50 Years of Silence

“50 Years of Silence” shows how a suburban grandmother changed recorded history and became an inspiration to others through her faith courage and inner strength. Between 1929 and 1945 the Japanese government , on advice from its military, forcibly removed thousands of young women and girls from their homes to provide sexual services to the Japanese army. Jan Ruff-O´Herne, now naturalized Australian was one of these women. This is her story. The film spans five generations from a colonial life in Java, recorded on old home movies, through the war to a new start in England as a young bride and her migration, with her family, to Australia. This program was shown in prime time in the true stories slot, Sunday, October 2nd, 1994 at 8:30 p.m. The program generated huge media response and viewers reaction was voted best documentary in the Australian Film Institute Awards on 4th November 1994.