1952

The Terminus Fruiterer was a greengrocer store that was purchased in 1952 by two immigrants who went on to operate it for about seven years. Only one year earlier, Benek and Frieda Jacobs had arrived in Australia with very little, having escaped the nightmare that was Europe during World War 2. Benek had survived one of the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camps, and Frieda and her 10-year-old son Leo had narrowly avoided Nazi invasion and persecution in both Vienna and Brussels.

After Frieda saw a ‘migrate to Australia’ ad before viewing a movie at a theatre in Brussels, she and Leo migrated Down Under. Not long after the trio arrived in Bondi to live, they welcomed a daughter they named Ros. Needless to say, after the extreme fear and persecution that Benek, Frieda and Leo had experienced in Europe, they thought Bondi was paradise.

The couple worked determinedly hard to buy, build up and sell many businesses located throughout the Bondi – Rose Bay Basin, but making The Terminus Fruiterer a successful small business is a special part of their story. Because the two were new to Australia, their customers were very patient with them while they learnt English – Frieda and Benek would, for example, give potatoes to a customer whereas s/he had asked for onions. The Jacobses enjoyed regularly talking with their customers and having them educate them in Australia’s unique slang.

Many North Bondi locals bought not only their fruit and veggies but their cigarettes and tinned goods at The Terminus Fruiterer after getting off their tram or bus at the end of their daily commute.

A combined fruit shop and grocery store – North Bondi Grocer – is still in operation at 294 Campbell Parade.

Courtesy of the Shammay and Jacobs' families.