My migrant story begins with that of my parents Aniela Mokrzycka and Jozef Cham.
In 1941 y mother was 19 and coming home from work one day, when she rounded the corner, the Germans had the area blocked off and forced all the people onto trucks and carted them off to the train station and then on to Germany. My mother worked as a slave labourer in a German Aircraft factory until the end of the war.
During this time my mother told me that all slave labourers were provided with one dress/smock to wear which had to have the letter P stitched over the left hand breast. The letter P denoted that my mother was a Polish slave labourer. All nationalities wore a designated letter to indicate which group they belonged to. Jewish people had to wear a yellow Star of David sewn to their clothing. My mother reported that if for some reason a person was found without a letter sewn to their clothes they were reprimanded and beaten. All food was rationed with rye bread for breakfast and soup for lunch, once a week – usually on a Sunday – some meat and other vegetables were provided. The slave labourers worked six days a week and were given Sunday off when they could go to church, into town or to socialise in some other way with one another.
In 1943 my mother gave birth to my oldest sister – Bozena – I do not know who Bozena’s father was or any other information about this part of my mother’s life. My mother has told my sister Elizabeth that there were numerous occasions when she and Bozena had to run for their lives from American planes that were bombing the factory and surrounds. My mother also said that everyone was hungry all of the time and that there were times when Bozena would approach other slave labourers and beg them for food.
Towards the end of the war my mother said that she and Bozena were taken to a farm where they worked as labourers. My mother said that although the work was hard it was the first time in years that she had been warm and well fed.
At the end of the war Aniela found herself and Bozena in an internment camp which was overseen by the Americans. It was in this camp that she met my father Jozef who was a survivor of Buchenwald Concentration camp. Joseph had been caught listening to the BBC on the radio and was classified as a political prisoner. I do not know how long he was in Buchenwald for but he must have had an incredible will to survive his incarceration in such a place.
Aniela, Jozef and Bozena survived very well in the internment camp thanks mainly to the fact that Jozef was a black-marketeer. Jozef managed to accumulate considerable money during this period however, when the Mark was devalued his and Aniela’s fortune disappeared.
Aniela said that there was a great deal of boredom in the transit camp. Many of the men were gamblers and gambling was something that Joseph enjoyed greatly. Each family had part of a tent which was their home.
During this period my second sister, Elizabeth was born. My parents had decided that they would not return to Poland as they both thought that they had no surviving family there and so they waited in the internment camp to migrate to another country.
In 1950 they were scheduled to migrate to South America when Elizabeth became ill. Bozena and a friend had been minding Elizabeth, who was only a few week, when for some reason they gave her a lolly followed by water. This affected Elizabeth to such a degree that she was hospitalised in a facility which was run by nuns. For some unknown reason Elizabeth remained in the hospital for approximately 3 months eventually returning home to her family. The next scheduled boat which was the Italian boat The Casabianco was to travel to Australia and Aniela, Joseph, Bozena and Elizabeth were passengers on board along with many other refugees. The trip took 6 weeks, the men were separated from the women and children and my mother told me that all they got to eat was “spaghetti, spaghetti, spaghetti,” something I rarely saw her eat.
On arrival in Melbourne my parents were assured that they would not be separated from each other again. They travelled by train up to Bonegilla where once again the men were separated from the women and children. My mother said everything was foreign – the language, it was hot, there were lots of flies, red dust, the landscape was barren, the huts were old tin army huts and they wondered where in the world they were. The staple food was mutton which was generally served cold and greasy, my mother rarely ate lamb, and we knew not to serve it to her.
As part of his migration contract, my father was required to work for the Australian government for two years. He left my mother with the children at the Bonegilla camp whilst he worked tree felling, building the Gong Dam. Along with many other Poles, he found his way to Ballarat finding work at the Railways, at the flour mill and finally at the Paper Mill. Once my father was settled in Ballarat, my mother and sisters were moved to Mildura because it was closer to Ballarat than Bonegilla.
During this period many of the Polish families settled within close proximity to each other forming small communities. They helped each other with accommodation, often two or more families living in one house and helping each other to build a home. My family rented rooms in a house in Geelong Road and in Windermere Street until eventually buying a block of land in Kent Street Sebastopol.
The blocks of land that people bought were generally ¼ acre blocks and as each family established themselves, everyone had a huge vegetable garden where they grew potatoes, cabbages, carrots and many other vegetables, as well as fruit trees. Each family usually had a chook shed. When I was growing up chicken was considered a delicacy and was only eaten on special occasions – Easter or Christmas. I remember my father catching and chopping the heads off chickens – they would run around the yard headless. I remember my mother and my sisters plucking the feathers off the chickens before they could be cooked and eaten.
The families used to get together to make sauerkraut in large wooden barrels, pickle cucumbers. My mother would make her own cottage cheese. We ate mainly Polish food which included perogi, ogorki, palluski, cabbage rolls, lots of potatoes and other vegetables. When my mother baked she always used yeast and made apple and plum cakes as well as jam filled doughnuts.
Significant celebrations included Easter, Christmas, Christenings, weddings, name days (which were celebrated instead of Birthdays). All of these celebrations involved the whole community, lots of food, alcohol, music, dancing and singing.
The Polish tradition was that Christmas was celebrated on Christmas Eve which was called Wigilia. We had a special tea cooked by mum. Before the meal there would be a large square of oplatek on a special plate at the table and before we began to eat, each person had to break off a piece of the Oplatek and approach everyone at the table with their piece. Each person would take a small piece of each others Oplatek and wish each other a happy Christmas. At Christmas we ate Borscht (beetroot soup) which had little dumplings (uszka) in it, sauerkraut, pierogi with different kinds of filling, potatoes and other vegetables. Traditionally, we did not eat meat at this Christmas Celebration. The best thing that I remember about Christmas was that we got our presents after tea, so we received out gifts on Christmas Eve. I remember going outside to our Australian neighbourhood children and saying, “Look was Santa brought me” They would be quite scornful and say that Santa was not meant to come until Christmas day. However, nothing could dampen my joy and enthusiasm, because he bought presents to us on Christmas Eve.
Easter was also a special celebration within the Polish Community. Coming from a Roman Catholic background we participated in the Lenten tradition where fasting was encouraged and where we were also encouraged to go without something special during lent eg. lollies. I remember collecting lollies during the 6 weeks of lent and storing them in a jar, knowing that I would be able to eat them once Easter Sunday arrived.
On Easter Saturday each family would gather together a plate of all the foods they may not have eaten during lent. The plate of food would be beautifully presented and would include hard boiled eggs which had been coloured using onion skins, coloured materials or something similar to change the colour of the egg shells. Some ham, butter which my mother usually made into the shape of a rose, salt, sugar and other foods would be included. The plate would be taken to a central house in the neighbourhood during the afternoon and the Polish priest would arrive to bless all the plates of food, which would then be taken home. This food would be shared on Easter Sunday once the family had returned from Mass
My father worked in the factory and when he came home he worked in the garden. I also remember that he often had a second job helping out local farms. When my father was employed at the Paper Mill I remember they would give a huge Christmas party for the employees and their families, food would be provided and each child would receive a gift.
My sisters and brother all attended St Aloysius Primary School. My mother stayed at home until I was about four and she then found work at the Mental Home in Gillies Street as a Kitchen Hand. Mum used to work 2 or 3 twelve hour days and then have two days off when she did all the housework. To get to work mum would have to ride her pushbike regardless of the weather. When dad eventually bought a car he would often go and collect her from work.
Whilst mum was at work I was minded by the lady across the road – Mrs Waldron. I remember swinging on her gate at around 3.30 waiting for my brothers and sisters to come up the road from school.
We only spoke Polish at home – a tradition which my mother followed until the day she died. When we spoke to her in English, she would always give us a look and say in Polish “You’re speaking very good English today” to which we would reply ‘Yes” and shrug. I have always believed that I only spoke Polish until I went to school however, because I was the youngest, I feel that I probably learnt to speak English from my brothers and sisters before I went to school.
Also went to school at St Aloysius and I remember going to school and being asked my name. When I replied that I was called Wladiyslawa the nuns looked at me and said we can’t call you that, we’ll call you ‘Valdie”. I remember being thrilled because I finally had an Australian name. I enjoyed school and don’t really have any negative memories of my time there. I do remember that we used to walk to and from school as a group. We would walk up one side of Pleasant Street and the Non Catholics would be walking down the other side to the Redan Primary School. We would hurl insults at each other across the street which included “Catholic dogs/Proddy dogs sitting on logs eating maggots made out of frogs.” And then we would continue on our way.
Both my parents worked very hard to provide a better life for themselves and their children.
