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Refugee's experiences : World War II
Title : Refugee's experiences : World War II Refugee's experiences : World War II
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Creator : Wilkins, Gertrud, 1910-
Source : Wilkins, Gertrud, OH 18/4
Date of creation : 1988
Additional Creator : Kautsky, Daniela
Format : Oral History
Contributor : State Library of South Australia
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Description :

Interview with Gertrud Wilkins in which she describes fleeing Czechoslovakia in 1939 and coming to Australia as a refugee during World War II.


Interviewer: Daniela Kautsky Project: Lives of Older Women of Non-English Speaking Background and their Adaption to and Contribution to Life in South Australia.
Gertrud Wilkins was born in Brne in 1910, which after the First World War became part of Czechoslovakia. Her mother had a millinery business and her father was a chartered accountant. The family was Jewish. Gertrud describes her schooling and teacher training. She had a short-lived marriage and at the outbreak of war in 1939 was living and working in Prague. Gertrud decided to flee her country and describes the journey across country to Poland and on to London.
Gertrud's situation came to the attention of the South Australian branches of the Women Graduates Club and the League of Women Voters who sponsored her immigration. She sailed to Australia via New Zealand in 1940.
Subjects
Related names :

Wilkins, Gertrud

Period : 1946-1979
Further reading :
Internet links :
National Archives of Australia Fact Sheet 223 : Migration selection documents held in Adelaide

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