Vaclavs Kozlovskis at Pyramid Hill, February-March 1948, translated by Monika Kozlovskis

PYRAMID HILL, 1.2.48, Sun

With our drinking we’ve become good friends with the Australians — today they invited us to go for a drive.  We drove ten miles past Cohuna, then reached a large tree-lined river.  We swam, fooled around, and spent a truly wonderful day; returning home only at ten at night.

A swimming party, possibly at the Murray River or a tributary, like Gunbower Creek:  guessing that the tall man at the back is Lembit Koplus while the 4 standing on the right (none wearing swimming costumes) are possibly other Balts

Source:  Collection of Vaclavs Kozlovskis

If you think about it, there is nothing much here in Australia, even the pencils come from England.  Car tyres might be made in Australia, but the cars themselves come from America or Canada.  The countryside here is monotonous — only yellow grass, hard red earth and a bush here and there.  Most unpleasant of all is the heat and bright sun, which rarely disappears behind clouds.  Even the night air is so hot that you have to toss around in bed for a long time without sleep and soak the blankets in sweat.

Here people put a shovel in your hand, make you break rocks, and can still ask you “How do you like Australia?”  What is there here, that you can like?  The sunshine?  But despite all this, Australia is a true Happy Isle, with good and kind people.  Why does it always seem to me, that the grass is always greener on the other side?  Why is it that the drums of war in Europe have left such deep wounds in me that beginning a peaceful life is almost impossible!  When will I finally have some peace from this longing for distant places and new experiences?

PYRAMID HILL, 10.2.48, Tues

Another difficult day — all sorts of men were barging around today.  First of all the boss arrived, and after he left the head of the employment ministry visited us.   He watched us working for a short while, then asked us if we are happy with the boss and our working conditions, and if we had any complaints.  What is there to complain about?  About the job?  But you have to work wherever you are!  About the sun?  That won’t make it any cooler!  We had no complaints.  He gave us his address and left with the boss who had just returned.  In the afternoon I went to work near the compressor — another change of job.  That doesn’t matter, though it shook my hands a lot and the sound was deafening.  The boss said he would let the work be done on piecework but the big question is, whether we would accept his conditions.

PYRAMID HILL, 14.2.48, Sat

I’ve hoped for rain for a long time, and finally it’s here — this afternoon it began raining in earnest.  The day was pleasant, but unlucky for me — driving into town this morning I didn’t notice the sharp turn across the bridge and as the car turned sharply I felt myself start to fly. I could no longer hold onto Edgars’ shoulders, and didn’t dare to hold onto the rail, for both of my legs were already out of the car and I could have fallen under the wheels.*  

I tried to save the situation somehow by leaping as far as I could out of the car and in this way avoid the wheels.   I hit the road first with my shoulder, then with my head; I turned a half somersault and lay still.  My friends rushed over immediately, took off their jackets and lifted me on top of them, where I remained for about five minutes.  I lay there with stars spinning in front of my eyes, feeling terrible.  I recovered a little, then climbed back into the car and they drove me to the doctor.

I started feeling a lot better while we waited and almost felt I didn’t need to see him after all.  He didn’t do anything much, either, except ask me to lift my arms and legs, examine my head and put a plaster on the scrape.  Then we went to Naschke’s** place and I rested on the bed.  Everyone came to see me in turn, to see if I was feeling better; even the foreman came to visit me and Mary brought me some coffee and cake, but just then I couldn’t eat a thing.   After about an hour I got up, and we drove home.  I don’t feel any particular pain, it’s just that my head aches, and it feels as if every part of my body is broken.

Cafe businesses including Naschke's were on the site of what is now the Lions Park in
Pyramid Hill; the building they were in, at 9 Kelly Street, was demolished in the 1960s
and replaced by the Park in the 1970s, but the remaining buildings show
what could have been the style of Naschke's

Source:  Google Street View

PYRAMID HILL, 13.3.48, Sat

It’s Saturday again, and once more I drove into town to do some shopping.  While I was there I also went to the dentist about my aching tooth, but he was booked out, and told me to go to the hospital at eleven on Monday. I finished the shopping and returned home around one.  The Australian, Kevin, and the friend of his who became legless at our house that time, were there.  They had lunch with us and all the while egged us on to go to the dance.  Finally Vik and I gave in, and lifted our bicycles and ourselves into the vehicle.

Because it was our first time at a dance in Australia, we went into the pub first and fortified ourselves with beer for one and a half hours, until the pub closed.  Outside on the street we were discussing what to do next, when suddenly some ridiculous communist latched onto us and began spouting about exploitation and who knows what else.  We didn’t want to talk to him and turned our backs, but he forced himself into our company and shoved one of our new friends.  There was nothing to do but shove him back, and this started a brawl that lasted several minutes, the result of which was that the communist left with a large bump on his head and a split, bleeding ear.

"The pub" was the Victoria Hotel, run by members of the Kelly family from 1907 to 1951: 
after the original building burnt down in 1926, this one was erected in 1928

Source:  Melbourne Playgrounds, Pyramid Hill Historical Plaques Walk

The rest of us were all right, and we went to Naschke’s for dinner.  After that we went to Kevin’s house, where I collected my wine bottle and the others collected theirs, then we headed off to the dance hall.  We fortified ourselves again on the way, and only got to the hall just as the dancing was beginning. All the dances are quite different to what I’m used to, but I made an attempt anyway, and it turned out fairly well. The dance came to an end, and with that ended also this pleasantly spent day.  We found our bicycles and rode home. B y Wednesday I’ll have to learn these Australian dances somehow, then it will be more fun.

PYRAMID HILL, 15.3.48, Mon

Today I only worked until ten, then went into town to have my decayed tooth extracted.  In the hospital I was shown to a bed, half covered with a white blanket, with a white napkin resting on my chest, and the dentist got to work.  First of all he poured a numbing liquid on my gums and allowed it five minutes to work, then he got to work with the pliers and began marvelling at how strong my tooth is.  The pain became unbearable, even the dentist could see that, and again he tried to numb the tooth and gave me five minutes peace.

But this time he had little result and the pain was even worse.  Then he prepared some anaesthetic and jabbed a big needle in my vein, asking me to count.  Gradually everything went misty, my pain disappeared and on the count of seventeen I sank into unconsciousness.  When I woke again the tooth was out and the clock showed two-thirty, so I’d spent three whole hours in a narcotic sleep.  My head was dull, my vision foggy and my legs staggered when I come out of the hospital.  Overall it felt as if I’d drunk a large amount of alcohol.

I visited Naschke, where instantly all the women gathered around and as usual we started to joke around.  Finally he even began to teach me how to dance and so we occupied an hour or so.  My head cleared a little, and I realised that it was time to go back.   Slowly I staggered back to the quarry and saw that I’d arrived just in time to go home.  Today I only worked a few hours, but all my bones were weary.  When I got home I swallowed a few tablets and went to bed straight away.

PYRAMID HILL, 16.3.48, Tues

I slept until midday, but even so my head is dull, and my bones still weary.  The place my tooth was, is burning all the time.  I sat at the table to update my diary — finally my Bonegilla writing job is over, and I’ll have more time to do other things.  This evening, when we’d all returned from work, a familiar car pulled up outside the house and into the room came the boss.  He’s brought a rifle for me, now I’ll be able to shoot those damned sparrows.

PYRAMID HILL, 17.3.48, Wed

As soon as I got home from work I started getting ready for the dance.  Vik and I went into town an hour or so early and for something to do, explored the city streets.  We saw a lot of women, almost all in long dresses down to the ground, so I started worrying that it would be very easy to tread on these skirts if you didn’t know how to dance very well.

We went to Naschke’s and joked around with the women.  Finally we even went into another room and began learning Australian dances to piano music.  While I was doing this, the heel of my shoe came off and I began to hit it on again. A fter many tries I succeeded and we went to the hall, where dancing was already in full swing.  Of course, I couldn’t resist and I danced many times with the Australians in their long dresses so unfamiliar to me.  My mended heel held very well and didn’t break again until right at the end, around two in the morning.  That was no great problem now — I simply put it into my pocket and we left.

I didn’t fall into bed until three, but the day was well spent, and tomorrow’s early rising for work wouldn’t present any great difficulty.  I wonder why my gum, where the tooth was extracted, still aches so much after all this time?

PYRAMID HILL, 21.3.48, Sun

I don’t know what’s happening with my tooth, it’s still unbearably painful, even though it’s been a whole week since my “operation”.  Finally I took two mirrors and had a look at it. In the gap in my gum I saw something white and thought it must be pus, but when I poked it with a match, it turned out to be bone.   And why wouldn’t my tooth still ache, when the dentist has only removed half of it, and now the remaining half is grieving for the missing half?  So the dentist has left two roots behind and in the hole itself two moving fragments of bone, very painful.  I’ll have to go back to the dentist on Monday, so he can finish his “operation”.

After lunch we went swimming and on the way back rode into town.  There we saw almost no one, for it’s Sunday.  It’s a very strange custom — as soon as Sunday arrives, everywhere it’s peaceful and quiet, and the streets are empty.  We quickly tired of such boredom, sat back on our bicycles and rode home.  My tooth aches and it’s very unpleasant thinking that tomorrow I’ll have to let the dentist mess around with it again.  But what else can I do, it’s better to bear a short intense pain, than suffer all the time.

PYRAMID HILL, 22.3.48, Mon

After lunch I went straight to the dentist.  He lay me down in bed and poked around the remaining tooth root a little, but that was all, and asked me to come back after the holiday, when the root will have loosened up more.  Spitting out and swearing to myself I returned to the quarries.  The tooth root has been poked around and is very painful, but this “dentist” hasn’t given me any medicine for it.

PYRAMID HILL, 25.3.48, Thurs

Today a surprise awaited me at work, sprung on me by Reinis in the form of a blue envelope sent from Germany.  With it I found two other letters with Russian postmarks and stamps, and suddenly something inexpressible seized my whole body.  Who knows, perhaps it was happiness, which washed my body in strange excitement, and made these callused hands tremble?  Both letters were addressed to Alt-Garge, and were from Ausma.  

Like a dense black cloud I was overtaken with memories of the long-ago happy days in my homeland, which Destiny allowed me to spend with Ausma, that lovely northern girl.  Although I only met her twice, many years ago, I have pleasant memories of her.  The letters contain only a small fairytale about us both, but they gave me much joy and warmed my soul.  As soon as I came home I took my pen in hand to reply to my lass from home.  What will she say, when she discovers I’ve reached such a distant foreign world?

FOOTNOTES

* "Edgar's shoulders" belonged to fellow Latvian, Edgars Osis.

** "Bill Naschke was the owner of a cafe selling ice cream, sweets, soft drinks in the town of Pyramid Hill, and also provided some meals," wrote Ern Ferris, then Secretary of the Pyramid Hill and District Historical Society, in June 1999 to Monika.  Ern wrote that he was born in Pyramid Hill in 1923, so could remember the arrival of the Baltic quarry workers.

SOURCE

Melbourne Playgrounds, Pyramid Hill Historicaal Plaquest Walk, https://www.melbourneplaygrounds.com.au/pyramid-hill-historical-plaques-walk, accessed 23 February 2026.

Stasys Domkus (1920-1998): A Tasmanian First Swallow, by Daina Pocius and Ann Tündern-Smith

First Swallows

The Lithuanians from the First Transport, the General Stuart Heintzelman, who settled in Tasmania from early 1948 onwards, called themselves “the First Swallows”.  Not just in Lithuania, swallows are widely regarded as the heralds of spring and the return of warmer weather, so they symbolise renewal, hope, and new beginnings.  In Lithuania, their nesting in house eaves is believed to protect the home against fire and evil spirits.

Stasys Domkus qualified as a First Swallow, having been sent to Tasmania on 5 April 1948.  This was after he had spent more than 2 months picking fruit in the Victorian orchard of W Young, whose Ardmona business was called Kelvin Orchards.

Stasys Domkus, 1947, in a photograph from his selection papers

Source:  National Archives of Australia

Stasys works in Tasmania

Stasys’ Bonegilla card does not tell us what he was to do in Tasmania but Ramunas Tarvydas, in From Amber Coast to Apple Isle, says that his first job there was more fruit picking, at a place called Premaydena.  Tasmania being the Apple Isle, the fruit in this instance surely was apples.

Stasys may have stayed at Premaydena for several years, since Tarvydas lists his next employment as EZ Risdon from 1952 to 1955.  What he was doing in Premaydena when all the apples were picked we do not know.  Perhaps he was helping generally around the orchard which employed him or several orchards, because there always is more work to be done.

EZ Risdon is shorthand for the Electrolytic Zinc Company of Australia at suburban Risdon in Tasmania’s capital city, Hobart.  The EZ Risdon factory had opened in 1918, at a time when there was a shortage of zinc throughout the British Empire.  The metal was necessary then for the production of weapons.  While the ore came from Broken Hill in northwest New South Wales, the plant was in Tasmania because of the availability of cheap hydroelectricity.

Stasys moved on to the Cadbury’s chocolate factory, staying there for the rest of his working life.

Stasys' family and citizenship

Around that time, on 17 November 1956, Stays married Kristina Petraitytė in the Hobart Cathedral.  The reception was in the spacious home of her parents.  The house was full of guests, young and old danced and sang Lithuanian songs.  The wedding lasted two days.

The Domkus family, parents and 2 sons, Antanas and Juozas, participated in Lithuanian community meetings, picnics, and church.  Stasys was secretary of the Hobart Lithuanian community for many years.

Stasys took his oath of allegiance to become an Australian citizen before the Lord Mayor of Hobart on 19 March 1958.

Tragedy struck when Juozas died in a car accident in 1992, followed by Kristina dying of cancer in 1996.  Kristina was much younger than Stasys, and only 58 when she died.

Juozas Domkas' plaque, which must have been prepared after his mother died in 1996

Source:  Julie Henderson & Lacey Milier on Find A Grave

Kristina Domkas' plaque in Cornelian Bay Cemetery

Source:  Julie Henderson & Lacey Milier on Find A Grave

Stasys' death and funeral

Stays spent his last couple of years in The Gardens retirement village.  He died on 13 July 1998, aged 77.  Ramunas Tarvydas, wrote in an obituary that at least a hundred friends and acquaintances, Lithuanian and Australian, gathered to farewell him.  To honour a former soldier, his casket was draped in the three-coloured Lithuanian flag.

After the singing of the Lithuanian national anthem, the casket was escorted from the church by other First Swallows, Irena Jurevičienė (née Naujokatiene), Česlovas Juškevičius, Henrikas Juodvalkis, Povilas Auksorius, Jurgis Valius and Vladas Mikelaitis.

His body was cremated in Cornelian Bay Crematorium.  In addition to his son, Antanas, Antanas' wife and their two children, Kristin and Kendall, he left behind his mother-in-law and 2 sisters-in-law.

Stasys Domkas' plaque in the Cornelian Bay Cemetery

Source:  Julie Henderson & Lacey Milier on Find A Grave

Ramunas wrote, “Stasys buvo švelnaus būdo, su humoru, sąžiningas, malonus visiems”. That’s Lithuanian for "Stasys was gentle, humorous, honest, and kind to everyone."

Life in Lithuania and Germany

Ramunas also wrote that he was born in 1920 in Kuršėnai, approximately halfway between the larger towns of Šiauliai and Telšiai in Lithuania.  The actual date of birth was 20 October 1920.  In addition to their one son, his parents had 3 daughters.  The record of his interview by the selection panel for resettlement in Australia says that he received 5 years of schooling, which was one year more than the Lithuanian minimum.

After he finished his schooling, he volunteered to join the Lithuanian army.  When the Soviets occupied Lithuania, his unit became part of the Red Army.  Later it became part of the German Army, which undoubtedly is how he found himself retreating to Germany in 1944.

At least, this military story is the one recorded by Ramunas Tarvydas in the obituary for Stasys, 50 years after his arrival in Australia.  A different story appears on an Australian form titled Particulars of Displaced Persons wishing to Emigrate to Australia completed on 24 September 1947.  There, a typist has recorded that Stasys was born in Tauragė, more than 100 kilometres away from Kuršėnai.  Tauragė is also the birthplace stated on 2 forms for the Department of Immigration completed in Australis.

Stasys had been working as a labourer for the previous 5 months in Germany.  Prior to that, he had worked for 7 years in a meat export factory in Lithuania.  Might this have been the Maistas factory in Šiauliai where another man about to board the First Transport, Algirdas Undzenas, had been one of the directors?

Working in a meat export factory might explain also why the Australian selection panel’s report of its interview with Stasys said that he had been “forcibly evacuated by the Germans for labour”.  It also said that he had arrived in Germany in September 1944, which was even as the Soviet forces returned to his homeland.

The Arolsen Archives has one document on Stasys which tell us only his Displaced Persons number in addition to his name, birthdate and Roman Catholic religion.  There is also a list of Lithuanians in the German town of Amberg, but it gives no birthdates, meaning that we do not know if it is naming our Stasys Domkus or a namefellow born 3 years later.  At the time of his interview for resettlement in Australia, Stasys was living in a camp in Buchholz, one of the places where the Australians interviewed.

In conclusion

Regardless of which version of his later years in Lithuania and his move to Germany is closer to the truth, Stasys was an ideal settler who contributed to Australia through his work here and his roles in the local Lithuanian community.

Footnote

Stasys' younger son, Antanas, is now known from the Find A Grave Website to have lived an unfortunately short life.  The plaque below shows that he died shortly after his 53rd birthday.  His wife, Michelle, died only 5 weeks later.

At least the mention of grandchildren on Antanas' plaque shows that there is another generation of descendants growing up in Tasmania.

Antanas Domkus' plaque in the Cornelian Bay Cemetery

Source:  Julie Henderson & Lacey Milier on Find A Grave

Sources

Find A Grave 'Anthony John Domkus' https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/212900430/anthony-john-domkus, accessed 21 February 2026.

Find A Grave 'Joseph Phillip Domkus' https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/212982261/joseph-phillip-domkus, accessed 21 February 2026.

Find A Grave 'Kristina Birgita Domkus' https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/212987160/kristina-brigita-domkus, accessed 21 February 2026.

Find A Grave 'Michelle Domkus' https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/212900446/michelle-domkus, accessed 21 February 2026.

Find A Grave 'Stasys Domkus' https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/224769074/stasys-domkus, accessed 21 February 2026.

‘Folder DP0842, names from DOMITAR, Radolf to DON, Moszka (1)’, 3.1.1 Registration and Care of DPs inside and outside of Camps, DocID: 66913253 (Stasys DOMKUS), ITS Digital Archive/Arolsen Archives https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/66913253, accessed 20 February 2026.

‘Folder 10: DP Listen Amberg’ 3.1.1 Registration and Care of DPs inside and outside of Camps, DocID: 81961491, ITS Digital Archive/Arolsen Archives DocID: 81961491, https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/81961491, accessed 20 February 2026.

‘k.p’ (1956) ‘Hobart Lietuviškos vestuvės’ (‘Hobart Lithuanian Wedding’, in Lithuanian) Teviškės Aidai (The Echoes of Homeland) Melbourne, Vic, 29 November, p 4 https://www.spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1956/1956-nr42-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf, accessed 20 February 2026.

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; 66, DOMKUS Stasys DOB 20 October 1920, 1947-1947 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5005502, accessed 20 February 2026.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, Tasmanian Branch; P3, Personal case files, annual single number series with 'T' (Tasmania) prefix, 1951-; T1971/2200, Domkus, Stasys, 1957-58 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=9590631, accessed 20 February 2026.

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956; DOMKUS STASYS, DOMKUS, Stasys : Year of Birth - 1920 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN : Number – 466, 1947-1948 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203655944, accessed 20 February 2026.

Tarvydas, Ramunas (1997) From Amber Coast to Apple Isle: Fifty Years of Baltic Immigrants in Tasmania 1948-1998, Baltic Semicentennial Commemoration Activities Organising Committee, Hobart, Tasmania, p 162.

Tarvydas, Ramunas (1998) ‘Tasmanija’ (‘Tasmania’, in Lithuanian) Teviškės Aidai (The Echoes of Homeland) Melbourne, Vic, 4 August, p 8 https://www.spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1998/1998-08-04-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf, accessed 20 February 2026.

Wikipedia, ‘Amberg’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amberg, accessed 20 February 2026.

Wikipedia, ‘Risdon Zinc Works’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risdon_Zinc_Works, accessed 20 February 2026.

Jonas Zaremba (1912-2006): Another who left — for New Zealand, by Rasa Ščevinksienė and Ann Tündern-Smith

Leaving Australia for a Third Country

We have a good idea why others who left Australia for third countries moved on.  Viktoras Kuciauskas, for example, knew that he had met the love of his life while visiting family in the United States, and moved there to be with her.

Vytautas Stasiukynas could not find employment in his field of veterinary science, so left for Colombia, South America.  There he was employed immediately as a vet by the brother of the nation’s president.

Povilas Laurinavičius left Australia for Chicago, United States, around 1964, aged about 56, to spend the rest of his life with family there who he had been unable to sponsor to live in Australia in 1948.

Jonas Motiejūnas had been able to work as an engineer in Australia but perhaps had better prospects when he moved with his wife and young family to the United States in 1959.

Vladas Navickas seemed unable to settle down in any one place until he found San Francisco in 1959.

Veronika Tutins left in 1960 with her husband, Eduards Brokans, who had a younger, much better educated brother who probably was doing better in Pennsylvania than these two were in Australia.

We do not know why Jonas Zaremba left for New Zealand in in the early 1950s. We can see that he settled in well there.

Jonas Zaremba in 1950-51, when corresponding with the NSW Branch 
of the Department of Immigration

Source:  National Archives of Australia

Jonas' life in New Zealand

New Zealand already had a Lithuanian Society, founded in 1949, but reorganised into the Lithuanian Community of New Zealand in March 1951.  From 1950 to 1958, the newspaper Naujosios Zelandijos Lietuvis (The New Zealand Lithuanian) was published, and from 1952 to 1960, a Lithuanian Sunday school was in operation.

In 1956 Jonas Zaremba was elected to the board of the New Zealand Lithuanian Community.

Later that decade, he moved from Wellington to Auckland, where he married a New Zealander named Loris Ailene Grinter.  They had no children, and his wife passed away on 11 July 1997, aged 80.

As long as his health allowed, he lived alone in his home.  He died on 30 April 2006, aged 94, at the Mercy Parklands Hospital and was buried next to his wife in the Waikaraka Park Cemetery in Auckland.

Jonas Zaremba had been an active member of the Lithuanian community and a devoted Catholic.

The Zaremba's gravestone in the Waikaraka Cemetery
in Ōnehunga, Auckland, New Zealand

Source:  Patricia Hargreaves for Find A Grave

Jonas' life in Lithuania

He was born on the first day of 1912, in the village of Baskai, near Giedraičiai, in the Moletai district of Lithuania.  His parents were Petras Zaremba and the former Ona Šimenaitė.  They had been married in the Giedraičiai church on 30 August 1909, and already had one child, Petras, when Jonas was born.

Jonas’ father owned a farm, probably explaining why he was exiled to Igarka in the Krasnoyarsk territory of Siberia on 22 May 1948.  He died in exile in 1953. World War II and its aftermath broke up the Zaremba family.

Jonas attended school in Švenčionėliai.  He volunteered for the Lithuanian Army in 1933, so at the age of 21.  Although his father had a farm, Jonas did not want to be a farmer.  He had a passion for horses though, so was assigned to a cavalry regiment.  He participated in recruit training and won prizes in equestrian competitions.

He served with General Plechavičius.* Due to the to and fro of World War II, he ended up serving in the armies of four different nations.

Jonas in Germany

The Arolsen Archive has not digitised any records of Jonas Zaremba yet.  We meet him in Germany first in the Australian selection team’s interview record from September 1947 in the Buchholz DP camp.  At this time he was living in a DP camp in Gross Hesepe, with the Geeste municipality in Lower Saxony.  Geeste is less than 5 kilometres from the border with the Netherlands, so Jonas has gotten almost as far west, away from the Soviets, as it was possible to be in Germany.

The interview record noted that he had arrived in Germany in May 1944, having been “deported by the Germans”.  The May date was months earlier than the September-October dates of people who had fled Lithuania when they heard that the Soviet forces were returning.  He possibly travelled in retreat with the Germany Army units into which his Lithuanian Army unit had been absorbed.

More about life in Lithuania

He had attended Lithuanian schools not only for the basic 4 years of primary education, but also for another 4 years of secondary education.  The selection panel noted that he spoke Lithuanian, Russian, Polish and ‘fair’ German.

Despite his disinclination to be a farmer, he admitted to 10 years’ experience as a farm worker in Lithuania.  He may have been acknowledging assistance with the family farm before he joined the Lithuanian Army.

His experience in training horses was noted, no doubt with interest.

He had not been working for the previous 2 years, presumably since World War II ceased wherever he was then in Germany.

Jonas Zaremba in 1947

Source:  National Archives of Australia

Jonas' work in Australia

After arrival in Australia and time in the Bonegilla Reception and Training Centre in northeast Victoria, probably attending English classes and practising this new language with his fellow refugees, he was sent to his first job.

Like one-quarter of the men on the First Transport, the General Stuart Heintzelman, he was sent to pick fruit. His first Australian employer was Messrs Dundas Simson of Ardmona.

He put up with this outdoor labour for 3 weeks, returning to the Bonegilla camp on 22 March. As he was already 35 years old, more than 10 years older than the average age of the group, this first work in over 2 years may well have been more than his body liked.

One week later, on 29 March, he was sent to Tasmania. At this stage, we do not know what manual labour was expected of him there. All we can say is that he was not working at Railton’s Goliath Portland Cement factory, he was not logging timber from Maydena, cutting tracks through the bush for the EZ Company near Rosebery nor shovelling coal for the Electrona Carbide works.

Whatever he was doing in Tasmania, he put up with it for 9 months, then decided it was time to ask to do something else. He arrived back at Bonegilla on 4 January 1949, stayed another 5 weeks, then found himself travelling to Sydney on 14 February. The third employer was the Metropolitan Water Sewage and Drainage Board.

Why did Jonas leave Australia?

It is highly likely that the third job involved digging ditches. No wonder he wanted to leave for New Zealand, especially if he heard from Lithuanians there already about less arduous work. Another possible attraction was that New Zealand was about as far in the world as one could get away from the Soviet Union, even further away than Australia.

As he undoubtedly stayed loyal to his commanders in the Lithuanian Army during the turmoil of World War II, perhaps 10 months of his service had been under Soviet command. This might well explain his trek to the far west of Germany at the end of the War, as well as his move to New Zealand.

FOOTNOTE *General Plechavičius' role in the lives of some First Transporters, Henrikas Juodvalkis, Juozas Nakas, Elena Kalvyte's husband Jonas Augutis, and Stasys Šeduikis, has been mentioned already.  Wikipedia has his English-language biography.   

CITE THIS AS Ščevinksienė, Rasa and Tündern-Smith, Ann (2026) 'Jonas Zaremba (1912-2006):  Another who left — for New Zealand' 

SOURCES

Bonegilla Migrant Experience, Bonegilla Identity Card Lookup ‘Jonas Zaremba’ https://idcards.bonegilla.org.au/record/203912105, accessed 17 February 2026.

Find A Grave ‘Jonas Zaremba’ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/166231013/jonas-zaremba, accessed 17 February 2026.

Lithuanian State Historical Archives ‘Giedraičių RKB gimimo metrikų knyga, 1908-1913’ (‘Giedraiciu Roman Catholic Church birth registry book, 1908-1913’, in Lithuanian) p 140, record 9 https://www.epaveldas.lt/preview?id=1450/1/20, accessed 17 February 2026.

Lithuanian State Historical Archives ‘Giedraičių RKB santuokos metrikų knyga, 1900-1918’ (‘Giedraičiai Roman Catholic Church Marriage Registry Book, 1900-1918’, in Lithuanian) page 127, record 27 https://www.epaveldas.lt/preview?id=1450/1/30, accessed 17 February 2026.

Lietuvos Nacionalinė Martyno Mažvydo Biblioteka, Visuotine Lietuvių Enciklopedija (Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia) ‘Naujósios Zelándijos lietùviai‘ (‘Lithuanians in New Zealand’, in Lithuanian) https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/naujosios-zelandijos-lietuviai/, accessed 17 February 2026.

Memorial Krasnoyarsk ‘Список депортированных из Литвы в Красноярский край (по данным Центра исследования геноцида и резистенции жителей Литвы)’ ('List of deportees from Lithuania to the Krasnoyarsk Territory (According to the Center for the Study of Genocide and Resistance of Lithuanians)', in Russian and Lithuanian) https://memorial.krsk.ru/DOKUMENT/People/_Lists/Litva/Z.htm, accessed 17 February 2026.

Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) (1956) ‘Lietuviai pasaulyje’ (Lithuanians in the World, in Lithuanian) Sydney, NSW, 25 April, p 2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/259366103, accessed 17 February 2026.

My Heritage ‘Discover People Named Rita Grinter’ https://www.myheritage.com/names/rita_grinter, accessed 17 February 2026.

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; 339, ZAREMBA Jonas DOB 1 January 1912, 1947-1947 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5118044, accessed 18 February 2026.

National Archives of Australia:  Department of Immigration, New South Wales Branch; SP244/2,  Correspondence of the Chief Migration Officer relating to restricted [general] migration [class 2], 1950-1950; N1950/2/15078, Jonas Zaremba [photograph attached] [Box 153], 1951-1951 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7299113, accessed 18 February 2026.

National Archives of Australia:  Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956; ZAREMBA JONAS, AREMBA, Jonas : Year of Birth - 1912 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN.HEINTZELMAN : Number - 735, 1947-1949, recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203912105,  accessed 18 February 2026.

Office of the Chief Archivist of Lithuania, Electronic Archive Information System ‘Giedraičių RKB lietuvių ir lenkų tautybių parapijiečių sąrašas’ (‘List of Lithuanian and Polish parishioners of Giedraičiai Roman Catholic Church’, in Lithuanian) p 13 https://eais.archyvai.lt/repo-ext-api/share/?manifest=https://eais.archyvai.lt/repo-ext-api/view/267685000/268145021/lt/iiif/manifest&lang=lt&page=13, accessed 17 February 2026.

Palubinskas, Minvydas (2006) ‘In Memoriam, A†A Jonas Zaremba’ (‘In Memoriam, RIP Jonas Zaremba’, in Lithuanian) Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) Sydney, NSW, 2 August, p 7 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/2006/2006-08-02-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 17 February 2026.

Wikipedia, ‘Geeste, Emsland’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geeste,_Emsland, accessed 17 February 2026.

“General Heintzelman” men to Pyramid Hill, Victoria, by Ann Tündern-Smith

What is Pyramid Hill?

Pyramid Hill is a granite feature rising around 100 metres above the surrounding land, the traditional home of the Barapa Barapa, Dja Dja Wurung and Yorta Yorta Indigenous Language Groups.

The Hill received its modern name from the New South Wales Surveyor-General, Major Thomas Mitchell, on his third expedition to explore inland New South Wales.  (The whole of eastern Australia then was known as New South Wales.)

Major Mitchell and Australia Felix

Mitchell’s 1836 expedition, with 6 Aboriginal guides and 25 colonists and convicts often is called the Australia Felix expedition.  This is because it was the one on which Mitchell and his party found rich, black soils and lush pastures in an area south of the Murray River, which he called Australia Felix.

From one angle, which must have been the one that impressed Major Mitchell, Pyramid Hill certainly appears to have the sharp summit which marks Egyptian pyramids.  Mitchell and his party camped near the base of the hill on 29 June 1836.

View on old postcard

Source:  Victorian Places

Back in Sydney in November 1836, the reports of the excellent land in Australia Felix started a rush of claims.  The Pyramid Hill district was in the Mount Hope pastoral run, taken up in 1845.  (It was from Mount Hope that Mitchell had sighted Pyramid Hill first.)

The Settlement Starts

A hotel and a store were opened in 1874 near the foot of the Hill.  A Catholic church was opened in 1875 and a one-room school in 1876.

The Settlement Moves

The first burial in the Cemetery took place in 1875.  Due to the building of Bendigo–Kerang railway, the town relocated 3 Km further west in the years 1883-84.  So we can say that when the First Transport men arrived in January 1948, the small town had been at its permanent location for less than 65 years.  This is much less than the hundreds of years of history in the towns from which they came.

The town is nearly 250 Km by road north north west of the State capital, Melbourne, and just over 300 Km west of the Bonegilla camp.  The journey which Vaclavs Kozlovskis described in his diary, from Wodonga, would still take 3½ hours on modern roads.

Quarries

A quarry southwest of the cemetery was working by about 1882.  It was used to produce stone for the construction of the Bendigo–Kerang railway line, later extended to Swan Hill, with a spur track built across Bullock Creek so that ballast could be transferred directly from the quarry to the railway works.

This early cadastral plan shows a Reserve for Ballast towards the middle of the lower edge and
Old Ballast Line (Dismantled) leading from the Reserve to Bullock Creek (here called
Permanent Water); the area above and to the right of the Reserve, with Lacey and Rocks written on it,
appears to be the location of the modern quarry
(Click once on the image to see a larger, more legible version)

Source:  Plan supplied to Monika Kozlovskis by Pyramid Hill Historical Society, 1999

Reserve for Ballast on the older plan has become Pyramid Hill Bushland Reserve on this screenshot from Google Maps; only the area to the right of the Reserve shows signs of having been worked but it is shown as private property on the older plan;
the modern quarry is at the top right of this screenshot

Source:  Google Maps

After the advent of motor cars and the need for better roads, the old quarry was reopened and granite material used for road making.

In early August 1928, Pyramid Quarries and Concrete Ltd held an opening of their works when a large attendance of district residents evinced keen interest in the new industry.

The quarry has been in continual operation at its present site since 1937.  It was acquired by a company which started locally in Kerang, E. B. Mawson & Sons Pty Ltd trading as Mawsons Concrete & Quarries, in 1952, so now is known as Mawson’s Quarry.

Men from the Stuart Heintzelman

The First Transport men who were sent to that quarry in January 1948 were

Name	Nationality
Persijs Arndts	Latvian
Vaclavs Kozlovskis	Latvian
Edgars Osis	Latvian
Pranas Bienkevicius	Lithuanian
Vytas Kuniciunas	Lithuanian
Antanas Martisius	Lithuanian
Lembit Koplus	Estonian

Location of the current Pyramid Hill quarry relative to the town;
the area outlined in green which touches Mawson's quarry is the Pyramid Hill Bushland Reserve
while the area above and to the left, in dark solid green, is the cemetery

Source:  Mindat.org

CITE THIS AS Tündern-Smith, Ann (2026) “General Heintzelman” men to Pyramid Hill, Victoria, https://firsttransport.blogspot.com/2026/02/general-heintzelman-men-to-pyramid-hill.html

SOURCES

Argus (1928 ) ‘Pyramid Hill Quarry', Melbourne, 14 August, p 16, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3941807, accessed 23 January 2026.

Cluff, Caleb (2011) ‘Australia Felix — 175 years on’ ABC News, https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2011-09-24/australia-felix---175-years-on/6178812, accessed 23 January 2026.

Mawsons ‘Our Story, Building Partnerships Since 1912’ https://www.mawsons.com.au/history, accessed 23 January 2026.

Melbourne Playgrounds ‘Pyramid Hill — Hill Walk’ https://www.melbourneplaygrounds.com.au/pyramid-hill-hill-walk, accessed 23 January 2026.

Mindat.org ‘Pyramid Hill granite quarry (Mawson's Quarry), Pyramid Hill, Loddon Shire, Victoria, Australia’ https://www.mindat.org/loc-11201.html, accessed 23 January 2026.

Peakbagger.com ‘Pyramid Hill, Victoria’ https://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=136882, accessed 23 January 2026.

Victorian Places ‘Pyramid Hill’, https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/pyramid-hill, accessed 23 January 2026.

Wikipedia ‘Australia Felix’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Felix, accessed 23 January 2026.

Wikipedia ‘Pyramid Hill, Victoria’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_Hill%2C_Victoria, accessed 23 January 2026.

Wikipedia ‘Thomas Mitchell (Explorer)’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Mitchell_(explorer), accessed 23 January 2026.

Vaclavs Kozlovskis starts work at Pyramid Hill, 8-31 January 1948, translated by Monika Kozlovskis

PYRAMID HILL, 8.1.49, Thurs 

This morning we looked over the quarries, our new workplace. We were quite surprised to see only five Australians working here; apparently it’s not a desirable job.  Work is carried out in two areas - the rock quarry and the sand quarry, where we’ll be working alone.

In the rock quarry holes are bored in the rock with a compressor, then filled with explosives.  The large rocks are always exploded, but the small ones are hit with a hammer into pieces to fit into the crusher.  These pieces are tipped into trucks with some sort of digger, and driven to the crusher. 

Drilling a hole into the granite, Pyramid Hill

Source:  Collection of Vaclavs Kozlovskis

In the other place, where for the time being we three Letts* will work, sand is poured into the trucks without the help of a of digger, and by our hands alone.  This sand is ground up with the rock, then carted away to be tipped out where a road is being built, about thirty miles from here.

Afterwards we drove into town, where the boss gave us an advance to buy the necessary clothes, as well as two pounds each for various other trifles.   He also gave us two pounds of tobacco, for it’s difficult to obtain here.

After lunch we changed into our work clothes and drove off to begin our labouring job. The boss himself is pleasant, but not so pleasant is the job.

For four hours we poured sand into trucks, and for four hours we scorched mercilessly in the hot sun; this is no longer just work, it is punishment.  Soon our hands were covered in blisters of unhappiness and protest, and our muscles in pain.

Worst of all, I’d left my water at home so I had to work with a dry throat and get by without a drink, for there’s no water here.

Finally the work hours were over, and we looked for some water to wash in.  Near the quarry there is a pond full of brown water in a gravel pit.  Not worrying overmuch about the leeches and abundant tadpoles we jumped straight in.  It’s amazing how cool this chest-deep water was,  it greatly refreshed us and took out the tiredness put there by the sun.

Our first work day over, we drove home.

PYRAMID HILL, 9.1.48, Fri 

On our second day of work we began throwing sand into the trucks from the morning on, the blisters on our hands becoming more and more unbearable.  We worked hard until lunchtime and it even seemed that we weren’t overly tired, but the picture was quite different that afternoon: on throwing the first shovelful tears almost came into my eyes, from the pain in my muscles and blisters.

We could no longer work as hard or fast as we had in the morning.  The four hours crawled past slowly, we could hardly wait to leave.  I was weary as never before.  My blisters hurt, my arm and stomach muscles ached, and so did even my sunburned back. This job is really terrible; only one year, and not one minute more!

PYRAMID HILL, 11.1.48, Sun 

We went to church. It’s a long time since I’ve been in this quiet place.  Nothing is different here, everything is familiar, even the pictures are the same as in the church in Latvia. T he priest’s robes are quite the same that the priest wore in my distant homeland, and it even seemed to me that the grey-haired priest himself, Father O’Connor, was one and the same, except that he spoke a different, more difficult to understand language.

For about half an hour he spoke of the eight hundred Balts who have come to this country, of our lost homeland, and of we seven, who have come to the quarries.  I listened and marvelled — are we really as good as the priest says?  He said we are pleasant and hardworking, and good Catholics.  The priest said even more, but I don’t know the language well enough to understand it all.  The mass was over, we came out of the church and drove home.

PYRAMID HILL, 13.1.48, Tues 

Another work day, and another bone-weary drive home.  I still had dinner to prepare for us all as it was my turn.  Yesterday I caught some rabbits and penned them up to fatten up for Saturday, but today I let them go again, after all they might drop dead because they haven’t touched their food yet.  Late at night, completely exhausted, I went to sleep.

PYRAMID HILL, 14.1.48, Wed 

Today things turned out a little better.  We were very productive in the morning, but to make up for it we had more of a rest in the afternoon. T o begin with, half way back from lunch the truck broke down and we had to walk the rest of the way.  The truck was fixed and returned, but when a driver wanted to use it for sand pouring, it broke down again and wouldn’t budge.

So this afternoon we worked with only a small vehicle.  But despite our frequent rests, coming home I was even more tired than before. I  didn’t feel like doing anything, so I went to bed straight after dinner, even though it was only seven o’clock.

One of the trucks, with its driver, maybe 3 Letts and a ring-in,
probably a Lithuanian or Australian

Source:  Collection of Vaclavs Kozlovskis

PYRAMID HILL, 20.1.48, Tues 

This was a really terrible day.  Yesterday afternoon we moved to the rock quarry, and today we worked there all day.  There wasn’t a breath of wind and the sun scorched down, little water blisters forming on our skins from the heat.

I drank a lot of water, but it was warm, and instantly converted into sweat.  Wherever I put my hand, my body became wet straight away, and perspiration dripped in large drops from my hair.  Finally work was over, but we still had to go into town for some bread.

A fire was raging there — the whole street was full of women standing beside belongings that had been carried out of their houses, and the men, thoroughly soaked, were attempting to put the fire out.  After we’d helped to extinguish the fire we took our bread, prised the driver out of the pub, and drove home.

Although it’s night, there’s still no relief from the bone-wearying sun’s heat.  I tried to sit outside, but a hot northerly wind is blowing.  It will be a miracle if I can sleep tonight.

PYRAMID HILL, 22.1.48, Thurs 

This is the worst day I’ve endured here — I couldn’t sleep at all last night and it’s already hot this morning.  Through the day perspiration poured down even when standing completely still, and on top of that we had to work!  My arms tired quickly and my glance moved all too often to my watch. I n the morning the watch hands seemed to move a little, but in the afternoon they even seemed to be moving backwards.

Finally, though, even this hot day reached its end and we drove home completely exhausted.  I went to bed straight after dinner, but it was too hot to fall asleep even sleeping completely naked on top of the blankets.  Suddenly it began to rain and the wind changed, and it cooled down straight away.  I crawled under the blankets and fell deeply asleep.

Vaclavs added these newspaper cuttings to his page on 22 January 1948;
all except the top left are from the Argus, Melbourne, 23 January 1948 

Source:  Collection of Vaclavs Kozlovskis

PYRAMID HILL, 22.1.48, Wed (sic) 

The boss showed up, and from morning his car was parked by the crusher.  The first thing we found out about was the change in our workplace — now the digger would be sent to the sand quarry, and the diggers themselves moved to rock loading.  When the boss arrived he said various things as well.  He said that several of us work well, but others don’t.  The wage we are paid is high, therefore we need to show good progress — the government can’t carry people who don’t do anything.  We’re not in forced labour, but work for our own wage, which is comparatively high, therefore we have to work hard, he said.

This year we will have two week’s holiday around Christmas.  By early February a barracks will be completed for us right here at the quarry and we won’t have to travel so far to go to work.

Petrol is rationed and expensive — each time we are driven into the town on Saturday or Sunday it costs one whole pound.

In fact I would prefer to live at the quarry, for then the town would be close by and we could easily go there whenever we wanted to, and we would no longer have to live in the jungles, where only quite rarely some seventeenth century limousine drives past, entirely without tyres.  Also at lunchtime we wouldn’t have to get in a car every day to drive into town, so we could spend more time resting.

The boss added that on rainy days when it’s too wet to work in the quarries, we still have to show that we’re willing to work and go to the workplace.  In this case we will still be paid whether we work under shelter or sit there all day and do nothing.  That’s all the boss said, the rest returned to work, while I accompanied him to translate to the tall Estonian who works on the trucks.

The tall—and only—Estonian was Lembit Koplus, whose Bonegilla card says that he was 6 ft 3 in or 190 cm tall; note that his two "boxing" companions are standing slightly in front of him
to increase the emphasis on his height, and it looks they are still in their pyjamas

Source:  Collection of Vaclavs Kozlovskis

Now I understood where the boss’s reprimand was aimed — apparently the Estonian is the worst of all.  It seems he often sits and smokes, holding up the trucks with their loads.

Towards evening the boss left to return to Melbourne, so we’ll have some peace again for the next fourteen days.

PYRAMID HILL, 27.1.48, Tues 

Yesterday the drivers had a booze-up, and today they had hangovers so they couldn’t work all day.  The morning passed unusually quickly, and we worked in the shade almost all the time.  We rested after each truckload, until the driver finally got around to exchanging a full truck for an empty one. The afternoon was much hotter, but the work wasn’t heavy at all, for again we rested after each truckload.

I discovered how poor provincial towns such as this must be — I tried to buy sixteen pounds of sugar, but the shopkeeper’s eyes just widened when I asked him for it.  He merely said ‘too short’, and weighed out eight pounds instead.  Who knows, perhaps his shop only carries some twenty pounds of sugar at once?  In the early evening there was a small rain shower, but despite this I was perspiring when I went to bed and tried to sleep.

PYRAMID HILL, 31.1.48, Sat 

First thing in the morning we began our preparations to celebrate our first pay packets. I’d brewed some beer, bought wine and invited all six of the quarry drivers, but whether any of them would show up, remained to be seen.

Around nine thirty the car arrived to drive us into town.  We bought glasses, pickles and all the other necessities for our party, and then waited as usual for the driver to finish his beer.

After a long wait we gave up and went into the pub ourselves to drink beer and toss quoits, as the Australians do.  We discovered that the pub has no tables or even chairs. In the middle of the room is a round bar in the centre of which the publican works, and around which were gathered almost all the men of Pyramid, drinking beer.  In this way they can forget the week’s sweat, and begin work next week with an empty pocket.

Only cold beer is drunk here, other drinks are neither suitable nor valued in this heat. We managed to get the driver out of the pub and drove home, where we put the table in order and began our wait.

We waited from five to six, but no one came.  At seven we decided to start drinking, but had only polished off two bottles of wine and several of beer, when suddenly a truck drove up with two of the drivers and two friends.

Now we let fly in earnest, until one of them fell into a drunken stupor and the others carried him into the truck.

We drank a bit more, then the others prepared to leave.  Only then did they discover that the headlights weren’t working, but this was soon remedied — two of our hurricane lanterns were hung on the car, and they drove off slowly and carefully.

Then we climbed into bed as well, and peace descended over the house.

FOOTNOTE

* Lett is another word for Latvian.  Besides Vaclavs, the other two were Persijs Arndts and Edgars Osis.

CITE THIS AS:  Kozlovskis, Vaclavs, trans by Monika Kozlovskis (2026) 'Vaclavs Kozlovskis starts work at Pyramid Hill, 8-31 January 1948', https://firsttransport.blogspot.com/2026/01/vaclavs-kozlovskis-starts-work-at-Pyramid-Hill-Victoria-8-31-January-1948.html.