This episode introduces us to Guta Goldstein. A Jewish Holocaust survivor in her 90s who was born in Poland, Guta came to Australia as a nineteen year old, one of the last surviving members of her family. She now lives in Melbourne.
After spending the post-war years in Italy, Guta and her
remaining cousin migrated to Australia, where she met her husband, had children, and rebuilt her life. Finding work, coming to understand Australian culture, and the process of discovering herself as a writer later in life, provide the contours of Guta’s story. Ultimately, for Guta, being stateless is “a terrible thing”. And through her words we learn what that can mean.
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Being Stateless is a podcast about people in Australia who
have been stateless. About their memories, experiences, and histories.
Across a series of oral history interviews, Jordana Silverstein – a historian and descendant of stateless refugees – has brought together people living in Australia who share stories, insights, knowledge and experiences of statelessness.
In this podcast series, join Jordana and the interviewees to
learn about how we can understand and describe statelessness, citizenship, and what it means to belong somewhere.
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This episode was created, recorded and produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders, past and present. Sovereignty has never been ceded. This always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We are grateful to First Nations writers, activists, scholars and artists from across the continent, from whom we continue to learn so much.
This podcast comes from the Peter McMullin Centre on
Statelessness and is funded in part by the Australian Research Council. Michael Green was the Story Editor and it was produced by Greta Robenstone.
