General News
15 July, 2024
Else Polack farewelled
The Lord's prayer was recited in German at the funeral of Else Polack (née Florian), who passed away at Dimboola District Hospital nursing home, aged 92.
Else was born in 1932 in Gelsenkirchen, Essen, Germany, and was the second child of Emil and Martha Florian who ran a small grocery store until the outbreak of World War II.
Else had an older brother, Horst, and a younger sister, Christel, and the family were faithful Christians who loved to sing hymns as Mr Florian played the pedal organ accompanied by Horst on the violin or trumpet.
Else achieved good school results, but the impact of war was felt in Essen as the local Krupp steel factory was a major target for Allied bombing raids.
She quickly learned how to react to air raid alarms, preparing buckets and mops to put out the phosphorus fires, and fitting her gas mask.
Frequently, Else took cover in shelters during the aerial bomb attacks, and once, found an Allied airman hiding in a garden shed nearby.
Horst was called up for the German regular army when 16 and later led a Flak 88-gun crew.
In 1943, as the bombings increased, Else was part of the Kinderlandverschickung - the forced relocation of children to what was known then as Czechoslovakia.
The vision of her grieving mother waving goodbye remained with Else for all of her life, but later, on a trip home, Else's father defied the authorities and kept her with them.
Horst survived his war experiences and returned, bedraggled and skinny, but alive.
After the war, food restrictions remained and Else's father grew vegetables to feed the family.
Else was confirmed in 1946 in Essen-Steele Lutheran Church. She returned to school, learning English and some French, and in 1949 received her leaving certificate, before going on to work in a shoe shop.
Else married her first husband Günter Schröder in 1952 in Essen-Kray, and had a daughter with him, Ulrike (Riki), but conditions in Germany were difficult and exciting opportunities were on offer elsewhere, so in 1960 the family set off for Australia where there was a shortage of skilled workers.
After a round of sad goodbyes, the family began the long voyage, suffering sea sickness along the way, while taking English lessons and watching films about Australia.
The family's first home was at Bonegilla migrant camp near Albury, but they moved to Sydney after Günter, a fitter and turner, found a job there.
They lived frugally and attended a German-speaking church nearby.
Günter gained employment on the Snowy Mountains Scheme and the family moved to Cooma.
Else worked in Woolworths selling make-up, then as a copy typist, and later as a property manager.
By this stage, the family could afford a car, and in 1961, they moved to Melbourne where they built friendships with other German migrants and attended a German Lutheran church.
However, the hot summers proved challenging for them, and in 1963, homesick, the family migrated back to Germany.
They didn't stay long though and soon returned to Australia.
On March 4 1966 tragedy struck when 36-year-old Günter was killed in a car accident.
Else continued to help manage the construction company of their friend Heinz Gerlach, and while at a Lutheran conference in Horsham, she met Katyil farmer and Dimboola Shire councillor Les Polack.
Les and Else married on September 9, 1967, and Else was pleasantly surprised to discover that many residents in the Katyil community spoke German.
Else’s parents made the long trip to Australia for the couple's wedding at the German Lutheran Church, Parliament Place, East Melbourne.
For the next 33 years Else lived on the farm, joined in at the Lutheran churches in Katyil, Dimboola and Warracknabeal, and taught religious education.
In 1970, the couple welcomed their son, Matthew, and in 1985, after the sudden death of Else’s brother-in-law Ivan and his wife Coral in an accident, the Polacks took in their orphaned nephew and niece, John and Carolyn.
The Polacks eventually retired to Horsham.
Riki married Dr Robert Crookshank in 1987, and in 2008 Matthew married Kate Smith.
Else's grandchildren, Annika, Hannah, Jonty and Jude, were born, and both she and Les took great pleasure in spoiling them.
Les Polack passed away last year on March 3 after suffering a massive stroke.
As Else’s health deteriorated, she found she was unable to remain living at home so moved into care at Dimboola hospital where she remained until she passed away on June 11.
Pastor Levi Graham led a service in Dimboola St Peter's Lutheran Church on June 21 before Else's burial in Dimboola Cemetery.