In Retrospect of Another Time

The Second World War has greatly disrupted the lives of the Transylvanian Saxon people. Counted as German nationals for hundreds of years, they are now banefully punished for being on the wrong side of humanity. Young Johann fears for his life and successfully escapes from Communist Romania. In the American military zone in Austria, he finds security, but not an inspiring future of the kind he had hoped for. He teams up with a Viennese friend, who invites him to accompany him to Italy. They plan to stow away on a ship to the United States and find a more secure future. They cross the Alps on foot in midwinter. In Trento they are arrested as illegal immigrants and transported to an internment camp on the island of Lipari. After some six month, the IRO assists John to immigrate to Australia, where he determinedly and successfully integrates into the Australian community. He undertakes suitable education that enables him to work in various employment situations, including in Commonwealth departments in Canberra. After retirement, John settles on a bush block, which he develops into a viable small grazing property. Health issues forces him to give up physical work, but he embarks on writing his autobiography. He has reached his mideighties and looks back on his achievements.

The early days of 1972 profoundly affected my life. Unexpectedly and prematurely, at forty-one years of age, I became another sufferer of coronary heart disease. In time, the inner wounds healed sufficiently for me to rejoin the workforce and continue life in a manner that accommodated a newfound attitude: to learn to live with my new destiny. I aggressively persevered, pretentiously concealing the psychological injury life had dealt me so harshly. I carried no guilt. I had always treated everyone with respect, even if I had not always been given the same in return. I thought I had been good to my family and had behaved soberly. So why had I been punished in this way? Perhaps these thoughts were whiffs of self-condemnation.