Anna's Story

I think Anna’s life was hard and I feel very sad for her.
At that time, people found getting food, water, and wood to keep warm hard. They had to line up in queues to try and get supplies.

Sometimes they would have to ask someone for things like
shoes. If they went anywhere, they had to be careful as there
were soldiers everywhere they went. You had to have ID’s as if
you didn’t and they asked you, they would detain you. In the end, they escaped and moved to Austria for 6 months. Then they went to Australia and started a new life and were much happier as they had freedom.

My life is sometimes hard as there is only one income coming in. We have to budget for things like paying for rent, food, water and electricity.
Very rarely we go out as a family, as, after we pay for everything there is not much money left. We have to keep money left over for petrol so my husband can get to work and I need money for the week to get to TAFE.

Generally today, life is easier as there is a lot more information now that we can find on computers but food is very expensive. It costs more now than before so we have to think what to cook each night so we don’t go over budget.

Nowadays, we have machines that wash clothes and ovens for cooking. We also have places like the Salvation Army that help you with your bills and food vouchers.

Joanne




Anna’s story about Hungary
In relation to Anna’s story, I am very sympathetic. When she was a little girl her parents struggled to survive; the demand for food was high. Ordinary people had to stand in a queue in front of the shop for their daily living.
Even though Anna and her parents underwent difficulties, she still showed determination for education, where she gained a Diploma in Instrument Making. On completion, she started to work in Budapest where she met her husband.
Life was a bit better by the time she met her partner. John was trying to join the army with his friend, and later he became an army office. He despised living in a communist country because in the country there was gunfire everywhere. Eventually Anna and her partner, decided to escape by leaving their family, work and belongings. The escape was dangerous because
John disguised himself because he didn’t have an ID. How terrible was that! Anyway, they were lucky to meet a people smuggler on the train and they paid him so he could lead them to freedom where they travelled to Austria and spent six months before coming to Australia as refugees.
In conclusion Anna settled down in Australia and raised her own family and after twenty years, she started to communicate with her remaining relatives back in Hungary which was so sad.

The time rebels attacked my home
Rebels attacked my home town on the 23 October, 1992. Luckily I was waiting for my sister to go to school when we heard a gunshot. Within the winking of an eye everyone was running up and down looking for their children, at the same time the rebels were shooting in all angles.
The parents that went in search of their children found some of them were shot dead by the rebels, and some children were taken away to train to become a rebel. The parents that were captured alive had limbs amputated, their ears were cut off. The rebels put some people in the houses and locked all the doors put fuel on top of the roof and set fire on the house while people were inside the house.
My whole family was unable to take anything from the house; except for our lives, which we thank God for.
Judith