Herbet Treidel's Rotary Photo
Herbert Treidel was born in Mayen Germany on the 26th. November 1922. His first brush with discrimination was when at the age of eight he was excluded from the local swimming pool because he was Jewish. After finishing primary school, he travelled alone to Frankfurt to attend a private engineering trade school as Jewish children were not allowed to attend government schools.
With rising unrest and anti-Semitism in Germany his family sent him to Britain where he was accepted by a London-based refugee children’s movement. At the age of just 16 he said goodbye to his parents and sister at Mayen railway station – never to see them again.
Once in England Herbert was housed with 150 other refugees in an Essex camp but eight months after war was declared German refugees came under close scrutiny and Herbert and other students were interred and sent to the Isle of Man. Later he was transferred to Glasgow to board the SS Arcadia Star but was one of 30 refugees stopped from boarding because the ship was full. En route to Canada the ship was torpedoed and of the 1200 personnel onboard 729 died.
Herbert eventually boarded His Majesty’s Transport Dunera on July 10, 1940, being but one of 2500 “enemy aliens” who were not aware of the ship’s destination. After supplies were taken on in Cape Town the refugees finally realised the Dunera was heading for Australia with Herbert disembarking in Sydney on September 6, 1940. The mainly German Jew refugees were starved, beaten, robbed of little property they had and forced to sleep out on the open decks of the Dunera by many of the 625 British crew. The treatment was so bad and inhumane that many crew were finally arrested, court-martialed, convicted and imprisoned.
The Jewish group were transported to a holding camp in Hay, New South Wales by train before Herbert, at the youthful age of 18 was later transferred to Tatura. Herbert was later sent to Camp Pell at Royal Park and was in regular contact with his family until December 1941, with rumours persisting that many Polish Jews had been transported to Poland. After peace was declared many years of endeavour through the International Red Cross failed to find out the fate of Herbert’s family and he was forced to sadly presume they were murdered in Auschwitz.
Herbert became an Australian citizen in 1945 and graduated from Melbourne Technical College, now RMIT University in 1947 in mechanical and electrical engineering.
Herbert Treidel gained international attention with his total energy system that dramatically reduced carbon emissions in service installations of many of Melbourne’s major commercial and industrial projects. One of his outstanding achievements was as a founding partner of his own company of consulting engineers he was responsible for the services design of the Collins Place project, which, at the time, was the largest commercial building project in Australia. Herbert would surely be quietly smiling in the knowledge that his beloved Rotary Club is now meeting in his building. The architect was the renowned New York firm of I. M. Pei who designed the highly treasured Louvre Museum and its iconic glass pyramid situated at the east end of the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
Herbert was also personally involved in the State Bank of Victoria headquarters, BHP House, the Victorian state government offices and the Kodak redevelopment project. The most outstanding of his many personal innovative designs – and work of international interest – was the total energy installation of BHP House. That Herbert was able to become a mechanical services engineer ahead of his time was not only fortuitous but a credit to his endeavours and intellect.
Herbert joined the Rotary Club of Melbourne on the 10th. December 1980 rarely missing meeting. He would arrive with a wry smile on his face, an outstretched hand of greeting regularly quietly saying, “Hello Mr. President, how are you today”?
As President in 2007-2008 I clearly recall my weekly greeting with Herbert one Wednesday adding to my welcome the words, “I was watching a movie last Sunday night about the catastrophic journey of The Dunera. I believe I may have recognized a friendly face in the crowd. Herbert, were you one of the Dunera Boys on the dreadful journey from Britain in 1940?” Herbert tightened his hand in mine, gave me a wry smile and nodded quietly saying “Yes Mr. President, yes I was.”
Of the 2500 Dunera Boys – featured in the movie of the same name in 1985 – about 850 become naturalized Australians and went on to become outstanding citizens with extraordinary careers as designers, artists, philosophers, musicians, composers and engineers among other professions.
The world lost a true man, a most extraordinary exemplar of humanity on the 1st. September 2011 and his much-loved wife of 47 years Marjorie died just 5 weeks after Herbert.
Shalom dear friend. Thank you for defining inspiration and love.
Peter McCall
Dunera Boys reunion, Melbourne, 1963
