Catherine Gluck was still a young woman when the russion soldiers freed her with other Jews who had survived the hell of the war years in Hungary's capital, Budapest.
She had already suffered every kind of deprivation, insult, agony and fear. She had lost her comfortable home and possessions, her husband was missing, she was penniless, lonely and lost in a Europe in chaos. her only wish was to get to Paris and be united with her brother, Fred, who was an officer in the US Army.
Her odyssey is worthy of a literary work much more prententious than this. In The Girl with Long Hair Catherine Gluck tells her incredible tale in a matter-of-fact fashion, the very realistic attitude that got her past border posts, railway guards, ridiculous bureaucrats, oversized hotel keepers and a night in a hotel room shared with five men all previously unknown. She should have died many times, of bombs, hunger, hatred and disease. But determination kept Catherine alive.
In Australia too she felt the sting of racial prejudice and she is still aware of anti-Jewish sentiment. Yet there is no bitterness in her heart and she cannot understand racial or religious prejudice.
"When one walks around the Botanic Gardens there are all the trees, shrubs and plants of different height, variety int heir leaves, diversity of shades of green. They live next to each other in harmony, peace and flourish. Why can't people do the same?"
Pages of Interest:
- Cirriculum Vitae
- Lifetime Photo Gallery
- Timeline of personal and political events
- Recommended Natural Food Combinations
Project Coordinator: Verithe Luxley
