Mara Kolomitsev
| Town/City | Adelaide |
|---|---|
| First name | Mara |
| Last name | Kolomitsev |
| Country of Origin | Latvia |
| Date of Birth | 13.09.1941 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1949 |
| Submitted by | Mara Kolomitsev |
Story
My mother left Latvia when an exodus of people moved to Germany to escape the communist regime.
Too young to recall the journey from Latvia, however the days in the Displaced Persons Camp in Germany was a happy time for me together with my mother, sister and brother. The trip to Australia on the Svalbard in 1949 was exciting for a child. A short period was spent in a transit camp at Bonegilla. Vic., then to Adelaide and placed in the Goodwood Orphanage.
First few weeks spent in a dreamlike fog, surrounded by huge buildings, many girls and ladies covered in black from head to foot, the nun’s faces with gently smiles peered at us from a white starched molded frames. We could not be understood nor could we understand. Learn, conform, obey and assimilate, life in an institution was strict and regimental. Three years passed and the rules and regulations of life continued only within a different setting we were once again together with our mother living in a suburb and part of the community .