On Christmas Day, one hundred years ago…
Dora Greiner (nee Stiebritz) was born on 25 December 1920 in Jena, East Germany.
To keep her company, she had 5 sisters and two brothers – a family of eight. One brother, Ernst, lost his life in the war.
Her father and mother had a medium size Building Company employing around 30 people, and in those days, tradesmen were employed directly.
Dora has lived through the major world depression in early 1930s.
Fortunately, Dora worked for her father in his office.
Dora married Joachim Greiner on 25 April 1942. He was born in West Germany and was an architectural draftsman.
The couple had two children, daughter Rose was born in 1943 and son Roland in 1949.
When World War 2 started in 1939, they lived through many the bombings in Germany.
The Russian military took over their beautiful large family home and property and required the family to live in a small part of the house.
As we all know, Germany lost the war and the spoils of war divided Germany into East and West, with the East taken over by the Russians and the West by USA, UK and France. East Germany became a socialist communist country and soon people started to flee in droves to the West.
This resulted in the major construction of a fortified border ‘no go’ zone dividing both East and West Germany. Many Germans were shot while trying to scale fences from automatic gun fire in the no go zone and by the armed border patrols.
As Dora’s husband was born in West Germany, he had a West German passport, but Dora had the East German passport and could not leave.
With determination and a plan hatched out in secret to sneak out over the border (as one could not trust anyone), Dora began selling what she could over a period of months without attracting attention. She sewed the money into the lining of her jacket for safe keeping.
On a cold snowy late-night, Dora and her sister, Annamarie, quietly crossed one border crossing when the guards changed shifts. They went on to various safe houses, paying for them with the money stitched in her jacket until they reached West Germany, where her husband was waiting.
Luckily, the two children were on his West German passport, as he was born in West Germany and got them out before Dora’s border crossing in 1950.
After five years in West Germany staying with friends in a very small under roof space apartment, the family decided to start a new life and opportunities on the other side of the world. They arrived in Melbourne on 13 January 1955 with a couple of suitcases.
After a few weeks in a migrant accommodation camp, they moved to Adelaide, as they had friends there who also migrated and subsequently found work.
After five odd years of saving heavily for a deposit, they bought the Malvern house that Dora still has now and raised their family.
Dora is liked by all, with a determined tough persona. She is a thoughtful, loving mother, hardworking both at home, and when providing domestic work for the Kidman’s and Balfour’s for around 13 years at Unley Park. She was always there for the family.
Dora lived at her Malvern home until moving to Resthaven in February 1999.
In early October 2020, it was suggested that a medical condition she had was terminal, expected within six days or so. However, she overcame the infection at all odds, and is still with us now.
Dora has four grandchildren, eight great grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren.
She has already received her letter from the Queen and Prime Minister.
Thank you to Roland Greiner for sharing his mother’s story with Resthaven. What a remarkable life! Many happy returns Mrs Greiner!