Rasa has worked out that Juozas Abromaitis is the middle of the three men in the photograph sent by her grandfather Adomas Ivanauskas from Australia. The photo was most likely taken during some Lithuanian gathering or celebration, since all the men in the photo look Lithuanian. Therefore, she was interested to find out more about this man and his fate.
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| From the left, Julius, now known to be Julius Petkinis, his wife-to-be, Barbara, Juozas Abromaitis, Adomas Ivanauskas' girlfriend, Beryl, and Adomas, Rasa's grandfather Source: Private collection |
Juozas was born on 5 January 1913 in the town of Krosna in Lithuania, making him one of the older men on the USAT General Stuart Heintzelman, already aged 34. His parents were workers, Jonas Abromaitis and the former Ieva Adinaviciute.
In the Marijampole church on 16 may 1936, Juozas married Albina Dulskyte. The record states that both were workers living in Marijampole. During 1939-1944, Juozas Abromaitis worked in a brick factory in Marijampole.
On 27 September 1944, he was caught by the Germans while walking along a street in Marijampole and taken to Germany to dig trenches. This is action is an example of what is summarised as "forcibly evacuated by the Germans" in the record of his interview by the selection team for Australia in October 1947.
During 1945 he lived in Dresden, moving to Kassel during 1946.
While Juozas was in Germany, he tried to find his wife, relatives and friends. We know this from an advertisement in the newspaper Ziburiai on 18 May 1946, which said in Lithuanian, "Abromaitis Juozas, Kassel Oberzwehren, Mattenberg Camp, is looking for his wife Albina, brother-in-law Kulbokas Stasys and acquaintances."
He left Bremerhaven for Australia with 842 other Baltic refugees on the USAT General Stuart Heintzelman on 30 October 1947, arriving in Australia on 28 November 1947.
The Adelaide Mail newspaper of 14 February 1948 said "Sixty-five eager young Baltic migrants camped in a paddock at Bedford Park are waiting for responsible authorities to teach them. Only two men could speak English well. Camp interpreter Olaf Aerfeld said, 'The boys would like to mix with people and become Australians some day, but most are young and very shy. The language difficulty is stopping them from meeting Australians'."
Another report in the Mail one week later said, "While nothing was done officially this week to help the Balts, private citizens called on the strangers in their Bedford Park camp, invited them to their homes, offered to help teach them English. They agreed to take 30 Balts in the first class at the Teachers Training College, and to arrange more than one night class a week if necessary. Mr. Ashton said Engineering and Water Supply Department engineers had been trying to improve the Balts knowledge of English by mixing them with Australian workers, and some already had a smattering of the language."
These newspaper reports show that not knowing the language was a big problem for the Balts. Juozas Abromaitis was one of those who had a hard time learning English. On 5 April 1949, the Mount Gambier Border Watch newspaper carried an article headed Town Too Strange, about Juozas Abromaitis.
"The bearded stranger who solemnly walked along Mount Gambler's Commercial Street yesterday spoke three languages but none of them English and so he found the town 'too strange'. His name was Juozas Abromaitis, a 37-years-old Lithuanian who had come to Australia from Java and had arrived in Mount Gambier on Sunday. He speaks Russian, Polish and Lithuanian, but when addressed in English or French shyly turns his head to one side and murmurs, 'No understand'. Juozas Abromaitis has come to the South East to work with CF Duncan and Co, (who ran a timber mill producing match sticks from pine logs) at Nangwarry, but does not know how long he will stay there. He thinks he will go to America.“
His arrival from Java must have been a reporter‘s mistake because Juozas did not know how to explain himself well.
An Alien Registration card from the South Australian Department of Immigration officre says that Juozas was released for his contract to work in Australia on the new date decreed by the Minister for Immigration, 30 September 1949. The first employment recorded on this card is not with CF Duncan and Co but Australian Berry Baskets, also of Nangwarry. That is the only employer recorded for the next 4 years, when Commonwealth Railways at Port Augusta gets mentioned.
He may have moved to western Victoria for a short while, since both Portland Junction and Wannan are written on the card, in the same handwriting as the name of another First Transport man, Albertas Gedutis. There are no dates for this record, but it was after August 1951 and before September 1953.
The Port Augusta record is from November 1953. Juozas was in Whyalla in May 1954, recorded as living at H27, SMQ. That set of initials stood for Single Men‘s Quarters. Exactly 10 years later, the address becomes H27, Tanderra Hostel, so it looks like a change of name rather than a change of address. BHP Whyalla has been recorded as the employer against the 1964 address. BHP Whyalla appears against a 1967 record foer the same residential address.
Juozas did not go to the USA but acquired Australian citizenship on 15 May 1968. His address at that time was still H27, Tanderra Hostel.
He died only 4 years later, on 18 August 1972, and is buried in the Whyalla Cemetery. The South Australian Government‘s Births, Deaths, Marriages Website cannot find a death certificate for him. He was aged 59 at the time and had been working as a labourer for the previous 24 years, so we have to assume that the cause of death was natural causes and lots of hard work.
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| Juozas Abromaitis' grave marker in the Whyalla Cemetery probably was purchased by friends from the Tanderra Hostel or his work, but now is rusted beyond recognition Source: FindAGrave photograph by Rosie |
Sources
Border Watch (1949) 'Town too strange', Mount Gambier, 5 April, p 1 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/78629466 accessed 2 August 2025.
Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (1968) 'Certificates of Naturalization as Australian Citizens' Canberra, 22 August, page 4717 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/241058110 accessed 2 August 2025.
ePaveldas, 'Krosnos RKB gimimo metrikų knyga' ['Krosna RKB birth registry book', in Lithuanian] [Juozas Abromaitis' birth record is number 3, p 453.] https://www.epaveldas.lt/preview?id=1470%2F1%2F3 accessed 1 August 2025.
Find a Grave, 'Juozas Abramaitis (sic)' https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/223298825/juozas-abramaitis accessed 2 August 2025.
Lithuanian State Historical Archives, ‘Marijampolės RKB santuokos metrikų knyga' ['Marijampole RKB marriage registry book', in Lithuanian] [Juozas Abromaitis' marriage record is 56, p 31] https://eais.archyvai.lt/repo-ext-api/share/?manifest=https://eais.archyvai.lt/repo-ext-api/view/289271690/298053012/lt/iiif/manifest&lang=lt&page=31 accessed 1 August 2025.
National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, Central Office; A11772, Migrant Selection Documents for Displaced Persons who travelled to Australia per General Stuart Heintzelman departing Bremerhaven 30 October 1947, 1947-1947; 513, ABROMAITIS Juozas DOB 5 January 1913, 1947-1947, recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5005753 accessed 2 August 2025.
National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, South Australia Branch; D4881, Alien registration cards, alphabetical series, 1946-1976; ABROMAITIS JUOZAS, ABROMAITIS Juozas - Nationality: Lithuanian - Arrived Fremantle per General Stuart Heintzelman 28 November 1947, 1947-1968, recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7183234 accessed 2 August 2025.
National Archives of Australia: Department of Labour and National Service, Central Office; MT29/1, Employment Service Schedules, 1947-1950; 21, Schedule of displaced persons who left the Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla Victoria for employment in the State of South Australia 1948-1950 (page 106) https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=23150376 accessed 2 August 2025.
National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947 - 1956; ABROMAITIS JUOZAS, ABROMAITIS, Juozas : Year of Birth - 1913 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN HEINZELMAN : Number – 888, 1947-1948 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8119310 accessed 2 August 2025.
Mail (1948) 'Balts Feel Free After Prison Camp Horrors', Adelaide, 10 January p 3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/55903813 accessed 2 August 2025.
Mail (1948) 'No English Lessons For Eager Young Balts', Adelaide, 14 February, p 24 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/55909057 accessed 2 August 2025.
Mail (1948) 'English Classes For Balts Arranged', Adelaide, 21 February, page 24 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/55905295 accessed 2 August 2025.
'Personal file of ABROMAITIS, JUOZAS, born on 5-Jan-1913, born in KROSNA Arolsen', 3.2.1/DocID: 78864234/ITS Digital Archive, Arolsen Archives https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/search/person/78864232?s=abromaitis&t=2815320&p=1 accessed 1 August 2025.
Unearth Whyalla 'Cemetery Search' https://www.whyalla.sa.gov.au/services/community-facilities/cemetery/cemetery-search?action=grave&id=614811 accessed 2 August 2025.
Ziburiai (1946), 'Paieškojimai' ['Searches', in Lithuanian] Augsburg, 18 May, p 5 2195. https://spauda2.org/dp/dpspaudinys_ziburiai/archive/1946-05-18-ZIBURIAI.pdf accessed 1 August 2025.
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