Albinas Kutka (1908-1992), Master Builder and Benefactor, by Rasa Ščevinskienė and Ann Tündern-Smith

Updated 4 October 2025.

Most of the Displaced Persons from the First Transport sent to South Australia to work stayed there, even after their obligation to work where directed finished on 30 September 1949. Albinas Kutka was different: he moved to Sydney. From the suburb of Canterbury he moved to Bankstown, a suburb with its own airport for light aviation. Undeterred by the noise, he moved even closer to Bankstown Airport, in Condell Park.

Albinas was able to get recognition from the authorities as a master builder. Together with fellow Lithuanian, Vytautas Mickevičius, he was responsible for the construction of a Lithuanian retirement village in the far south of Sydney, Engadine. Rather than being adjacent to an airport, this location is adjacent to Royal National Park, Australia’s first, and only the second in the world after Yellowstone in the USA.

In old age, Albinas sold the Condell Park home and moved into one of his own buildings in the Lithuanian retirement home in Engadine.

Albinas' youth

He had been born on 9 April 1908 in the village of Lukniai, near Vyzuonos in the Utena district. He was one of 6 children, 4 boys and 2 girls, born to farmers Kazimieras Kutka and Agota Kutkienė, whose maiden name was Macionytė.

Albinas lived all of his youth on the family farm until called away for military service at the age of 21. He earned the rank of junior sergeant. Eight years later, in 1937, he again was drafted into the army to refresh his training. He continued to work on the farm until the beginning of World War II. When the Soviet entered Lithuania for the second time, in 1944, he retreated to Germany.

Albinas Kutka's ID photo on his Bonegilla card

Source:  National Archives of Australia

Albinas in Germany

The Arolsen Archives hold 4 documents naming Albinas, 3 of which understate his age by exactly 10 years. What can be gleaned from them is that he was in Munich between 13 August 1945 and 6 February 1946, during which his occupation was Waldarbeiter, forest worker or woodcutter or, in American, lumberjack. He also lived for a while in a town called Vilsbiburg, which is just under 90 Km northeast of Munich, and Stade, a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany, at the opposite end of his country of refuge.

His American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) Displaced Person’s registration record was filled out on 23 August 1945, but the place where it was completed is blank (unless P.A.P.Cl. 124 still can be decoded*). Another date on this form is of interest though, because its month and year suggest that 10 August 1944 was the date that he reached Germany, that is, almost one year before he was recorded in Munich. Given that its Arolsen Archives’ DeepLink number is just one more than the form which states that he is in Stade, this city may well be where he was registered as a Displaced Person.

The AEF recorded his preferred occupation not as farmer, like his father, but Tischler, German for carpenter.  Possibly he had done a lot of building on his parents' farm.

It is possible that he moved from Stade to the Munich district to get as far away as possible from the Soviet occupiers of eastern Germany and his homeland. He reported for interview by the first Australian migration selection team at the Buchholtz DP camp, though, in the centre of western Germany. 

He impressed the team enough to be included in the First Transport, departing Bremerhaven on 30 October 1947.  At 39 years, he was one of the older passengers.

Albinas and the Sawmill

Albinas’ first job in Australia was in Backhouse, Roebuck Pty. Ltd., The Bonegilla card records this company as being located in a placed called Megan, which sounds more like a girl’s name than a place name to a modern Australian. It really does exist, though, as a community hall and the remains of a railway station, inland of Coff’s Harbour in New South Wales.

The nearest town to Megan is Dorrigo, the headquarters of Backhouse, Roebuck according to a search of digitised newspapers on the National Library of Australia’s Trove Website. The company owned sawmills. 

Albinas left the Bonegilla camp for one of them in 21 January 1948, in a group of 7 men. He was back at the Bonegilla migrant centre on 11March 1948 together with another Lithuanian member of the group, Juozas Bazys, and a Latvian member of the group who was 16-20 years younger than the Lithuanians, Nikolaus Kucina.

Assuming that it took at least a couple of days to travel from Bonegilla by bus or car to Albury, then by train to Sydney, then to Megan if the station was operative in 1948, Albinas, Juozas and Nikolaus had put up with the conditions offered by Backhouse, Roebuck for less than 7 weeks. It was not the type of working with wood that Albinas preferred.

Albinas to Iron Knob

All 3 were sent off to Iron Knob, in South Australia, on 16 March, together with a fourth man who also had given up a career as a sawmill hand. The fourth man was a Latvian, Peteris Mesters, who had been sent to Northern Timbers, Pty Ltd, of Johnson’s Creek, New South Wales. Not surprisingly, Google Maps now can find 10 localities of this name in NSW, only 2 of which are in Sydney. Two certainly are northern, being on the border with Queensland.

Just before WWII, Iron Knob had been described as the largest known deposit of high-grade iron ore in the world. Broken Hill Pty Ltd – but now simply BHP – had commenced mining in the area in 1900.

The group of Lithuanians working at Iron Knob understood the importance of having a newspaper in their own language. They organised a collection to support the creation of Australijos lietuvis (Australian Lithuanian). The newspaper thanked them as its first sponsors on 12 September 1948. Albinas had donated ₤1 of the total of £8/5/- given by 10 Lithuanians.

Working together surely brought the Lithuanians there closer together. Even after they left Iron Knob, they kept in touch. For instance, 3 of them advertised on 23 May 1949 in the newspaper Australijos lietuvis that their friend Jonas Puslys, together with Olga Vainoryte, had created a Lithuanian family, so they congratulated them and wish them a sunny life. The three were Rasa’s grandfather, Adomas, and Albinas Kutka as well as Petras Juodka. By May 1949 they were not no longer working together, because Adomas for one was living already in Adelaide.

Jonas Puslys had not gone with the others to Iron Knob though. He started his working like in Australia as a fruit-picker, then had been sent to Australian Newsprint Mills’ Boyer plant in Tasmania. It looks like the connection between these four is earlier than work in Australia. None of them were in the Scouts, so perhaps it goes back to the same camp in Germany or the same locality in Lithuania.

It also looks like these men, along with Povilas Laurinavičius, had discovered the Australian postal system, and it was working for them. Actually, buying stamps and posting letters was sure to have been one of the “Australian way of life” topics covered in the Bonegilla camp English language classes.

Albinas to Adelaide

An Alien Registration record card for Albinas shows that he was released from his contract to work as directed in Australia on 30 September 1949, along with most of the others who came on the First Transport. His next place of employment was the Pier Hotel in Glenelg, suburban Adelaide, alongside Povilas Laurinavičius. Then it was off to 3 Robert Street, Canterbury, New South Wales, an address reported to the Department of Immigration on 27 June 1951.

Albinas to Sydney

Why did Albinas not stay in Adelaide like most of the others sent to South Australia to work out their contract? Another Kutka, Antanas, came to Australia from Germany on the Protea, arriving on 30 September 1948. He was sent to Sydney’s Metropolitan Water, Sewerage and Drainage Board to work. From the information available to us, we cannot tell if they were related but, since both were born in the Utena district, we cannot dismiss this possibility either.

If they were related and communicating with each other, then perhaps from Antanas' description of life in Sydney, Albinas thought he would do better there than in Adelaide.

We know already that he moved from the initial Canterbury address to Bankstown, a suburb with its own airport for light aviation. Undeterred by the noise, he moved to a home even closer to Bankstown Airport, in Condell Park.

On 3 December 1953, the Mūsų pastogė (Our Haven) newspaper reported that Albinas was in his second year of successful house construction in Bankstown. The reporter added (in Lithuanian, of course) “His example shows what can be achieved with determination and initiative.”

Ten months later, in October 1954, he was hit by a car while riding his bicycle. Mūsų pastogė wrote (in Lithuanian) “His face was injured, his head was cut open, and his bicycle was smashed. After spending several days in the hospital, Alb. Kutka returned home.”

Albinas acquired Australian citizenship on 22 June 1967. His address at the time, 47 Cragg Street, Condell Park, shows that he now owned his own home, probably built or updated with his own hands.

Sydney's Lithuanian Retirement Village

Ona Baužienė started campaigning for land on which to build a Lithuanian retirement village when she became the chairwoman of the Sydney Lithuanian Women’s Social Services Association in 1967. We have just met through her recollections 30 years later of meeting the First Transport Lithuanians in the Bonegilla camp.

Her committee started an intensive program of fundraising through catering for community events, raffles and the like. In 1970, the Association was granted land at Engadine on a permanent basis on condition that it be solely used for housing the elderly.

Work on the first two buildings started in 1975 after signing a contract with the builders Albinas Kutka and Vytautas Mickevičius.  A community centre finished in 1978 was financed entirely by the Association’s fundraising plus donations. It included a kitchen, dining room and library.  The remaining 17 residential buildings, for up to two residents each, were completed in 1981, thanks this time to funding from the NSW Government as well as the Association’s efforts.

Albinas (extreme left) and Vytautas Mickevičius help to celebrate the 
completion of the buildings

The topping-out wreath and 2 village buildings, 1981

Source:  Mūsų Pastogė

The official opening was on 19 August 1984. The builders, Albinas and Vytautas, brought their topping-out wreath to the opening.

Albinas the Benefactor

Mūsų pastogė advised in April 1982 that Albinas Kutka, a well-known Lithuanian builder recognized by the Australians as a "master builder", had become seriously ill recently and has been hospitalized for a major operation. The patient was recovering rapidly and hoped to return to his home in Bankstown soon. Albinas Kutka was known to local Lithuanians as a generous supporter of the Lithuanian cause.

The words “Albinas Kutka was known to local Lithuanians as a generous supporter” were very accurate, because he had been donating unreservedly to many Lithuanian activities. Messages and thanks from the newspapers can confirm this. Here are some examples.

• Mūsų Pastogė, 12 May 1980: student A. Binkevičius received $200, of which $100 was donated by builder Albinas Kutka.
• Tėviškės aidai, 21 November 1981: “The always quiet and sincere Lithuanian, Albinas Kutka", sent a donation of $100 to the Daina Choir.
• Tėviškės aidai, 20 March 1986: On the occasion of February 16 (Lithuania’s Independence Day) compatriots in Sydney and the surrounding area supported Lithuania’s freedom struggle with their sincere donations. Albinas Kutka’s donation $50 was the largest individual amount received.
• Mūsų Pastogė, 25 October 1988: A. Kutka donated $100 for the trip of Lithuanian dissident, Professor Vytautas Skuodis. Again, this was the largest individual donation.

  

  The photo which accompanied Albinas' obituary
  

  Source:  Mūsų Pastogė

Albinas' Last Years

Albinas was already in his mid-70s when the village was opened.  He sold his own house and settled into a unit he had built himself. Since Albinas was single, it was more stimulating for him to live there among Lithuanian acquaintances. In his last four years of his life, his health deteriorated. Doctors recognised his condition as difficult to treat. In the end, he received care in a nearby Calvary (Catholic) nursing home.

Albinas Kutka died on 13 September 1992, and was buried in Catholic Section of the Rookwood cemetery. During his final illness, Albinas was cared for by his neighbour and friend Vincas Kondrackas and his wife. They also took care of the funeral arrangements.

FOOTNOTE:  Perhaps P.A.P.Cl. 124 can be decoded.  Recently I happened upon a list of DP Camps by Team No on the <dpcamps.org> Website.  While it doesn't explain P.A.P.Cl., it does say that Team 124 was located in München, that is, Munich, where other evidence places Albinas also.

SOURCES

‘A.E.F. D.P. Registration Record, Albinas Kutka’, 3.1.1 Registration and Care of DPs inside and outside of Camps, DocID: 67941909, ITS Digital Archive, Arolsen Archives, https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/search/person/67941909?s=Kutka&t=2739669&p=0, accessed 21 September 2025.

Australijos Lietuvis, (Australian Lithuanian) (1948) ‘Pirmieji Mūsų Rėmėjai’ (‘Our First Sponsors’, in Lithuanian) https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/280321942, accessed 21 September 2025.

Australian Cemetery Index, ‘Kutka’, https://austcemindex.com/?family_name=kutka, accessed 21 September 2025.

'Australian Lithuanian History, Australian Lithuanian newspaper’ https://salithohistory.blogspot.com/2008/12/, accessed 21 September 2025.

Bonegilla Identity Card Lookup, ‘Albinas Kutka’, https://idcards.bonegilla.org.au/record/203624970, accessed 21 September 2025.

‘CM/1 264719, Family name, Kutka, Citizenship, Lith’, 3.1.1 Registration and Care of DPs inside and outside of Camps, DocID: 67941908, ITS Digital Archive, Arolsen Archives, https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/67941908, accessed 21 September 2025.

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (1967) ‘Certificates of Naturalization’ Canberra, 2 June, p 5863 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/241018768, accessed 21 September 2025.

Dainos Choro Valdyba (Daina Choir Board) (1981) ‘Sydnėjuje, Dainos Chore‘ (‘In Sydney, Daina Choir’ in Lithuanian) Tėviškės Aidai, (The Echoes of Homeland) Melbourne, 21 November, p 8 https://spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1981/1981-11-21-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf, accessed 21 September 2025.

Elektroninio archyvo informacinė Sistema (Electronic Archive Information System, in Lithuanian with some English) ‘Utenos dekanato bažnyčių gimimo metrikų knyga’ (‘Birth register book of churches in the Utena deanery’, in Lithuanian ) (1908, Vyzuonos church, page 113, baptism record number 51, Albinas Kutka) https://eais.archyvai.lt/repo-ext-api/share/?manifest=https://eais.archyvai.lt/repo-ext-api/view/267507212/276386482/lt/iiif/manifest&lang=lt&page=113, accessed 21 September 2025.

Elektroninio archyvo informacinė Sistema (Electronic Archive Information System, in Lithuanian with some English) ‘Utenos dekanato bažnyčių gimimo metrikų knyga’ (‘Birth register book of churches in the Utena deanery’, in Lithuanian) (1899, Gaižiūnai church, page 71, baptism record number 158, Antanas Kutka) phttps://eais.archyvai.lt/repo-ext-api/share/?manifest=https://eais.archyvai.lt/repo-ext-api/view/267506507/276386475/lt/iiif/manifest&lang=lt&page=71

Find A Grave, ‘Albinas Kutka’ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/149476069/albinas-kutka, accessed 21 September 2025.

Juodka, Petras, Ivanauskas, Adomas and Albinas Kutka (1949) ‘Drauga Jona Pūsli …’ (‘Friend Jonas Puslis … ’, in Lithuanian) Australijos Lietuvis (The Australian Lithuanian) Adelaide, 23 May, p 22, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/280321235, accessed 21 September 2025.

‘Land/Stadt/Kreis Vilsbiburg, Form 10, ITS 247’, 2.1.1 American Zone of Occupation in Germany, DocID: 70255471, https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/70255471, accessed 21 September 2025.

‘München Kreis, Kategorie III, Form 7’, 2.1.1 American Zone of Occupation in Germany, DocID: 70073263, ITS Digital Archive, Arolsen Archives, https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/70073263, accessed 21 September 2025. [Also at https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/search/person/70073530.]

Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven)(1954) ‘Sydnėjus’ (‘Sydney’, in Lithuanian) Sydney, 27 October, p 4 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/259359692, accessed 21 September 2025.

Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) (1980) ‘Redakcijos pastaba’ (‘Editor’s Note’) Sydney, 12 May, p 3 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1980/1980-05-12-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 21 September 2025.

Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) (1988) ‘Aukos’ (‘Victims’, in Lithuanian) Sydney, 25 October, p 7, https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1988/1988-10-25-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 21 September 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, Western Australian Branch; PP482/1, Correspondence files [nominal rolls], single number series, 1926-1952; 82, GENERAL HEINTZELMAN - arrived Fremantle 28 November 1947 - nominal rolls of passengers, 1947-1952 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=439196, accessed 21 September 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Labour and National Service, Central Office; MT29/1, Employment Service Schedules, 1947-1950; 21, Schedule of displaced persons who left the Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla Victoria for employment in the State of South Australia - [Schedule no SA1 to SA31], 1948-1950, https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=23150376, accessed 21 September 2025.

Rep (1953) ‘Bankstownas’ (‘Bankstown’, in Lithuanian) Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) Sydney, 3 December, p 4 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1953/1953-12-03-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 21 September 2025.

Reisgienė, Martina (trans. Petras Viržintas) (2024) ‘Sydney Lithuanian Women’s Social Services Assoc. Inc‘, SLIC (Sydney Lithuanian Information Centre) https://www.slic.org.au/Community/sydlithwomen.htm, accessed 21 September 2025.

Tėviškės Žiburiai (The Lights of Homeland) (1984) ‘Australija, Oficialus Lietuvių sodybos atidarymas‘ (‘Australia, Official Opening of the Lithuanian Home’) Mississauga, Ontario, 2 October, p 4 https://spauda.org/teviskes_ziburiai/archive/1984/1984-10-02-TEVISKES-ZIBURIAI.pdf, accessed 21 September 2025.

Valdyba (The Board) (1981) ‘Vainikuota Lietiivių Sodyba’ (‘The Topped-Out Lithuanian Home’, in Lithuanian) Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) Sydney, 5 July, p 5 https://www.spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1981/1981-07-05-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 21 September 2025.

Vinevičius, A. (1992) ‘Mūsų mirusieji, Su Ramovėnu A. Kutka Atsisveikinant’ (Our Dead, Farewell to Ramovė Member A. Kutka’, in Lithuanian) Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven), Sydney, 28 September, p 7 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1992/1992-09-28-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 21 September 2025

Wikipedia, ‘Stade’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stade, accessed 25 September 2025.

Wikipedia, ‘Topping Out’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topping_out, accessed 25 September 2025.

Wikipedia, ‘Vilsbiburg’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilsbiburg, accessed 25 September 2025.

Juozas Abromaitis: The unknown man in the photo by Rasa Ščevinskiene and Ann Tündern-Smith

Rasa has worked out that Juozas Abromaitis is the middle of the three men in the photograph sent by her grandfather Adomas Ivanauskas from Australia.  The photo was most likely taken during some Lithuanian gathering or celebration, since all the men in the photo look Lithuanian.  Therefore, she was interested to find out more about this man and his fate.

From the left, Julius, now known to be Julius Petkinis, his wife-to-be, Barbara,
Juozas Abromaitis, Adomas Ivanauskas' girlfriend, Beryl, and Adomas, Rasa's grandfather

Source:  Private collection

Juozas was born on 5 January 1913 in the town of Krosna in Lithuania, making him one of the older men on the USAT General Stuart Heintzelman, already aged 34.  His parents were workers, Jonas Abromaitis and the former Ieva Adinaviciute.

In the Marijampole church on 16 may 1936, Juozas married Albina Dulskyte.  The record states that both were workers living in Marijampole.  During 1939-1944, Juozas Abromaitis worked in a brick factory in Marijampole.

On 27 September 1944, he was caught by the Germans while walking along a street in Marijampole and taken to Germany to dig trenches.  This is action is an example of what is summarised as "forcibly evacuated by the Germans" in the record of his interview by the selection team for Australia in October 1947.

During 1945 he lived in Dresden, moving to Kassel during 1946.

While Juozas was in Germany, he tried to find his wife, relatives and friends.  We know this from an advertisement in the newspaper Ziburiai on 18 May 1946, which said in Lithuanian, "Abromaitis Juozas, Kassel Oberzwehren, Mattenberg Camp, is looking for his wife Albina, brother-in-law Kulbokas Stasys and acquaintances."

He left Bremerhaven for Australia with 842 other Baltic refugees on the USAT General Stuart Heintzelman on 30 October 1947, arriving in Australia on 28 November 1947.

Juozas Abromaitis' identity photo from his Bonegilla card

Source:  National Archives of Australia

His first job in Australia was with the South Australian Department of Engineering & Water Supply (E&WS) in Adelaide.  He left Bonegilla camp, Victoria, on 7 or 8 January 1948 and with 63 or 64 other men who were sent by train to Adelaide.  This was the first group of migrants sent by Australian government to work outside the camp.  The men were on wages of £5.12.6 per week and their average age was 24.  Juozas‘ 35th birthday was just before the departure date.

The Adelaide Mail newspaper of 14 February 1948 said "Sixty-five eager young Baltic migrants camped in a paddock at Bedford Park are waiting for responsible authorities to teach them.  Only two men could speak English well.  Camp interpreter Olaf Aerfeld said, 'The boys would like to mix with people and become Australians some day, but most are young and very shy.  The language difficulty is stopping them from meeting Australians'."

Another report in the Mail one week later said, "While nothing was done officially this week to help the Balts, private citizens called on the strangers in their Bedford Park camp, invited them to their homes, offered to help teach them English.  They agreed to take 30 Balts in the first class at the Teachers Training College, and to arrange more than one night class a week if necessary.  Mr. Ashton said Engineering and Water Supply Department engineers had been trying to improve the Balts knowledge of English by mixing them with Australian workers, and some already had a smattering of the language."

These newspaper reports show that not knowing the language was a big problem for the Balts.  Juozas Abromaitis was one of those who had a hard time learning English.  On 5 April 1949, the Mount Gambier Border Watch newspaper carried an article headed Town Too Strange, about Juozas Abromaitis.

"The bearded stranger who solemnly walked along Mount Gambler's Commercial Street yesterday spoke three languages but none of them English and so he found the town 'too strange'.  His name was Juozas Abromaitis, a 37-years-old Lithuanian who had come to Australia from Java and had arrived in Mount Gambier on Sunday.  He speaks Russian, Polish and Lithuanian, but when addressed in English or French shyly turns his head to one side and murmurs, 'No understand'.  Juozas Abromaitis has come to the South East to work with CF Duncan and Co, (who ran a timber mill producing match sticks from pine logs) at Nangwarry, but does not know how long he will stay there.  He thinks he will go to America.“

His arrival from Java must have been a reporter‘s mistake because Juozas did not know how to explain himself well.

An Alien Registration card from the South Australian Department of Immigration officre says that Juozas was released for his contract to work in Australia on the new date decreed by the Minister for Immigration, 30 September 1949.  The first employment recorded on this card is not with CF Duncan and Co but Australian Berry Baskets, also of Nangwarry.  That is the only employer recorded for the next 4 years, when Commonwealth Railways at Port Augusta gets mentioned.

He may have moved to western Victoria for a short while, since both Portland Junction and Wannan are written on the card, in the same handwriting as the name of another First Transport man, Albertas Gedutis.  There are no dates for this record, but it was after August 1951 and before September 1953.

The Port Augusta record is from November 1953. Juozas was in Whyalla in May 1954, recorded as living at H27, SMQ.  That set of initials stood for Single Men‘s Quarters.  Exactly 10 years later, the address becomes H27, Tanderra Hostel, so it looks like a change of name rather than a change of address.  BHP Whyalla has been recorded as the employer against the 1964 address.  BHP Whyalla appears against a 1967 record foer the same residential address.

Juozas did not go to the USA but acquired Australian citizenship on 15 May 1968.  His address at that time was still H27, Tanderra Hostel.

He died only 4 years later, on 18 August 1972, and is buried in the Whyalla Cemetery.  The South Australian Government‘s Births, Deaths, Marriages Website cannot find a death certificate for him.  He was aged 59 at the time and had been working as a labourer for the previous 24 years, so we have to assume that the cause of death was natural causes and lots of hard work.

Juozas Abromaitis' grave marker in the Whyalla Cemetery probably was purchased by
friends from the Tanderra Hostel or his work, but now is rusted beyond recognition

Source:  FindAGrave photograph by Rosie

Sources

Border Watch (1949) 'Town too strange', Mount Gambier, 5 April, p 1 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/78629466 accessed 2 August 2025.

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (1968) 'Certificates of Naturalization as Australian Citizens' Canberra, 22 August, page 4717 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/241058110 accessed 2 August 2025.

ePaveldas, 'Krosnos RKB gimimo metrikų knyga' ['Krosna RKB birth registry book', in Lithuanian] [Juozas Abromaitis' birth record is number 3, p 453.] https://www.epaveldas.lt/preview?id=1470%2F1%2F3 accessed 1 August 2025.

Find a Grave, 'Juozas Abramaitis (sic)' https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/223298825/juozas-abramaitis accessed 2 August 2025.

Lithuanian State Historical Archives, ‘Marijampolės RKB santuokos metrikų knyga' ['Marijampole RKB marriage registry book', in Lithuanian] [Juozas Abromaitis' marriage record is 56, p 31] https://eais.archyvai.lt/repo-ext-api/share/?manifest=https://eais.archyvai.lt/repo-ext-api/view/289271690/298053012/lt/iiif/manifest&lang=lt&page=31 accessed 1 August 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, Central Office; A11772, Migrant Selection Documents for Displaced Persons who travelled to Australia per General Stuart Heintzelman departing Bremerhaven 30 October 1947, 1947-1947; 513, ABROMAITIS Juozas DOB 5 January 1913, 1947-1947, recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5005753 accessed 2 August 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, South Australia Branch; D4881, Alien registration cards, alphabetical series, 1946-1976; ABROMAITIS JUOZAS, ABROMAITIS Juozas - Nationality: Lithuanian - Arrived Fremantle per General Stuart Heintzelman 28 November 1947, 1947-1968, recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7183234 accessed 2 August 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Labour and National Service, Central Office; MT29/1, Employment Service Schedules, 1947-1950; 21, Schedule of displaced persons who left the Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla Victoria for employment in the State of South Australia 1948-1950 (page 106) https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=23150376 accessed 2 August 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947 - 1956; ABROMAITIS JUOZAS, ABROMAITIS, Juozas : Year of Birth - 1913 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN HEINZELMAN : Number – 888, 1947-1948 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8119310 accessed 2 August 2025.

Mail (1948) 'Balts Feel Free After Prison Camp Horrors', Adelaide, 10 January p 3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/55903813 accessed 2 August 2025.

Mail (1948) 'No English Lessons For Eager Young Balts', Adelaide, 14 February, p 24 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/55909057 accessed 2 August 2025.

Mail (1948) 'English Classes For Balts Arranged', Adelaide, 21 February, page 24 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/55905295 accessed 2 August 2025.

'Personal file of ABROMAITIS, JUOZAS, born on 5-Jan-1913, born in KROSNA Arolsen', 3.2.1/DocID: 78864234/ITS Digital Archive, Arolsen Archives https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/search/person/78864232?s=abromaitis&t=2815320&p=1 accessed 1 August 2025.

Unearth Whyalla 'Cemetery Search' https://www.whyalla.sa.gov.au/services/community-facilities/cemetery/cemetery-search?action=grave&id=614811 accessed 2 August 2025.

Ziburiai (1946), 'Paieškojimai' ['Searches', in Lithuanian] Augsburg, 18 May, p 5 2195.  https://spauda2.org/dp/dpspaudinys_ziburiai/archive/1946-05-18-ZIBURIAI.pdf accessed 1 August 2025.

Domas Valancius (1922-1980): A wanderer who died young by Rasa Ščevinskienė and Ann Tündern-Smith

Domas Valancius was born in Pauosniai village, Plunge district, Lithuania, on 21 June 1922, to peasant parents Jonas and Ona Valancius. Ona’s maiden name was Grismanauskaite.

Domas’ name was Dominykas on the birth record, but he probably chose the shorter version of Domas to make it easier to say and spell. English language equivalents would be Dominic for Dominykas and Dom for Domas.

Domas Valancius' birth record on 21 June 1922, in Plunge church, Lithuania

Source: Lithuanian State Historical Archives

From an Arolsen Archives record, we know that Domas Valancius was in the British zone after World War II ended. During the War, from 6 December 1943 to 31 March 1945 he had worked for the Gerwerkschaft Dorn in Herne, Germany. The Gerwerkschaft Dorn produced screws, nuts and rivets for the mining industry, the railways and the bridge, ship, wagon, vehicle and agricultural machinery construction industries. It is highly likely that Domas had not volunteered for this work but had been sent to it under some form of military escort.

The entrance to the Gerwerkschaft Dorn on Dornstraße in 1921

Source:  Herne von damals bis heute

Domas appears to have been interviewed twice about his interest in resettling in Australia, on 6 and 10 October. The form used for his 6 October interview did not ask him about his education, but it did ask for his occupation and the length of time for which he had been engaged in this. The interviewers recorded that he was a factory worker who had been doing this type of work for 4 years.

At the time of the interview, he was living in a Displaced Persons’ camp in Solingen, about one hour’s drive south of Herne. If he was working still in a factory, it was quite likely to be one in Solingen, famous since mediaeval times for the manufacture of blades, starting with sword blades.

The form did ask for Domas’ previous occupation, to which the typed answer was ‘nil’. This suggests that he was student whose studies, like those of so many others, were interrupted abruptly by the German military seizing him to work for them. At least it was a factory in his case, not digging ditches under fire.

The 10 October form did ask about his education, which elicited a ‘4 years of primary school’ answer, basic for a Lithuanian of Domas’ age. If you knew that Australia was looking for labourers, you would not want to boast about your higher education. Perhaps that is why Domas did not give more information.

Domas' identity photo from his selection papers
Source:  NAA: A11772, VALANCUS DOMAS

He left Bremerhaven for Australia with 842 other Baltic refugees on the USAT General Stuart Heintzelman on 30 October 1947 and on 28 November 1947 he arrived to Australia.

From the General Heintzelman nominal rolls of passengers it is known that Domas’ last place of residence in Germany was in the city of Lintorf. His Bonegilla card noted that he had a fiancee, Loni Klingbeil, who was living in Wuppertal-Hammerstein, Germany.

Domas’ first job in Australia was in Western Sawmilling Pty Ltd, in Rylstone, NSW. He left Bonegilla camp on 20 January 1948 for Rylstone. This is still a small town on the western side of the Great Dividing Range, behind Newcastle. Only 3 men were sent to this employer, the other 2 being Rasa’s grandfather, Adomas Ivanauskas and an Estonian, Leonard Jaago.

Leonard must have felt put out if the two Lithuanians started to talk to each other in their native tongue, but at least he could ask them in German to tell him what they were discussing.

Domas was being paid a wage of £6/2/6 per week, more than some others were getting in their new jobs. He and Adomas might have found the work or the management disagreeable, though, because they returned to the Bonegilla camp on 12 April 1948. Maybe the volume of work had run down. Regardless of Domas’ and Adomas’ reasons, Leonard stayed behind at Rylstone.

The Commonwealth Employment Service (CES) staff in the camp knew immediately what to do with the two returning men. They were added to the group being sent 3 days later to Iron Knob in South Australia to work with a company then known as Broken Hill Proprietory Limited – but now simply BHP.

The group of 12 included Romualdas Zeronas, about whom we have written already for this blog. Rasa thinks that Domas and her grandfather would have become friends by now, especially as they left Rylstone together, and they would have included Romualdas in their friendship.

A new paper, Australijos lietuvis, carried a notice about supporting it with donations of money on 12 September 1948. The group of Lithuanians working in the Iron Knob mines immediately understood that they needed to help. After receiving their wages, they put together a pile of money and sent it to the newspaper. One of them was Domas Valancius, who donated 5 shillings.

Domas had first written to the Minister for Immigration about sponsoring his fiancé to move to Australia on 10 February 1948, that is, just over 2 months after arriving at the Bonegilla camp and 3 weeks after leaving it for Rylstone. A file was raised for the first letter and any ensuing correspondence, as was normal Australian Public Service practice. The existence of this file means that we have a report from the Port Augusta District Employment Officer to his superior in Adelaide, dated 21 September 1948, about Domas and another Lithuanian from the First Transport, Petras Juodka.

The Employment Officer, EJ Puddy, wrote that he had travelled to Iron Knob following a phone discussion with the Registrar of the Broken Hill Proprietory Limited company. There he had first talked with Broken Hill’s Iron Knob foreman. Both Domas and Petras were said to have ‘given quite a lot of trouble on and off the job’.

Both had been before the Iron Knob court where they had been fined for disorderly behaviour in a public place. This had been the result of a brawl in Broken Hill’s mess rooms. It is interesting that a privately owned place was considered a public place for the purpose of the court appearance, unless the brawl continued on a public road outside.

Puddy reported that the foreman had told him that Domas was ‘of an argumentative and repulsive nature’. Domas was considered the leader with Petras a follower, despite Petras having been before the local court one more time than Domas. The foreman thought that Petras would settle down if separated from Domas.

The local policeman told Puddy that he thought it would be necessary to transfer both of the men ‘as there appeared to be a feeling amongst others that there was trouble ahead.’

Puddy and the foreman then interviewed the two men together. Puddy wrote that Petras ‘was very repentant, but (Domas) did not appear to care what happened to him’.

The company agreed to give the men one week’s notice and told them that they would have to pay their own fares to Adelaide in order to visit the CES there. Their ‘services were terminated’ on 23 September.

A handwritten note from an official using initials only reports that Domas, saying that he wished to return to Germany, had caught the express train eastwards on the night of 25 September. He had stated that he was returning to the Bonegilla camp. The purpose of the note was to instruct others to take no further action on Domas’ wish to sponsor his fiancé to Australia until they knew more about his plans.

And that what appears to have happened. There was no further action, although Domas had found a guarantor for Loni among his Australian colleagues at Iron Knob. He did not, however, meet the basic requirement of having been resident for at least 12 months before sponsoring. By persisting in finding a guarantor, he showed no sign of understanding the residence requirement, which had been explained by letter. He was advised also that someone else would have to find the money to pay for Loni’s passage, since apparently she was not a Displaced Person. In all of this frustration, Loni might have found another special friend anyhow.

Domas arrived at the Bonegilla camp for a third time on 27 September. On 8 October, the Bonegilla camp’s Assistant Director signed a note to the head Immigration official for South Australia, reporting the arrival and stating that a report on Domas also had been sent to the head office of the Immigration Department. The files on Domas which have been digitised so far do not contain that report. It might still be waiting to tell us more about how Australian officials saw Domas on a Central Office file about Bonegilla activities.

This time it took the CES staff nearly one month to find another job for him. On 26 October, he was sent to Standart Portland Cement Company Limited, at Brogans Creek, NSW. That’s probably a typing mistake for ‘Standard Portland Cement’.

On Domas’ Bonegilla card, Brogans Creek is described as ‘near Charbon’. Charbon is a tiny village 17 kilometres north of Brogans Creek by road. It is interesting to note that Domas’ original destination, Rylstone, is only 25 kilometres north by road. Geographically, Domas was back almost where he had started in Australia.

In June 1949, a newspaper called the Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative carried, in its ‘Rylstone and Kandos News’ columns, a report from the Kandos Court of Petty Sessions. Two Lithuanians, Domas Valancius and Bronius Latrys were fined on 25 May for ‘behaving in an offensive manner’. Domas was fined 10 shillings with 10 shillings costs while Bronius lost £2 with 10 shillings costs.

Clearly the two were not drunk, or they would have been charged with a difference offence, like ‘drunk and disorderly’. One legal firm gives as examples of offensive behaviour, ‘yelling, swearing, urinating, pushing and shoving or being part of an aggressive or rowdy group’. This must be in or near a public place or school.

Having received the larger fine, Bronius, whose family name actually was Latvys, probably was the noisier of the two. As he was 10 years older than Domas, perhaps he thought that he had the right to yell at Domas and the latter yelled back.

Kandos is a small town only 6 kilometres south of Rylstone and 3 kilometres north of Charbon. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 1263. While Domas had stayed at Iron Knob for only 5 months, it looks like he was still with the Portland Cement company after 7 months.

Less than 3 months later, Domas was before the Kandos Court of Petty Sessions again. This time he had been drinking and, according the arresting and prosecuting Sergeant of Police, using such bad language that the Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative refused to print it. 

The Lithgow Mercury of 1 September 1949 also found the story interesting enough to reprint it. It could see a humourous side to Domas’ behaviour on the night of 12 August, when Domas was caught easily because he had fled into a fowl yard.

The Lithgow Mercury reports on Domas, 1 September 1949, page 6

Source:  Trove

(Click image to view in another tab and enlarge to read)

The absence of further court reporting does suggest that Domas adhered to his promise not to drink alcohol. He had also been with Standard Portland Cement for 10 months, and perhaps was about to be released from his obligation to work in Australia shortly, at the end of September 1949.

He was in the news again in March 1953, having moved from inland of Newcastle, an industrial city north of Sydney, to the vicinity of Wollongong, another industrial city but south of Sydney. The bicycle he was riding near his Port Kembla home was hit by a car. He suffered head injuries and abrasions to the face. He was taken to the Wollongong Hospital.

Or was he on a motorcycle? That was how another newspaper reported the incident.

He acquired Australian citizenship on 24 January 1961. He was still living at Port Kembla, but at a different address. His addresses now could be followed on electoral rolls. In 1963, he was still at his 1961 address. By 1968, he had moved again but still was very close to his 1961-63 address. After that, electoral rolls have not been digitised.

Searching the Ryerson Index for any Valancius death notices reveals only one. It is that of Domas, who had died on 12 May 1980 in the Bundanoon district of NSW. He had moved inland again, southwest of Port Kembla.

Domas was only 57 years old at the time of his death.

Whoever was the executor of any estate that Domas left did not realise that he had taken out a life insurance policy. That is why his name was included in a list of unclaimed money published in a Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 7 years later, on 29 June 1987.

Anyone who has a life insurance policy is unlikely to have died without leaving a will, so there must have been an executor. We have to hope that any money due to Domas or his heirs found its way to its rightful place.

Sources

Lithuanian State Historical Archives, Rietavo dekanato bažnyčių gimimo metrikų knyga, 1922-01-01 – 1922-12-31 [Birth register of churches in the Rietavas deanery, 1922-01-01 – 1922-12-31] https://eais.archyvai.lt/repo-ext-api/share/?manifest=https://eais.archyvai.lt/repo-ext-api/view/267502635/297161654/lt/iiif/manifest&lang=lt&page=195 [Domas Valancius’ birth record in Plunge church is on page 174, record number 107].

Arolsen Archives, City region of Herne: Report on Employed Foreigners, Category A, Lithuanians, Documents from Australijos lietuvis (1948) ‘Pirmieji Mūsų Rėmėjai’in Lithuanian [‘Our First Sponsors’], 12 September, page 10, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/280321942 accessed 30 January 2025.

Bonegilla Migrant Experience, Bonegilla Identity Card Lookup, Domas Valancius https://idcards.bonegilla.org.au/record/203712436 accessed 30 January 2025.

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (1961) ‘Certificates of Naturalization’, Canberra, 6 July, p 2556, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/240889446/26005562 accessed 30 January 2025.

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (1987) 'Life Insurance Act 1945 — Unclaimed Money', Canberra, 29 June, p 318 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article239979262 accessed 28 January 2025.

Goulburn Post (1980) ‘Death Notices’, Goulburn, NSW, 13 May

Herne von damals bis heute, Schraubenwerk Dorn, Ein Schwimmbad als Zeichen des Erfolges [Herne from then to now, Dorn Union, A Swimming Pool as a Sign of Success] https://herne-damals-heute.de/bergbauindustrie/zuliefererbetriebe/schraubenwerk-dorn/ accessed 25 February 2025.

Illawarra Daily Mercury (1953) 'Cyclist Hurt in Collision' Wollongong, NSW, 17 March, p 7 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article134041121 accessed 25 February 2025.

Lithgow Mercury (1949) ‘Portland Section, Balt Migrant “Turns it on” at Kandos’, Lithgow, NSW, 1 September, p 6 (City Edition), http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article220833346 accessed 25 February 2025

Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (1949) 'Rylstone And Kandos News' Mudgee, NSW, 2 June, p 9 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article156448258 accessed 25 February 2025

Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (1949) 'Kandos Court of Petty Sessions: Lithuanian Sentenced to Hard Labor', Mudgee, NSW, 25 August, p 10, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article156449257 accessed 25 February 2025

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956; VALANCIUS DOMAS, VALANCIUS, Domas : Year of Birth - 1922 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN : Number – 875, 1947-48; https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203712436 accessed 26 February 1925.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, Western Australia; PP482/1, Correspondence files [nominal rolls], single number series, 1926-52; General Heintzelman — arrived Fremantle 28 November 1947 — nominal rolls of passengers, 1947–52, page 16 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=439196 accessed 28 January 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Labour and National Service, Central Office: MT29/ 1, Employment Service Schedules; Schedule of displaced persons who left the Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla Victoria for employment in the State of South Australia - [Schedule no SA1 to SA31], page 49 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=23150376 accessed 30 January 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, Central Office; A11772, Migrant Selection Documents for Displaced Persons who travelled to Australia per General Stuart Heintzelman departing Bremerhaven 30 October 1947, 1947-47; 500, VALANCUS (sic) Domas DOB 21 June 1922, 1947-47 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=1834240 accessed 26 February 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, South Australia Branch; D4881, Alien registration cards, alphabetical series, 1947-76; VALANCUS (sic) DOMAS, VALANCUS (sic) nDomas - Nationality: Lithuanian Arrived Fremantle per General Stuart Heintzelman 28 November 1947, 1947-48 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7174218 accessed 26 February 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, South Australia Branch; D401, Correspondence files, multiple number series with 'SA' prefix, 1946-49; SA1948/3/512, VALANCUS Domas - application for admission of relative or friend to Australia - KLINGBEIL Loni, 1948-53 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=12455258 accessed 26 February 2025.

Ryerson Index, Search for Notices https://ryersonindex.org/search.php accessed 25 February 2025.

South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus (1953) 'Works' Accidents', Wollongong, NSW, 19 March, p 15 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article142719599 accessed 25 February 2025.

W&Co. Lawyers, ‘Behave in an Offensive Manner’ https://wcolawyers.com.au/behave-in-an-offensive-manner-nsw/ accessed 25 February 2025.

Wikipedia ‘Solingen’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solingen accessed 25 February 2025.

"General Stuart Heintzelman” men to Iron Knob, South Australia, by Ann Tündern-Smith

Updated 30 June 2025

The harsh desert area around Iron Knob is Banggarla Aboriginal country.

The first European known to pass through the area was Edward John Eyre in 1839. He noted large deposit of iron ore protruding from an otherwise flat landscape and climbed one of these many hills, probably Iron Baron, which is around 30 Km south of Iron Knob. A 1848 report recorded that copper, lead, zinc and manganese had been discovered in the area (Aussie Towns).

As reported in the previous blog entry, on Romualdas Zeronas, the name Iron Knob first appeared on South Australian pastoral lease maps in 1854. The town of that name developed close to an ironstone hill of the same name, near an even larger hill called Iron Monarch.

The first mineral claim in the area was pegged by Broken Hill Proprietary Ltd (later BHP) in 1897. Mining commenced in 1900.

Iron Knob, Middleback Range, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia -- the original iron ore
deposit mined by the Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP) in 1900.
Behind it is the larger Iron Monarch

Source:  Wikipedia by Tnorm - Iron Knob.JPG, CC BY-SA 3.0

In 1939, a South Australian newspaper reported that in England, Iron Knob had been described as the largest known deposit of high-grade ore in the world (Recorder, 1939). A 1943 newspaper report said that the ore from Iron Monarch averaged about 64 per cent iron, with more than 60 per cent being regarded as high grade. The Iron Monarch ore was about 35 per cent better than English ores and 10 to 15 per cent better than the Lake Superior deposits in the United States (Advertiser, 1943).

Mining ceased in 1998 but the Iron Monarch mine was prepared for re-opening in 2013 (Wikipedia). Mining lasted for 5 years but started again in March 2022 after a three year break (Mindat.org).

Mining was in full swing in after World War II, when the General Stuart Heintzelman brought its refugees for the first time from Germany to Australia. Altogether 29 men were sent from Bonegilla to Iron Knob, in four groups.

The promise, though, had been 40 men.  The Whyalla News raised local hopes when it reported on 6 February 1948 that Arthur Calwell, Minister for Immigration, had announced this number the previous day.  The 29 in their four groups are listed below.

19 February 1948

Name	Nationality
Cholmogorocovas, Jurgis	Lithuanian
Juodka, Petras	Lithuanian
Laurinavicius, Povilas	Lithuanian
Liaudinskas, Antanas	Lithuanian
Malickas, Stasys	Lithuanian
Maziliauskas, Romuldas	Lithuanian
Meskelis, Vilgelmas	Lithuanian
Miliauskas, Jeronimas	Lithuanian
Norkunas, Vytautas	Lithuanian
Samulis, Vincas	Lithuanian

16 March 1948

Bazys, Juozas	Lithuanian
Kucina, Nikolaus	Latvian
Kutka, Albinas	Lithuanian
Mesters, Peteris	Latvian

15 April 1948

Bergtals, Nikolajs	Latvian
Bergtals, Sergejs	Latvian
Ivanauskas, Adomas	Lithuanian
Järvekulg, Johannes	Estonian
Kiil, Rudolf	Estonian
Luekki/Lükki, Leonhard	Estonian
Muiznieks, Elmars	Latvian
Opincans, Peteris	Latvian
Smugajs, Edvards	Latvian
Valancius, Domas	Lithuanian
Zeronas, Romualdas	Lithuanian

29 April 1948

Kesa, Aleksander	Estonian
Kesa, Ernst	Estonian
Sprivuls, Rudolfs	Latvian
Stuknys, Vaclovas	Lithuanian

We have biographies on this blog already for some of the men, whose names are linked to these biographies in the different colour to the rest of the text. We will link more names as the biographies are added to the blog.

Sources

Advertiser, The (1943) 'South Australia's Most Important Production Centre ... Whyalla, the Iron Town, at War' Adelaide, South Australia, 31 July, p 3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/48762099 accessed 22 December 2024.

Aussie Towns ‘Iron Knob, SA’ https://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/iron-knob-sa accessed 21 December 2024.

Mindat.org ‘Iron Monarch Main Pit’ https://www.mindat.org/loc-158.html accessed 21 December 2024.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Labour and National Service, Central Office; MT29/1, Employment Service Schedules, 1948-1950; Schedule of displaced persons who left the Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla Victoria for employment in the State of South Australia - [Schedule no SA1 to SA31], 1948-1950 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=23150376 accessed 14 December 2024 [pages 40, 49, 55, 92].

News (1948) '40 Balts for Iron Knob' Whyalla, South Australia, 6 February, p 1 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article196821120 viewed 10 Jun 2025.

Recorder (1939) ‘South Australian Manufacturers Hope for Steelworks at Whyalla’ Port Pirie, South Australia, 16 August, p 2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/96363414 accessed 22 December 2024.

Wikipedia 'BHP' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BHP accessed 22 December 2024.

Wikipedia 'Iron Knob' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Knob accessed 22 December 2024.

Julius Molis (1923-1949): The Man in the Photo by Rasa Ščevinskienė with Ann Tündern-Smith

Updated 22 July 2024 and 27 February 2025; revised 9 April 2025

I have a photograph sent from Australia to Lithuania by my grandfather, Adomas Ivanauskas. On the back is a note of one of the men’s names, Julius. I started looking for his last name. 

There were two men called Julius on the Heintzelman passenger list.  I looked among the Bonegilla migrant camp cards, found a card for Julius Molis and thought that it was the same person.  The other Julius did not look like the man on the left of the photo below at all.

I was excited because I thought I could find him or his descendants so I could learn more about my grandfather. This didn’t happen, unfortunately. You will understand why when you read Julius Molis’ story.

In this photo from Adomas Ivanauskas, we have a Julius first on the left,
then Barbara, his wife-to-be, a man identified later as Juozas Abromaitis,
then Beryl and her boyfriend, Adomas Ivanauskas

Source:  Rasa Ščevinskienė

Julius Molis born on 12 July 1923, in Telsiai district of Lithuania. His occupation in Lithuania was labourer. He was among the many who left Lithuania as the Soviet forces invaded it for the second time in 1944.

In Germany, he lived in Displaced Persons camp in the English zone. He left Bremerhaven, Germany, for Australia with 842 other Baltic refugees on the USAT General Stuart Heintzelman on 30 October 1947. Like the others in the group of 839 allowed to leave the Heintzelman in Fremantle, Western Australia, he stayed for four days before continuing eastwards on the HMAS Kanimbla. The group then travelled by two chartered trains to the part of Bonegilla army camp set aside for them.

Below is the front of the card recording Julius’ presence at the new Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre.

Bonegilla card for Julius Molis, 1947

Source:  NAA

Several Australian newspapers carried an announcement by the Minister for Immigration, Arthur Calwell, on 3 January 1948, on the work allocations of Baltic men at the Bonegilla Centre. Tasmania would receive 12 men for newsprint production and another 12 for zinc production.1

The first mill in the world to produce newsprint from eucalyptus hardwood was opened in the Tasmanian town of Boyer by Australian Newsprint Mills Ltd (APM) in 1941.2 During World War II, it was able to keep ten Australian dailies supplied with their paper, so serious wartime rationing of the major means of news distribution was not needed. In 1947, APM built a town about 50 road kilometres east of Boyer as a base for logging eucalypts in the nearby Florentine Valley. This town, Maydena, is where Julius and others were sent.3

By March 1949, Adomas Ivanauskas had managed to leave the outback town of Woomera for South Australia’s capital city, Adelaide. I was thinking the photo above was taken in Adelaide in 1949 during April to November. In it, you can see some kind of celebration, perhaps a meeting of Lithuanians. On the other side of the photo, the words written in pencil are, ‘Julius and his wife to be Barbara, Beryl and Adomas’.

I also thought that, since Adomas and Julius had come to Australia on the same ship, the Heintzelman, in late 1947, they knew each other. This was a meeting of friends. However, Adelaide is more than 1,000 kilometres from Maydena. My guess then was that perhaps Julius had come to Adelaide on holiday with his girlfriend, Barbara.

When I started looking for more information about Julius Molis, I found a sad report in the Tasmanian newspaper, the Mercury, from 6 December 1949. The title of the article was Man Found Hanged in Cell. Let’s read what was the report.

'Julius Molis (26) an unmarried Lithuanian employed by Australian Newsprint Mills Ltd. in the forest at Maydena, was found hanged in a police cell at New Norfolk yesterday morning. 

‘Molis was arrested at New Norfolk about 10 pm on Sunday on a charge of having attempted to operate a motor cycle while under the influence of liquor.

‘He was placed in the cell, and would have appeared in New Norfolk Police Court yesterday morning. 

‘About 8.30 am yesterday a police officer went to the cell and found Molis hanging with his feet about nine inches from the floor. He was dead. 

‘An inquest will be opened at New Norfolk today’.4

Julius Molis' photo from his immigration selection papers

Source:  NAA

On the same day as Molis’ death was reported, 6 December 1949, the Hobart Mercury newspaper carried a notice from funeral directors, Alex Fyle & Son. It advised that Julius Molis had died on 4 December 1949 and that his funeral was to arrive at the New Norfolk Cemetery on the same day, at 4 pm.5 Presumably there was no funeral mass because he was a Catholic who had committed suicide.

Julius Molis' headstone in the New Norfolk Old Council Cemetery

Source:  Gravesites of Tasmania

Julius has quite a substantial headstone in the Old Council Cemetery in the Tasmanian town of New Norfolk.  His grave would be unmarked unless someone had paid for the headstone and surround.  Presumably it was his fellow Lithuanians working in newsprint production in and around Maydena who passed the hat around, just as they did in the Bonegilla camp in December 1947 for their drowned compatriot, Aleksandras Vasiliauskas.

That was not the end of the matter for officialdom though. In the Supreme Court of Tasmania, the Public Trustee elected to administer Julius' estate on 21 February 1950.  The total estate was valued at £203.18.10, which the Reserve Bank of Australia's Pre-Decimal Inflation Calculator says is the equivalent of $12,532.51.6  That is a considerable sum for someone who had arrived in Australia nearly penniless only two years earlier.  The bulk of the estate was a motorcycle estimated to be worth £165, the equivalent with inflation of $10,100 in 2023, but there was £6.13.7 in cash and £4.8.9 in wages owing also.7

 

The Public Trustee's intention had been advertised in Tasmania's main newspaper, the Hobart Mercury, on 4 February 1950.  On the same date, the Public Trustee had placed another advertisement in that newspaper, which asked any person having a claim on Julius' estate to lodge this with the Trustee on or before 11 March.8

 

While we do not know what claims were lodged, we can speculate that the only valid ones would have come from friends or businesses if Julius owed them money.  

Since Julius would have had to wait until after 30 June 1950 to lodge a claim for a refund on the tax already deducted from his income (£13.16.0), that probably went into the Commonwealth Government's Consolidated Revenue account.  The wages owing might have been held by his employer.  The cash and money for the sale of the motorbike, a watch and his personal effects probably went into the Tasmanian Government's equivalent of a consolidated revenue fund.  This added to the sad ending.

 

International Refugee Organisation (IRO) records now held in the Arolsen Archives in Bad Arolsen, Germany, show that, on 10 May 1950, the Acting Head of the Australian Military Mission in Berlin asked the IRO to inform the next of kin (NOK) of the deaths in Australia of 7 Displaced Persons or, as he put it, New Australians. Five of the deaths were due to drowning (but not including Aleksandras Vasilauskas) or other accidents, while Julius Molis was one of two suicides. The last item on the file, dated 25 July 1950, is an internal IRO message asking for the status of enquiries about next of kin, as the Australian Government was pressing for a reply.9

The intermediate correspondence amounted to the IRO saying that it did not have NOK information and the Australian Government had been unable to supply any more. This is sad also, since all in the Bonegilla camp had been asked to nominate at least one NOK for recording on their Bonegilla card. It was a friend only in the case of Julius, but it could have been someone closer. 

 

Churchill's Iron Curtain had cut Australia and Germany off from any of Julius' relatives in Lithuania, including those who might have claimed from his estate.  

 

The correspondence indicates also that the Department of Immigration’s Central Office was ignorant of the kindly efforts of the Bonegilla camp administration.

So, the traumas of World War II had caught up with Julius.  At first, I thought that is was sad that Barbara did not become Julius Molis’ wife and they did not live a long and happy life together. 

But the truth was different.  

It became clear only after a few years. I had another photo with Beryl, my grandfather and the same Julius in it, which is reproduced below.

Another Lithuanian gathering, maybe in Melbourne, with Beryl on the left, then my grandfather, an unknown man, someone identified as Kostas Busma, an unknown woman and 'Julius'

Source: Rasa Ščevinskienė

The background of the two photos is different.  I thought my grandfather looked a little older in the second photo.  Perhaps it was taken in Melbourne,  to where my grandfather had moved.

Then I identified the man third from the right as Kostas Busma, using photos on Bonegilla cards.  Kostas was sent from Bonegilla to work with the South Australian Department of Woods and Forests in Mount Gambier.  He would not have moved to Melbourne until after his contract ended on 30 September 1949.

Julius Molis probably was still in Tasmania then, and died there on 5 December 1949.  Of course, perhaps he and Barbara might have holidayed in Melbourne between those dates.  The newspaper report of his death said that he had died unmarried, however.

 

After first concluding incorrectly that the man in the photo was Julius Molis, my research led me to another Julius, Petkinis, who arrived in Australia later, on the Protea on 30 September 1948.  Julius Petkinis had a grandson who had posted on the Web looking for more information about his grandfather.  I contacted the grandson, who confirmed that Julius was indeed his grandfather who had married the same Barbara, his grandmother.

Julius Petkinis was sent to the Forestry Commission in Queensland for his first job, so it also is unlikely that the photo at the start of this story was taken between April and November 1949.  If the grandson can do some successful research, we may get a better idea of the date and place.

Meanwhile, the sad story of Julius Molis is shared here.

FOOTNOTES

1. For example, ‘Share-Out of Balts‘, The Herald (Melbourne), 3 January 1948, p 3, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/243839773 accessed 30 January 2023. 

2. Boyer Newsprint Mill, New Norfolk, 1941-‘, Engineers Australia, https://portal.engineersaustralia.org.au/heritage/boyer-newsprint-mill-new-norfolk-1941 accessed 30 January 2023.

3. ‘Australian Newsprint Mills‘, The Companion to Tasmanian History, https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/A/Australian%20Newsprint%20Mills.htm accessed 30 January 2023.

4. ’Man Found Hanged in Cell’, The Mercury (Hobart), 6 December 1949, p 8, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/26665433, 'Man Found Hanging', The Examiner (Launceston), 6 December 1949, p 5, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/52707905/4676682, ‘Found Hanging in Cell’, The Advocate (Burnie) 6 December 1949, p 11, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91766087 all accessed 30 January 2023.

 

5. 'Family Notices', The Mercury (Hobart), 6 December 1949, p 20, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/26665617 accessed 30 January 2023.

6. Reserve Bank of Australia, 'Pre-Decimal Inflation Calculator' https://www.rba.gov.au/calculator/annualPreDecimal.html accessed 22 July 2024.

7. My Heritage, 'Julius Molis' Australia, Tasmania Wills and Letters of Administration — Julius Molis, https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-20244-66784/julius-molis-in-australia-tasmania-wills-letters-of-administration#fullscreen 22 July 2024. 

 

8. ’Public Notices’, The Mercury (Hobart), 4 February 1950, p 8, p 23, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/26690159?searchTerm=julius%20molis accessed 22 July 2024.

9. 'Personal file of MOLIS, JULIUS, born in the year 1926, born in TELSIAI', Arolsen Archives, https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/search/person/81104345?s=julius%20molis&t=3173288&p=0 accessed 30 January 2023.

OTHER SOURCES

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, Central Office; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration; MOLIS, Julius: Year of Birth - 1923: Nationality - LITHUANIAN: Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN: Number – 855; https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=20391295, accessed 6 March 2023. 

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; 808, MOLIS Julius DOB 12 July 1923; https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=3010055, accessed 6 March 2023.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, Central Office; A12508, Personal Statement and Declaration by alien passengers entering Australia (Forms A42); 37/368, MOLIS Julius born 12 July 1923; nationality Lithuanian; travelled per GENERAL HEINTZELMAN arriving in Fremantle on 29 November 1947; https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7272921, accessed 6 March 2023.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, Tasmanian Branch; P1182, Personal case files for non-British migrants who are deceased, lexicographical series; MOLIS, Molis, Julius [Lithuanian]; https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=1923533, accessed 6 March 2023.