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Autobiography/Memoir
Not Forgotten
Samilya Bjelic
2021
Not Forgotten: They called me Number 10 at Neekol Orphanage is the story of Samilya Bjelic who in 1954 was left by her recent migrant parents at St Joseph's Neerkol orphanage, near Rockhampton, Queensland.
The book was written with the help of Anne Moorhouse, a psychologist.
Samilya was at the orphanage - well known now as a place where nuns regularly inflicted brutal punishments on children - from age 2 for 8 years. She was then returned to her mother where the trauma continued.
Samilya became friends with Anne and began recounting her story. By telling Samilya's story in Not Forgotten, Anne says she is speaking for others too who have felt silenced by horrific experiences.
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