Otto Gustav Rosenau and small Gordon Ogilvie

circa September 1939

This is Otto Gustav Rosenau and small Gordon Ogilvie.
( Christchurch author) Gordon is a small boy on the families orchard in Horotane valley. This photo depicts an encounter with someone who had experienced the horrors of the Second World War and found refuge in the tiny agricultural hamlet of Horotane valley. I remember my father saying Otto came and worked on the family orchard for a while. He was a Jewish refugee from Germany originally born in Cologne. I believe he had lost his family in the Holocaust but am unsure of his whole story. At that time during the war anyone with a German accent or difference in culture would have been treated with suspicion. It was also very hard for Jewish refugees to find new homes in new countries worldwide. He was welcomed onto my grandfathers farm- My father remembers his accent, that he sung opera and was a very cultured man. Having recently researched more about Otto by searching NZ records, I found he went on to enlist in 1939, and was naturalised as a New Zealander in 1946. Records show he died in 1972. Since the March 15th attack in Christchurch we have had to confront the reality of what it means to be a NZer and what we can do to make welcome the many people who have come past and present to make up the fabric of our culture today. I have submitted this photo so that the memory of Otto Rosenau is not lost

Area: South East / Heathcote

Contributor: Anne Ogilvie

Source: Entry in the 2019 Christchurch City Libraries Photo Hunt

Source: View in canterburystories.nz

Reference ID: CCL-PH19-AnOg-005

Uploaded by: CCL Photo Hunt

Copyright status: In copyright