The Bible was donated to the DACC by Ellie Zinsmeester. It dates from 1768 and was deaccessioned (officially disposed off) by the church around 1940. It was brought to Australia when Ellie’s father migrated to Australia.
Karma Rowe from the Dutch Genealogy Group, who previously restored some books for the DACC offered to restore the Bible. She made a video of the restoration project. The project was inspired by a State Library exposition last year called “Maps of the Pacific’, where a video was shown of the restoration of the ‘Tasman Map’. We were all bowled over by the result. She has posted the video on her Facebook site and has no objection for us to use the video on our website. It could encourage people to donate to the DACC material that is in a dilapidated state, but still worth preserving.
Below is a video of the restoration project
Ellie Zinsmeester
Ellie also collected the data and documents that enabled her parents to be honoured as Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vasham, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem. Ellie researched this thoroughly and DACC board members attended the ceremony at the Sydney Jewish Museum a few years ago. Ellie passed away in August 2023.
