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Australian True Crime

ATC Plus *Preview*: An update from Dassi Erlich

Duration
14m
Broadcast on
19 Jun 2024
Audio Format
other

This is a preview of our recent ATC Plus episode with Dassi Erlich. Subscribe now to ATC Plus to listen to the whole hour long conversation.

 

Many of you will know the name Dassi Erlich.

 

Along with her sisters, Elly Sapper and Nicole Meyer, Dassi fought a ten year battle to have her former head mistress, Malka Leifer, extradited from Israel to Australia to face trial for sexually abusing them when they were students at the ultra orthodox Adass Israel School in Melbourne.

 

Malka Leifer was found guilty of sexually assaulting and raping Dassi and Elly, and in August 2023, she was sentenced to 15 years in jail with a non-parole period of 11 and a half years.

 

Now Dassi has released a memoir, called "In Bad Faith".

 

Even though they've told us so much of their story already, this book is a revelation. I feel like I've read a whole new story. A story I never knew. It's so good.

 

Dassi joins us for an update just for subscribers of ATC Plus. Thank you so much for subscribing.

 

Click here to purchase "In Bad Faith".

 

For Support: 

Lifeline  on 13 11 14

13 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)

1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732

 

CREDITS:

Host: Meshel Laurie. You can find her on Instagram 

Guest: Dassi Erlich

Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard

 

GET IN TOUCH:

https://www.australiantruecrimethepodcast.com/

Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook 

Email the show at [email protected]

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Before we begin today's episode of Australian True Crime, I want to tell you about a new project we've been working on behind the scenes. It's called She Matters. It's a new podcast from award-winning journalist and femicide researcher Shirel Moody. Each week, Shirel speaks with families of women and children killed in Australia, sharing who they were, the joy they brought, and the love they left behind. She Matters isn't a true crime podcast. It's about lives lived, lives loved, and lives lost. She Matters is produced by Dash made podcasts in association with Brave Casting Media. She Matters is available wherever you get your podcasts. This is a true crime podcast as the title suggests, so please consider this your warning that it's not suitable for children and it probably will contain content that may be triggering to some people. Also, it's an Australian true crime podcast, so Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners should be aware it may contain the voices of deceased people. The producers of this podcast recognize the traditional owners of the land on which it's recorded. They pay respect to the Aboriginal elders past, present, and those emerging.
This episode is a preview of my recent conversation with Dusty Ehrlich. To listen to the whole hour-long conversation, you can subscribe now and have your first week free of ATC Plus on Apple Podcasts. Many of you will know the name Dusty Ehrlich, along with her sisters Ellie Sapper and Nicole Meyer. Dusty fought a 10-year battle to have her former headmistress Malka Lifer extradited from Israel to Australia to face trial for sexually abusing them when they were students at the Ultra-Orthodox ADAS Israel School in Melbourne. I'm sure like me, many of you feel like you know this story. Lifer fled to Israel with the help of supporters in Melbourne. She was arrested when she got there but she was allowed to live in an ultra-religious community in the West Bank called Immanuel while fighting extradition, claiming her mental health was just too bad to make the trip back to face trial in Australia. Lifer wasn't obligated to disclose the charges against her. She immediately offered to tutor the children of Immanuel and local parents alleged she sexually abused them in her home and in their homes. The community opted not to involve law enforcement because it's against their belief system but she was re-arrested in 2018 and accused by Israeli authorities of faking her mental illness. She remained in prison from that time until she was successfully extradited to Australia in January 2021. Malka Lifer was found guilty of sexually assaulting and raping Dusty Ehrlich and Ellie Sapper and in August 2023 she was sentenced to 15 years in jail with a non-parole period of 11 and a half years. Dusty Ehrlich, Ellie Sapper and Nicole Meyer and their siblings grew up in a very strict orthodox home. They were taught to reject the outside world and like many victim survivors of childhood sexual abuse their instinct was to suffer in silence but they fought against all of that to bring attention to the crimes of Malka Lifer. Now Dusty has released a memoir it's called In Bad Faith and even though they've told us so much of their story already this book is a revelation. I feel like I've read a whole new story a story I never knew. It's so good and Dusty joins us for an update just for ATC+. It's amazing to be on this side of the journey to have had the opportunity to write the book and to share that journey and to put it out there in a way that I'm proud of. It's been incredibly empowering and to talk from this space you know it's a space in my life that I never imagined I would reach. That's pretty incredible. You're a very good writer Dusty. Thank you. Thank you. I love love love writing. I mean books were my only escape as a young girl. It was the only way I could escape the world that I was in and I would read every single book that I was allowed to read over and over again and as soon as I was allowed to read anything more you know I had my hands on any book that I could and writing has been something that I've always loved doing and I always hoped one day that I would be able to author a book and here I am. I thought I knew the story you know we've spoken a couple of times and then I'm reading the book and I thought oh I just had no idea of how abusive your childhood was like you know we had spoken about it being difficult in podcasts before you had told me because the focus was on Malca you know and on that period of life and the period after that up until now but you had said you know that home was difficult home was hard home that the reason that Malca's attention was so meaningful was because home was not good because you felt unloved but reading it if I feel like it's giving you

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