In 1939 my father, Richard Przewlocki, was a small boy living peacefully with his family in Dubno, a small town in Eastern Poland. At the beginning of world war 2 Russia invaded Poland and Richard’s father, a policeman, was taken from the family home never to be seen again. Richard, his mother and brother were deported to Siberia to work in forced labour camps. Richard’s little brother died in Siberia of pneumonia and he and his mother  made their way from Siberia to the Ural mountains, Uzbekistan, Iran (then Persia) and eventually to Africa, where they lived for seven years as refugees. 

Richard and his mother eventually found a new home in Australia and started to live a normal life. In his seventies Richard started to write his story down and the memories of the years spent with his mother on a perilous journey came flooding back. 

This year I decided to illustrate Richard’s story  as part of  #the100dayproject on Instagram, combining Richard’s text with my  paintings. This is a small selection of the pictures starting with Richard’s family in Poland and continuing through to him seeking work  as a teenager in Africa.

Julie Delves, September 2018