Guest Speaker Ivan Bozanic Draft 2 Ivan’s wife, children and grand-children insisted he write a book so that his entire family would know his story of where he came from before arriving in Australia at the age of 17 in October 1949. He wrote his autobiography titled, ‘Before and After Bonegilla.’ Prior to WW2 Bonegilla was a huge army training centre; it is situated near the Snowy Mountains in the Albury Wodonga area. In 1948 it was converted into a migrant centre to accommodate refugees from Europe. Ivan came from the Dalmatian Island Vis, formerly Yugoslavia, now Croatia; it is about 73 nautical miles from the coast of Italy. The Bozanics were one of the earliest families on the island. Italy occupied the island in WW2; Germany occupied …show more content…
On the night of the evacuation there was a terrible storm. On the boat everyone was seasick, to go to the toilet was too dangerous in the rough conditions, people were sick where they were, the stench was terrible. When they arrived in Italy they were about 70 kilometres from the front line. They were then placed on a train, after travelling about 50 minutes the train stopped and they started going backwards. They ended up in a railway yard with nothing to eat or drink for two days, they were starving when they got on the boat and anything in their stomachs was evacuated due to sea sickness, they were barely alive, there were some deaths on the train. Ivan’s sister had a young baby who continually cried, this possibly saved their lives as the police came to investigate. After they had been fed and cleaned they were on their way again, this time they went to what used to be a prisoner of war camp in Sicily, there were double rows of bard wire all around, here they stayed for two days. They were then taken to Egypt by ship, on the way Ivan’s sister contacted typhus, she was removed from the ship as soon as they arrived in Port Said. They continued to the Red Sea to a place called El Kharatha from here they were taken by truck to El Shatt, this was a terrible place. The heat reached 50 degrees, the sand storms and flies were shocking. The little food they were given was not nutritious, soon there was a measles epidemic, children with complication from the measles died by the hundreds. Ivan had the measles but he was one of the lucky ones who survived as did his sister who contacted typhus. A cemetery was built on that desolate desert, this cemetery contains 865 graves, later a 6 metre statue was erected, and this is meticulously maintained by Croatia. They endured living in tents for five long years in the Sinai
It could have been handled differently or in a better fashion and it is sad that so many had to face hardship during that time. Nevertheless, there is always pressure and tension during times of war and that must be considered when viewing a moment in history such as
They had 12,000 soldiers and, by the December 23 2,898 soldiers are Ill (Doc A ). I am still alive thank the lord. I don’t know If I will make it out alive and not sick. General George has called for a meeting today most of our contracts are almost finished and we can go back home. I feel bad for General George though he has been convincing us to stay with him ( Doc B ).
Their cities were being bombed and they were surrounded at all sides. What was considered the worst part of the whole matter was the fact that instead of dropping the atomic bombs on military bases, they were dropped on cities, and in turn, civilians. It heavily frowned upon in war to target civilians and is considered unethical and immoral to target innocent
¨This operation is the biggest evacuation in military history that has ever been recorded, earning the campaign the nickname of the ´Miracle of Dunkirk´¨ (Dunkirk Evacuation Ends). This shows me that the citizens of Dunkirk did everything they could to save their troops. Also the Miracle of Dunkirk is the best thing that happened for the troops of Dunkirk. ¨The evacuation wouldn't have happened without the help of the hundreds of fishing boats, pleasure yachts, lifeboats, ferries and other civilian ships that came in all sizes¨ (Dunkirk Evacuation Ends). This shows me that the evacuation of Dunkirk was the top priority for the citizens and would do anything to save their troops.
It was an overwhelming, shocking, horrendous, scary time where this all took place at the time. The United States was filled with sadness, sorrow, fear and anger. There were many who were affected by this tragic
I hate that they had to go through all this trouble and pain, just to get a small meal. It was very dangerous, because smugglers were usually shot on the spot. The rations that they got were only “10% of the human necessity.” But little did they know, their bad situation, which was already killing many of them off, was about to get a lot
“He stopped sawing. ‘Friends? Your friends? ... If you lock them together in a room with no food for a week... ...
When individuals are put into a position of responsibility, they often work towards regaining hope in themselves and others which provides a sense of tranquility and motivation to rival negative forces. In “The Cellist of Sarajevo” two characters directly strive towards finding peace and motivation to help their city, being put into this position of great responsibility they both find motivation in their self and others to strive toward finding freedom and hope through a time of disaster. When the city of Sarajevo is under siege, being rampantly destroyed by the “Men in the hills”, the psychological and physical effects becomes apparent when 22 lives are lost in a single event. When these two characters, “The Cellist” and “Alisa” are put
They then started walking to a refugee camp in Ethiopia, where they stayed until the Communists overthrew the government in 1991 and forced the young boys to leave at gunpoint. Chased by Ethiopian government tanks and armed militia, the boys frantically tried to cross the River Gilo, where thousands drowned, were eaten by crocodiles or shot. Evaluation: This site wouldn’t be the site you rely on. A negative of this site that it doesn’t give you any links.
Citizens were treated terribly, plucked of the streets, taken to camps. If you were taken by the government, it was possible that you would be tortured, put in a prison camp, or just outright killed. Because of the details revealed about the violations of human rights, the gravity of the atrocities committed was not forgotten. It is ensured by the United Nations, that an event with the level of mistreatment such as this, will never happen
They only had a few belongings and when all of their outside life was ripped away from them, they just saw the camp and not the world beyond. It caused them to have no hope of escape. They also were losing hope that the Americans would be able to come to save them as an American airship had passed over them multiple times but could not see them. “Oh God, God, an American plane!’... The bomber had simply passed over Tokyo” (184).
Many people took clothing and family photos. The Germans had taken all of their valuable items. Some people had buried them but others had them taken away. The journey to the camp was horrible. People were loaded up animals and given little to nothing to eat and drink.
One point POWS would go through an insect infection where they would itch all night for many nights. In the book it states that many POWS died. The reason for this is that there was no medical care. POWS would have to just hope that they would be able to survive until the end. POWS needed medical care because many POWS would be seriously ill and have serious injuries that simply weren’t cured
Eventually, Louis airplane will go down and he will embark on a long enduring journey through the perils of the ocean and abuse by Japanese military officials. Until his liberation many years later Louis body experienced extreme mental and physical torture. Louis Zamperini’s heroic journey is a beacon of light among the many tragedies of World War
He survives a train ride because he eats snow from the roof, he becomes friends with a Polish guard because he teaches him to speak English, and he teaches himself how to mend shoes and becomes the official cobbler of the camp. He is always thinking about the next step towards survival. The author respects this quality in his father but is also critical of how it has shaped Vladek into a very compulsive