Vincentas Jakimavičius (1927-1949): Motorcycle passenger death, by Daina Pocius

Vincentas Jakimavičius was the pillion passenger of a motorcycle which hit a cow opposite the old store at Tarpeena in South Australia, at 1.15 am on the morning of Sunday, 24 July 1949. The 22-year-old was killed after being flung a distance of 82 feet, that is, 25 metres, onto the bitumen road.

Vincentas Jakimavičius' ID photo on his Bonegilla card

Source:  NAA: A2571, JAKIMAVICIUS, VINCAS

The other man, Juozas Gylys, of Nangwarry, was taken in a private car to the Mount Gambler Hospital. His condition was not serious, but he was still in the Hospital some days later according to newspaper reports.

The two were riding on the Penola Road, 23 Kilometres north of Mount Gambler, on their way home after a Mount Gambier dance.

A modern map of the Penola Road from Mt Gambier to Nangwarry (red dot) through Tarpeena

Source:  Google Maps

There was a cow on each side of the road near the store. In attempting the avoid the cow on his left, Juozas hit the cow on his right, which was killed instantly. The police were looking for the owner of the cow, so that legal action could be taken under the Impounding Act. Stock wandering uncontrolled along the roads near Tarpeena and Nangwarry had been a problem for some time.

The local coroner decided that an inquest into the death was not necessary. While the cause of Vincentas’ death was obvious to him, at a later time a coroner might have deemed an inquest necessary to inquire into why neither of the motorcyclists were wearing helmets.

Both had come to Australia on the First Transport, together with Vincentas’ half- or step-brother, Sigitas Brokevičius, arriving on 28 November 1947. They both were part of a group which had been assigned to timber work at Nangwarry, leaving their first home in Australia, the Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre for Mt Gambier, on 9 January 1948.

They had been moved to Nangwarry from Mt Gambier on 21 January 1948. Nangwarry was one of the forestry industry townships, situated 32.5 kilometres north of Mt Gambier.

In 1939, a power station was erected to supply a timber mill, which was built in 1940. The Nangwarry town grew out of a demand for housing for the labourers who travelled to the area for work, many in the forest. Migrants made up the biggest percentage of the population in what was to become a multicultural community.

Juozas clearly had settled in so much already that he was known by the English equivalent of his Lithuanian name, Joseph. As for Vincentas or Vincas, he was known as a “well mannered, decent, fine, young man”. He had been born 2 May 1927 in Galkiemis, Vilkaviškis, Lithuania.

One of Vincas’ selection documents says that he had had 2 years of secondary education on top of the basic 4 years of primary school. Another says that he had had 4 years of farming experience – but not with his father, whose occupation was given as clerk. His mother was a housewife. However, given that his younger brother had a different family name, the clerk on his selection papers likely to be his stepfather – so perhaps he had been farming with his biological father.

A large number of his friends attended the funeral at the Mount Gambier cemetery. There were 37 New Australians from Nangwarry, besides other employees from the mill and forest.

Vincentas’ brother, Sigitas, aged 19, flew from Melbourne with two friends to attend the funeral. Sigitas had been assigned separately to the Ebor Sawmills, Styx River Hill, in Victoria.

A Requiem Mass was celebrated at St. Paul's Church, Mt Gambier.  The funeral departed from there on 26 July, two days after Vincentas' death. Rev Fr McCabe conducted the service. The six pallbearers representing the district’s migrant community came from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Czechoslovakia. At the conclusion of the graveside service, four friends sang "Ave Maria" in Lithuanian.

In accordance with Lithuanian custom, the deceased was buried in his best clothes. Several beautiful wreaths were sent by friends and, instead of the customary sympathy cards, engraved ribbons were attached.

The cemetery in which Vincentas was buried now is called the Lake Terrace Cemetery.  On his grave was placed the inscription: Jei grįši, lietuvi, pasakyk Tėvynei, kad aš ją mylėjau.  That means, If you return to Lithuania, tell the Motherland that I loved her.

Sources

Australijos Lietuvis [The Australian Lithuanian] (1953) ‘Gerai įsikūrusi lietuvių kolonija [A well-established Lithuanian colony’], Adelaide, 19 September, p 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article280314249 viewed 2 March 2025.

Border Watch (1949) 'Motorcycle Hits Cow: Pillion Rider Killed', Mount Gambier, South Australia, 26 July, p 1 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article78632729 accessed 1 March 2025.

Border Watch (1949) 'No Inquest into Balt Migrant’s Death, Mount Gambier, South Australia, 28 July, p 1 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article78632838 accessed 2 March 2025.

City of Mount Gambier, Cemetery Data Search, 'Jakimavicius, Vincents' https://www.mountgambier.sa.gov.au/cemeteries/jakimavicius-vincents accessed 3 March 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-56; JAKIMAVICIUS VINCAS, JAKIMAVICIUS, Vincas : Year of Birth - 1927 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GENERAL HEINTZELMAN : Number - 495, 1947-48 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203620771 accessed 3 March 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; 96, JAKIMAVICIUS Vincas DOB 2 May 1927, 1947-47; https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5005528 accessed 2 March 2025.

News (1949) 'Killed in Collision with Cow', Adelaide, 25 July, p 3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130268590 accessed 1 March 2025.

Southern Cross (1949) 'Mount Gambier News', Adelaide, 5 August, p 15, 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article167725980 accessed 2 March 2025.

VR (1953) 'Lietuviai Prie Ugniakalnio Ežeru [Lithuanians at the Volcanic Lake]’ Musu Pastoge [Our Haven] Sydney, NSW, 29 July, p 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article259358649 accessed 2 March 2025.

Wattle Range Council, ‘Nangwarry’, https://www.wattlerange.sa.gov.au/tourism/tourism/Towns/nangwarry accessed 2 March 2025.

Vytautas Skidzevičius (1924–1983): Little known brother, by Ann Tündern-Smith and Rasa Ščevinskienė

Unlike his younger brother, Nikodemas, we know only the barest outline of the life of Vytautas Skidzevičius.

He was born on 9 August 1924, 13 months ahead of Nikodemas and in the same place, in Alytus, Dzūkija, Lithuania. Presumably, he too attended Alytus primary school.

Vytautas Skidzevičius from his Bonegilla card

Source:  NAA: A2571, SKIDZEVICIUS VYTAUTAS

The Arolsen Archives have two different American Expeditionary Force DP Registration Records for Vytautas.   Insofar as the German-language handwriting on the one dated 1 February 1946 is legible, it appears to be saying that he arrived freely in Germany on 3 August 1944 in order to study.  Soviet troops had captured Vilnius (part of Poland between the two World Wars) on 13 July 1944 and Lithuania's capital city, Kaunas, on 1 August 1944, so Vytautas’ move to Germany was timely.

Perhaps August 1944 was the month in which he left Lithuania rather than the month of arrival in Germany.  That is because one of several documents which state that Vytautas reached Darmstadt through Kaffenberg in Austria has him spending ‘8.44 – 45’ there. Kaffenberg is likely to a spelling error for Kapfenberg.

One of these documents has him reaching Kapfenberg through Vienna, 150 Kilometres to the northeast and still near 2 hours driving in a modern car.  It is possible that the route that Vytautas took to Darmstadt might be as complex as the one Jedda Barber’s father, Valentinas Dagys, took from Lithuania to Germany.

The earlier German records also show him as a student at the Technical High School in Darmstadt, but do not say what he was studying.

We can see that his usual occupation was ‘forester’ on the English-language American Expeditionary Force DP Registration Record, dated 3 September 1945.

Maybe 5 months before the opportunity to migrate to Australia came up, he wrote to the newspaper Naujienos with an interesting request. Rasa’s translation of his letter, which was published on 4 June 1947, says, “I am one of the many Lithuanian DPs in Germany. Having no relatives in America, I would like to correspond with American Lithuanians. Dear Editor, if there are no major obstacles, please place an ad about it in News. I will be forever grateful to you for that.” He included his full street address in the city of Darmstadt.

His selection papers for Australia, dated 14 October 1947, say that he had completed 6 years primary school plus 3 years of technical school to train as an electrical mechanic.   He was one of many who had been applied from a DP camp in Hanau.  Since we know he was living privately only a few months before, maybe he used the Hanau DP camp address to improve his chance of selection.  Maybe he had been able to find accommodation in the Hanau camp because Nikodemas was there already.

He arrived in Australia with Nikodemas on the First Transport, the USAT General Stuart Heintzelman, and spent one month in the newly opened Bonegilla Reception and Training Centre. Then he was part of the group of 64 or 65 sent to work for South Australia’s Department of Engineering and Water Supply (E&WS). Their new home was under canvas at Bedford Park in close to primitive conditions, with more details here.

The work that they were expected to do was digging ditches for water pipes.   At least they were not doing this under fire, like the Lithuanian and Latvian men digging trenches between the German and the Soviet forces during World War II.

The recent year of his life might explain why a drunken Vytautas punched an Adelaide policeman in the face and tried to choke him on 8 December 1950. The date just happened to be the third anniversary of his trip from the Kanimbla, berthed in Port Melbourne, to the Bonegilla camp.

On the following day, he wisely pleaded guilty to a charge of resisting arrest and was fined £11/10/– with £1/5/3 costs in addition. The Reserve Bank of Australia says that this punishment was the equivalent of around $785 in 2023. It looks like more than that, however, more like the equivalent of at least two weeks in wages.

Vytautas made good this mistake 4 years later, though, when he asked that a farewell presentation cheque for £3 be given to the Adelaide News’ Pound for Pensioners appeal. When acknowledged the following day, 2 November 1954, the amount actually was £3/3/-, known then as 3 guineas. Guineas were a monetary unit still in commercial use at the time.

The money had been collected by his colleagues at the Australasian United Paint Company, which he appeared to have left in a hurry. “Sudden disappearance” was the term he used …

Vytautas' generosity as reported in the Adelaide News of 1 November 1954

Source:  Adelaide News in the NLA's Trove

He received a certificate of naturalization as an Australian on 26 July 1956. We’ve noted already that this was more than 3 years before his younger brother, Nikodemas.

Until naturalization, the law treated him as an Alien who was required to register any change of employer or residential address. From that record we can see that he was one of those released from the contract to be employed as directed in Australia on the date specified by the Minister, 30 September 1949.

His next employer had been the “SAHB” of “PtAdel”, presumably the South Australian Harbour Board, for whom he worked in Port Adelaide. The following entry records his employment by the United Paint Company of Port Adelaide, but not a commencement date or departure date from the SAHB. It noted, however, that he was living in the inner Adelaide suburb of Wayville in April 1950 but had moved some 18 Km north-east to the coastal suburb of Semaphore in August 1952.

He stayed with the United Paint Company, as a labourer, through 3 more changes of residential address, until that “sudden disappearance” in November 1954. He then worked in the Print Office of the Adelaide News’ rival paper, the Advertiser, for a few months.

In April 1955, he advised that his employer now was General Motors Holden, of Woodville, an Adelaide suburb between Wayville and Semaphore. He had moved to a residence in the same suburb. Seven changes of residential address in just over 5 years suggest that he was a renter rather than someone who already owned his own home.

In all of his workplaces, his occupation is given as labourer. As senior staff of the E&WS complained, he appears to have been mismatched to possible employment, and from the beginning. Anyone with previous employment as a forester presumably would have been a much better fit with the Department of Woods and Forests South Australia, which Vaclavs Kozlovskis recorded as wanting 33 men. He would also have been a better fit with the various “not yet determined” employers in New South Wales, who turned out to be that State’s forestry department in various locations as well as sawmillers.

Voting is compulsory for Australian citizens, so we should be able to follow any changes in home address and occupation for Vytautas from July 1956.  However, we have been unable to find him on digitised electoral rolls.  We'll try some more digging after his naturalisation papers are digitised.

Rasa has found 3 newspaper articles about V. Skidzevičius taking to the stage. He is said, by Teviskes Aidai, to have been an actor in two short plays performed for the Adelaide Lithuanian Catholic Women's Society in June 1990. However, that was 7 years after his death, so clearly there has been a mistake in the reporting or editing.

The same newspaper had reported the appearance of V. Skidzevičius with the Adelaide Vaidila theatre group in 1978. It was commemorating the 45th anniversary of the flight across the Atlantic of Lithuanians Darius and Girėnas. If the actor was Vytautas, it would have been a one-off appearance. We think that it was another typographic error. Instead, it was much more likely to be Nikodemas presenting the Darius and Girėnas testament, and we have written as much in Nikodemas’ life story.

The third report appeared in the Canadian-Lithuanian newspaper, Teviskes Ziburiai, on 24 August 1978, two months after the Teviskes Aidai report. We suspect that Teviskes Ziburiai picked out the story from Teviskes Aidai and saw no need to factcheck.

Vytautas’ death on 26 May 1983 was notified in the Adelaide Advertiser newspaper. He was only 58 years old. Like his brother afterward, he was interred in the Catholic Section of the Centennial Park Cemetery in Adelaide.

SOURCES

Advertiser (1983) ‘Death Notices’, Adelaide, 28 May.

Arolsen Archives (1945) ‘Skidzevicius, Vytautas’ AEF (American Expeditionary Force) DP (Displaced Person) Record, 3 September 1945 https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/69134315 accessed 22 February 2025.

Arolsen Archives (1946) ‘Skidzevicius, Vytautas’ AEF (American Expeditionary Force) DP (Displaced Person) Record, 1 February 1946 https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/69134314 accessed 22 February 2025.

Arolsen Archives (1947) ‘Registration of Foreigners and German Persecutees by Public Institutions, Social Securities and Companies (1939 - 1947) / 2.1 Implementation of Allied Forces’ Orders on Listing all Foreigners and German Persecutees, and Related Documents / 2.1.1 American Zone of Occupation in Germany / 2.1.1.1 Lists of all persons of United Nations and other foreigners, German Jews and stateless persons; American Zone; Bavaria, Hesse (1) / 2.1.1.1 HE Documentation from Hesse / 2.1.1.1 HE 006 Documents from the rural district Darmstadt (SK) / 2.1.1.1 HE 006 LIT Nationality/origin of person listed : Lithuanian / 2.1.1.1 HE 006 LIT 2 Information on foreigners being locally registered (after the war) in the district Darmstadt (SK)’ 14 July https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/de/document/70305941 accessed 22 February 2025.

Arolsen Archives (nd) ‘2 Registration of Foreigners and German Persecutees by Public Institutions, Social Securities and Companies (1939 - 1947) / 2.1 Implementation of Allied Forces’ Orders on Listing all Foreigners and German Persecutees, and Related Documents / 2.1.1 American Zone of Occupation in Germany / 2.1.1.2 Lists of all persons of United Nations and other foreigners, German Jews and stateless persons; American Zone; Bavaria, Wurttemberg-Baden, Bremen (2) / Lists of names and correspondence pertaining to foreigners who were staying in Darmstadt’ https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/search/person/87796675?s=skidzevicius&t=2728209&p=0 accessed 28 February 2025.

Centennial Park, 'Results for" vytautas skidzevicius"' https://www.centennialpark.org/memorial-search/?surname=skidzevicius&firstname=vytautas accessed 1 March 2025.

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (1957) 'Certificates of Naturalization’, Canberra, 14 March, p 802 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article232965688 accessed 20 February 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; 657, SKIDZEVICIUS Vytautas DOB 9 August 1924, 1947-47; https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5118083 accessed 22 February 2025.

National Archives of Australia, Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-56; SKIDZEVICIUS Vytautas : Year of Birth - 1924 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN : Number – 1031, 1947-48; https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203708786 accessed 22 February 2025.

National Archives of Australia, Department of Immigration, South Australia Branch; D4881, Alien registration cards, alphabetical series, 1946-76; SKIDZEVICIUS Vytautas - Nationality: Lithuanian - Arrived Fremantle per General Stuart Heintzelman 28 November 1947, 1947-56; https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=9210654 accessed 22 February 2025.

Naujienos [News](1947) ‘Nori Susirašinėti Amerikos Lietuviais’ [Wants to Correspond with American Lithuanians] Chicago, Illinois, 4 June, p 2, https://spauda.org/naujienos/archive/1947/1947-06-04-NAUJIENOS-i7-8.pdf accessed 22 February 2025.

News (1950) 'Tried to Choke Policeman ', Adelaide, 9 December, p 15, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130287711 accessed 22 February 2025.

News (1954) 'Happy Times at Xmas is Wish’ Adelaide, 1 November, p. 12 , http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130976622 accessed 22 February 2025.

Pr P (1990) ‘Adelaidė, Šiupinys’ [Adelaide, Medley] Teviskes Aidai [The Echoes of Homeland] Melbourne, 3 July, p 8 https://spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1990/1990-07-03-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf accessed 21 February 2025.

Reserve Bank of Australia, ‘Pre-Decimal Inflation Calculator’ https://www.rba.gov.au/calculator/annualPreDecimal.html, accessed 22 February 2025.

Teviskes Ziburiai [The Lights of Homeland] (1978)'Lietuviai Pasaulyje, Australija' ['Lithuanians in the World, Australia'] Mississauga, Ontario, 24 August, p 4, https://spauda.org/teviskes_ziburiai/archive/1978/1978-08-24-TEVISKES-ZIBURIAI.pdf accessed 21 February 2025.

Vasiliauskas, J. (1978) ‘Gyvas Didvyrių Atminimas, Dariaus ir Girėno Minėjimas Adelaidėje’ [Living Memory of Heroes, Darius and Girėnas Commemoration in Adelaide], Teviskes Aidai, [The Echoes of Homeland] Melbourne, 22 June, p3, https://spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1978/1978-nr28-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf accessed 22 February 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.

Nikodemas Skidzevičius (1925-1995): Actor and Artist, by Daina Pocius and Rasa Ščevinskienė with Ann Tündern-Smith

Updated 21 February and 1 March 2025.

It was theatre that drove Nikodemas, a love of the stage and acting that he never lost.

Nikodemas was born in Alytus, Dzūkija, Lithuania, on 14 September 1925. He attended Alytus primary school and gymnasium.

In 1944, the wave of war swept him to Germany. According to his selection papers for migration to Australia, he was “forcibly evacuated by the Germans”. This sounds like he was rounded up to provide forced labour.

When the war was ending, we find him first in Lübeck, a coastal German city once the capital of the mediaeval Hanseatic League.

By September 1946, he had moved well inland to settle in the Hanau refugee camp. Being a creative spirit, he got involved in the camp theatre activities.

Two American Expeditionary Force (AEF) DP records for Nikodemas, both dated 3 September 1945 but one completed in Lithuanian and one in English, have been digitised by the Arolsen Archives in Germany. In the English language one, he is described as a ‘scholar’, while the Lithuanian one has the equivalent ‘mokinys’. Scholar of what is not explained in either, but something to do with the theatre is a strong possibility.

Nikodemas and his older brother, Vytautas, travelled to Australia on the First Transport, where Nikodemas was a member of the Lithuanian Sea Scouts. They reached Australia on 28 November 1947 after 4 weeks on board and spent time in the Bonegilla camp after a short break in Perth.

Nikodemas Skidzevičius identity photo from his Bonegilla card

Source:  NAA, A2571, SKIDZEVICIUS NIKODEMAS

Nikodemas was sent to salt works, south of the Murray River, in South Australia, with 9 others on 13 January 1948. These salt works were run by SA Salt Limited of 91A Victoria Square West in central Adelaide.

The brothers were separated, as Vytautas was sent to work for South Australia’s Department of Engineering and Water Supply. He was one of those who had been sent to Bedford Park camp in suburban Adelaide on 7 or 8 January.

Nikodemas later worked in construction until he started working as a decorator and painter. He worked in Woomera and other country towns.

As early as 30 September 30 1949, Adelaide's Lithuanian Theatre Lovers Group staged The First Call, a three-act comedy, in which Nikodemas had a role. It was the first Lithuanian theatre performance in Australia.

Next, on 25 November 1950, the Adelaide Lithuanian Theatre Group presented Disturbed Tranquility by P. Vačiunas. Nikodemas had a leading role in this production. The play was repeated on 6 January 1951, then again in Melbourne later that month.

The long-established Adelaide Advertiser newspaper reported the large crowd at the November performance, naming Nikodemas among the performers. The popularity of the play might be why Australijos Lietuvis [The Australian Lithuanian] detailed the plot in its ‘English section’ of 1 January 1951.

Juozas Gučius arrived in Adelaide in 1951, establishing the Lithuanian Theatre Studio. Nikodemas joined immediately and participated in its first production, along with the whole ensemble, of Viršininkai, or Brass in English. 

He played several more roles in its productions. He loved the stage so much that he never refused to play even the smallest role.

Although he lived far from Adelaide then, he found time to come to rehearsals. In all the roles he took on, Nikodemas played the parts as deeply and intelligibly as possible.

According to his obituarist, Viktoras Baltutis, one of Nikodemas’ greatest achievements was the role of the Lithuanian artist in the drama Stella Maris by J. Grinius. Baltutis wrote that he gave his whole creative soul here, deeply and sensitively empathising with the character of the artist, with all his nuances.

Nikodemas as the artist in Stella Maris

Source:  Australian Lithuanian Archive

He shone equally in the role of Simas Kudirka in the drama Jump to Freedom written by the obituarist, Baltutis. The playwright thought that complete and unconditional dedication to the characters created by dramaturgy was one of his most striking features as an actor.

The Adelaide News' theatre correspondent, Kevin Crease, reported in August 1954, that Nikodemas was about to make his first appearance in an English-language production. He was in the Adelaide Theatre Group’s production of Crime and Punishment, known to the Group and its audience as ‘Niki’.

In October 1953, the News and its Adelaide colleague, the Advertiser, carried a total of 3 articles mentioning Nikodemus. In the first, the News theatre critic, CB de Boehme, wrote on 13 October that Nikodemas’ Mermeladoff in Crime and Punishment “was an astute and deeply felt study”.

The second review, by Kevin Crease and published on 23 October, was of the Lithuanian Theatre Studio production of three English-language comedies. He wrote that Nikodemas, “as the suitor who had palpitations gave a fine performance”. The News headlined the report, "Lithuanian Group Does Well". It was, reported Crease, the first time the Theatre Studio players had performed in English.

DCB in the Advertiser of 23 October also reviewed the comedies. He reported that “The high point of the evening was The Proposal. This play, dealing with a diffident but proud suitor's attempts to propose to an equally proud woman, is a very human comedy … Skidzevicius, who is pompous and proper as well as a sufferer of palpitations, also act (sic) with great heart.”

If Australian copyright law did not prevent the digitisation of newspapers by the National Library of Australia’s Trove service beyond 1954, we might know much more about the general Adelaide public’s reception of Nikodemas’ acting talent. As it is, we are left with the obituarist reporting that he had even gained a role in the Australian Broadcasting Commission’s production of The Museum of Here and Now.

In 19 October 1970, Mūsų Pastogė published a photograph of the Vaidila theatre company, of which Nikodemas was now a member. It advised that the group would be coming as far as Sydney at the end of the month.  On October 31, its members would perform the comedy Bubulis and Dundulis.  On Sunday, November 1, they would perform V. Mykolaitis Putin's historical drama Valdova. A Ukrainian community hall had been hired.

Near the end of the entry, we have a photograph of Nikodemas performing in Bubulis and Dundulis in 1995, 25 years later. If it was the same part, it must have been an integral part of his life by then.

Nikodemas Skidzevičius is third from the left in the back row of this 1970
photograph of Adelaide's Vaidila theatre company

Source:  Mūsų Pastogė

In 1983, Mūsų Pastogė announced that Nikodemas, still member of the Vaidila theatre company, was leaving Adelaide for the small town of Robe, to its east, near Mt Gambier. He had been presented with a large national ribbon at a dinner after a performance of the company’s current play, Peilio ašmenimis (Knife Edge in English).

Nikodemas (left) with actor N. Vitkunienė in Knife Edge

Source:  Mūsų Pastogė

The reporter wrote that Nikodemas participated in commemorations, parades and other cultural events, whenever a beautifully pronounced Lithuanian word was needed.

In 1990, V Skipzevičius is said, by a Teviskes Aidai reporter using the pseudonym Pr P, to have been an actor, along with  V Nekošius and the playwright, E Buliene, in two plays she had written about life in Australia called Desires and Wishes.  They were performed for the Adelaide Lithuanian Catholic Women's Society in June.  Since Vytautas Skipzevičius had died in 1983, the V must have been a misprint for N, for Vytautas' brother, Nikodemas.

This being the case, there may have been another earlier misprint when J Vasiliauskas reported in the same newspaper in 1978 that V Skipzevičius, a Vaidila actor, had read the testament of Darius and Girėnas at a 45th anniversary commemoration.

Most non-Lithuanians would not be aware of the story of Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas. On 15 July 1933, they attempted a nonstop flight from New York City, USA, to Kaunas, then the capital of Lithuania, in a single-engine plane purchased and rebuilt with the help of funds from other American Lithuanians, the Lituanica.

They crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 37 hours 11 minutes.  Both died when the plane crashed in Germany.  The cause of the crash was said to be poor weather conditions and engine problems.  They had covered a distance of 6,412 kilometres without landing and were only 650 kilometres away from Kaunas.

They have been the subject of Lithuanian stamps, a Lithuanian banknote and memorials in both New York and Chicago (where the Lituanica was rebuilt).  Darius had initiated the building of the first sports stadium in Kaunas which, after renovations, is the largest in Lithuania or the three Baltic States and is named after the two flyers.

Darius and Girėnas left their testament behind in case they did not survive the flight, pledging their patriotism and calling the Lithuanian people to action.

Two months after the first 1978 report, the Canadian-Lithuanian newspaper, Teviskes Žiburiai, carried a similar story, again stating that V Skipzevičius had read the testament at the commemoration.  The later story may well have been sourced from the first.  If V Skipzevičius was Nikodemas' brother, it is the only recorded appearance of Vytautas in front of an audience.  A reporting or editing error is more likely.  Yet another Nikodemas performance is much more likely.

His obituarist, Viktoras Baltutis, reported that he was full of enthusiasm and optimism for theatre, he urged new stage works and invited younger actors to join. He loved theatre and was devoted to it.  He never refused to recite or read poems during commemorations, putting his whole soul in to these too.

He also had been a member of the first Adelaide Lithuanian national dance group, performing around the city showcasing Lithuanian culture to Australians in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s.

He studied drawing, painted a few watercolours and later changed to wood sculpture.  His only exhibition of works in wood was in Adelaide's Lithuanian House, jointly with Viliją Petruškevičiūtę-Dundienę’s ceramics, in 1993.  His work was very traditional and religious, featuring a rupintojelis (a pensive christ), crosses, a vytis (the Lithuanian coat of arms, a mounted knight holding a shield and sword) and town crests. 

It gave him a lot of joy and pride, although he himself mentioned that much patience and persistence was needed to create more perfect works.  He had started his wood carving practice in Germany, in 1946, but amazed those in Adelaide who knew him only as an actor with this previously hidden talent.   

He obtained Australian citizenship on Australia Day, 26 January 1960. This was more than 3 years after his brother, Vytautas. Perhaps Nikodemas had been too busy rehearsing and performing to apply.

Nikodemas married and had a son and a daughter. After Lithuania regained its independence, he was able to visit his father in 1991. He was able to visit again, the last time with his grandson.

In 1992, Elena Varnienė, writing in the Chicago-based magazine Ateitis, reported that Nikodemas had taken part in Adelaide’s annual Literature and Song Evening.

The last year of Nikodemas’ life was 1995, but Mūsų Pastogė reported twice that he was engaged in public artistic activities. For the celebration of Independence Day, February 16, he recited a poem, as reported in March. In April, he acted in a production of Bubulis and Dundulis in Melbourne.

Nikodemas (left) in a Melbourne production of Bubulis and Dundulis
just months before his 1995 death

Source: Mūsų Pastogė; photographer: Birute Prasmutaite

His death on 22 August 1995 came 3 weeks short of his 70th birthday. He is buried in the Catholic section of Adelaide's Centennial Park Cemetery.

Sources

Advertiser, The (1950) ‘Lithuanian Play’ Adelaide, 27 November, p 8 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/45671297 accessed 21 January 2025.

Arolsen Archives, ‘AEF DP Registration Record, SKIDZEVIČIUS, Nikodemas’ [completed in Lithuanian] https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/69134310 accessed 21 January 2025.

Arolsen Archives, ‘AEF DP Registration Record, SKIDZEVIČIUS, Nikodemas’ [completed in English] https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/69134312 accessed 21 January 2025.

Arolsen Archives ‘War Time Card File (Registration cards, employees’ record books, individual correspondence) A-Z (SKIDZEVIČIUS, Nikodemas) https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/74921279 accessed 21 January 2025.

Australijos Lietuvis [The Australian Lithuanian] (1951) ‘English Section, Disturbed Tranquility’ Adelaide 1 January, p 10 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article280320124 accessed 21 Jan 2025.

Baltutis, Viktoras (1995) ‘Nikodemas Skidzevičius’ Šventadieno Balsas [Sunday Voice] Adelaide, 17 October, pp 4, 6, (copy held in Australian Lithuanian Archive, Adelaide).

Baltutis, Viktoras (1995) ‘Mūsų Mirusieji, Atsisveikinimas su Nikodemu Skidzevičiini, 1925. IX. 14 –1995.VIII.22’ in Lithuanian [‘Our Dead, Farewell to Nikodemas Skidzevičiūs, 14.9.1925 – 22.8.1995] Mūsų Pastogė, Sydney, p 6 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1995/1995-09-11-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 26 January 2025.

Č-kas, V. (1949) ‘Pirmas lietuviškas vaidinimas Australijoje’ [‘First Lithuanian Play in Australia’] Mūsų Pastogė [Our Haven], Sydney, 12 October, p 4 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1949/1949-10-12-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 26 January 2025.

Crease, Kevin (1954) ‘Curtain Call’ News, Adelaide, 25 August, p 16 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131250091 accessed 21 January 2025.

DCB (1954) 'Lithuanians Stage Three Comedies' Advertiser, The Adelaide, 23 October p 17 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47629322 accessed 21 January 2025.

de Boehme, CB (1954) ‘Play Explores Human Spirit’ Advertiser, The Adelaide, 13 October, p 10 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/131209992 accessed 21 January 2025.

Mūsų Pastogė [Our Haven] (1970) [Untitled photograph] Sydney, 19 October, p 5 https://www.spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1970/1970-10-19-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 1 March 2025.

Mūsų Pastogė [Our Haven] (1995) 'Iš A. Rūko "Bubulio ir Dundulio" Pastatymo Melburne' Photo caption in Lithuanian ['From A. Rūkas' Production of "Bubulis and Dundulis" in Melbourne'] Sydney, 17 April p1 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1995/1995-04-17-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 31 January 2025.

Naras, VS (1995) ‘Vasario 16 d. Adelaidėje’ in Lithuanian [February 16 in Adelaide] Mūsų Pastogė [Our Haven], Sydney, 6 March, p 3 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1995/1995-03-06-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 26 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; 654, SKIDZEVICIUS Nikodemas DOB 14 September 1925, 1947-47; https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5118081 accessed 22 January 2025.

Poželaitė-Davis, Isolda (1983) ‘Juozui Gučiui Prisiminti’ [‘In Rememberance of Juozas Gučis’] Akiračiai [Horizon] March, p 6. https://spauda2.org/akiraciai/archive/1983/1983-nr03-AKIRACIAI.pdf accessed 27 January 2025

Pr P (1990) 'Adelaide,Šiupinys' ['Adelaide, Medley'] Teviskes Aidai [The Echoes of the Homeland] Melbourne, 3 July https://spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1990/1990-07-03-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf accessed 21 February 2025.

Prasmutaite, Birute (1995) Photograph:  'Iš A. Rūko "Bubulio ir Dundulio" Pastatymo Melburne' caption in Lithuanian ['From A. Rūkas' Production of "Bubulis ir Dundulis" in Melbourne'] Mūsų Pastogė, Sydney, 17 April, p 1 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1995/1995-04-17-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 7 February 2025.

Sv Balso and SP (1995) ‘Adelaide’ [‘A†A Nikodemas Skidzevičius’ (RIP Nikodemas Skidzevičius)] Teviskes Aidai [Echoes of the Homeland] Melbourne 3 October p 6 https://spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1995/1995-10-03-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf accessed 26 January 2025.

St (1983) ‘Teatrų Veikloje, Vaidila, ’’Peilio ašmenimis”’ in Lithuanian [‘Theatre Activities, Vaidila, “Knife Edge”’] Mūsų Pastogė, Sydney, 4 April, p 3 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1983/1983-04-04-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 26 January 2025.

Teviskes Ziburiai [The Lights of Homeland] (1978)'Lietuviai Pasaulyje, Australija' ['Lithuanians in the World, Australia'] Mississauga, Ontario, 24 August, p 4, https://spauda.org/teviskes_ziburiai/archive/1978/1978-08-24-TEVISKES-ZIBURIAI.pdf accessed 21 February 2025.

Varnienė, Elena (1992) ‘Laiškas iš Australijos’ (‘Letter from Australia’) Ateitis [Eyes], No. 6, Chicago, p 238 https://spauda.org/ateitis/archive/1992/1992-nr06-ATEITIS.pdf accessed 27 January 2025.

Varnienė, Elena (1993) ‘Bendruomenės Darbų Baruose, Keramikos ir medžio drožinių paroda’ In Lithuanian [‘Community Activities, Ceramics and wood carving exhibition’] Mūsų Pastogė, Sydney, 21 June, pp 4, 7 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1993/1993-06-21-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 27 January 2025.

Vasiliauskas, J. (1978) 'Gyvas Didvrių Atminimas'  ['Living Memory of Heroes'] Teviskes Aidai [The Echoes of the Homeland] Melbourne, 22 July, p 3 https://spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1978/1978-nr28-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf accessed 21 February 2025.

Vibaltis (1983) ‘Adelaidinės pabiros’ in Lithuanian [‘Adelaide droppings’] Mūsų Pastogė, Sydney, 4 April 1983, p 6 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1983/1983-04-04-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 26 January 2025.

Kazimieras Balkauskas (1921–1986): Aussie farmer and first responder, by Daina Pocius

First Transport refugee, Kazimieras or Kazys Balkauskas grew up on a Lithuanian farm and was able to continue the farming life in Australia. Since he could see the Southern Ocean from his land, he monitored this section of coast for shipping in trouble and trained in first aid. In short, he provided valuable protection to travellers on sea, in the air and on land in his section of Australia.

He had been born in the small town of Gaurė, on the banks of the Šešuvis river in the Lithuanian district of Tauragė. He was the youngest of five sons to Antanas and Pranciška Žičkutė. His family owned a small farm and Kazimieras helped his family work the farm. He grew to love the land and agriculture, a love to which he remained loyal until his last day.

Kazimieras' ID photo from his Bonegilla card

Source:  NAA: A2571, BALKAUSKAS KAZIMIERAS

Leaving Lithuania towards the end of the WWII, he found refuge in the Displaced Persons Camp at Gross Hesspe. He indicated on his DP card that his first country of choice for migration was Canada. Instead, he became one of the Lithuanians aboard the First Transport to Australia, the General Stuart Heintzelman, arriving in November 1947.

Jedda Barber has noted already in this blog that he was one of 53 Lithuanian Sea Scouts and Girl Guides on board the Heintzelman.

On arrival in Australia, he told officials that he had been working previously as an auto mechanic but wanted to be a farmer in Australia.   Let's see how he achieved that ambition.

As a 26-year-old, he had seen too much of life already when sent to work at the flax factory at Lake Bolac, a small town in Victoria located near a large body of fresh water known for its abundance of eels. The town was in a rich wheat-growing and cattle-rearing area, 220 km from Melbourne.

One of a number of Commonwealth Flax Mills operated there from 1942 to 1959. Local farmers grew flax for processing in the factory. During WWII, young Land Army women kept the mill going until new migrants could fill the shortage of labour.

Land Army women harvesting flax

Source:  State Library of Victoria

Amongst the new migrants were several Lithuanians who were fulfilling part of their two-year compulsory contract: twelve men and one family.  The Lithuanians known to have been there include Albertas Kairys, Vytautas Mulokas, Kazimieras Balkauskas, Vaclovas Jankauskas, Povilas Kecorius and Jonas Svitra, who had all arrived on the First Transport.

Jonas Svitra's sad life story has been told already in this blog.

From their Bonegilla cards, we know that a total of 19 men were sent to the Flax Production Committee, 440 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, but we do not know to which mill the Committee sent the other 13.  

After 20 months in the job, Kazimieras was released from his contract and went to work at the Nestlé factory in Warnambool. While working there he met his future wife, a Ukrainian, Maria Steran. Their son, Antanas (Anthony or Tony) and daughter, Pranciška (Frances or Fran) were named after Kazimeras' parents.  Maria learnt the Lithuanian language and traditions.

With a growing family, Kazimieras and Maria sought better housing, but none could be found. Instead, with their small capital they brought a farm near Lavers Hill, Colac.

At first life their was very difficult. It was necessary to work a lot, and it was hard work. They grew potatoes, kept sheep and cows.

Gaining more experience and learning the secrets of Australian farming, they quickly made a living, buying two neighbouring farms, which even the largest Lithuanian landowner would envy. In 1974 they had 120 cattle, including over 70 dairy cows, grazing in their fields plus a considerable number of sheep and poultry. Their main source of income was milk production.

Frances, Maria, Tony and Kazys Balkauskas with their Ford tractor

Source:  Tėviškės Aidai

Living on the shores of the Southern Ocean and seeing its blue waters through the windows of his house, Kazimieras was like a lighthouse keeper who could see what was happening at sea. He was engaged by the authorities to monitor accidents at sea and, if necessary, to report them immediately.

He joined the civil defence service (now the State Emergency Service or SES) completed first aid courses and was committed to helping those who got into trouble at sea, in the air or even on the main highway that passed through his land.

Although living closer to Melbourne, the family were frequent visitors to Adelaide.  Kazimieras could not fully integrate into Lithuanian life, but he was always interested in it and supported it.  One reason for Adelaide visits was that the Adelaide Lithuanian Catholic priest, Juozas Petraitis, was his cousin.

Kazimieras and Maria were great hosts, with their hospitality was very well known to many.  They loved and respected guests, they waited on them, and everyone found warmth and shelter in their home.

Kazimieras turned 65, the age at which older Australians could start receiving a pension instead of continuing to work, on 4 March 1986.  This meant that he would be able to visit Adelaide, where both of his children lived, more often in his retirement.

Unfortunately, while working on his land, he seriously injured himself shortly afterwards. After three weeks in the hospital, he died unexpectedly on April 12.

Maria died 8 June 1990 in the Royal Adelaide Hospital.  This was at the early age of 67.  She is buried with Kazimieras in Adelaide's Centennial Park cemetery.

Their son, Antanas or Tony, has died already too.  His death came on 26 January 2020, at the age of only 68.  He had been a corporal in the Royal Australian Survey Corps.  He was the father or stepfather of 6 boys and grandfather to 11 grandchildren.

SOURCES

Advertiser, The (2020) 'Death notices' Adelaide, 28 January.

Arolsen Archive, AEF DP Registration Records; Balkauskas, Kazyshttps://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/87880689 accessed 13 January 2025.

Genealogy SA Online Database Search https://www.genealogysa.org.au/resources/online-database-search accessed 13 January 2025.

National Archives of Australia:  Department of Immigration, Central Office; A12508, Personal Statement and Declaration by alien passengers entering Australia (Forms A42); 37/46, BALKAUSKAS Kazimieras born 4 March 1921; nationality Lithuanian; travelled per GENERAL STUART HEINTZELMAN arriving in Fremantle on 28 November 1947 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7271559 accessed 13 January 2025.

National Archives of Australia:  Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla]; BALKAUSKAS, Kazimieras : Year of Birth - 1921 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN : Number - 428 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203665698 accessed 13 January 2025.

Vasiliauskas, Jurgis (1974) 'Lietuvis Farmeris Prie Pietų Okeano' ('Lithuanian Farmer by the Southern Ocean', in Lithuanian) Tėviškės Aidai (The Echoes of Homesland), Melbourne, Australia, 26 February, p 6 https://www.spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1974/1974-nr07-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf accessed 13 January 2025.