During the war my father, Johannes (Jan) Beek, was a welder for Fokker Aircraft, assembling aircraft for the occupying German military. Like many in post-war Europe, my parents started to consider emigration to the New World!  My father had no English but my mother at least had studied English at school. I was 8 and in 3rd class at primary school; my brother, Hajo, was 6 and in second class.

On the 20 July 1950 we started our immigration adventure. We arrived at Fremantle, Australia, on the 7September, but we (randomly) chose Sydney as our final destination.

The document below tells you how our lives in Australia unfolded.

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