One of our residents of the retirement village Edeltraud aka Helen was interviewed by SBS late last year. She talked about her migration story from Germany to Australia over 50 years ago. European immigrants in the 1950s mostly came to Australia by ship and then travelled via train to a town called Bonegilla in north-eastern Victoria. During the post-WWII immigration boom, an army camp was transformed into a migrant reception and training centre where new arrivals lived while they were processed and allocated jobs.
In the 24 years of its existence, the centre has received over 300,000 immigrants. Among them was Helen with her former husband and her 9-months old son (see black and white picture on the right). She says she has nothing but fond memories of Bonegilla and shared them with SBS. Did you know Helen came to Australia without speaking English? How brave! Helen also spoke about her beginnings in this new country that she now calls home. It is a fascinating story. You can now listen to the podcast (in German) on the SBS website under ‘Erinnerungen an Bonegilla’.
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