Wodonga & District Historical Society Inc
Book - The Bonegilla Kid, Stefan Michael Klepiak, 2007
... Immigrant Children Biography... of a child migrant at Bonegilla, Victoria Immigrant Children ...
This biography documents the story of Stefan Michael Klepiak who as a boy between the ages of nine and fifteen years lived at the Migrant Reception Centre at Bonegilla, Victoria. This was from 1957 to 1962 when Australia's post-World War II immigration program was at its peak.
In his own words, young Stefan terrorised the migrants at the Bonegilla migrant camp day and night. The book describes the antics he and other boys at Bonegilla engaged in as they adapted to their new life after fleeing war-torn Europe. Stefan was often unsupervised, played truant from school and crossed the path of the local Wodonga Police. He was a regular guest at the Wodonga jailhouse and became known by the police and magistrates after several court appearances as The Bonegilla Kid.
In the epilogue Stefan acknowledges key people in his life, including two Bonegilla policeman and the Bonegilla Camp Director, who gave "The Bonegilla Kid" the guidance he needed and put him on a positive pathway for the future.
A volume of 57 pages plus an epilogue relating the author's experience at Bonegilla, Victoria.non-fictionThis biography documents the story of Stefan Michael Klepiak who as a boy between the ages of nine and fifteen years lived at the Migrant Reception Centre at Bonegilla, Victoria. This was from 1957 to 1962 when Australia's post-World War II immigration program was at its peak.
In his own words, young Stefan terrorised the migrants at the Bonegilla migrant camp day and night. The book describes the antics he and other boys at Bonegilla engaged in as they adapted to their new life after fleeing war-torn Europe. Stefan was often unsupervised, played truant from school and crossed the path of the local Wodonga Police. He was a regular guest at the Wodonga jailhouse and became known by the police and magistrates after several court appearances as The Bonegilla Kid.
In the epilogue Stefan acknowledges key people in his life, including two Bonegilla policeman and the Bonegilla Camp Director, who gave "The Bonegilla Kid" the guidance he needed and put him on a positive pathway for the future.immigrant children biography, bonegilla migrant reception centre, migrant life australia