Book Description

This book deals with immigration processes of Germans who have arrived in Australia since 1945. It is an attempt to catch the voices of these people, to let them talk about their hopes, aspirations, achievements and disappointments. In 2010 notices were sent out all over Australia, asking Germans (most of them Australians today) to write about their experiences, about challenges and positive happenings. The book contains 28 chapters written by German-born women and men from all walks of life, some came to Australia as children, some as adults, others talk about the lives of their immigrant parents, one person pays tribute to a partner he has lost recently, and who describes her impressions about university life in Germany and in Australia, another person looks back at twenty-three years in Australia and the fine line that divides him and the Australian people. Most, but not all, are success stories. This book also includes three chapters about organisations that provided a buffer zone for new arrivals in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s: Club Harmony of Melbourne, the Club of the Danube Swabians in Adelaide, and the SA German Club. The final chapter is an interview with a person who had to flee Nazi Germany in 1938, with Ernie Salomon.