In 2015 when Christine Silbert marked a milestone birthday, her thoughts turned to her family and the earlier generations from Bialystok in north Poland who made the long journey to settle in Australia. She decided to embark on a journey of discovery and write a book about the Silberts.
“It all started when I retired and I wanted to do a pilgrimage for my 70th birthday,” Christine tells Have a Go News. “The trip took me to Bialystok and to Israel where I hadn’t been before.
“I was fascinated by the early generations and what happened to them and the life they led, which I didn’t know much about. We had a family tree to a certain point, but not everybody was on it and much of the story in between wasn’t known.
“A friend helped me go online and that research revealed a huge amount. That led me to the Bialystok cemetery website, which led me to a cultural and religious professor at Washington University, who had been doing research work on the Jewish community in Bialystok. She had found the headstone with the inscription of one of my ancestors and had translated it. Everything went from there and got more exciting.
“Growing up, you hear snippets of this and that from different people. I wanted to piece together the story to give me a real feel for who my ancestors were. I was fortunate to unearth lots of family photos from relatives.”
Christine’s efforts have developed into a fascinating, colourfully-illustrated book How did I get here? that looks into the Silbert family, their enterprise and tenacity in leaving Europe to settle in another country on the other side of the world.
Instead of joining the goldrush to perhaps make their fortune in Broken Hill and Kalgoorlie, Abraham, the first Australian Silbert, and business partner Joe Sharp had the boldness to develop a large fresh fruit and vegetable merchant business.
In the early 1900s he brought out his two half-nephews, Solomon and Barney, who followed suit running varied businesses.
The latter part of the book is devoted to Christine’s life as a single woman making her way with her public relations company in Perth, with some exciting and challenging moments.
Her enterprise and determination shine through as she writes about overseas work and travel and returning to Perth, her love for Subiaco and settling there.
“Subiaco has its connections back to Italy and the Benedictine monks who settled there, calling their monastery “new Subiaco” after the birthplace of the Benedictine order in Subiaco, Italy,” she writes.
“This cements my Mediterranean soul to the place I call home.”
Christine said her decade-long research turned into a determination to launch her book to coincide with another milestone birthday last February.
“It’s been very satisfying and many people, who know my family to some degree, have really identified with different things and life in Perth. There were country people who came to Perth to buy new clothes and shoes. One had his suits made at Letoni’s, who was my uncle, and plenty shopped at Barney Silbert stores.
“I’ve been bowled over by the interest and response to my story.”
Christine has since updated her book after visiting Cairns and Machans Beach mentioned briefly in her mother’s background. Her cousin Berrol Frieze was one of the crew on board a Lockheed Hudson aircraft that crashed on Machans Beach in March 1945 enroute to New Guinea.
“A memorial was erected there in 2018 to honour the 11 souls who perished and I wanted to pay my respects.”
Closer to home, she is planning a trip to Kalgoorlie to see if she can uncover any locations of the Silbert and Sharp fruit shops and hotel sites in early times.
“So that could be my 2026 project,” Christine laughs.
How did I get here? by Christine Silbert (Iprintplus) is available through the author. Email: christine.silbert@gmail.com for more details.
