For Halifax resident Barbara Dolby, her life story is a powerful reminder of resilience and survival, rooted in one of history’s darkest chapters. Born in 1946 in the Glyn-Hughes Hospital at Bergen-Belsen, Barbara’s earliest years unfolded in the aftermath of the Holocaust.
The hospital, established by British forces to treat survivors of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, became Barbara’s first home after her birth. British troops had liberated the camp on 15 April 1945, but the horrors endured by its victims, including Barbara’s parents, left lasting scars.
Barbara’s Romanian father was conscripted to fight for the Germans, while her German-Polish mother was imprisoned in Bergen-Belsen. Barbara recounts the harrowing stories her mother still shares.
“They shaved the people’s heads. They told them they’d got to go for a shower, and they had trap doors underneath the floor. They just fell down, and they killed them,” Barbara said.
“They also gassed them, and then they took them away and burnt them. They could smell the burning bodies.”
In 1948, after suffering from carbon dioxide poisoning, Barbara was discharged from the hospital. When her father returned, the family faced a crossroads: they were given the choice of relocating to either Australia or Brazil. In 1950, they boarded the S.S. Amarapoora and arrived in Newcastle, New South Wales, eventually settling in Brisbane.
Barbara began working at the young age of 14, starting as a machinist in the Valley.
“I started off as a machinist in the Valley when I was 14. That’s what my first job was, and I stayed there until I was married,” she said.
Over the years, Barbara’s career evolved.
“I worked a glass and aluminium trade in Cairns; I used to do door frames and windows for housing. We would have gone to Cairns in 1980, and that was when it was still nice, and then it got too big for us,” she said.
Eventually, Barbara and her family moved to Hinchinbrook, where she continues to reside today.
From her beginnings in a hospital for Holocaust survivors to building a life in Australia, Barbara’s story is one of incredible endurance and determination—a journey that bridges history and hope.
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