Bernard Pilecki
| First name | Bernard |
|---|---|
| Last name | Pilecki |
| Country of Origin | Poland |
| Date of Birth | 8/7/1930 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1950 |
| Submitted by | Dan Pilecki |
Story
My Father Bernard Pilecki was born in 1930 in Czachulec in the Province of Turek Poland . His family were itinerate farm workers who moved between Eastern Germany and Western Poland . The times were hard and his family had little in the way of possessions . In all there were 5 children, 2 boys and 3 girls, Bernard was the youngest .
In 1939 Germany invaded Poland and many workers were were rounded up from Poland and packed into livestock wagons and trained to Germany be used as slave labour in German factories and farms . On arrival in Germany my father’s family were unloaded and taken to the town square and were paraded for the German farmers to take there pick of workers for their farms .
Bernard’s family were split up his eldest sister Maria was taken to a farm in another part of Germany. His elder brother was taken to work in a factory in Mareburg near the Netherlands border. Helena was sent to a dairy farm in western Germany . My father His sister Peagia and parents were taken to a farm near Marburg in Germany.
Even though Bernard was ony 9 years of age he worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week in all weather and conditions. For a child growing up life was harsh, with the Germans as their masters deprived of freedom, all their clothing labelled with a capital ” P ” and war raging around them. At the height of the Allied bombing campaign the family often slept in the fields rather than risk being bombed in the farm out buildings .
At the end of World II the family spent the next 5 years in displaced person camps looking for each other . In the end they were all reunited except for the eldest sister Maria who was trapped when Russia closed the East German border . Given that the Family were unable to return to Poland they chose to immigrate to Australia
On the 25th of April 1950 My father and his family left German seaport of Bremenhfen on the freighter “Dundalk Bay” and headed for Australia . The journey took 6 weeks via the Suez Canal and Colombo.
The ship was a converted freighter that had been used as a troop transport and now carried my father and his family to Australia. The conditions were cramped and many of the passengers were sick as very few had ever been on the ocean before .
The ships first Australian port of call was Freemantle. When the ship arrived there was a large crowd at the docks. They yelled ” Go back you wogs we don’t want you here “. Many on the ship spoke little or no English and were confused by the reception they got . My father had learned English while in the displaced persons camp working for the British Army as a labourer and understood.
Word spread quickly around the ship of the hostile reception and a feelng of defeat and confusion spread . Fortunately the ship ony stayed one night in Fremantle to take on fuel and provisions and departed the next day for Sydney . The journey from Perth to Sydney took 1 week and on the 5th of June 1950 they arrived at Sydney Harbour . There was a sense of relief when there was no repeat of the angry mob in Sydney that they had encountered in Perth .
The Country My father and his family had arrived in was a stark contrast to the Europe they had left . Strange animals – the countryside was a sunburnt brown rather than the lush green of Europe. Stifling heat and mild winters.. The place was so unfamiliar to them .
Bernard spent the next two years in immigration camps performing various jobs. In 1952 he was reunited with the rest of his family in Brisbane . From here the family established themselves and all members gained work .
In 1954 Bernard met Myrtle Talty who he later married in 1956. Over the next 9 years they had 5 children, bought there first home and went on to educate their chilldren . Bernards branch of the Pilecki family ( Direct Decendants ) now numbers 16 children and grandchildren .