Stasia Dabrowski interviewed by Barry York in the Polish Australians oral history project [sound recording]

Stanislawa (Stasia) Dabrowski, social worker born in Poland in 1926 talks about her childhood memories of Poland; her migration to Canberra and her 'soup kitchen' work; the suffering in her life and her compassion for underprivileged people; the activities against Poles in south-eastern Poland carried out by Ukrainian Fascists in 1935; the impact of the German invasion (1939) on her and her parents; her attitude to religion; her role in saving the lives of a large group of Russian women and children; Poland after the War; her schooling under the Germans; her sister's involvement with the partisans during the War; her working life and training as a nurse; migrating to Canberra, Australia in 1964 with husband and Polish-born son; her early settlement experiences; her son's schooling in Canberra, her attitude to narcotics; the origin of the 'soup kitchen' in Canberra's civic centre; her attitude to drug addicts; Kate Carnell; her attitude to pharmaceuticals and to Nature; her sense of identity today.