a survivor was a powerful and overwhelming experience.
Tomas began his story with the family’s capture by the Gestapo after they lived in hiding while assisted by the Catholic Church. He spoke movingly of the final time he saw his father alive, and evoked the atmosphere of fear, horror and uncertainty during transportation across Slovakia and the Czech Republic in a putrid, stench-filled and overcrowded train. In the final years of World War II, Tomas and his pregnant mother Lolli survived arrest, internment at Szered Camp, transportation to Auschwitz and internment at Terezin where Lolli gave birth to another son Peter. Many times he came close to being killed but the incredible fighting spirit of his mother Lolli managed to keep both he and his baby brother alive in Terezin concentration camp against all odds. Tomas is one of only 123 survivors of 16,000 children who went through Terezin Concentration Camp during WWII.
What stood out from his story was Tomas’s incredible resilience, positive attitude, witty sense of humour and ability to adapt. His parting words of wisdom were: “You can’t stay bitter. You only have one bash at life, so try to make something of yourself and have a wonderful life.”

A truly incredible man and a remarkable story.
Our next Books & Blokes Breakfast will be on Monday 22 August, where Stan Grant will talk about his seminal book Talking to my Country. To RSVP click here.