Maria Slavensky was born on December 1, 1923 in Chuguev, Russia.

A long-haired girl, she milked the family’s cow every day.

Leaving school at 16, the Germans put her to work in an ammunition factory. Able to speak seven languages, she become a Nurses Aid.

In 1949 Maria, her husband and first child Victor, boarded a Red Cross ship from Naples, Italy to Sydney and was then transferred to a detention centre in Bathurst.

Upon release, they went to Westmead where Maria converted a chicken hatchery shed into a place to live.

Purchasing half an acre of land on Hammers Road, Northmead, they built a little two-room garage house with an outhouse, later extending to include a bath/laundry, a room for the two boys and a large shed.

Maria had three more children: Maria in 1950, Peter in 1953 and Sonia in 1955.

With the children's help, Maria produced and grew food on their land.

A vegie patch, including salad items, rhubarb for pie, apricot, plum, mulberry trees to eat and for jams and a cow, goat, geese, chooks also played a part in the home food chain.

For over twenty years Maria worked at the Fish and Chip shop in Wentworthville and Lalor Park, sending money back to her parents in Russia for them to purchase wood for the fire and a jacket for her father.

In 1986, given the opportunity to sell Hammers Road and afford a four-bedroom family home, Maria moved to Dubbo.

In 2022 Maria moved into Orana Gardens, Dubbo.

Five generations later, Maria's family has grown tenfold, 4 Children, 10 Grand Children, 12 Great Grand Children and 4 Great, Great Grand Children.

WORDS provided by Maria's family