Showing posts with label Lithuanian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lithuanian. Show all posts

18 February 2026

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

Leaving Australia for a Third Country

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jonas' life in New Zealand

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jonas' life in Lithuania

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

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

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

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

Jonas in Germany

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

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

More about life in Lithuania

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

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

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

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

Jonas Zaremba in 1947

Jonas' work in Australia

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

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

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

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

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

Why did Jonas leave Australia?

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

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

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

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

SOURCES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

National Archives of Australia:  Department of Immigration, Central Office; A11772, Migrant Selection Documents for Displaced Persons who travelled to Australia per General Stuart Heintzelman departing Bremerhaven 30 October 1947, 1947-1947; 339, ZAREMBA Jonas DOB 1 January 1912, 1947-1947 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5118044, accessed 18 February 2026.

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

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

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

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

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

29 January 2026

Petras Juodka (1919-1978): A Troubled Start in Australia, by Rasa Ščevinksienė and Ann Tündern-Smith

We have written a little about Petras Juodka in the blog entry for Domas Valancius.  After maybe two weeks of fruit-picking in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley for Anton Lenne, he had returned to the Bonegilla camp.  Less than one week later, on 19 February 1948, he was sent to Iron Knob in South Australia.  There he met Domas and trouble.

The Port Augusta District Employment Officer travelled to Iron Knob following a phone call from the Registrar of the Broken Hill Proprietory Limited company, to talk with Broken Hill’s Iron Knob foreman.  Two First Transport arrivals, Domas and Petras, were said to have ‘given quite a lot of trouble on and off the job’.

Disorderly Behaviour

Both had been before the Iron Knob court where they had been fined for disorderly behaviour in a public place.

Petras Juodka around 1947

The foreman told the Employment Officer 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 said 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.’

The Employment official and the foreman then interviewed the two men together.  The Employment official recorded 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 Commonwealth Employment Service (CES) there.  Their ‘services were terminated’ on 23 September.

Domas had caught the express train eastwards on the night of 25 September.  He had stated that he was returning to the Bonegilla camp.  This would have left Petras on his own in Adelaide, unless he knew how to contact friends from the First Transport.

From Iron Knob to Harbours Board

Petras reported to the CES as directed and was found employment with the SA Harbours Board.  He started there on 27 September, according the Alien Registration card record kept by the Adelaide office of the Department of Immigration.

Someone has made sure that the card also recorded some of the trouble he got into while in Iron Knob. P olice Gazette 39 of 1948 recorded an appearance before the Iron Knob Police Court on 14 September 1948, when he was fined 30 shillings plus 10 shilling costs, a total of 40 shillings or £2, for disorderly behaviour.

The second court appearance is not recorded but a large file from the Department of Immigration’s Adelaide office contains Petras’ original application for citizenship.  Having been told the penalties for not being completely truthful, he recorded all 6 court appearances between 1948 and 1953, plus their consequences.

The first Iron Knob Iron Knob Police Court appearance had been on 21 June 1948, when he was fined 27 shillings and 6 pence (27/6 or £1/7/6) for being drunk.  This would have been in a public place.

More court appearances and fines

He did not calm down in Adelaide, at least, not initially.   Police List 8 had him fined £7 for indecent exposure, which would have been urinating in public, thanks to an appearance in the Adelaide Police Court.

The Adelaide Advertiser newspaper reported the appearance as well, saying that it was on 10 July 1950.  His occupation was given as sawyer.

In his application for citizenship, Petras admitted to having to pay an extra 7/6 for court costs on this occasion.

In the Port Adelaide Police Court of 14 August 1950, according to Police List 9, he was fined a further 10 shillings for being drunk, which also would have been in a public place.

He was still working for the Harbour Board in September 1949 when, in excellent handwriting, he filled out a form labelled Application for Release from Period of Exemption.  In more than 25 years of researching the First Transport arrivals, this is the first time that Ann has seen such a form on one of National Archives’ files.  The form was dated 27 September 1949 and, like most of the other arrivals, Petras was granted his release 3 days later.

Petras Juodka's completed Application for Release from Exemption form;
the result of a successful application was a Certificate of Authority to Remain in Australia
click once on image for a more legible version 

The Alien Registration card record kept by the Department of Immigration in Adelaide then has an undated transfer to General Motors Holden (GMH), Woodville, and a total of 5 residential address for the period from April 1950 to February 1951.

He then had 2 changes of employment, to the Shell petroleum company in April 1951 and back to the Harbour Board about 2 weeks later.  In July 1952, he was back to GMH as a machine operator.

A Re-entry Permit

The Adelaide Immigration office’s file shows that, in June 1952, Petras applied for a re-entry permit, that is, permission to come back into Australia if he left.  His reason for the application was that he wanted to be away for 2-3 years to get his seaman’s ticket on a foreign ship before joining the Australian merchant marine.

Petras' 1952 photo for his Application for a Re-entry Permit

The Department did issue a Re-entry Permit to Petras, but it never was used.  Perhaps an Immigration official took the time to explain to him that any time outside Australia would be deducted from the 5 years required to obtain Australian citizenship.  The next papers on his file are the several pages of his citizenship application form, completed on 14 January 1953.

Dairy Farming But More Trouble

In early December 1952, he had had a change of scenery.  He had left urban Adelaide to became a labourer on a dairy farm operated by H Brown at Nangkita, on the Fleurieu Peninsula.  Nangkita is still around 80 Km and 75 minutes by road from Petras’ previous address in Adelaide.  While the change of employment was noted, a change of address was not, unless it was assumed that the address of H Brown at Nangkita was sufficient.

The record of misbehaviour published by the Adelaide Advertiser does not stop though. On 14 January 1953, the date that he completed his naturalisation application, he had been found by the police hammering on a door in the suburb where he used to live, Semaphore.

When the occupant of the house told him to go away, he shouted, “I’m cold and I want shelter”.  He was fined £3 and had to pay an additional 7/6 court costs.  Presumably there would have been additional charges if the police had judge that he had been drinking.  His address was given as Nangkita.

He may well have felt that the next move, away from Nangkita, was a great opportunity, since it was to a winery.   His new employer, as of April 1953, was Hamilton Wines of Glenelg, in inner urban Adelaide.   He lasted less than 5 weeks there though, as it was back to GMH in May.

He changed his home address 5 months later, then moved to what may have become a permanent employer, the South Australian Railways, in July 1954.  At first he was employed as a porter, someone moving heavy luggage and freight, in Port Adelaide. Then came what seems to have been a longterm move, with the Railways to Port Lincoln.

Port Lincoln is around 650 Km by road from the northern Adelaide suburbs and nearly 7 hours away. Perhaps Petras had removed himself from bad influences. His date of arrival there, as recorded on his citizenship application, was 30 December 1954.

Citizenship and the Army

For some reason not explained by the papers on file, he was sent a form letter on 16 January 1953, stating that he would not be eligible to apply for citizenship unless he continued to reside continuously in Australia for another two years.

As a former Immigration official, Ann can work out that he was eligible to apply from 28 or 29 November 1953. Admittedly, he had applied early, a good sign, but was misdirected by officialdom, bad practice.

On 15 March in the same year, he wrote to the Department of Immigration to say that he was interested in joining the Army.  He had attended a recruiting office but there was told that he should be in contact with the Department of Immigration.

The reply he received said that he should present his receipt for his Declaration of Intention to become Naturalised to the recruiting centre.  The Department thought that this would be sufficient for enlistment, if the Army found him otherwise eligible.

What motivated him to want to join the Army, after a previously expressed desire to join the merchant marine?  Was he just a restless person, as suggested by the changes of employment listed on the Department’s Alien Registration card?

Yet more trouble

Later the same year, he gave a Cheltenham address in suburban Adelaide and a press operator occupation when he appeared before a court yet again.  This time the charge was offensive behaviour in a Port Adelaide hotel on 12 September.  He admitted the charge and was fined £2/10/- and ordered to pay another £1/8/6 court costs.

This was the last court appearance to be reported by Petras himself, or the police.  However, it was not the end of his appearances in the press, with the Port Lincoln Times taking over the role of the Advertiser.

A list of Petras' offences supplied to the Department of Immigration by the police

Port Lincoln and Citizenship

On 15 March 1955, following the incorrect previous advice from the Department of Immigration, he wrote to ask what he now needed to do to obtain citizenship.  He was sent the appropriate forms and told about the requirement to advertise his intention in two newspapers circulating where he lived.

On 7 July, the Department of Immigration wrote to the CES, asking that it make someone available in Port Lincoln to interview Petras.  That interview took place during that month.

He gave his previous occupation as labourer or deckhand.  The second would explain the interest in returning to shipboard life evinced in June 1952.

At the time of the interview, he was described as a porter for South Australian Railways, living in the South Australian Railways Hostel.

The Port Lincoln Times carried an advertisement, also on 7 July, in which he was seeking somewhere to live other than his current home in the Hostel.  Of particular interest is his description of himself as “respectable sober gent”.  He must have really cleaned up his act in the 21 months since his last court appearance!

Looking for somewhere else to live
Source: 
Port Lincoln Times through Trove

Yes, all of that offending did interfere with Petras’ application to become an Australian citizen.  The Adelaide office of the Department of Immigration referred the application to its Canberra head office in January 1956.  Two weeks later, Canberra wanted more details.  Adelaide replied that it was due primarily to drinking.  Petras had not been recorded adversely in the 3 years prior to February 1956 (if the 12 September 1953 conviction for offensive behaviour in a hotel was ignored).

On 7 May 1956, Petras was sent a letter which said that “… the Minister has decided to withhold the grant of naturalization (sic) to you for a period of twelve months.”  He was not told why this decision had been taken or what would make a difference at the end of the twelve-month period.

On 7 October 1956, Petras wrote to the Adelaide office enclosing another letter which he wanted to be sent to the Minister for Immigration.  No copy of the second letter is on file.  The second letter was forwarded to the Department’s Canberra office with a note that said he had not been recorded adversely since 18 November 1953.

The public record does not say anything about an 18 November charge or conviction. Nor, for that matter, does the list of 6 offences to which Petras admitted on his application or the police version above.  This ends, as does the public record on 14 (rather than 12) September 1953.

On 22 March 1957, Petras wrote again, asking to revive his application for naturalisation.

Railway Injury

Petras had moved to Port Lincoln, but not away from trouble.  The Port Lincoln Times reported on 6 September 1956 that he had been badly injured when coupling railway trucks on a jetty.  Two fingers on his right hand were crushed by coupling hooks.  The injury was treated in the local hospital.

He responded to the hospital treatment by inserting an advertisement in the same 6 September issue of the Port Lincoln Times, thanking the doctor and nursing staff who had helped him after the accident.  He started, “I am grateful to all those very good Australian people …” and ended, “… that further obliges me for a greater contribution to this country.”

Petras (Peter) thanks all who helped him
Source: 
Port Lincoln Times through Trove

What we don't know is whether he was recovering from his injury or, indeed, has lost those two fingers.

Citizenship, Finally!

The last Port Lincoln Times report is the most positive.  Petras was one of 13 people to receive Australian citizenship at a ceremony led by the Mayor of Port Lincoln on 5 December 1957.  That’s 10 years to the day since he was travelling across the Great Australian Bight on the temporary warship, the Kanimbla.

Had he really given up alcohol?  He certainly had learned to moderate his behaviour, as we know of no more court appearances.  The overuse of alcohol was almost certainly connected with what he had experienced in 5 years of war, with 2 more years in an occupied but still troubled Germany no help either.

It should be possible to follow any further changes of residence through an Ancestry.com account, since Ancestry has digitised all electoral rolls for Australia up to 1980.  However, checking using all three known spelling variants of Petras' surname (see below) produced no results.  This suggests that having been granted Australian citizenship, Petras failed to accept its major obligation, to enrol for elections and vote, at both the State and Federal levels.

In Germany

On his citizenship application form, Petras had written that left Lithuania and arrived in Germany on the same day, 7 July 1944.  This probably seemed easier than explaining how it may have taken several days to travel from the Lithuanian border to Germany, avoiding bombing and gunfire from the Soviets, the Germans and the Allies.

His name appeared in a list of Lithuanians searching for others in a Lithuanian language newspaper, published in Augsburg, Germany, in January 1946.  The notice indicates that, at that time, he was living in Karolinenschloschen, Bad Aibling.

Karolinenschloschen means Caroline’s Little Palace in English.  If his DP camp really was in a former palace, it must have been an interesting place in which to live.

Bad Aibling is a spa town in the far south of Germany, between Munich and Salzburg, the latter in Austria.  He had managed to get as far away from the Soviets as he could go, without crossing mountains into Austria or Switzerland.

An American Expeditionary Force (AEF) DP Registration form filled out at the very end of 1945 tells us that Petras was born on 2 March 1919, so he was 26 years old at the time.  His parents were recorded as “Johann”, probably meaning Jonas in Lithuanian, and Aniela, the latter being an equivalent of Angela.

Life in Lithuania

He had been born in Serasai, according to the AEF form, probably meaning Zerasai in northeastern Lithuania.  His place of birth on the application form for migration to Australia was recorded oddly as Rainiai-Salakas, 2 towns in the north of Lithuania which are nearly 300 Km apart by road.  Zerasai is less than 30 Km from Salakas, so more likely to be the birthplace.

His usual occupation on the AEF form was farmer.  In mid-October 1947, the Australian selection panel’s report recorded that he had only 3 years of primary schooling but 2 more years at a commercial school.  His previous occupation was not recorded on the application form, where his current occupation was said to be general labourer.

Languages

Neither form nominated English as one of Petras’ languages, although he had Polish as well as Lithuanian.  We have to hope that he attended Edna Davis’ classes on board the Heintzelman.  Problems with understanding those around him in Australia would have added to his psychological difficulties.

On the other hand, the letters that he clearly wrote himself, since all are in the same script and use the same ink colour, indicate somewhere who had learned to express himself well – if not with complete fluency – in English by the mid-1950s.

Later years

After so much publicity for Petras in his first 10 years in Australia, the record goes quiet.  That’s apart from 2 appearances in Australia’s Lithuanian-language press.  Mūsų Pastogė, in a September 1968 edition, published a letter from Petras.  He noted the approach of the 48th anniversary of Poland seizing the Lithuanian capital city, Vilnius, in October 1920, and thanked 2 Adelaide residents who he said had participated in the return of Vilnius to Lithuania in October 1939.

He signed himself as a dragoon of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union, a soldier of the Lithuanian Self-Defense Units of the Homeland Protection Team, and a member of the ex-servicemen’s organisation, Ramovė.

In November 1973, he offered to finance the restoration of the missing metal Vilnius city coat of arms in the Lithuanian Land Monument in the churchyard of St Casimir's Church. St Casimir’s is the Lithuanian Catholic community’s church in Adelaide.

Death

Finally, Tėviškės aidai in its issue of 4 March 1978, carried a sentence about recent deaths in Adelaide.  This included Petra Jotka (sic), who had died on 17 February 1978. He was said to be 60 years old but, given several records of his birthdate on different forms, he would have been 58, 2 weeks short of his 59th birthday.  He had returned to Adelaide, to his previous suburb of Semaphore.

It looks like the earlier hard living had caught up with Petras.

CITE THIS AS:  Ščevinksienė, Rasa and Tündern-Smith, Ann (2026) 'Petras Juodka (1919-1978):  A Troubled Start in Australia' 

SOURCES

Note: Petras' surname has 3 variants in the sources, even in the Lithuanian language: Juodka, Juotka and Jotka.

Advertiser (1950) ‘Charge Admitted’ Adelaide, SA, 11 July, p 11 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/44919776, accessed 26 January 2026.

Advertiser (1953) ‘Unlawfully On Premises’ Adelaide, SA, 16 January, p 5 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/47526251, accessed 26 January 2026.

Advertiser (1953) ‘Offensive Behaviour’ Adelaide, SA, 15 September, p 7 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/48928540, accessed 26 January 2026.

Billion Graves ‘Petras Juodka’ https://billiongraves.com/grave/Petras-Juodka/44357799, accessed 27 January 2026.

Bonegilla Migrant Experience, ‘Petras Juodka’ Bonegilla Identity Card Lookup, https://idcards.bonegilla.org.au/record/203731915, accessed 26 January 2026.

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (1958) ‘Certificates of Naturalization (sic)’ Canberra, ACT, 18 September, p 3099 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/240882136/25977671, accessed 27 January 2026.

Find a Grave ‘Petras “Peter” Juodka’ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/151279180/petras-juodka, accessed 27 January 2026.

‘Folder DP1689, names from JUNOS, BARBARA to JUOZUVAITIS, Otonas (1)’ 3.1.1 Registration and Care of DPs inside and outside of Camps, DocID: 67523592, ITS/Arolsen archives https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/67523592, accessed 26 January 2026.

Mūsų Pastogė (1968) ‘Padėka‘ (‘Gratitude’, in Lithuanian) Sydney, NSW, 2 September, p 6 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1968/1968-09-02-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 27 January 2026.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, Central Office; A11772, Migrant Selection Documents for Displaced Persons who travelled to Australia per General Stuart Heintzelman departing Bremerhaven 30 October 1947, 1947-1947; 556, JUODKA Petras DOB 2 March 1919, 1947-1947 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5005792, accessed 27 January 2026.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, South Australia Branch; D400, Correspondence files, annual single number series with 'SA' and 'S' prefix, 1949-1965; SA1956/8813, JUODKA PETRAS, 1949-1957 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=31672421, accessed 27 January 2026.

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 27 January 2026.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, South Australia Branch; D4878, Alien registration documents, alphabetical series, 1937-1965; JUODKA P, JUODKA Petras - Nationality: Lithuanian - Arrived Fremantle per General Stuart Heintzelman 28 November 1947, 1947-1957 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=4078212, accessed 27 January 2026.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, South Australia Branch; D4881, Alien registration cards, alphabetical series, 1946-1976; JUODKA PETRAS, JUODKA Petras - Nationality: Lithuanian - Arrived Melbourne per General Stuart Heintzelman 28 November 1947, 1947-1957 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=9181028, accessed 27 January 2026

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956; JUODKA PETRAS, JUODKA, Petras : Year of Birth - 1919 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN : Number – 930, 1947-1948 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203731915, accessed 27 January 2026.

News (1953) ‘Laborer (sic) fined £3’ Adelaide, SA, 15 January, p 3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/130926042, accessed 26 January 2026.

Port Lincoln Times (1955) (Advertising) Port Lincoln, SA, 7 July, p 8 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/266921092?searchTerm=p.%20juodka, accessed 26 January 2026.

Port Lincoln Times (1956) ‘Shunter Injured’ Port Lincoln, SA, 6 September, p 1 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/267051164, accessed 26 January 2026.

Port Lincoln Times (1956) 'Expression of Thanks' Port Lincoln, SA, 6 September, p 2, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/267051150accessed 28 January 2026.

Port Lincoln Times (1957) ‘They Want to be Australians’ Port Lincoln, SA, 21 November, p 1 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/267059474, accessed 26 January 2026.

Tėviškės aidai (Echoes of Homeland) (1973) ‘Adelaidės kronika‘ (‘Adelaide Chronicle’, in Lithuanian) Melbourne, Vic, 6 November, p 6 https://www.spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1973/1973-nr43-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf, accessed 27 January 2026.

Tėviškės aidai (Echoes of Homeland) (1978) ‘Iš mūsų parapijų, Adelaide’ (‘From Our Parishes, Adelaide’, in Lithuanian) Melbourne, Vic, 4 March, p 8 https://www.spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1978/1978-nr08-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf, accessed 27 January 2026.

Wikipedia, Bad Aibling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Aibling, accessed 27 January 2026.

Ziburai (Lights in Darkness) (1946) ‘Paieškojimai‘ (‘Searches’, in Lithuanian) Augsburg, Germany, 19 January, p 9 https://spauda2.org/dp/dpspaudinys_ziburiai/archive/1946-01-19-ZIBURIAI.pdf, accessed 26 January 2026.

15 January 2026

Česlovas Sviderskas (1920-1997), Who Stayed in Sydney, by Rasa Ščevinksienė and Ann Tündern-Smith

Like our previous entrant, Vladas Navickas, Česlovas Sviderskas was one of the first group of 6 Lithuanians and Latvians sent to work at the Repatriation General Hospital, Concord, New South Wales, in April 1948. Unlike Vladas, Česlovas stayed, started a family and became part of Sydney’s Lithuanian community.

Česlovas was another of the 187, at least, First Transport men sent to pick fruit in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley from late January 1948. His employers were Messrs Dundas Simson of Ardmona. He had worked for them until returning to the Bonegilla camp on 1 April, so for a solid 2 months.

Česlovas Sviderskas in 1947

Česlovas (or Charles) in Sydney

An obituary by Anskis Reisgys, published in the Mūsų Pastogė newspaper in November 1997, summarises his life in Australia. He stayed at the Concord Repatriation Hospital for the contract period required by the Australian Government, so probably until 30 September 1949. 

While there, he met a later arrival, Janina Jablonskytė, who became his wife on 26 November 1949.  The bride's marriage required the prior consent of the Minister for Immigration, as a birthdate of 12 March 1929 meant that she was still under the then age of majority, 21.  They had 2 sons, Robert and Raimondas.

Anskis wrote (in Lithuanian, translated by Rasa) that “Česlovas took great care of the well-being of his young family. He acquired a house for them in the Sydney suburb of Wentworthville early. He constantly improved the well-being of his family by acquiring better and better housing”.

Wentworthville was further away from Sydney’s centre than Parramatta. By the time Česlovas (than known as Charles Stevens) and Janina were granted Australian citizenship on 6 October 1961, the family had moved to Sydney’s south, to Revesby. This suburb was close to the Sydney’s Lithuanian Club in Bankstown, a suburb known by some as “Balt Town”.

Česlovas at Work and Play

Anskis added that Česlovas had “successfully immersed himself in the new air-conditioning industry, which was then expanding rapidly.”

“Česius had a soft heart for those who got into trouble”, Anskis wrote. “He supported not only his relatives, but also everyone who needed help. However, perhaps he devoted most of his heart to Lithuanian song. At gatherings he quickly became the centre of attention with his songs. Perhaps while singing, he poured out his heartache and gathered so much new strength that there was no room for complaints.

Česlovas' Retirement and Death

“Retirement was not a good time for Česlovas: his health deteriorated, he underwent a serious operation, after which he never recovered his health. He rejoiced in his grandchildren and the achievements of his sons. At the beginning of (1997), he suffered a major haemorrhage in the brain. Without regaining consciousness, he died on 6 November”, Anskis reported.

Česlovas or Charles in later life
Source:  Mūsų Pastogė

A large gathering of the Sviderskas and Jablonskis families farewelled Česlovas 4 days later at Sydney’s Rookwood Crematorium. Undoubtedly, many friends attended also, since there are 4 condolence advertisements immediately under the Mūsų Pastogė obituary.

One of those advertisements was from Sophia and Carmen Saparas, the widow and daughter of another First Transport arrival in Australia, Bronius Šaparas, who had been a pioneer aviator in Lithuania.

The resting place of Charles (Česlovas) Stevens (Sviderskas) 
in the Rookwood Cemetery

Janina dies

Česlovas’ widow, Janina, by then also known as Jenny, lived on for another 17 years after her husband died. She was farewelled by 4 grandchildren in addition to the 2 sons in December 2014.

Česlovas' Youth

Česlovas had been born in the town of Simnas, in Lithuania’s south, as the youngest of 11 children. He spent a happy childhood on his parents' large farm while attending the local primary school, then studied at Marijampolė secondary school. He also studied at the Kaunas Theological Seminary, and later attended lectures at the Faculty of Medicine of Vilnius University.

The report of the interview he attended with the selection team for migration from Germany to Australia summarises this as 3 years of primary school and 8 years of secondary.

Česlovas in Germany

At the time his presence in Germany as a refugee was recorded on an American form in August 1945, he had reached the city of Paderborn towards the north of the country. The Americans recorded him as a medical student, something that Australian records ignored but, possibly, this was taken into account in sending him to the Concord Hospital.

The only language in which he was fluent recorded by the Australians was Lithuanian, but the Americans noted that he spoke German, Polish and Russian without mentioning the Lithuanian.

He is likely to have known English too by October 1947, when applying for Australia, since his address then is given as 8184 Lab Serv Co, probably working for the Americans but the place was not listed. His occupation by then had become “automechanic”.

Versatility

Growing up on a farm seems to have taught Česlovas, the former medical student, to be versatile.

CITE THIS AS:  Ščevinksienė, Rasa and Tündern-Smith, Ann (2026) 'Česlovas Sviderskas  (1920-1997), Who Stayed in Sydney' https://firsttransport.blogspot.com/2026/01/ceslovas-sviderskas-1920-1997-who-stayed-in-Sydney.html

SOURCES

Bonegilla Identity Card Lookup ‘Ceslovas Sviderskas’ Bonegilla Migrant Experience https://idcards.bonegilla.org.au/record/203693538, accessed 15 January 2026.

Find a Grave ‘Charles Stevens’ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150632914/charles-stevens, accessed 15 January 2026.

‘Folder DP4123, names from SWIATLA, Albina to SWIDERSKA, Bronislawa (2)’ 3.1.1 Registration and Care of DPs inside and outside of Camps, ITS/Arolsen Archives https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/69405226, accessed 15 January 2026.

Migrant Selection Documents for Displaced Persons who travelled to Australia per General Stuart Heintzelman departing Bremerhaven 30 October 1947, 1947-1947; 677, SVIDERSKAS Ceslowas DOB 12 February 1920 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5118097, accessed 15 January 2026.

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956; SVIDERSKAS CESLOVAS, SVIDERSKAS, Ceslovas : Year of Birth - 1920 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN : Number – 1051, 1947-1948; recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203693538, accessed 15 January 2026.

New South Wales, Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995, Marriage Certificate, Registration Number 25160/1949, Sviderskas, Ceslovas and Jablonskis, Janina.

Reisgys, Anskis (1997) ‘A † A Česlovas Sviderskas — Charles Stevens’ (‘In Memoriam, Česlovas Sviderskas — Charles Stevens’, in Lithuanian) Mūsų Pastogė, Sydney, 1 December, p 7 https://www.spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1997/1997-11-24-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 15 January 2026.

Sydney Morning Herald (2014) ‘Janina Stevens Obituary’ https://tributes.smh.com.au/au/obituaries/smh-au/name/janina-stevens-obituary?id=44207354, accessed 15 January 2026.

18 November 2025

Three Jakstas refugees on the First Transport, by Daina Pocius and Ann Tündern-Smith

Having noted the names Žilinskas and Smilgevičius three times each on the First Transport passenger list, Daina also wanted to know if the 3 Jakštas men were related.

Aleksas Jakštas (1921-1977)

Aleksas Jakštas started his working life in Australia by picking fruit for W Young of the Kelvin Orchards, Ardmona. He stayed more than one month at this assignment before returning to the Bonegilla camp on 3 April. He would not have needed to unpack because, on 5 April, he was off to Tasmania.

Aleksas in Tasmania

His Bonegilla card provides no more details but Ramunas Tarvydas, in From Amber Coast to Apple Isle, says that he was sent to Premaydena locality in rural southeast Tasmania. Ramunas confirms that Premaydena involved more fruit picking. Both Ramunas and Aleksas’ obituarist, Aleksas Kantvilas, write that his next destination was Ida Bay. If you look back at our entry on the Electrona Carbide Factory, you’ll find that Ida Bay was the source of the limestone needed for the Factory to manufacture its calcium carbide.  The Factory was located near Ida Bay in a place that became Electrona.

Aleksas Jakstas' identity photo on his Bonegilla card

Ramunas quotes from Adomas Stasytis, who he says arrived at Electrona in mid-1948 with his wife, Veronika, both Second Transport (General MB Stewart) refugees, to find that there were 3 Lithuanians there already. From Bonegilla cards, we know that they were Kazys Alseika, Anicetas Grigaliunas and Algirdas Jonas Smelstorius. Either Jakštas arrived later still, or he really was moving limestone at Ida Bay into its transport to Electrona than moving it into the factory.

Aleksas' Personal Life

In Tasmania, he met and married another refugee, Klavdia. His obituarist wrote, in Lithuanian, "They had a daughter but she died early".  From the family's grave (see photograph below), it looks more like Klavdia brought Nina into the marriage from a previous marriage -- perhaps to someone who did not migrate to Australia as there is no public record of him.*

The Klavdia spelling of Aleksas' wife's name and Cyrillic script plus an orthodox cross on the family's grave are among hints that she and Nina were refugees from Russia.  Also, Utkina on the grave is the feminine form of a Russian surname, Utkin, meaning Duck.

Aleksas originated from Kaišiadorys, a village near Kaunas on the road to Vilnius. He was born on 5 October 1921. He spent his childhood and started his education in Kaišiadorys. His AEF (American Expeditionary Force) DP (Displaced Person) Registration form says that he was born in Trakai, a town 50 Km from Kaišiadorys and closer to Vilnius. The form says also that this was his last place of residence.

His parents were Jonas Jakštas and Marijona, maiden name Jurskaitė. His occupation was still student and he hoped to go to Canada. Australia must have come up first.

Aleksas' Education

From Trakai, he moved to Vilnius and studied architecture at the Vilnius Technical University. After the War, according to his obituarist, he continued his studies in Darmstadt, but it was not at the Technical University. That University’s Archives has written to us to say that he is not on its list of past students.

His education is downgraded in the papers which survive from the selection process for his migration to Australia. The tertiary education becomes instead “2 years building technical school” and “2 years secondary in Germany”. Given that Aleksas was already 24 at the start of the 1946 academic year, tertiary study is much more likely than attending a secondary school. Indeed, the selection papers later say that he did not work at all but was a full-time student, making secondary study all the more unlikely.

Aleksas in the Community

Aleksas was part of the Lithuanian community in southeast Tasmania from the start. In 1953, he was first elected to the committee of Hobart Lithuanian Community as its secretary, as reported in the Australijos Lietuvis (Australian Lithuanian) of 21 February that year. Soon he became its treasurer instead.

In 1956, Aleksas represented Tasmania at a Lithuanian sports festival in Sydney. Back home, his goal was to put together a team of Lithuanian basketballers for the 1957 festival in Geelong. The Hobart sports club he founded, Perkūnas (Thunder) was the result of that effort. He managed for it for a long time.

The Perkūnas Sports Club organises its 50th anniversary celebration

Like Juozas Zilinskas in Canberra, Aleksas and Klavdia were to be seen “everywhere and often” in Hobart community life. There were said to be no gatherings, commemorations or entertainment of the Lithuanian community without their participation.

On 30 January 1963, both Klavdia and Aleksas Jakstas of 623 Seventh Avenue in the Hobart suburb of West Moonah received their citizenship certificates.

Aleksas' Early Death

In 1970 Aleksas was diagnosed with a serious illness, threatening the rest of his life.

Aleksas was an amazingly caring and talented person, his obituarist wrote. What he did, he did well, so that it was beautiful, perfectly finished; he had "golden hands", people used to say. He was open and honest; he didn't have any anger or deceit.

A hundred of his friends, compatriots and acquaintances gathered for his last farewell on 2 April 1977. He had lived for only 55 years, destined never to see the forests and fields of his motherland again. Accompanied by song, he descended to the ground covered by the tricolour flag and a handful of sand from the Neris river in Lithuania, as a farewell trumpet sounded.

The deceased left behind his lovely wife, who was loved and respected by everyone. He also left behind his father in Vilnius and three sisters and their families in Lithuania. Klavdia passed away early also, less than 15 months after Aleksas.

They are interred with Nina in the Cornelian Bay Cemetery, Hobart.

The grave of the Jakštas family in Cornelian Bay Cemetery, Hobart:
the Cyrillic at the top translates as "Ninochka", clearly her mother's pet name for Nina and
it is likely that "Aliusik" was Klava/Klavda's pet name for her husband, Aleksas;
note also the Orthodox cross at the top of the grave, which is in the Cemetery's Methodist section

*  The Arolsen Archives has a file for Klavdia Utkina (b 21 May 1928) and her daughter, Antonina (b 5 March 1948) which reveals that Klavdia married Peter Ivanovich Utkin, a fellow teacher, in Harbin, China, in 1947.  As of 1 May 1957, they were separated and his whereabouts were unknown.  

Klavdia and Nina set out for Tasmania from Hong Kong on 30 December 1957 by ship, with Klavdia's aunt, Cleopatra Krasovskaya.  They would have been travelling under an immigration program which Australia ran for White Russians from China.  This program was started after lobbying co-ordinated by the Australian Council of Churches and was at its peak during 1957-59.  The Utkina/Krasnovskaya party was headed for Klavdia's friend who was living in the inner Hobart suburb of Glebe.  All of this is to say that Aleksas and Klavdia would not have met until 1958 at the earliest. 

Algirdis Jakštas (1926-1999)

Algirdas or, in a more familiar manner, Algis, Jakštas hit the page 1 headlines in various editions of Sydney’s Daily Mirror afternoon newspaper on 25 August 1949. They reported that he had been found that morning with a knife wound above the heart, in the East Hostel, Yallourn, Victoria.

In most of its editions, the newspaper added that Algis has sought treatment the previous day for mental illness from a Yallourn doctor. It added that he now was in a serious condition in the Yallourn Hospital.

He must have recovered both from the knife wound and the mental illness, as his life continued for nearly another 50 years. He was 73 years old when he died on 26 February 1999. He was buried in Melbourne’s Springvale Botanical Cemetery on 2 March 1999.

Indeed, he was the longest lived of the three Jakštas men from the First Transport.

Algis in Germany

Algis was born 16 January 1926. His Australian Selection Report says that he had “Fled from Russian regime with parents”. He had 6 years of secondary schooling in addition to 6 years of primary, so he was well educated.

Algirdas Jakštas from his October 1947 selection papers

The selection team thought that his General Appearance was “Good” and he could be suited to heavy labour. His previous work experience was on his father’s farm, for 2 months every year (doubtless during the summer).

He was quite a linguist, with a knowledge of Russian and Polish in addition to the expected Lithuanian and German. In addition, his knowledge of English was “fair”.

Someone has added in pencil to another form used in the selection process, “Parents lost in East Prussia”.

His identity photographs came from a photographer operating in the Baltic Camp Watenstedt, where he was living. Another First Transport Lithuanian living in the same camp with his parents and siblings was Vladas Akumbakas.

Algis' First Jobs in Australia

Accepted for migration to Australia, his work contract took him to the pine forests of Mt Gambier in South Australia where he worked for the State Forestry Department.

By August 1949, he had been transferred to Victoria’s State Electricity Commission, Yallourn, where he made page 1, at least of the Daily Mirror.

Algis Starts a Family

The RecordSearch index to its digitised documents maintained by the National Archives of Australia shows only one Algirdas Jakstas entering Australia. Therefore, it would be the same person who next appears in the Australian press prior to his marriage, on 10 February 1951, to “Heather Jean, second Daughter of Capt. and Mrs A. Moore, Kew Street, Indooroopilly.” This notice appeared in Brisbane’s Courier-Mail newspaper of 8 February 1951.

During the next year, Capt. and Mrs A. Moore announced in the Courier-Mail that Heather Jakstas had given birth to a son on 13 July.

Algis Goes Flensing

So it would be the same Algirdas Jakštas who had an article headed, Beprotnamis Ar Banginių Medžioklė (Madhouse or Whaling), published in the Australijos Lietuvis (Australian Lithuanian) newspaper of 10 January 1953. It describes the author and his wife travelling by motor boat to Moreton Island, where they met the director of a whaling company. This director had promised his wife a job as a cleaner previously.

Moreton Island is a large sand island sheltering Brisbane, in Moreton Bay, from the Coral Sea. The former whaling station at Tangalooma now is an education and conservation centre.

Algirdas was put to work on the flensing deck, presumably on one of the 3 Norwegian ships whose crews were teaching Australians how to process the whales they had caught. The Australians, so Algirdas wrote, then started to attack him verbally. 

Flensing deck at Tangalooma Whaling Station, 1960

Those Australians were replaced by others but “they” (the new employees? the company?) “began to use other methods (so runs the translation into English) such as not letting him sleep during the day to recover from his night shift, threatening to fence his accommodation off with barbed wire, and even to deport him”.

As a result of this, Algirdas wrote, he was admitted to a Brisbane hospital where he remained for 2 weeks. In view of his previous medical history, the reader does have to wonder if this was a mental hospital or ward.

In the same issue, Algirdas inserted an advertisement which advised that people wishing to write to Liutaveras Januškevičius should use the address, “Algirdas Jakštas, 21 Bromston Street, Gladstone, Queensland”. Gladstone is a coastal city still more than 500 road kilometres and 6 hours driving north of Brisbane. 

Algirdas must have thought that moving further north would help him escape tormenting Australians. Ann, who lived even further north in Queensland for 6 years more than 50 years ago, know that this was a mistake: the further north you go, the more isolated from the outside world and its events the other residents become …

Algis Writes Again

Three years later, Algirdas had another long article headed, “Įdomūs Kelionės Įspūdžiai ...” (Interesting Travel Impressions) published in Australijos Lietuvis. This piece was based on a story Algirdas found a magazine published by a Melbourne Lithuanian sports club, about a drive from Melbourne to Adelaide. A friend who was driving in his small car was so worried about making the trip that he made his will beforehand. 

The driver, his wife and passengers saw the car in front of them leave the road and land upside down in a field but no-one was injured. Adelaide was disappointing because the friend’s Melbourne sports club did not win and for other, apparently minor, reasons. Algirdas suggested that his friend’s next trip to Adelaide should be by train or even plane.

Algis Back in Victoria

On 3 December 1960, Algirdas was granted Australian citizenship. He had left Queensland for Victoria, wisely in Ann’s opinion, and was living at Clarke House, Elmshurst Road, Bayswater, then on Melbourne’s rural-urban fringe. As far as we can find, Clarke House was the residence of a Clarke family, identified as such for the Post Office and visitors before the new Elmshurst Road received street numbers from the local government.

And that’s all the public information we have about Algirdas, until the appearance of his 1999 burial on the Find A Grave Website.  The headstone shows that his marriage to Heather Jean did not last, as the person buried with him is called Wanda.

Algirdas and Wanda Jakstas' headstone at Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Melbourne

Fridrikas Jakštas

Fridrikas came from Žiogaičiai village in the county of Tauragė. The summary report on him by the Australian selection committee categorises him as someone “forcibly evacuated by the Germans” from Lithuania in 1944.

He had 5 years of primary education and 2 years of secondary. His employment experience consisted of 2 years of farming in Lithuanian plus one year as a lumber worker in Germany. He had no knowledge of English.

His Bonegilla card shows that his next of kin was an uncle living in the Rotenburg DP camp in Hannover, in the British Zone. As this was where Fridrikas had his medical examination for migration, he probably was living there too.

Fridrikas' identity photo on his Bonegilla card

Did Fridrikas' Uncle Stay in Germany?

The uncle did not come to Australia nor was he resettled in another third country according to the available evidence. Indeed, one of two Refugee/Displaced Person Statistical Cards describes him as ineligible for IRO assistance. He was a 56-year-old farmer. Maybe officialdom had decided that he would be better off returning to Lithuania or saw him as helped already by another program, perhaps run by the Germans. Maybe he became one of the older, sicker Lithuanians in Germany for whom those in Australia collected money frequently.

Fridrikas Goes to Bangham

Fridrikas was one of the 62 Balts who arrived in Wolseley, a small town halfway between Adelaide and Melbourne, on Wednesday night, 14 January 1948. They were sent there to work for the South Australian Railways. They were to widen the district’s railway gauge. From Wolseley, they were moved to a camp of their own at Bangham.

During their five-weeks' sojourn in Bonegilla migrant camp the new arrivals learned some basic English, but only three or four of the men could converse fluently. They adopted German as the common language of conversation. While the men hoped to improve their English, it would be extremely difficult while living together in such an isolated spot. The camp was situated about 14.5 kilometres from Custon, where the predominant features of the surrounding country were scrub and sand. The men were housed in tents.

The men had been promised by Australian immigration authorities in Germany that they would only be required to work one year. After having spent years in limbo in DP camps, they hoped to find permanent positions quickly so as to end camp life.

A representative of the Commonwealth Employment Service met the party at Wolseley. The twenty Lutheran members of the party were welcomed on Wednesday afternoon at the Bangham camp by Pastor K. Hartmann, of the Lutheran Church, Bordertown. Pastor Hartmann planned to conduct services at the camp. Fridrikas was of the Lutheran faith.

Fridrikas Goes to Adelaide

There is no notation on Fridrikas’ Aliens Registration record card, now in the Adelaide collection of the National Archives of Australia, to say that he was released from his contract to the Australian Government on 30 September 1949. There also is no known reason why he would not have been released on that date. Along with the others, he probably headed for the State capital, Adelaide, as quickly as could be arranged.

The Aliens Registration record card notes that his next employment was as a labourer with Chrysler Dodge and his residential address had become 16 North Parade, North Adelaide. This change is undated.

The next notation of the record card is employment as a labourer with Hansen & Yuncken of Torrensville, builders. Fridrikas’ new personal address was 10 Athol Street in Woodville North, as of 27 October 1949.

Fridrikas Goes to Sydney

The following notation records that the South Australian Department of Immigration file of papers about Fridrikas had been sent to the Department’s Sydney office on 6 January 1950. Fridrikas had spent less than 2 years in South Australia.

He had moved to St. Mary's, now a western suburb of Sydney, 45 Km for its Central Business District. Although closer to the Blue Mountains than to central Sydney, the area has seen European settlement, initially in the form of land grants, since 1807. Even the Anglican Church after which it was named was built more than 180 years ago, between 1837 and 1840.

In St Mary’s, Fridrikas built a house with his own hands.

Fridrikas is Married

Fridrikas Jakstas and Lidia Ruta Jakstas, both of 160 Bestic Street in Kyeemagh, a Sydney suburb where the Georges River meets Botany Bay, obtained Australian citizenship on 30 October 1960.

If we knew more about the life history of Lidia Ruta Jakstas, we might know why Fridrikas moved to Sydney rather than staying in South Australia. The vast majority of First Transport men sent to South Australia lived the rest of their lives there.

The person who wrote his obituary less than 18 months after the citizenship ceremony, for Mūsų Pastogė, someone who signed himself only as J, wrote that Fridrikas had moved to Rockdale “a few years ago”.  Rockdale is the larger, better known suburb to the west of Kyeemagh, so the reference is to his Kyeemagh move.

Fridrikas Goes into Business

The obituarist wrote that Fridrikas had bought a “colonial goods store”.  The 160 Bestic Street address is indeed part of a commercial street front with second floor residences. The Jakstas’ address now houses a personal fitness and weight-loss business, according to Google Street View.

The shops at 158-164 Bestic Street, Kyeemagh, as recorded by Google Street View in June 2022;
160 Bestic Street is second from the corner, now housing Advanced Personal Training

The building’s style is 1930s Art Deco, so it would have been about 20 years old when Fridrikas and Lidia owned or were buying part of it.

Fridrikas Dies Young

Fridrikas died in Rockdale Hospital on 31 March 1962 after being unwell for three days. This young man, just 34 years old, left behind a grieving wife and parents and brothers in Lithuania.

In death, Fridrikas returned to his previous Australian home. Fr. E. Lyenert and Fr. Kosticin officiated at the funeral rites in St Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in St Mary’s and at the graveside. A representative of the Sydney Lithuanian Evangelical Lutheran Parish Council spoke beside Fridrikas’ grave, in St Mary’s Cemetery. More than 70 people accompanied him to his eternal resting place.

The anonymous obituarist saw Fridrikas as a sincere Lithuanian and a quiet, hardworking and dutiful family man.

From her gravestone next to that of her husband, it looks like Lidia lived another 44 years without remarrying. She was buried there on 9 August 2006.  

Frederick has been buried under the Australianised version of his forename.  Since we know so little about Lidia Ruta, we do not know if Lidia was an Australian version of the Lithuanian Lidija or a variant from another language, let alone if Lida on her headstone is her proper name, a misspelling or a pet name.  We can tell that her married name is misspelt, however.

Lidia's burial in 2006 was next to the grave of her husband,
who had died too young 44 years earlier

CONCLUSION

There are no hints at relationships between these three men on their Bonegilla cards, and we cannot find any other evidence that these three men with the family name Jakštas are related. 

Another nine people with the same surname arrived in Australia in the following years. They also were unrelated to the first three, we believe.

CITE THIS AS:  Pocius, Daina and Tündern-Smith, Ann (2025) 'Three Jakstas refugees on the First Transport', https://firsttransport.blogspot.com/2025/11/three-jakstas-refugees-on-first-transport.htm.

SOURCES

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