Ella Hart – Year 9

Last week, in our Year 9 Slavery (עבדות) Responsibility (אחריות) and Freedom (חירות) Jewish Studies class, we had the honour of hearing from Uncle Paul Whitton and Auntie Lesley Franks. With the help of Dr. Ari Lander, they shared their stories as children of the Stolen Generations. This closely related to our semester topic about physical (שעבוד הגוף) and psychological slavery (שעבוד הנפש) and Jewish values, such as being an upstander (איש) and fighting for justice (צדק).

Paul explained to us what he had gone through. From the age of only four, he and his twin brother Pete, were kidnapped from his family, and taken to Kinchela Boys Home. I thought that this certainly would have been both physical and psychological enslavement for him. Paul was forced into heavy physical labour, but at the same time he was brought into a lot of violence at such a young age while having no contact with his family, which had a great impact on his mental health.

Lucinda Labi – Year 9

Sharing his story with us and others and by having the courage to speak up has enabled him to be more free. In addition to this it has also helped to educate people like us about a really important issue and teach us and others how this slavery continues to affect the lives of these individuals who are now adults.

Lesley’s father was also taken to Kinchela Boys Home when he was very young and experienced the same brutal experience as Paul. This motivated her to help educate other people on the slavery that Aboriginal people experienced. She told us about how Aboriginal children from as young as 13 years old were forced to do intense labour work for farms, without being paid. 

Hearing from Paul and Lesley gave us an insight into the history of slavery in Australia and helped us understand different ways for people to overcome slavery. It was really shocking to hear that things like this happened, especially to young children and it was amazing how both of them were able to share their stories with us. We are very grateful to be able to hear and learn from them.

By Ella Hart and Lucinda Labi, Year 9