The pain of being forcibly taken from her parents at just four years old is still raw for Aunty Adelaide Wenberg.
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"I never knew my people and I never even knew my mother. I can't remember her," the Bundjalung woman said.
She spent the next decade at Cootamunda Girls Home where she was trained for domestic service. While there, Adelaide personally experienced and witnessed every form of abuse imaginable - and remembers every detail.
"What happened was no joke," she said.
One evening at the home, Adelaide was happily singing in the bath when a "dreadful" officer whipped her with a cat of nine tails.
"And did it hurt ... I lost my kidney over it," Adelaide said.
"The board got rid of her (the officer) because the matron who was there told her 'these girls are not criminals, they were taken from their parents'."
Adelaide said she often tried to run away while living at Cootamundra in NSW's South West Slopes, but always got caught by the "coppers".
On one of those occasions Adelaide said one pulled out his penis and said "I'll give you two pounds if you touch it".
"I was shocked. I was only 15," she said.
"When we got back to the home I ran to the matron and told her what happened.
"The matron didn't believe a word I said and before long I was shipped out to work in Cowra(in NSW's Central West) for the manager of the Aboriginal Mission."
Adelaide went on to work as a 'domestic' for 43 years and now lives an independent life in Wollongong, in NSW's Illawarra region.
"I'm happy down here in my little house," she said.
Now, the details of her harrowing past have all been recorded in a book titled Cootamunda Girl to be launched this weekend.
Taking five years for Cordeaux Heights author Julie-Anne Jones to write after the pair gathered weekly over tea, Adelaide said it's a "nerve-wracking" moment for her story to be out in the open.
But she said it's important people know the full truth of Australia's history.
"You can't pretend these things didn't happen, because it did," Adelaide said.
"It was a long time ago, but my memory is still sharp and I will never forget and I will never forgive.
"At least I know I'll have it all off my chest, so a lot of it feels like a big relief."
Julie-Anne felt compelled to tell Adelaide's story after meeting over a decade ago at a community church.
"I became drawn into her story and one day she said 'I should write this all down' and that was just ringing in my head. It did need to be written down," Julie-Anne said.
"I gained the courage and asked her if I could and she didn't hesitate."
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The pair worked together closely and Julie-Anne became inspired by Adelaide's fortitude and strength.
"She remembers every detail and she's sharply intelligent," Julie-Anne said.
"She had this incredible sense of self from a really young age she had and she really trusted her instincts.
"I also wanted her to be 100 per cent in control of what got written about her after all her control was stolen."
Julie-Anne is thrilled to be launching Cootamunda Girl alongside Adelaide at Wollongong City Library this Saturday, December 10 at 11am.
