My Family's Journey to Australia after WWII

My Family's Journey to Australia after WWII

Registration for this event opens on 19 May, 2025

Presenter: Lis Barbaresco

My father, Laszlo (Leslie) Palko, grew up with modest means as his father had died when he was very little. When he was 16 years old he joined the Hungarian Air Force.

Laszlo eventually met and married a divorcee who already had a child and consequently was excommunicated from the Catholic Church.

During the war he was a Fighter Pilot so when the Russian army arrived in Hungary it was no longer safe for the family to stay. If Laszlo had been caught he surely would have been interrogated, tortured and then shot.

They hurriedly left Hungary in 1945, initially to Austria and then Bavaria (Germany) where they were incarcerated by the Americans. At the end of the war the gates were flung open and they were free to go.

The family of seven lived in one upstairs room in the nearby village until they migrated to Australia in 1949.

Event Manager:  Judith Foley

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