Helmut is the fourth First Transport arrival recorded in the Thornton photograph turned into a postcard which Juozas Nakas sent to his brother, Osvaldas, still in Germany, in mid-1948. Helmut is the one sitting on the truck's step.
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| Helmut sitting on the truck's step with (left to right) Edvardas Lapinskas, Bernardas Matkevičius and Juozas Nakas Source: Private collection |
When I started to look for public evidence to add to that part of Helmut Nurmsalu’s life recorded in the files of the National Archives of Australia, I thought that it was scant. I thought his life story would be a brief one.
That was because I started by looking through the digitised Estonian-language newspapers which that country’s national library has made available on line through its Digar Website. While this produced 14 Results which included the Helmut Nurmsalu name, 13 of them were recent mentions of a person living or recently deceased in Estonia.
Our Helmut was included only in a 1948 list of Estonians refugees who had resettled already in Australia, published at the end of the year in a Swedish newspaper, Stockholms-Tidningen Eestlastele (a mixture of Swedish and Estonian which translates as Stockholm Newspaper for Estonians).
Then I discovered how much of his life was recorded in Australian publications digitised by Australia’s National Library in its Trove collection. I realised that the picture was very different.
How Helmut Assimilated
When the Federal Government took the lead in immigration matters after World War II, the official settlement policy was assimilation. Immigrants were expected to “forget the past, look forward to the future”.* Fortunately, the Government forgot to tell the immigrants much about this, as they set about starting new community groups or building on existing ones, publishing newspapers in their own languages and so on.
Some individuals – or were they individualists? – went their own way. We probably can describe Helmut as one of them, someone who assimilated although he possibly did not know that this was what he was doing. It must have started before July 1950. That’s when his engagement to marry a young Australian woman was announced by an advertisement in Melbourne’s Argus newspaper.
His intended was Elizabeth (Betty) Robinson, third daughter of Mr and Mrs RV Robinson of Sunbury. It was then a rural town, with a population of around one thousand, 38 kilometres northeast of Melbourne’s central business district. (Today it is more like an outer suburb of Melbourne, with many residents commuting by rail into the city for their work.)
His Marriage
The marriage took place on 5 February 1951 in Melbourne’s leading Catholic church, St Patrick’s Cathedral. Helmut had stated that he was a Protestant, most likely a Lutheran, before migration to Australia. In contrast, he is listed as a Roman Catholic on the passenger list (“nominal roll”) for the voyage of the Heintzelman. He may or may not have been required to convert to Catholicism before the marriage.
Having the marriage ceremony reported by newspapers probably required relatives to contact the social pages editor. That looks like what Betty’s family did, as reports subsequently appeared in two Melbourne newspapers, The Age and The Argus, on 7 February 1951.
The focus in the Argus article was on bridal wear, although the groom’s origin in the Estonian town of Türi got a mention. The Age added descriptions of the clothes worn by 2 bridesmaids and a flower girl, it named the best man and a groomsman, and it added a reception which followed Hotel Federal. What a contrast to what Helmut had endured during World War II, which had ended less than 6 years earlier!
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| Helmut's photograph from his Bonegilla card Source: National Archives of Australia |
Both partners to the marriage were living in Sunbury. Helmut’s occupation was stated to be Process Worker (someone who carries out repetitive operations in a factory) while Betty was Receptionist.
Might the couple have moved then to rural Omeo? The National Archives of Australia’s RecordSearch Web function can find files relating to one Nurmsalu only, our Helmut. In all cases, his name is spelled with an addition H on the end, the German spelling. The Estonian T has a soft sound anyhow, more like our D, so Estonian orthography sees no need to add an H where German and even English writers often do. For example, the newly independent Estonian Government had to write to the Australian Government to beg it not to spell the English version of its name as ‘Esthonia’. There’s a whole file on that topic in the National Archives.
Helmuth Plays Australian Football
Back to Omeo, in rural Victoria’s far east. Actually, even more rural, to a town called Ensay on the Great Alpine Road, located between Swift’s Creek and Bruthen. If Australia had villages, this would be one, with a population of 109 in 2016. The local Bairnsdale Advertiser and East Gippsland Stock and Station Journal reported on an Australian Rules football player with the family name Nurmsalu during the 1953-54 season.
He was named first as ‘H. Nurmsalu’, one of Ensay’s goalkickers, in the 1 June 1953 issue. He was named as one of Ensay’s 3 best players for the game. In the 15 June issue, he was named again as one of the goalkickers and best players for the team, although without an initial this time. His team reached the semi-finals played on 15 August 1953, losing to their Swift’s Creek rivals, when he again kicked one goal and was one of the best 6 players for the Ensay team.
For those readers more familiar with the type of football which Nurmsalu may well have played previously, soccer to Australians, jalgpall (literally, football) in Nurmsalu’s mother tongue, there are 18 players on an Aussie Rules team. This means that the top 6 are the best one-third, not more than half.
At the end of the season in August, votes for the Best and Fairest Player in the Omeo District League were tallied. Helmut was not the winner, but he scored a respectable 8 votes, enough to get a mention in the report in the Bairnsdale Advertiser. From this we learn also that his playing position was ruckman, normally the tallest player in the team whose main job is to contest the ball when play is not moving, particularly the centre bounce at the start of the game and boundary throw-ins after the ball leaves the playing oval.
Helmuth’s height according to his Bonegilla card was only 5 feet 6 inches, which is below 1.7 metres. The medical report completed at the Babenhausen camp before Helmut was accepted for migration to Australia says that he was taller, 1.8 metres (5 feet 11 inches, translated to the measurements still used in the USA). That could be tall enough to be a ruckman in a shorter community. (Babenhausen got a mention in our second last entry because Martha Donald, soon to travel to Australia on the same ship as Helmuth, moved to the same camp.)
At the start of the next season, 22 May 1954, Nurmsalu was again one of the goalkickers for Ensay and one of the team’s 4 best players. In the next Saturday’s game, he did not kick a goal but once again was one of the 5 best players. He was the team’s best goalkicker in the 26 June game, with 2 against Swift’s Creek, and of course one of the 3 best players, but his team lost heavily. The final score was Swift’s Creek 17 goals, 7 behinds for 109 points, while Ensay scored only 6 goals, 7 behinds for 43 points.
That’s the last we can read of Nurmsalu playing for the Ensay football team. However, the likelihood that it’s our Helmut is supported by Betty’s presence on the local Commonwealth-State electoral roll for the Division or Province of Gippsland in 1954. Her place of residence was Ensay North (apparently Ensay was much larger back then) and her occupation was Home Duties.
Another 1954 Electoral Roll, dated 25 February 1954 like the Ensay one, has Betty resident at 45 Waverley Street, W5 (Essendon), for the Commonwealth Division of Maribyrnong and the State Assembly District of Moonee Ponds. One of those two rolls was incorrect.
Helmuth Becomes an Australian Officially
The next public record is the grant to him of Australian citizenship in a ceremony on 16 October 1957. His address at the time was on Nepean Highway, Aspendale, now back in greater Melbourne. At nearly 30 kilometres southeast of the edge of Melbourne’s central business district, it was almost as far in the opposite direction as Sunbury was to the north west. A car trip between the two to visit Betty’s family would still take more than 2 hours today.
Helmut officially became Helmuth with his new citizenship. Maybe he just gave up trying to spell it the Estonian way. Maybe putting the H on the end helped other people to pronounce it in a way which sounded more Estonian. Maybe it helped them to stop saying his name as if it was protective headwear.
Helmuth's Residence and Occupations
He first appeared in a 1958 electoral roll, with Elizabeth, for Gisborne, the next town on the railway line beyond Sunbury. He had become a Linesman by occupation. The interesting thing about that is it was the occupation given by his father-in-law on the marriage certificate. Robert Robinson must have introduced Helmut to this work.
His occupation on the Personal Particulars of Person Wishing to Migrate to Australia form completed in Germany was given as Agricultural Work. It records no previous occupation but the AEF DP Registration Record, also completed in Germany, also in September 1947, records his previous occupation as Locksmith.
Maybe Helmut played more Australian Rules football with local teams. We don’t know if he did as not all the small newspapers with local circulations have been digitised for the National Library of Australia’s Trove Web service.
Helmuth and Elizabeth stayed at the same address for the 1963 roll, but moved to another home in Gisborne for 1967 and subsequent rolls, until 1980. The electoral rolls beyond that year have not been digitised yet.
Helmuth's Children
An interesting addition to the 1977 rolls in the appearance of Susan Mary Xavier Nurmsalu, who must have turned 18 on or after 21 March 1973. That’s the date on which Australia’s voting age was lowered from 21. According to Betty’s gravestone (see below) Susan is the middle child of Betty and Helmuth. Her older sister, Helene, does not appear at all on the electoral rolls as Helene Nurmsalu: perhaps she married before she became old enough to vote. Their younger brother, James, must have enrolled after the 1980 rolls closed.
Helmuth Becomes a Public Servant
During this time, on 17 May 1973, the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette included a notice which said the Helmuth Nurmsalu had been appointed to the Department of Civil Aviation as a Fitter and Turner. A later Gazette, published on 8 October, said that his appointment had dated from 20 February.
Helmut was now an Australian Public Servant, at the age of 46. Having previously married an Australia, played Aussie Rules and become an Australian citizen, how much more Australian could Helmut become?
He also had changed his occupation from Linesman to Fitter and Turner. Presumably he had been upgrading his skills and perhaps practising what he had learned in Estonia 30 or more years previously. Maybe he had the help of his father-in-law again.
Within a few months, Helmut found out how the Public Service worked. In August he received a provisional promotion to a supervisor position. On 15 November, the Gazette announced that his promotion had been cancelled, with someone else being promoted to the position after going through a formal process of appeal.
He did try again, but it was 9 years later. The Gazette of 29 July 1982 announced that the has been promoted to Senior Fitter and Turner in the Department of Aviation (as it was called now) with effect from 24 June that year.
Public Servants are eligible to retire with superannuation (a pension to which they have contributed part of their salary) from the age of 55. In Helmut’s case, that would have been on 10 February 1982, so clearly he had stayed on. Not having joined the Public Service until he was in his 40s, he did not have as much superannuation accumulated as someone who had started in their 20s or teens. The compulsory retirement age then was 65, so Helmut may well have stayed in his secure job until February 1992.
There should be a record of his retirement in an issue of the Gazette digitised by the National Library. If there is, it has been missed by the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) process.
Betty Dies
Betty died on 22 April 1995. She was buried in the Sunbury Cemetery, under a plaque which names Helmuth, the three children and two grandchildren. It is in the shape of an open book, with the right page still blank and waiting for Helmut’s details. This should mean that he is with us still at the age of 99.
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| The plaque for Betty Nurmsalu in the Sunbury Cemetery Source: Robby in Find a Grave |
Of the 3 children, Susan achieved national fame as the designer of a self-titled women’s clothing range.
Susan the Star Designer
The September 1993 appearance of the first Aboriginal model on the front cover of the local edition of Vogue magazine is regarded as a turning point. The model was Elaine George; her apparel was a white top by Susan Nurmsalu.
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| Elaine George with the September 1993 Vogue cover featuring her in a Susan Nurmsalu top Source: Sydney Morning Herald |
Susan’s Web presence indicates that she was designing tailored women’s workwear, jackets and coats, and using higher-quality natural fibres. Her output appears to have been aimed at professional women and was sold through boutiques and higher end chain-stores.
Sadly, her individual designing career did not last long. A 1997 issue of the Commonwealth Gazette carried a notice under the Federal Corporations Law, announcing that a receiver and manager had been appointed to Susan Nurmsalu Pty Limited. This meant that the company had been unable to pay a loan on time.
Susan moved on to design for Trent Nathan. This company, founded by a designer of the same name in 1980, had evolved into one where the brand was more important than the designer. It kept its new designer away from publicity.
The deregistration of Susan Nurmsalu Pty Ltd was announced in an ASIC Gazette (published by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission) on 18 October 2005. That was around the time that Susan left Trent Nathan. I’m guessing that she then was aged around 50, with decades of creativity left in her.
There has not been publicity about her since. Susan's skills as a designer remain on display, though, with clothing bearing her name still available on auction Websites
Her siblings have a Web presence, either, unless under changed names. We can but wish them the best, along with their father.
FOOTNOTE
* This quotation comes from a headlines after the arrival of the Heintzelman passengers in Victoria via the Australian military ship, the Kanimbla. See, for example, the Courier-Mail of 15 December 1947.
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