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This is a narrative of my mother's extraordinary life, portraying her qualities of resilience, fortitude and love. Born into a farming family of modest means she was descended from German migrants from Swabia who occupied the fertile area around Djakovo in Croatia. These "Danube Swabians" steadfastly maintained their language and cultural identity while also adopting the local language and customs. She married into a wealthy ethnic German family but she and her husband suffered mistreatment at the hands of her domineering mother-in law, who was extremely manipulative.

Tragically widowed with two young children under the age of three, she made a difficult and dangerous journey in a small convoy of horse-drawn wagons through Hungary, enduring strafing and bombing by aircraft before reaching the relative safety of a small Austrian village in the state of Salzburg. After spending time in refugee camps in Italy, then migration to Australia and life in Australian migration camps, her story culminates with the family's integration into Australian life, and after financial struggles and sacrifice, ultimately achieving financial security. She had fulfilled her promise to her children that "one day we will have a 'proper' home".

Published privately in paperback in 2023. 371 pages, with family chart, photographs. Indexed

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