Evelin Hegyesi (Part 11)

Story

Part 11

On 7.01.50, the men were taken away for work. Everyone had to sign a contract for 2 years to work wherever they were sent. Dad and others were sent to Singleton Army Camp to repair the Matilda tanks. His basic wage was 7 pounds a week and full keep. He would have to pay 4 pounds a week for Mum and me at the camp.

After the men left, the women and children were taken to a camp in Greta, near Maitland. This was closer to where the men worked and each family had a separate room. Mum took a waitressing job in the doctors\’ and nurses\’ dining room and so Dad no longer had to pay for us, as our board was taken out of Mum\’s wages. She managed to save 30 shillings and therefore could pay a neighbour 10 shillings a week to mind me while she was at work.

Mum wanted to learn English, but only other languages were spoken in the camp, so she applied for a job. The Office sent us by train to Katoomba, where she worked at St. Bernard\’s College. We left with our wooden trunk (filled with feather doonas and a few clothes) and set off from Greta by train to Katoomba on 1.05.50. Mum had a label stuck on her lapel to say she didn\’t speak English. Railway personnel in Strathfield put us on another train and we arrived in Katoomba at 9pm. It was very cold. Next morning at 7am, Mum was introduced to the priests, an English nurse and 80 teenage boys who attended the college. Her wage was 2 pounds 10 shillings a week plus keep. My father would come up to visit on weekends.

Dad finally got a permanent job at a nut and bolt factory in Leichhardt. He had been an engineer in the merchant navy and was smart, though he struggled with his English. His boss took a liking to him and helped him get a loan from the Bank of New South Wales with 3% reducible interest for a deposit on a little old house down the road. On Easter Thursday, 23.03.51, we moved into our very own home. We were very poor but happy. Mum found a job at the local pharmacy and I was sent to the local Catholic school.

In 1952 a second daughter was born. Mum had bad morning sickness and the chemist told her that a new pill to stop that would be available in two months. By then Mum was over it. The pill was called Thalydomide.

As soon as she was able, Mum resumed work. She got a job down the road at Lewisham Private Hospital and by 1958, my parents had paid off their mortgage.

For us, Australia was a land of hope and great opportunity, especially for those willing to work hard. My parents came across many kind people who helped us through the years on our way to a life of peace and freedom, but it was their hard work and commitment, their aim to be true and loyal Australians, without losing sight of their European culture, that gave them the means to succeed in their adopted country.

My father passed away in 1985. My mother passed away in 2002.

They are survived by me, my two daughters my granddaughter and my sister.

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