Pioneering Ann mourned
JEWISH leaders paid tribute to the memory of communal pioneer Ann Zablud, who passed away this week, aged 95.
JEWISH leaders paid tribute to the memory of communal pioneer Ann Zablud, who passed away this week, aged 95.
Zablud was the first and to date the only female president of the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA), and took leadership roles in WIZO Australia and other Jewish organisations.
With her late husband Robert Zablud, a stalwart of the Victorian and Australian Jewish communities, she arrived in Australia from Brest-Litovsk, then in Poland, in 1939, as the shadow of war fell across Europe.
The young couple arrived in Australia at Geelong on January 13, 1939, known as Black Friday, the date of devastating bushfires that ravaged Victoria.
The Zabluds engaged quickly with the local Jewish community and helped pave the way for the postwar influx of Jews to Australia.
Ann Zablud served in WIZO Victoria and was WIZO’s federal president from 1977-83, taking up the reins again in 1997-98 after the death of colleague Zosia Mercer. She spearheaded WIZO Victoria’s multicultural initiatives and organised panel discussions for WIZO on the status of women. She received world WIZO’s prestigious Rebecca Sieff Award.
In 1987, Zablud became the first female chairperson of the Victorian Jewish Board of Deputies (now the Jewish Community Council of Victoria). In 1994, she became the ZFA’s first and only female president, serving until 1996. She was elected to the board of governors of the Jewish Agency in 1995.
Zablud was deeply involved in the United Nations Association of Australia, on its Status of Women committee.
She was awarded an OAM in 1993 for her services to the Jewish community and women’s affairs. In 2007, she received the JCCV’s General Sir John Monash Award for outstanding services to the community.
WIZO Australia federal president Gilla Liberman this week lauded Zablud as “a true Zionist who led WIZO at both state and federal level with courage and conviction. She will be sorely missed.”
ZFA president Danny Lamm said Zablud “will be fondly remembered for her pioneering role in the Zionist community and for being a strong mentor and guide to the generations that followed. Ann was kind and gracious and always supportive.”
Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council national chairman Mark Leibler, who preceded Zablud as ZFA president, said: “I had the privilege and opportunity of working with Ann and her late husband Bob Zablud, who passed away many years ago. She was a wonderful person to work with and occupied many roles in the Jewish community. She really put Australian WIZO on the world map. She was a powerhouse. She was very tough, as you need to be tough in order to lead, but a very empathetic person.”
Zablud was laid to rest on Tuesday at the Melbourne Chevra Kadisha Cemetery in Springvale.
PETER KOHN
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