Obituaries Australia

With the death of Judah Waten, Australia has lost an outstanding fighter for human progress. His loss will be seriously felt in many fields.

He was born in Odessa in 1911 into a Russian Jewish family. The family came to Australia in 1914 and Judah was brought up, first in Perth, and later in Melbourne.

He is most widely known for his literary works, His early novels, Alien Son and The Unbending, in part autobiographical, were a landmark in Australian literature, dealing with what was then largely a new subject, the problems of foreign-born migrants in adjusting to Australian conditions.

For the last 30 years Waten has had a recognised place in the front rank of Australian writers. His books have been translated into many languages and widely circulated in the Soviet Union and Europe, west and east.

Politically, he was always loyal to his revolutionary principles. He joined the Communist Party at an early age and, at the time of his death, was a leading member of the Socialist Party of Australia. He hated fascism and war with a passionate hatred.

During the second world war he became the founding secretary of the Jewish Council to Combat Fascism and Anti-Semitism, a post he held for some years. The Jewish Council, among other things, gave splendid service in the campaign to defeat Menzies' "anti-communist" referendum in 1951.

Judah could be outspoken and challenging, but always in the setting of a warm and genial personality. Uncompromising in the assertion of his own views, he could be tolerant of the views of others, and he gained a very wide circle of friends and admirers.

Invited to his home to speak, I found a quite conservative Herald journalist in my audience. For years, Judah had quite a close personal relationship with Arthur Calwell.

Two themes to which he returned constantly were: the leading role of the Soviet Union in world affairs, and the struggle for peace; and the importance of achieving a united front of communists and Labor Party people working together. He saw this as the way forward to socialism.

Judah will be remembered gratefully by his fellow writers to whom he gave much encouragement and practical service. In particular, he took a keen interest in the work of young writers and gave practical help to many of them.

He played a big part in organising the campaign in defence of Frank Hardy when Frank was charged with criminal libel over the writing of Power Without Glory. He was a leading spirit in Dolphin Publications, which enabled John Morrison to get the first publication of his collected short stories in Sailors Belong Ships. One could multiply such instances.

It is a tribute to Waten's ability and popularity that he was awarded Commonwealth Literary Fund and Literature Board fellowships and, finally, the Australia Medal.

A fitting tribute was paid to his memory on Thursday, August 1, when a large and representative crowd gathered in the foyer of the Concert Hall in Melbourne's new Arts Complex. Speakers were Professor Manning Clark, Peter Symon, and Professor Blainey.

Tribune extends its sympathy to Judah's wife Hyrell, his daughter Alice, and his other relatives in their sad loss.