Irene Szoeke – the girl who was born in a prison
Fierce Girls
ABC Australia
4.5 • 956 Ratings
🗓️ 21 March 2019
⏱️ 6 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Irene Szoeke had an incredibly tough start to life — she was born in a prison camp during World War II. She was one of the lucky ones — Irene and her family survived the war and later found a home in Australia. As she grew, Irene worked hard and asked big questions. So when an amazing new invention came to her work — a computer — Irene was the perfect person for the job.
Written and narrated by eight-year-old Ariana Szoeke-Campbell.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the story of the girl who was born in a prison. |
| 0:05.0 | This is the story of the girl. |
| 0:10.0 | This is the story of the girl who was born in a prison, Ari and Zaki, written and read by her granddaughter, |
| 0:17.0 | 8-year-old Ariana Zaki Campbell. It was World War II. |
| 0:25.0 | It was World War II. Poland had been invaded by the Germans. |
| 0:30.0 | Many thousands of people were captured and locked up in prison camps. |
| 0:36.0 | In one of these camps was a pregnant woman. |
| 0:39.0 | She was extremely worried about her child being born in such an awful place among death and destruction. |
| 0:46.0 | Just a few days away from giving birth, her husband reassured her. |
| 0:52.0 | We'll be able to take care of our child, he said, |
| 0:55.4 | the war won't stop us from being good parents. |
| 0:58.1 | They had a baby girl, Irene, and they cared for her as best they could but Irene had no |
| 1:04.7 | choice to play with not enough food and little hope for her future. She might as |
| 1:10.4 | well had a sign above her head that said bred in captivity. |
| 1:14.4 | When the war ended things didn't automatically get better. In fact things became more |
| 1:27.4 | complicated. Irene's family was offered safety in a land far far away. |
| 1:32.4 | Australia offered safety in land far far away. |
| 1:33.0 | Australia. |
| 1:34.0 | She was only a toddler and had to spend three months cooped up on the ship. |
| 1:42.0 | It was just like prison camp, only the sea |
| 1:45.0 | signals added to her problems. |
| 1:47.0 | Once I, Eirwin arrived in Australia, it was hot and dry and nothing like the country she had left. |
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