Helga Prenzel's life story 1/3: On the refugee treck in the cold winter of 1945

Helga Prenzel was born in 1933 in what was then Warschau, now Wroclaw, Poland. Together with her family, she made her way west in an open horse carriage in the cold winter of 1945. The Prenzels were shot at by the Americans, spend the night in a minefield and were on the road for a total of 10 months until they finally settled in Bielefeld.

Millionen von Menschen waren 1945 auf der Flucht Source: Getty Images

In a three-part radio series, Helga tells us her life story, which later led her to Australia. I visited her in Albion Park, NSW, where her father and later her brother found work in the Wollongong steelworks in the 1950s. Today Helga has 4 children, 8 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren, all of whom live near her on the south coast of NSW.

Helga Prenzel im März 2020 Source: Trudi Latour

Ein Teil von Helga Prenzels Familie Source: Trudi Latour