Lost luggage, by Ann Tündern-Smith

Not all about the Heintzelman voyage was happiness.  Lost luggage spoiled the trip for several.

Nikolajs Bergtals: see below for his 'found' story

Source:  National Archives of Australia

Estonian woman, Salme Pochla, would have had her voyage ruined already when told that she would not be allowed to enter Australia.  She may or may not have been told the reason:  an adverse security report received after the Heintzelman had sailed.

To cap it off, some or all of her luggage, described as “packages", was lost. No trace of it could be found in Fremantle – or Perth presumably, either, since the luggage was transferred there for Customs examination on 29 November.

Then there was Karolis Prasmutas, a Lithuanian man who we have met in an earlier blog entry.  Once he had reached his first employer, the State Electricity Commission at Yallourn in Victoria, he set about making written inquiries.  He described his luggage as a square box made of “tin aluminium” painted blue.  Knowing Karolis from his blog entry, he may well have made the square box himself.

His missing box contained his professional books and tools as well as some clothes and shoes. He suggested that the value of the lost luggage of about £40, around 4 weeks  income when the minimum wage was £5/9/-, less tax.

He wrote to the International Refugee Organisation (IRO) representative in Sydney saying that the luggage had not come off the Heintzelman with him.  Immigration officials had told him that they would let him know about the luggage when he arrived at Bonagilla. However, the Immigration official he talked with at Bonegilla told him that he had no information.

It was the Provisional Committee of the International Refugee Organisation (PCIRO) which had organised the Heintzelman’s voyage from Germany on behalf of the Australian Government.

A member of the Australian Parliament’s upper house, the Senate, got involved. One reason for Senator Donald Grant’s involvement may have been that he was based in Sydney, like the IRO.  He wrote to the company which had handled the Heintzelman’s arrival in Fremantle, the Orient Steam Navigation Company, to say that an IRO staff member had passed Karolis’ letter to him. 

Correspondence on the missing box continued for nearly 6 months, until a senior Immigration official in Canberra advised that no further action was required from the Department’s Western Australia office.  The definitive advice may have been that from the manager of a transport service employed by the Orient Company who wrote that he had inquired of Stuttgart in Germany without getting a reply and had also had a thorough check done of the Perth camps, a warehouse and the Fremantle wharves.

He noted that in this instance the majority of the names on the packages transported were “impossible to read or understand whilst some 200 packages were without marks or numbers". Due to this, the company had relied on the migrants identifying and claiming their luggage at the Graylands camp. 

Although there is no mention of it on the file we have to assume, as the transport manager seems to have done, that Karolis was sent to this camp and not Swanbourne. Either that or the more than 400 at Swanbourne were bussed to Graylands to be part of the scrimmage — a possibility of which there is no remaining evidence.

Having the new arrivals identify their own luggage may well have led to a situation where nice looking luggage was claimed by someone else, especially if it had lost or badly damaged labels.

Karolis Prasmutas was not the only Lithuanian to suffer loss of his luggage. Birute Gruzas, formerly Tamulyte, told me that her luggage had disappeared before she was able to claim it in Perth. As Birute had already lost everything she was carrying when a bomb blew up the bridge she was crossing on her way to refuge in Germany, she was one tough 19-year-old to pick herself up and carry on for the second time in her life.

These are the known cases of lost luggage. How many others were there, if Birute's story is not recorded?

On the other hand, we also have one example of lost articles being found and returned to their owner.

On 5 December 1947, that is 3 days after the Kanimbla had left, a wallet was handed in at the Fremantle police station. Given the contents of the wallet recorded by the police, it may have been more in the nature of a folder or portfolio.

Those contents were a foreign passport in the name of Nikolajs Bergtals, a temporary travel document in the same name, a map of Nord West Deutschland (Northwest Germany), a visiting card, a letter written in a foreign language, two foreign doctors’ prescriptions, six personal references and six photographs. 

The man who had found the wallet had a Russian name, Ivan Estinoff. He was said to be “of the Jeanette Fruit Palace” in High Street, Fremantle, so perhaps its proprietor. Given his presence in Australia, he may well have held similar political views to the new arrivals.

The Acting Commonwealth Migration Officer for Western Australia, RW Gratwick, posted the wallet by registered mail directly to Bonegilla on 17 December.  It crossed with a letter from the Acting Commonwealth Migration Officer at the Bonagilla camp, LT Gamble, who enquired on behalf of Nikolajs on 21 December. An undated memorandum from Gamble to Gratwick, but with a December receipt stamp, records the arrival of the package still containing all the articles.

Gamble added, “The articles referred to have been handed to the owner who desires to express his grateful thanks for your action in the matter.”

Its arrival must have been something of a Christmas present.  No wonder we have another thankful new arrival.

SOURCES

Australian Government, Fair Work Commission ‘The history of the Australian minimum wage’ https://www.fwc.gov.au/about-us/history/history-australian-minimum-wage accessed 30 June 2025.

National Archives of Australia:  Department of Immigration, Western Australian Branch; PP482/1, Correspondence files [nominal rolls], single number series; 82, General Heintzelman - arrived Fremantle 28 November 1947 - nominal rolls of passengers https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=439196 accessed 27 June 2025.

14 June 1941 in the Baltic States: Why We are Here in Australia, by ChatGPT with Ann Tündern-Smith

The First Soviet Mass Deportations and Their Legacy

On 14 June 1941, horror descended upon the Baltic States.  In the dead of night, the Soviet NKVD, the secret police, began the first mass deportations from these countries, which had been annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940. 

This date marks a watershed in Baltic history, since it wasn not only the onset of brutal repression but also the start of a national trauma whose legacy reverberates still. In the Baltics, June 14 is now observed as a day of mourning, while in Australia, home to many Baltic refugees and their descendants, the day is remembered through public events.

Historical Context

Following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939 — a non-aggression treaty between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which included secret protocols for the division of Eastern Europe — the fate of the Baltics was sealed. In June 1940, Soviet forces occupied Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Within months, puppet governments were installed and elections rigged. The Baltic republics were annexed formally into the USSR by August 1940.

Though the occupation was presented as "voluntary accession," the reality was a coercive and violent absorption into the Soviet system. The Soviets began to eliminate potential opposition by targeting political, military, and intellectual elites, as well as wealthier citizens and anyone associated with the former independent governments.

The Deportations of 13-14 June 1941

Late in 13 June 1941 and the early hours of 14 June, mass arrests and deportations commenced almost simultaneously in the 3 states. Soviet security forces, with lists prepared in advance, knocked on doors and gave families as little as 15 minutes to gather belongings. Entire families — including women, children, and the elderly — were forcibly removed from their homes and placed in cattle wagons bound for remote regions of the Soviet Union.

The cattle wagons

Source:  Soviet Mass Deportations — June 1941

In Lithuania:

An estimated 17,500 people were deported in this first wave. Among them were government officials, clergy, teachers, business people, farmers, and their families. Many were sent to Altai Krai, Komi ASSR, and Tomsk Oblast. Men were typically separated from their families and sent to prison camps (gulags), while women and children were sent to forced settlements.  In these forced settlements, they could try to resume normal lives, still under NKVD supervision, so they were not allowed to leave.

In Latvia:

Approximately 15,400 individuals were deported. The operation targeted social elites: former ministers, parliamentarians, judges, police, and affluent farmers ("kulaks"). Some 1,700 men were executed or died in gulags. The rest of their families endured forced resettlement in harsh climates, with high mortality among children.

In Estonia:

Around 10,200 people were deported, again largely consisting of political, military, and social elites. Among them were 4,331 children under 16. The death rate among deportees was high due to poor living conditions, starvation, cold, and disease. For Estonians, this event remains one of the darkest in their history.

In all three countries:

The trains took their time to depart, depending on other needs for the railway lines.  Locals who had not been rounded up could hear those imprisoned inside calling for help, for water, but were kept away by armed guards.  The impending deportations were no secret.

Purpose and Method

The deportations were designed to eliminate potential resistance to Soviet rule and to transform Baltic society into a model Soviet state. By targeting elites and displacing thousands, the Soviets aimed to:

• instil terror and submission;
• dismantle national identity and leadership structures;
• replace populations with more compliant or Russian-speaking groups (in later waves);
• create labour for remote Soviet industries and agriculture.

The cattle wagons used in the deportations were overcrowded, had no sanitation, and lacked food and water. The journey lasted weeks, with many dying en route. Once at their destinations, deportees faced harsh climates, forced labour, and extreme poverty.

The Timing: Days Before Operation Barbarossa

The mass deportations took place just eight days before Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 in Operation Barbarossa. The NKVD rushed to complete the operation, fearing that an invasion would complicate future control. Nazi forces were welcomed by some Balts in the initial phase of the invasion, as they appeared to be liberators from Soviet oppression. However, Nazi occupation soon brought its own set of atrocities, especially against the Jewish population.

What happened as the Soviets started to return

As the Soviet forces started to return to the Baltic States, young people often found themselves rounded up to assist the German forces or taken to Germany to assist with the war effort there.

Ann has been told tales of teenage boys taken from their schools by the Germans to dig ditches between the Germans and the Soviets as they were firing at each other.

On 10 March 1944, a Soviet squadron of women bomber pilots, the Night Witches, bombed parts of Estonia's capital city.  This was Stalin's way of saying that he could exercise control over populations controlled by the Germans, if he wanted to.  The German response was to invite women to travel by train to Germany, for safety as well as contributing to Germany with their labour.  Ann's mother found that her apartment has been badly damaged by the bombing and was one of those who left.

Others had been told that they had been on the June 1941 lists, but had missed the deportations by being out for the evening when the NKVD called.

All in all, by the late summer of 1944, with the Soviet forces drawing closer and the Germans packing to leave, the memory of 14 June meant that anyone who had a chance to get out did try to get out.  Those who could leave with the German Army did so.  Ships were crammed full.

In short, June 14 is why an estimated 300,000 fled the Baltic States for Germany, and Sweden, in 1944.

Remembering 14 June in Australia

In Australia today, the events of 14 June 1941 are remembered by the Baltic communities in:

• Commemorative services, often held in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, and Canberra;
• Flag raisings and memorial events at Baltic community halls;
• Survivor testimonies shared through community newsletters and websites;
• Collaboration with embassies and consulates to honour the date;
• Participation in broader anti-communist remembrance events, such as Black Ribbon Day (August 23) and Victims of Communism Day (May 23 in Lithuania, June 14 in Estonia and Latvia).
  

  

  Baltic refugees gather at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra in June 1953
  

  Source:  National Archives of Australia

Today, June 14 is marked annually as the "Day of Mourning and Hope" in Lithuania, "Commemoration Day of Victims of Communist Genocide" in Latvia, and "Day of Mourning" in Estonia.

Common forms of commemoration include:

• public ceremonies at railway stations, cemeteries, and national monuments;
• readings of victims' names, often by schoolchildren or public figures;
• church services and candlelight vigils;
• museum exhibitions and academic conferences;
• national television broadcasts, documentaries, and survivor interviews;
• In Lithuania, a symbolic train journey is sometimes recreated to honour deportees.

These events are solemn but central to reinforcing national memory and identity, especially among younger generations. The trauma of deportation is also a key element in literature, film, and political discourse across the Baltics.

Cultural Memory and Education

Across the Baltics and among the diaspora, the deportations of 1941 are deeply embedded in national historical narratives. The event is taught in schools and universities, and numerous memoirs, novels, and films have been created to preserve the memory.

Notable examples include:

• "Between Shades of Gray" by Ruta Sepetys (Lithuanian-American), a novel inspired by her relatives' deportation;
• Documentaries like "The Soviet Story" and national TV series produced in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania;
• Digital memory projects like "Siberian Memories" and "Names and Fates", which document the lives of deportees.

In Australia, younger members of the diaspora are engaging with this history through family oral histories, university theses, and community heritage projects, especially as the original survivors pass away.

Conclusion

14 June 1941 stands as a symbol of one of the most traumatic events in modern Baltic history: the forced removal and suffering of tens of thousands at the hands of the Soviet regime. 

It is remembered today in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania with deep solemnity and as a reaffirmation of national endurance. 

In Australia, the Baltic communities honour their ancestors' suffering and survival, ensuring that this part of 20th-century history is not forgotten, even far from the forests of Siberia or the cattle wagons of 1941. 

Through remembrance, education, and cultural expression, the tragedy of June 14 continues to shape Baltic identity and the global understanding of the consequences of totalitarianism.

More

How the June 1941 mass deportations affected people in other newly acquired Soviet satellite states is described in the Soviet Mass Deportations — June 1941 page of the Kresy-Siberia Foundation's Website at https://kresy-siberia.org/museum-galleries/soviet-mass-deportations-1940-41/soviet-mass-deportations/june-1941/.  Accounts of earlier mass deportations which affected other Eastern European countries can be accessed from this page also.

Stanislavs Berzins: the First Accident, by Ann Tündern-Smith

We've reported already on two work-related deaths and a fatal motor cycle accident.  Sadly, there were some more, which we'll get to one-by-one.  The first unfortunate encounter with motorised transport or construction equipment happened on 1 December 1947, according to a report in the West Australian newspaper 2 days later.  The first day in December was only the third day in Australia.

Source:  West Australian, 3 December 1947

There was no Stanislaus Benzines on the Heintzelman passenger list.  The most likely casualty was Stanislavs Berzins, who was aged 29, not 19.  Already the Australian press was struggling to cope with the new names, although we know that others from the Baltic States had been living in Australia for decades.

Traffic driving on the other side of the road was the obvious issue as it still is for Australians in Europe and new European arrivals in Australia.  Had this issue been included in the English language classes on board the Heintzelman?  We know nothing of their content, only that they were conducted by Edna Davis.

"Benzines" was an interesting choice for an alternative name, given that some languages use variations on benzene as their name for petrol (or gas/gasoline for American readers).

Povilas Laurinavičius, Another Who Left Australia, by Daina Pocius, Ann Tündern-Smith and Rasa Ščevinskiene

Povilas Laurinavicius worked on his Lithuanian parent’s farm until August 1944. He then was conscripted into the Luftwaffe, the German air force, and taken to Westfalia in Germany.  He was expected to help build fortifications for the Luftwaffe.

He was born in Riga, now the capital of Latvia, on 18 May 1908.  This was during the reign of Tsar Nicholas II when, as in the Soviet era, workers moved wherever they were needed regardless of internal boundaries.

Personal records for members of the extended family are among those of the Palėvenė church, suggesting that the Laurinavičius farm was near this small town in northeast Lithuania.

Povilas’ migration selection record for Australia shows that he had 4 years of primary education and 4 years of secondary.  Again, he was more educated than many of the Lithuanian men selected for the First Transport.  He had no knowledge of English but he did know Lithuanian, Latvian, and something of Russian, Polish and German. 

Povilas Laurinavicius' photo in his immigration selection papers

Source:  NAA:  A11772, 174  

He had 15 years’ experience as a farmer and would be suitable for heavy labouring work.  He had wanted to migrate to Canada.

At the time of interview by the Australian team in October 1947, Povilas’ occupation was described as Lumber Worker.  He had been doing this work for the previous 2 years, that is, from around October 1945.

Heading towards 40 years of age, Povilas was one of the older DPs selected for resettlement in Australia after travelling there on the First Transport.  After arrival,  he was one of the 185 men sent to pick fruit in the Goulburn Valley on 28 January 1948.  He returned to the Bonegilla camp after only 2 weeks, so clearly the experience had not gone well for him. 

Povilas Laurinavicius' 1947 photo on his Bonegilla card

Source:  NAA: A2571, LAURINAVICIUS POVILAS 

Then he was assigned to be part of the first group sent to work at Broken Hill Proprietary Limited’s Iron Knob mine in South Australia.  They left the Bonegilla camp on 19 February.

Povilas applied to have his sister, Bronė Minkevičienė, brother-in-law, Vytautas Minkevičius, niece, Regina-Marija, and another female relative come to Australia.  Research by Rasa Ščevinskiene has shown that the other female relative, Alina Bonasevičius, was his brother-in-law’s older sister.

There’s nothing on the sponsorship file apart from the application, which Povilas signed off on 3 November 1948.  The absence of any other paper or comment on the file is strange, but the date of application was only 11 months after he came to Australia.  He had not been in Australia for long enough to lodge a successful sponsorship. 

He needed only to try again after 28 November, marking 12 months’ residence.  Nothing on the file suggests that he was told that or attempted it.

A search for Povilas’ brother-in-law in the Arolsen Archives reveals that the sister, brother-in-law and niece left Germany on 8 August 1951 to resettle in the United States.  They left on the General Muir, a sister ship to the General Stuart Heintzelman.

Povilas’ sponsorship application tells us that he had moved on from Iron Knob to what probably was safer employment and better paying also.  He was still in rural South Australia but at Woomera, working for the Commonwealth Government’s Department of Works and Housing.  He was earning nearly £11 per week (£10/19/10). This was at a time when the minimum wage was only £5/19/-.

We know from the story of Romualdas Zeronas that the pay at Iron Knob was £6/8/- each week. 

An index card recording Povilas’ changes of address and workplace, which had to be reported to the Department of Immigration by any resident alien under the Aliens Registration Act, advises that Povilas’ move to Woomera was on 27 May 1948.  He was released from his contractual obligation to work in Australia for 2 years on the same date as the vast majority of the other Heintzelman passengers, 30 September 1949. 

His next move was to Glenelg in suburban Adelaide, where he lived and worked at the Pier Hotel from 23 January 1950.  The mysterious initials M.W. suggest another change of employer when he changed his residence to Gilles Street, Adelaide, on 4 April 1950.

The Pier Hotel, Glenelg, was clearly on the coast, as was his next move, to Semaphore Road, Semphore, only 4 weeks after moving to Gilles Street, on 1 May 1950.  His records were transferred to the Melbourne office of the Department of Immigration from the Adelaide office on 10 October 1951, marking a move from the State of South Australia to the State of Victoria.  We do not have access to the Victorian records yet.

There is one Victorian record in Mūsų Pastogė, though. In its 23 June 1958 edition, this newspaper included him in a list of people who had donated £1 each to support the elderly, sick and injured Lithuanians who were still in Germany.

Cards indicating a move to Tasmania and then New South Wales are available from the National Archives of Australia, however.  They show that on 4 April 1960, he was living on Weld Street, South Hobart and working as a wharf labourer—hard physical work for anyone but especially a man now aged nearly 52. 

By 9 March 1962, he had moved to Elizabeth Street in the middle of Hobart.  Presumably he was working still as a wharf labourer.  The records were transferred to NSW on 26 June 1962, probably after a move to that State.

Povilas left Australia around 1964 and moved to Chicago, Illinois. He was aged only 61 at the time of his death, on 16 November 1969, he was living at 6159 South Artesian Avenue, Chicago.

Povilas had been in America for only five years before his death.  He was mourned by his sister Bronė (Bronislava), her daughter, Regina, and Alina Bonasevičius, of Chicago—the very people he had tried to sponsor to Australia back in 1948.  Another sister, Joanna, and her family were still in Lithuania.

Povilas' death notice

Source:  Draugas, 17 November 1969

Bronė’s husband, Regina’s father, the Vytautas Minkevičius who Povilas had started to sponsor for migration to Australia, had died in New York State on 30 May 1953.  This was less than two years after arriving in the States and he was aged only 53.

His sister, Alina Bonasevičius, had been living at the same address as Povilas according to her death notice in Draugas, around 16 months after it carried the notice for Povilas.  It looks as if Povilas decided that, if rest of the family were settled peacefully in America, he would join them there instead, at 6159 South Artesian Avenue.

Povilas may have died early and overseas, but his name is stamped in Australian philatelic history. Tasmanian Stamp Auctions, in 2023, offered an envelope addressed by Povilas from the Bonegilla camp to ‘Mr’ David Jones (the department store, of course) at the corner of Castlereagh and Market Streets in central Sydney.  The envelope had been damaged when someone had torn off the stamp roughly, but someone else had recognised the value of its clear Bonegilla and nearby Wodonga postmarks.

The envelope had been in private hands, rather than the rubbish bin, for 75 years!  We cannot tell for how much it was sold, but can see that the starting price was $11.00.

Povilas' envelope, a registered letter sent from Bonegilla camp on 16 February 1948

Source:  Tasmanian Stamp Auctions

Namefellows

The only Arolsen Archives records currently available are for another Povilas Laurinavičius, born after ours, on 7 July 1909.  This Povilas Laurinavičius looked different, wore glasses, was a qualified and experienced lawyer, and resettled in the United States after his trip there on the USAT General M L Hersey, leaving Germany on 1 September 1949.

We found also that papers for a later DP immigrant to Australia, Povilas Laurinaitis, date of birth 8 April 1922, had been placed first on the selection papers file for our Povilas Laurinavičius (NAA: A11772, 174).  We have notified the custodian of those papers, the National Archives of Australia.

Sources

Draugas (1969), ‘A.†A. Povilas Laurinavičius’ [‘RIP Povilas Laurinavičius’, advertisement, in Lithuanian] Chicago, Illinois, 17 November, p 5 https://draugas.org/archive/1969_reg/1969-11-17-DRAUGASm-i7-8.pdf accessed 17 May 2025.

Draugas (1971), ‘A.†A. Alina Bonasevičius’ [‘RIP Alina Bonasevičius’, advertisement, in Lithuanian] Chicago, Illinois, 5 March, p 7 https://draugas.org/archive/1971_reg/1971-03-05-DRAUGAS.pdf accessed 24 May 2025.

Mūsų Pastogė (1958) ‘Pinigai gauti’ [‘Money received’, in Lithuanian] Sydney, 23 June, p 5 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge /archive/1958/1958-06-23-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 17 May 2025.

National Archive of Australia: Department of Immigration, Central Office; A261, Application forms (culled from other file series) for admission of Relatives or Friends to Australia (Form 40) (1953-61); 1948/592, Applicant - LAURINAVICIUS Povilas; Nominee - MINKEVICIUS Vytautas;Bronislarma; Regina- Marijan; BONASEVICIENCE Alima; nationality Lithuanian (1948-48) https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7861148 accessed 17 May 2025.

National Archive 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 (1947-47); 174, LAURINAVICIUS Povilas DOB 18 May 1908 (1947-47) https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=1834754 accessed 16 May 2025.

National Archive of Australia: Department of Immigration, South Australia Branch; D4881, Alien registration cards, alphabetical series (1946-76); LAURINAVICIUS POVILAS, LAURINAVICIUS Povilas - Nationality: Lithuanian - Arrived Fremantle per General Stuart Heintzelman 28 November 1947 (1947-51) https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=9180525 accessed 17 May 2025.

National Archive of Australia: Department of Immigration, Tasmanian Branch; P1183, Registration cards for non-British migrants/visitors, lexicographical series (1944-76); 16/317 LAURINAVICIUS, LAURINAVICIUS, Povilas born 18 May 1908 - nationality Lithuanian (1947-62) https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=60155147 accessed 17 May 2025.

National Archive of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla] (1947-56); LAURINAVICIUS POVILAS, LAURINAVICIUS, Povilas : Year of Birth - 1908 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GENERAL HEINTZELMAN : Number – 571 (1947-48) https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203619595 accessed 17 May 2025.

Tasmanian Stamp Auctions (2023) '(CN1961) VICTORIA · 1948: cover with damaged front bearing a clear strike of RELIEF No.3 used at Bonegilla Immigration and Training Camp and a nice strike of the rubber boxed WODONGA datestamp (3 images)' https://www.tsauctions.com/listing/cn1961-victoria-1948-cover-with-damaged-front-bearing-a-clear-strike-of-relief-no3-used-at-bonegilla-immigration-and-training-camp-and-a-nice-strike-of-the-rubber-boxed-wodonga-datestamp-3-images/15125?fbclid=IwAR0BAnFLvsaiQtpdk8UmkXRRjTDaiv6BdO9qk-pSzIWdyzIq-C0y0XJaP_8  accessed 24 May 2025.

Jonas Jakaitis (1919-2010), Australian Citizen, by Ann Tündern-Smith and Rasa Ščevinskienė

Jonas Jakaitis was one of the 62 men from the First Transport, General Stuart Heintzelman, sent to Bangham in South Australia to work for the SA Railways.  He became an Australian citizen at the same 1953 Adelaide ceremony as his fellow SAR worker, Hugo Jakobsen.  At the time, they were photographed together for posterity by the Adelaide Advertiser newspaper.  What else do we know about him?

Hugo Jakobsen (left) and Jonas Jakaitis (right) at their 15 April 1953 citizenship ceremony

Source:  Adelaide Advertiser, 16 April 1953

Rasa Ščevinskienėhas found an index to the South Australian Railways (SAR) records which shows that, having started with the others at Bangham on 15 January 1948, Jonas left the SAR on 11 July 1952.  He had been released from his work contract earlier though, on 30 September 1949.

From the Adelaide News newspaper of the day after Jonas obtained Australian citizenship with Hugo, 15 April 1953, we know that Jonas now described his occupation as ‘motor mechanic’. 

Jonas was born in Lithuania on 4 July 1919.  Rasa has discovered a 1942 census of Lithuania online, which tells us that he was the oldest of four children fathered by Juozas Jakaitis.  Jonas and his sister Ona, born in 1924, had a mother who had died when they were young. 

Naturally Juozas looked for another mother for his children and married again, in March 1930.  With Agota, he had two more children, Augustinas, born in 1930, and Marijona, born in 1937.

The family lived in the tiny village of Ziliai, which is 7 kilometers from a much larger settlement of Kiduliai.  Ziliai now is about 11 kilometers from the post-WWII border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, between Lithuanian and Poland.  Jonas always stated that Kiduliai was his birthplace, probably because his mother was more likely to find a midwife or other assistance there.

The census took place in April 1942.  It recorded that Jonas, aged about 23, and Ona, aged about 18, were already in Germany.

However, Jonas’ selection documents for migration to Australia say that he arrived in Germany in June 1944.  While this certainly is earlier than the more usual September-October 1944, it is not 1942.  Perhaps Jonas and Ona had returned to Ziliai when circumstances seemed better, only to decide to leave again.

The selection papers record that Jonas had had the basic 4 years of elementary school and was suitable to be a ‘medium labourer’ in Australia.  His occupation at the time of interview, on 24 September 1947, was ‘motor mechanic’ and he had been working at this occupation for the previous 13 months.  He previously had been a driver in Lithuania for 2 years.

His Lithuanian, of course, and German language skills were regarded as fluent, while his English was marked ‘fair’.

Jonas Jakaitis identity photograph from his selection papers

Source:  NAA:  A11772, JAKAITIS Jonas DOB 4 July 1919

Up to the point of his naturalisation ceremony on 15 April 1953,  a card kept in the Adelaide Office of the Department of Immigration records his changed of employer and residential address.  This was required under the Alien Registration Act 1947.

 

From this record, we can see that his first and last reported employment was with car manufacturer, General Motors Holden (GMH), where he was employed as a labourer.  He worked as a machinist at Pope Products from 19 November 1949 and several smaller companies for nearly 5 years.  He obtained the specialised position of fitter and turner with the South Australian Brush Company, better known as SABCO, from 16 August 1952 but only for two months.  He then moved back to GMH, again with the job title of labourer, but maybe because the pay was better.

 

That 19 November 1949 employment date with Pope Products and the later employment information conflict with the SAR record of Jonas staying in its employment until 11 July 1952.  A human error will have occurred with one of the records.  Of the two, the Department of Immigration record is likely to be the more accurate since Jonas would have had to report each change in address or employer in person.

 

We know little about the rest of Jonas’ life in Australia except that, in 1960, he donated £1 to a collection in support of Adelaide’s Lithuanian House.  The Reserve Bank of Australia says that what £1 would buy in 1960 would cost more than $35 now.  Perhaps we could think of Jonas’ donation as putting forward $50 now.

Jonas left a widow, Adele Milita, when he died on 1 April 2010 aged a remarkable 90 years.  His funeral took place on 12 April.  He is buried in the Roman Catholic section of the Enfield Memorial Park.  

With a previous family name like Adele Milita Gleichforsch, his widow probably was a Baltic German but she also had been born in Lithuania.  Her German background would explain why a card kept by a Lithuanian Catholic priest lists her and the two older children of the family as ‘Eveng’ or Evangelical Lutheran.

The third child was born 8 years after the previous one.  Given that the oldest was born in 1946, when we understand Jonas to have been single, this could well be a melded family, with Adele bringing into it the two older children from a previous marriage.

Adele also lived to a robust age, 92, dying on 5 July 2015.  The Find A Grave Website photograph of Jonas' plaque in the Enfield Park shows a blank besides his name.  The exact place of burial is not recorded.  Adele’s place of burial is recorded as being within the Catholic section, despite her Lutheran faith.  In all probability, Jonas and Adele now rest side by side.

SOURCES

Advertiser (1953) 'Thrilled To Become Australians' Adelaide, 16 April, p 3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/48284822 accessed 10 April 2025.

 

[Church card], ‘Jakaitis, Jonas’, held by Australian Lithuanian Archives, Adelaide.

 

Find A Grave, ‘Adelle Milita Gleichforsch Jakaitis’ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/202129584/adelle_milita_jakaitis accessed 9 April 2025.

 

Find A Grave, ‘Jonas Jakaitis’ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/154554810/jonas-jakaitis accessed 9 April 2025.

 

Government of South Australia, State Records (2021) ‘Index, GRS 10638, Record of employment sheets – South Australian Railways’

https://www.archives.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/830188/GRS_10638-index-I-L.pdf  accessed 9 November 2024.

 

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, 1947-47; 93, JAKAITIS Jonas DOB 4 July 1919, 1947-47 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5005526 accessed 10 April 2025.

 

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-56; JAKAITIS JONAS, JAKAITIS, Jonas : Year of Birth - 1919 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GENERAL HEINTZELMAN : Number – 493 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203620759 accessed 10 April 2025.

 

National Archives of Australia:  Department of Immigration, South Australia Branch; D4881, Alien registration cards, alphabetical series, 1946-76; JAKAITIS JONAS, JAKAITIS Jonas - Nationality: Lithuanian - Arrived Fremantle per General Stuart Heintzelman 28 November 1947, 1947-53

https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=9187517 accessed 10 April 2025.

 

National Archives of Australia:  Department of Immigration, South Australia Branch; D4878, Alien registration documents, alphabetical series, 1937-65; JAKAITIS J, JAKAITIS Jonas - Nationality: Lithuanian - Arrived Fremantle per General Stuart Heintzelman 28 November 1947, 1947-53 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=4077737 accessed 10 April 2025.

'Personal file of JAKAITIS, IONAS, born on 4-Jul-1919, born in KIDULIAI', 3.2.1. / 79213085 / ITS Digital Archive, Arolsen Archives, https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/79213085 accessed 10 April 2025.

 

Reserve Bank of Australia, ‘Pre-Decimal Inflation Calculator’, https://www.rba.gov.au/calculator/annualPreDecimal.html accessed 9 November 2024.

 

Šeimos Surašymas 1942 Metais (Family Census in 1942) (Search Results for Jakaitis Jonas) https://eu3.ragic.com/genealogija/census/3/13586.xhtml accessed 9 November 2024.

 

The Advertiser (1953) ‘Thrilled to Become Australians’ Adelaide, 16 April, p 3, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48284822 accessed 9 November 2024

 

The News (1953) ‘13 Migrants to Become Aussies’ Adelaide, 15 April, p 9, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article134289724 accessed 9 November 2024.