Lucie Morrisby nee Laufer
| Town/City | Hobart |
|---|---|
| First name | Lucie |
| Last name | Morrisby nee Laufer |
| Country of Origin | Austria |
| Date of Birth | 11/20/2007 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1939 |
| Submitted by | Elinor Morrisby |
Story
My mother Lucie Laufer was born in Vienna into a wealthy Jewish family. Her father owned a textile import business in Rudolfsplatz 1 near the Danube Canal in the heart of the city. By the age of 12, my mother was an orphan. She had two older brothers – Berthold was annihilated by the Nazis, about Julius I know nothing.
My mother was educated first of all at the Pensionat Stern, a private Jewish school for girls, then at the Vienna Conservatorium and Academy of Music. She was a dancer and pianist, and performed in the Folksoper in Vienna, and worked as a pianist, accompanist and concert player. After witnessing persecution of Viennese Jews, personally seeing Hitler in the Mariahilfestrasse in Vienna, and being imprisoned overnight for no reason by the Nazis in early 1938, she decided to leave Austria, and through Viennese friends who were living in Melbourne, arranged to come to Australia as soon as practicable.
My mother left Vienna on a Deutsches Reich Passport in late September 1938. She spent three months in Riga, then on 3 January 1939, arrived in London. She spent 3 months in Reading working as a domestic servant, then travelled by ship via Bombay and Colombo to Fremantle where she arrived on 4 April 1939. She then made her way to Melbourne by train, and subsequently to Tasmania to the people who sponsored her.
My mother did not speak about her initial impressions, but she always stated that Australia was the most wonderful country in the world, and one day I would appreciate its beauty, freedom and lifestyle. She was quite correct, and after years of study abroad, my home in Tasmania is the most pleasurable and beautiful.