My Parents
 My father, Reinhard Köppen, was born in 1908 in Grünthal, Volhynia, Ukraine. His parents were Friedrich Köppen and Wanda nee Schulz. In the late 1920's, Reinhard together with some friends, fled eastward to China. After 2 years of travel, they arrived in Harbin and soon after, Reinhard travelled further south to Shanghai where he married Eugenie Bonkowsky. When the Japanese bombed Shanghai in August 1937 and destroyed their apartment, Reinhard and Eugenie fled to Hong Kong where their two sons, Edwin and Eugene, were born. During WWII Reinhard was imprisoned for a short period by the Japanese forces and after the war, by the British forces. After WWII, both Reinhard and Eugenie received a special commendation from the Commander of the British Occupation Forces for humanitarian work in Hong Kong POW camps. In 1950, the Koeppen family emigrated to Australia and established their home in the Sydney suburb of Hurstville. Reinhard was an expert sausage maker, a skilled tailor, a very capable cook and gardener. He had little formal education but could speak German, Russian and English fluently and had a good understanding of Cantonese. Reinhard died in 1977 and Eugenie in 1984 and both were buried in the MacQuarie Park Cemetery, North Ryde, Sydney, NSW. The sons and their families reside in Sydney, NSW, Australia.
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 My mother, Eugenie Koeppen nee Bunkowski, was born in 1915 in Blumenthal, Volhynia, Ukraine. Her parents were Wilhelm Bonkowsky (originally Bunkowski) and Bertha nee Freigang. At first they lived on a farm in Blumenthal and later in Pulin. After fleeing Volhynia in the late 1920’s with her parents, brother and sisters, Eugenie lived in Harbin, China until about 1935 when she headed south to Shanghai and married Reinhard Köppen. They fled to Hong Kong in 1937 and emigrated to Australia in 1950. Eugenie died in 1984 and Reinhard in 1977.
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For family history enquiries, write to: [email protected] This page was updated on November 11, 2006
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