INSPIRATIONAL AUSTRALIAN WOMEN
Janna Voloshin
Janna Voloshin was born into a Jewish family in the Soviet Union in the days of communism. As young children, her parents narrowly escaped the Holocaust, thanks to their parents uprooting their families and travelling hundreds of kilometres to evade the approaching Nazis. Many of her extended family did not have such foresight and perished in the mass exterminations that took place in her birth city, Rostov-na-Don. In 1989, while part-way through a degree in medicine, Janna visited cousins in Melbourne and her life changed direction completely. Throwing away her return ticket, she started afresh, learning English, meeting her husband, and living the reality of democracy and freedom. Janna’s career has taken her from working as a Personal Care Worker while studying nursing, to leading Vasey RSL Care and standing up for the people who have served our country, and through their service, have maintained our freedom. She is passionate about quality care and support for our veterans and war widows and leads the organisation by example, expecting of staff only what she herself would do. She is highly respected for her pragmatism and humanity. Janna is married and has two adult children and two dogs.
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Greg T Ross: Janna Voloshin, welcome to The Last Post podcast series, and indeed you’re part of our Inspirational Australian Women’s series. You have such an amazing story to tell. And I guess your journey started a long time ago in Russia? Janna Voloshin: Yeah, so I was born in Russia, or I would say probably I was born in the former Soviet Union, lived there until the age of 20. I finished my school there, and then I went to do a medical degree. Was halfway there, that was actually a Perestroika and they opened the gates and I went to visit my auntie. And during the visit, I met my husband and married. So that’s what happened, that’s how I end up being in Australia. But my childhood and the first years of my life was in Russia. GTR: And how did that shape you as a person for who you have become today? What are your memories and how did you feel about leaving your homeland? JV: My background is also Jewish. I am the child of the children of Holocaust survivors. Both of my parents, my city, was occupied by German twice, and there’s a place where I’ve seen about 27,000 Jews were killed in a very short period of a couple of days. My parents were able to escape with their parents, they were children at that time. So how did it shape me I suppose, I was brought up on stories of war. My parents didn’t want to share too much about it, but it was always something that I knew that I don’t know about my heritage. It was also not very popular being Jewish in the Soviet Union, or definitely was not allowed to follow any traditions of your heritage in the Soviet Union. ... as a religion, as any religion but Jewish was not. So I had information about my heritage from my grandparents and from my parents. I knew that number of relatives had been lost during the war, on those couple of days, in my city. I knew my grandmother would always trying to give me some information about who I am by giving me this special bread on the special day. I had no idea what it is, and she would give me a piece of that matzo bread during the Passover and would say to me, “Just have it, but don’t tell anybody that you had it.” These pieces, I couldn’t put it together and also, my parents as well would say when I was already a bit older, that as far as dating goes. they wanted me to date somebody Jewish, but then I couldn’t understand why, because nobody wanted to know that you are Jewish. So there was bits of it that I couldn’t really understand. I knew some of the songs, I knew some of the words, I knew some of the pieces of the heritage, but I didn’t know what it was. So, when I came over here and I obviously have made a formal decision that I’ll find out more about who I am, my
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heritage. So, I did it through my children. I put them in a Jewish school and I said, “Well, you’ll learn, and you tell me?” GTR: Ah, just learning through children... JV: Well, yes, because I’m busy with getting my career and supporting your private school education. So that was one way. And the other way, just recently I actually have done it. I actually went on a tour to Israel. The tour was organized specifically for the Jewish woman, Jewish mothers, and to learn about your heritage for those who couldn’t learn. I was actually given my Jewish name because I was never been given a Jewish name in the Soviet Union. I was lucky because I was able to choose my Jewish name. It’s a second name, it’s your Hebrew name. GTR: So I guess, with your role now, as CEO of Vasey RSL Care, who do an amazing job, particularly there in Victoria. Did you grow as a person through an awareness of the underdog status, or those that could be more privileged do you think, in a quest for equality? Is that something that happened to you? JV: I think, it’s more the freedom. I just recognize how much those certain people have done for what I have today. It doesn’t matter what for, it doesn’t matter. Those people who fought it for the right cause, of course on this side, whether it was for the freedom out of the German occupation that we had in the Second World War. Whether it’s for the freedom in the Vietnam War, and I experienced what the communism was, so I know what they’ve fought for, even that it wasn’t in this land, but I know the impact with it, if it spreads. So, this acknowledgment of people putting their life in danger, because they’re fighting for us and our children and our grandchildren to grow in a free environment, I think that has a big part of me feeling very passionate about what I’m doing, because I really feel they deserve the best. I suppose that’s the biggest part of it. And, the other part obviously, I was brought up on the stories of war, so it was very relevant to what I’m doing. I was also brought up in, it’s interesting, I was very also brought up brainwashed on the patriotism, okay. But the fact was that I couldn’t feel patriotic towards the country I was born from, but when I came in here suddenly this really triggered to me what it means feeling patriotic about the country that you love. Some stuff was there in my head about what it means being patriotic, but I didn’t experience that in Russia, everything was forced on us, in the Soviet Union. But here, I feel teary when the flag is getting raised, and it’s interesting, but I wasn’t born here, but I do feel very patriotic about it. GTR: I suppose in many ways Janna, it’s the polar opposite to the Soviet Union’s experience, or your experience in
