Inge Marcus

Inge Marcus was born in Amsterdam in 1933.

When the madness started in Germany her parents walked, pushing Inge in a pram, or caught trains overland from Amsterdam to Marseilles. They arrived in Australia in 1937, first stopping in Sydney, then Melbourne. Her father eventually found a job in Toowoomba , Qld and then got a transfer to Penny’s in Brisbane. Life was a bit hard for the “reffos “ but they soon integrated into the Brisbane Jewish Community.

Inge was involved with the Zionist Youth League from the age of 15 as well as the Judean Sports Club ( later to be known as Maccabi).

In 1954 the late Jess Hoffman asked her to form a young WIZO Group (Ilana) together with her daughter Pamela Huppert (nee Hoffman) - current President of WIZO Queensland.

Inge joined the WIZO State Executive as Secretary, later becoming Treasurer. During this time she was also President of WIZO Hadassim – Sharon, for some years.

She was the instigator of WIZO Bible Day as a special day. Queensland had an annual WIZO Week, with Bible Day as a special event.

In 1977 Inge became President of WIZO State Council of Queensland until she moved to Sydney with her husband to be close to her daughters and their families. During her time as President, she was instrumental in setting up 5 new groups.

Inge was also very involved with the Women’s Guild in the Margaret Street Synagogue and is a Life Member there. She was also a Member of the Board of Deputies. She was a teacher of Ancient Jewish History at the Brisbane Board of Hebrew Education and was a member of the Board of Education for many years.

She and her late husband Lou, who was President of the Brisbane Hebrew Congregation, were invited to meet Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and the Queen on three different occasions.

Amongst her many honours Inge was presented with the Rebecca Sieff Award at a World WIZO Conference in Israel.