Harry Wolff
Published on Nov 26, 2015
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
MIGRATION NOTES
Start of migration journey:
Frankfurt, West Germany on 6th December 1966
MIGRATION NOTES
Migrant Accommodation:
Bonegilla for two and half months and a month or two at Villawood, Sydney.
Photo by stevecadman
MIGRATION NOTES
Place/time of arrival:
Sydney, Australia
8th December 1966
Photo by ecstaticist
MIGRATION NOTES
It was during the time of his college course that his parents decided to migrate
Photo by Jonathan Pobre
MIGRATION NOTES
The migration came about when a dear friend of his mothers' married someone who had spent six years in Australia and they decided to come to Australia. Harry's mother did not want to be separated from her and so it was decided that the Wolff family would migrate as well.
Photo by Serge Melki
MIGRATION NOTES
Australia needed skilled migrants at that time and in November of 1966, Harry's family were notified that they were accepted and that they would have to go through all the preparations and be ready to leave in three weeks.
Photo by Hammonton Photography
MIGRATION NOTES
The Wolff family had to have cholera shots as they were all flying over and not coming by ship, as had most of the migrants until then.
Photo by Sprengben [why not get a friend]
MIGRATION NOTES
All they were left with was a suitcase each for his mother and father. Harry had a suitcase and his leather briefcase which contained the records. The records were originally 60 or so in number but the total has decreased over time and now they only have a dozen or so remaining.
MIGRATION NOTES
On the 6th December they were ready to leave and then left Germany at about 5:30 in the morning with about a metre of snow on the ground. At Brachbach statio they caught a train to the nearest city, where Harry's mother's friend’s husband waited in a car to drive them to Cologne, from where the family would fly from Lufthansa to Frankfurt and then to Sydney.
Photo by ecstaticist
MIGRATION NOTES
To Harry, being 17, it was an adventure. The Wolff family stood on the tarmac ready to board the bus that would take them over to the plane. Harry had never been so close to a plane before. In his excitement he dropped his briefcase and the records. Harry's heart dropped, his chin dropped and he just stood there.
MIGRATION NOTES
The plane had stopovers in Karachi, Bangkok and Singapore and from there to Sydney.
The whole flight took them about two and a half days.
MIGRATION NOTES
On the 8th of December the Wolff family was in Sydney.
They were fortunate because the other migrants had to go by train to Albury while Harry and his family did it in style with TAA (Trans Australian Airways).
Photo by bogers
MIGRATION NOTES
From the airport they were taken by bus to Bonegilla, which would have been 10 to 15 kilometres away.
Photo by yewenyi
HOUSES
First home in Australia-
A rental property at Moorebank, SW Sydney.
Photo by brianDhawkins
HOUSES
Bonegilla-
They lived in corrugated iron Nissen huts and Harry thought that they did that on purpose so that the migrants would get out on their own as quickly as possible.
Photo by @Doug88888
HOUSES
They stayed with Father Mica (a priest) for about seven years and then moved to another rental property at Liverpool. From there the Wolff family bought their own house in 1976 in Greystanes (western Sydney).
Photo by yewenyi
HOUSES
When Harry's mother passed away with cancer in 1977, his father put the house on the market and split the money between us.
Harry's wife (who he had met at Ralph Symonds in 1976 and married in 1980) and himself moved back to south-west Sydney where they still live.
Photo by Stuck in Customs
JOBS
First job in Australia-
P&M at Greenacre in SW Sydney, making Italian sausages and salami. Harry later became a foreman.
Photo by Scorpions and Centaurs
JOBS
Harry started his apprenticeship with a locomotive company. It was a commercial course and he went through various departments within the company such as accounting, export and purchasing. The course lasted for three years, after which he could choose which area he wanted to specialise in.
Photo by Ben Grader
JOBS
Harry had found employment at a company in Greenacre (south-west Sydney) called P&M, which is now Primo Smallgoods.
It was an Italian factory that made Italian cured meats.
He commenced straight away and was a basic worker.
They named Harry Armando to Italianise him.
He began by earning a wage of $19 a week. That was in 1967.
Photo by z_fishies
JOBS
Harry worked at P&M for about three years, during the time that he became foreman and then left to go to Ralph Symonds in Homebush Bay (western Sydney). It was a company which manufactured plywood.
Harry's mother and sister both worked there as process workers.
He had bought a car in the meantime so that they could travel to work together.
Photo by Eva the Weaver
JOBS
From Ralph Symonds Harry, his mother and his sister all went to Maxwell House, now Schweppes, in Orange Grove Road, Liverpool (south-west Sydney).
They all later returned to Ralph Symonds where Harry worked in the office as a production planner. He remained there for 13 more years.
Photo by luisete
JOBS
Now, Harry works for another plywood company called Tasmanian Wood Panels which is in Lansvale, but a Melbourne-based company. He is state manager for the company.
Photo by julieabrown1
FAMILY
Harry's father had been in the German Army and had fought in Russia, where he took a bullet to his arm. The bullet remained there until he died in 1989.
Photo by bebouchard
FAMILY
Parents were both German
Two younger sisters
Mother was orphaned and had been raised by nuns in an orphanage and later adopted. She was a kindergarten teacher.
Photo by road_less_trvled
FAMILY
Father’s profession was draftsman/technical designer and he worked for a locomotive company.
Photo by Alison Christine
OTHER
When Harry began training for his first job, his mother gave him a briefcase which has special memories. It is good quality black leather, made in Germany and he used it to carry a thermos and a square plastic box with his lunch in it to work.
OTHER
Food was another thing. It was very strange to them. The Wolff family had so much mutton for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It came in all forms such as roasts, chops and steaks. Harry does not eat mutton now although he does like lamb.
There was sugar galore, sugar everywhere.
Photo by Mykl Roventine
OTHER
Easter day: With the help of Father Mica (the priest), they purchased as much second hand furniture as they needed. Of course all did not go smoothly as the family moved to the house on the understanding that the furniture would arrive the same day. It didn’t and Harry and his family put the stove on, left its door open, and huddled together on the kitchen floor in front of it.
Photo by Arthur40A
OTHER
EASTER DAY: Father Mica (the priest) marched out of the house and returned with about six blankets, an iron and a pot in which they could at least boil an egg. That is how the Wolff family spent their first Easter in Australia.
Photo by Jim Belford
OTHER
Harry's decision was made to stay in Australia but he wanted to become more involved in his heritage and tradition.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/exhibition/belongings/wolff/
Photo by Theresa Thompson
Q: Why, when and how did you come to Australia?
A: He came to Australia on the 6th of December, 1966 by plane.
When a friend of his mother's married someone who had spent six years in Australia, they decided to come to Australia. His mother did not want to be separated from her and so it was decided that Harry's family would migrate as well.
Photo by yewenyi
Q: Where did you originally come from?
A: Harry and his family originally came from Brachbach, Cologne, West Germany
Photo by rr807
Q: What impact did your migration have on you and your family?
A: Migrating to Australia didn't have a big impact on him or his family, but back in Germany it interrupted his college course and he didn't finish it. When they came to Australia the food included a lot of meat and sugar which was completely different from the food in Germany.
Photo by basykes
Q: How long did you live at where you originally came from until you decided to migrated?
A: Harry lived in Germany for 17 years before he migrated to Sydney, Australia.
Photo by KJGarbutt
Q: How long did it take you to migrate?
A: For Harry and his family it only took about two and a half days to get to Australia from Germany.
Photo by Vermin Inc
Q: What was your first job in Australia?
A: P&M at Greenacre in South West Sydney, making Italian sausages and salami
Photo by PAVDW
Q: Where did you live when you first came to Australia?
A: Harry lived at a rental property at Moorebank, South West Sydney.
Photo by nick findley
