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How a child refugee came to Australia in 1939

The Dreyfus Family 1940
The Dreyfus Family c,1940. Credit: Photograph supplied by Ella Dreyfus

Every year, millions of people are forced to flee their homes in search of safety. Refugee Week in Australia is always held from Sunday to Saturday in the week which includes 20 June, which is World Refugee Day.


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Source: SBS



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Every year, millions of people are forced to flee their homes in search of safety. Refugee Week in Australia is always held from Sunday to Saturday in the week which includes 20 June, which is World Refugee Day.


In the past decade, the number of people displaced from their homes has more than doubled, from 41 million to 110.3 million (in June 2024).

According to the Red Cross, one in 95 people is now forcibly displaced, an increase from one in 159 in 2010, with the rate of global displacement now outpacing population growth.

But though growing, every generation has its many stories of such refugees.

One such story is Ella Dreyfus' father who was one of 17 children on the Kindertransport voyage to Australia in 1939.

SBS Hebrew talked to Ella about her memories of him.


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