Jonas Motiejūnas (1921–2004): The Lithuanian Leader Who Left, by Rasa Ščevinskienė and Ann Tündern-Smith

The Photographs

Two photographs of two Lithuanians with Australia’s first Minister for Immigration, Arthur Calwell, are used frequently to illustrate early post–World War II migration to Australia. Arthur Calwell is clearly identifiable on the right, we are told that the woman is Konstancia Brundzaitė, but who is the man with her?

This presentation captured by a photographer clearly is an important moment, but what is that moment? A memoir written by a fellow Lithuanian migrant, Kazys Mieldazys, tells us (in Lithuanian), that the Kanimbla ship carrying the First Transport refugees from Fremantle in Western Australia to Port Melbourne in Victoria “reached Melbourne on 7 December. 

"There we were greeted by the Minister for Immigration, Arthur Calwell, together with other government representatives. The leaders of the Lithuanian group, Jonas Motiejunas and Konstancija Brundzaite, handed the Minister a gift – a picture book of Lithuanian views and a sash. Later this gift was deposited by Mr Calwell in the Australian Cultural Museum (sic) in Canberra …”.

From left to right, Jonas Motiejūnas, Konstancija Brundzaitė, Arthur Calwell, unknown Australian onlookers, when Calwell received the gift of a sash and book from the Lithuanians
Source:  Australian Maritime Museum digitising of print donated by Konstancija Brundzaitė Jurskis 

This presentation occurred later, apparently, when the 
two Lithuanian leaders met Calwell again, as Jonas is in national costume this time:
judging from the background, it may have been at the 1951
travelling exhibition of New Australians' Arts and Crafts

Source:  SLIC

How did Jonas become a leader of the Lithuanian group, along with Konstancija? Kazys has written further, “We first organised ourselves at the Diepholz camp in Germany. A week before the ship’s departure a Lithuanian representative committee was established. It comprised Jonas Motiejunas, president, Povilas Baltutis, vice president, Napoleonas Butkunas, interpreter …”

Kazys added, “On All Souls Day, we honoured the dead and all those who had perished for Lithuanian freedom. J. Motiejunas was the keynote speaker. After that a prayer was recited for our homeland and a few hymns were sung …”

Young Jonas

Who was this leader among 417 Lithuanian men? He was born on 5 July 1921, in Janenai village, Sventezeris district, Seinai county, so he was 26 years old when selected. He had graduated from Lazdijai high school and completed his military service with graduation from the officer training school, in the last program before the school closed, ironically because of the War.

In 1941–1944, he studied electrical engineering in the Faculty of Technology at Vytautas the Great University, in Kaunas. He completed his studies after leaving Lithuania, in Germany’s Technical University of Braunschweig, receiving an electrical engineering degree.

He was an active athlete and exhibiting artist during his student days. He participated in the June 1941 uprising against the Soviet occupiers of his country, shortly before the Germans turn as occupiers. He was active in community organisations during this time.

Work and Marriage

After nearly two months in the Bonegilla camp, Jonas was among 28 men sent to pick fruit on the Dundas Simson Pty Ltd property at Ardmona, Victoria, on 28 January 1948. He returned to Bonegilla on 10 April. On 22 April, he was sent to work in the Australian Carbide Company’s factory at Electrona, 40 km south from Hobart, capital of Tasmania.

During his 10 days back in the Bonegilla camp in April, Jonas had met Ona Prižgintaitė by Lake Hume. She was one of the Lithuanian women on the Second Transport, the General MB Stewart, which had reached Fremantle on 12 February 1948.

Their casual acquaintance quickly grew into love and respect for each other. They married on 11 July 1948 in the Catholic Church in the town of Snug, near Electrona.  Jonas later told Ramunas Tarvydas, author of the 1997 book, From Amber Coast to Apple Isle, that the couple were surprised and delighted by the number of locals who attended to wish them well. 

Ona and Jonas Motiejūnas on their wedding day
Source:  Mikuliciene, Irena (2023) 
Lietuviai perkeltųjų asmenų (DP) stovyklose 1945–1951 m.

Meanwhile, Jonas was engaged in hard work, unloading large limestone rocks, smashing them with sledgehammers and loading them onto wagons.  He and his fellow workers shovelled coal onto the limestone, added both to furnaces, poured the resultant molten material into shallow basins to cool, then smashed the cold product and loaded it into barrels for export.  

The main product of the Electrona factory in 1948 was calcium carbide, a solid which reacts with water to produce acetylene gas. Using acetylene for lighting was common still in mid–20th century Australia. Another major use of acetylene is in welding.

As you can imagine from this summary, the work was dangerous also, as Jonas described to Ramunas Tarvydas, quoted in the next entry on the carbide factory.

Jonas was able to get a transfer to Hobart after talking with a CES official.  There he was employed more suitably as an electrical draftsman with EZ Risdon.  In his spare time, he drew house plans for other Lithuanians in Hobart. 

Accommodation

Jonas also told Ramunas that, "Electrona is a very lovely area.  We lived in houses especially built by the company.  One of the three bedrooms in the house was for us, the married couple, the other two were for four single men.  There was also a dining room, a kitchen and a bathroom.

"Our meals were excellent, first cooked by Mrs Stasytis, then by my wife, who also looked after the Lithuanians' house."

(Mr and Mrs Stasytis were Adomas and Veronika, who had arrived in February 1948 on the Second Transport, the General MB Stewart.  They had been sent together to Electrona on 28 April 1948, that is, 6 days after the 8 from the First Transport.  Apart from the cooking, doubtless expected by the men, Veronika Stasytienė was destined for "factory w", whatever that meant in this dangerous environment.)

Jonas’ New Family

Ona Prižgintaitė had graduated from midwifery school and studied history at Vytautas the Great University for two years. After reaching Germany, she studied history and art at the University of Heidelberg before leaving for Australia in January 1948.

Jonas and Ona had four daughters:

• Ramunė (born 1949) – studied art in Paris, and worked as a formal wear specialist at Bloomingdale's, Beverly Hills, California.
• Eglė (born 1950) – worked as an administrator at Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia.
• Ruta (born 1952) – lived in Portland, Oregon, raising two sons.
• Birutė (born 1958) – lived in Prescott, Arizona, working as a landscape designer until she had a son and daughter; sadly, she died in 2020 from breast cancer, aged only 61.

Ona and Jonas with their three oldest daughters:
(left to right) Ramunė, Eglė and Ruta
Source:  Source:  Mikuliciene, Irena (2023) ,
Lietuviai perkeltųjų asmenų (DP) stovyklose 1945–1951 m.

The Family Moves

In 1954, the family moved from Tasmania to Melbourne, where Jonas got a job as an engineer on the railway. Later, he worked at the Ford Motor Company, which used to assemble cars in the Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadows, and southwest of Melbourne in Geelong.

On 21 April 1959, the family left Australia for Los Angeles in the United States. There Jonas worked as an engineer for various companies. His last job was at Hughes Aircraft company, where he worked 29 years until he retired in 1988. Meanwhile, Ona took care of the family.

Retirement in America

After Jonas retired, he and Ona moved to Prescott, Arizona, in order to be closer to Birute and her family. Ramune also was living in Prescott in 2020.

Jonas and Ona Motiejunas established two charitable funds in USA. Jonas said that he could only pursue his education with the help of scholarships, so he wanted to compensate for a small part of assistance he had received. The Jonas and Ona Motiejunas Scholarship Fund was started in 1990 with the Lithuanian Foundation with $10,000. The Lithuanian Foundation is a not–for–profit organisation in Lemont, Illinois, started in 1962, which still offers scholarships.

Jonas and Ona started their second fund in 1995 in order to help Lithuanian orphans with the interest earned. Their first $10,000, in the name of the Ona and Jonas Motiejūnas, was donated to Lithuanian Orphanage Committee in July 1995. The second cheque for $10,000 was written in October 1997, the third in February 1999 and a fourth in 2000. In October 1998, a cheque for $100 was acknowledged in the Draugas (Friend) newspaper. The $40,100 and possibly more of capital was admired as a beautiful sacrifice.

Jonas and Ona Motiejūnas were active Lithuanians, always participating in Lithuanian community activities. The family was seen as an exemplary, future–oriented family, harmoniously operating for the maintenance of Lithuania abroad and aid to Lithuania, and supporting that activity financially.

The family on the occasion of Ona and Jonas' 50th wedding anniversary
(left to right) Eglė, Ramunė, Ona, Jonas, Ruta and Birutė at front left

Source:  Draugas, 31 October 1998

Jonas Motiejunas died on 28 February 2004, at the age of 83, in Prescott, Arizona, having been married to Ona for 55 years. At his request, his ashes were buried in his home village of Janenai. Ona Motiejuniene died more than 7 years later, at home on 22 September 2011 at the age of 90.

Of the two Lithuanians in the 1947 photos with the Minister for Immigration, Konstancija has been the easier to identify because she remained in Australia. She donated her prints of the photos to the Australian National Maritime Museum, where the donations are recorded in her maiden name as well as her married name of Jurskis.

We don’t know why the Motiejunas family left Australia in 1959. The common reason among other cases of departure … was other family members settled successfully in the United States. Vytautas Stasiukynas, the vet who left for Colombia, is the only case so far of someone leaving Australia because of better employment opportunities elsewhere.

Perhaps either or both of Jonas and Ona had relatives in Los Angeles. Their departure was Australia’s loss.

CITE THIS AS: Ščevinskiene, Rasa and Tündern–Smith (2025) ‘Jonas Motiejūnas, the Lithuanian Leader Who Left’

Sources

‘A†A Jonas Motiejūnas’ (RIP Jonas Motiejunas, in Lithuanian) Draugas (Friend), Chicago,  Illinois, 17 March 2004, p 5, https://draugas.org/archive/2004_reg/2004-03-17-DRAUGAS-i7-8.pdf, accessed 10 August 2025.

Ancient Faces, ‘Jonas Motiejunas’ https://www.ancientfaces.com/person/jonas-motiejunas-birth-1921-death-2004/86579155, accessed 10 August 2025.

Australian Lithuanian History ‘Two Year Contracts Part IV (Final)’ https://salithohistory.blogspot.com/2021/03/two-year-contracts-part-iv-final.html, accessed 9 August 2025.

Draugas, the Lithuanian World-Wide Daily, ‘A † A Ona Prižgintaitė Motiejūnienė’ (RIP Ona Prizgintaite Motiejuniene, in Lithuanian) http://www.draugas.org/legacy/mirties2011.html, accessed 9 August 2025.

Jasaitienė, Birutė (1995) ‘Jono ir Onos (Prižgintaitės) Motiejūnų Fondas Lietuvos Našlaičiams’ ‘Jonas and Ona (Prižgintaitė) Motiejūnas Foundation for Lithuanian Orphans’ (in Lithuanian) Draugas (Friend) Chicago, Illinois, 12 August, p 8 https://www.draugas.org/archive/1995_reg/1995-08-12-DRAUGASw.pdf, accessed 10 August 2025.

Jasaitienė, Birutė (1998) ‘Darnaus Gyvenimo 50 Metu Sukaktis’ (‘50th Anniversary of Sustainable Living’, in Lithuanian) Draugas (Friend) Chicago, Illinois, 12 August, p 4 https://draugas.org/archive/1998_reg/1998-10-31-DRAUGASm.pdf, accessed 10 August 2025.

Jasaitienė, Birutė (2000) ‘Jono ir Onos Motiejūnų Fondas’ (‘Jonas and Ona Motiejūnas Fund, in Lithuanian) Draugas (Friend) Chicago, Illinois, 19 February, p 4 https://draugas.org/archive/2000_reg/2000-02-19-DRAUGAS.pdf, accessed 10 August 2025.

Juodvalkis, A (1990) ‘Inž. Jonas ir Ona Motiejūnai Įsteigė Stipendijų Fondą’ ‘Engineer Jonas and Ona Motiejunas Established a Scholarship Fund’ (in Lithuanian) Draugas (Friend) Chicago, Illinois, 22 February, p 4, https://draugas.org/archive/1990_reg/1990-02-22-DRAUGAS-i7-8.pdf, accessed 9 August 2025.

Lithuanian Foundation, Inc. ‘Scholarships Reports’, https://lithuanianfoundation.org/lf-reports/scholarships/ accessed 10 August 2025.

Mieldažys, Kazys (1961) ‘Pirmieji Žingsniai Australijoje‘ [‘First Steps in Australia’ translated into English by Jonas Mockunas from an article in Metraštis (Yearbook)] https://www.australianlithuanians.org/history/ww2-kazys-mieldazys/ accessed 9 August 2025.

Mikulicienė, Irena (2023) Lietuviai perkeltųjų asmenų (DP) stovyklose 1945–1951 m. (Lithuanians in displaced persons (DP) camps in 1945-1951, in Lithuanian) Lietuvos nacionalinis muziejus, Vilnius, 440 p.

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla]; Motiejunas Jonas, MOTIEJUNAS, Jonas : Year of Birth - 1921 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN : Number - 601 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203902827 accessed 9 August 2025.

Rimon, Wendy (2006) ‘Carbide Works’ in The Companion to Tasmanian History https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/C/Carbide%20Works.htm accessed 9 August 2025.

Ruffner Wakelin Funeral Homes and Crematory ‘Birute Motiejunas Upchurch, August 13, 1958 — February 8, 2020’ https://www.ruffnerwakelin.com/obituaries/birute-motiejunas-upchurch

Sydney Lithuanian Information Centre ‘In Memoriam, 24th April, 2005, Kastutė Brundzaitė - Jurskis (1921 - 2005), Among the Very First Lithuanian Post World War II Migrants in Australia’ https://www.slic.org.au/News/news_240405.htm accessed 9 August 2025.

Tarvydas, Ramunas (1997) From Amber Coast to Apple Isle : Fifty Years of Baltic Immigrants in Tasmania 1948-1998, Baltic Semicentennial Commemoration Activities Organising Committee, Hobart, Tasmania, pages 35-36.

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

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

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

Source:  Private collection

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

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

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

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

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

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

Juozas Abromaitis' identity photo from his Bonegilla card

Source:  National Archives of Australia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source:  FindAGrave photograph by Rosie

Sources

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Borisas Dainutis (1918-1960): Always prepared, by Daina Pocius and Ann Tündern-Smith

Updated 15 August 2025.

This is the story of the founder of Lithuanian scouting in Australia. It is a story of commitment and persistence.

Borisas in Lithuania

Borisas Dainutis was born on 11 August 1918 in Vilnius, still the capital of Lithuania until 1920 after Poland seized it. Given the continued fighting from 1918, it was no surprise that the family moved to Panevėžys, in the cenre of Lithuania. Borisas grew up and finished high school there.

In 1939, he completed military training. In 1940, he commenced construction studies at the Vytautas the Great University in Kaunas, in the Technical Studies faculty. The German occupation closed the University in 1943 when Lithuanians refused to raise an SS battalion, so Borisas did not complete his studies there. He resumed them in Germany in 1946 but, again, they were interrupted by his departure for Australia.

Germany, Australia and Scouting

His Personal Statement and Declaration completed in Perth the day after his arrival on 28 November 1947 describes his occupation as “building engineer". For the Melbourne Age newspaper, which published a report on his scouting activities on 27 December 1949, he was a civil engineer.

Apparently, he left behind in Germany no documents that the Arolsen Archives could digitise, so we don’t know how he initially was describing his departure from Lithuania. The selection interview report for migration to Australia says simply that he “fled from Russian regime” and reached asylum in September 1944.

He had been a scout from school days and continued while in a displaced persons camps in Hanover, Germany. He was invited to be the head of the scouts in his camp.

Borisas Dainutis in scout uniform

Source:  Australian Lithuanian Archive

He worked in that position for half a year and devoted a lot of time and energy in this role. In 1948, he was awarded a scout medal, the Lelijos Ordinas (Order of the Lily). It is awarded to a scout leader who has shown great merit for at least three years and for being active for at least ten years at any scout level.

Borisas organises Scouts

The Lithuanian Scout Society appointed him as its representative in Australia. While on the USAT General Stuart Heintzelman coming to Australia, he organised the scouts on board. Given that there were 45 in addition to him, this would have kept him busy.

And while the Heintzelman was coming to Australia, on 7 November the Minister for Immigration honoured Borisas with a special mention in the press release in which he told Australians about the impending arrivals.

In Australia, Borisas had the difficult task of registering scouts scattered all over Australia and organising them into units. From the Bonegilla migrant camp, he was writing to Australian scout officials to establish how the Lithuanian scouts could operate in Australia as a distinct group.

First two jobs in Australia

Borisas was one of 187 men sent from Bonegilla to pick fruit in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley. He left the Bonegilla camp on 29 January. We’ve noted in another blog entry that he did not return to the Bonegilla camp until 5 May, nearly 4 weeks after the last of the other 186. His employer was Messrs Turnbull Brothers of Ardmona.

He had another 5 weeks in the Bonegilla camp in which to continue his scouting organisation until being sent to his next employer. On 16 July he set off on his own to the Dookie Agricultural College in Victoria. It is less than 50 kilometres east of Ardmona, where he had spent 3 months already.

He wasn’t going to be there on his own. Two Lithuanians, Jonas Kildisas and Mecislovas Tutlys had left Bonegilla for Dookie three weeks earlier. The three were to be joined by Vytautas Sakalauskas in early September and Jonas Asmonas three weeks later.

Borisas continued his scouting campaign from Dookie. He would write drafts of his scouting correspondence on Dookie College letterhead and then get someone to correct his English.

Borisas' use of Dookie College letterhead

                Source:  Australian Lithuanian Archive

He would apologise for his errors and not understanding the culture as well as he would have liked. He persevered, writing to Australian scouting officials and even the Chief Scout in Britain to get a Lithuanian branch of scouting in Australia.

First Pan-Pacific Scout Camp, Yarra Brae, Victoria

Algirdas or Algis Liubinskas, left, and Borisas or Boris Dainutis, right,
at the First Pan-Pacific Scout Jamboree, Yarra Brae, Victoria, 1948-49

Source:  Weekly Times, Melbourne, 5 January 1949

After just over a year in Australia, Borisas organised a Lithuanian scout troop to attend the first Pan-Pacific Scout Jamboree on the Yarra Brae property in Wonga Park, Victoria. It commenced on 29 December 1948 and continued for 12 days. The Melbourne Age of 27 December reported that Borisas with 29 other scouts had moved in already on Christmas Day. He would have had his 45 fellow scouts on the Heintzelman as a starting point for this, but all would have had to seek successfully some leave from their employers.

A souvenir of the Yarra Brae camp

                                    Source:  Australian Lithuanian Archive

After the Government contract

After completing his work contract as a medical orderly at the Dookie Agricultural College at the end of September 1949, Borisas settled in Melbourne.

He actually was selected in Germany for employment as an urgently needed builder’s labourer. It’s not clear, therefore, why he finished up working as a medical orderly instead, except that he probably had first aid training from his scouting activities. Also, the Bonegilla cards are notable in not showing any of the selected builder’s labourers actually been sent to work with builders.

He was interviewed by the Good Neighbour magazine in 1950. The magazine reported that “After two years in Australia, 31-year-old Boris Dainutis has seen more of the country than many Australians. In his native Lithuania before the war Boris did his travelling by cycle. He finds Australia much too big for that and has bought a motorcycle. On it he tours Victoria at weekends; he visited Sydney from Melbourne on his holidays and next Christmas hopes to tour Tasmania … Boris worked as a fruit picker and medical orderly under contract. Now he has chosen a job with a dry-cleaning company …”

Lithuanian Scouts in Australia

From 1949 to 1953 he was head of Lithuanian scouts in Australia and, later the head of its press department. He led another Lithuanian troop to the 1955-56 Pan-Pacific Jamboree at Clifford Park in Victoria, and also to the 1958-59 National Camp at Mornington, Victoria.

He attended many other scout camps, assisting at them as an instructor or official. One of these activities made it into the press in March 1949, when the Kyabram Free Press reported that Borisas had been the special guest at a cub camp at the Kyabram Scout Hall. He had led the cubs in a number of games and in play-acting.

Borisas becomes an official Australian

Borisas was one of those keen to become an Australian citizen. The two required advertisements appeared in newspapers in November 19, less than five years after his arrival. He had to wait another 6 months though before he took his oath of allegiance before a magistrate, on 12 May 1953.

Work, Study, Marriage

At the time of his application for naturalization, Borisas was working as an assistant to a surveyor. Both were employed by the Victorian Lands Department.

Given his tertiary education in Lithuania and Germany, it was not surprising that he thought to at least work as a draftsman in Australia. To prepare, he studied surveying and drawing at the Royal Melbourne Technical College (now the RMIT University). He then found work as a draftsman with Victoria’s State Electricity Commission.

In 1952 married Elena Šteinartaitė and purchased a house in the Melbourne suburb of Heidelberg. A daughter and son were born to the couple.

Illness and Death

As his first decade in Australia ended, Borisas was feeling more and more ill. In hospital it was found that his kidneys were damaged and inoperable. This was in the days before kidney transplantation was available in Australia and when dialysis was still in its infancy.

He was only 41 years old when he died on 29 March 1960 at the Prince Henry Hospital. As his daughter had been born in December 1958 and his son in December 1959, they both were babies still at the time of his death.

He was interred in the Fawkner cemetery, Melbourne. His funeral was attended by Lithuanian scouts, who formed a circle about the grave to sing the traditional evening song, Ateina Naktis.

It is sung at the end of every day at scout camp as a prayer. The words mean, “The night has come, the sun has set from the hills and forests, from all the land. Sweet dreams, go to sleep, God is here”.

Russian, Ukrainian and Estonian scouts attended too, no doubt grateful for the precedent in ethnic community scouting set by Borisas for Lithuanians. His grave was decorated with many wreaths and several farewell speeches were given by community members and family.

Elena was buried with him 58 years later. Their grave is marked by the Australian version of their names, Boris and Helen.

Australia has gained through the training and discipline still acquired by those involved in the Lithuanian branch of scouting here.

Sources

Age (1948) ‘Canvas Tent City Rises at Wonga Park’ Melbourne, 27 December, p 4 https://www.newspapers.com/image/124518561/ accessed 15 June 2025.

Age (1952) ‘Advertising, Public Notices’ Melbourne, 13 November, p11 https://www.newspapers.com/image/123319339/ accessed 15 June 2025.

Ancestry.com ‘Boris Dainutis in the Victoria, Australia, Marriage Index, 1837-1962’ https://www.ancestry.com.au/search/collections/61649/records/2214455?tid=&pid=&queryId=8c597349-35d6-48c7-8922-61ee55dda6e4&_phsrc=lkA14&_phstart=successSource accessed 15 June 2025.

Baltutis, V, Poželaitė-Davis, II, Jonavičius J, Mockūnienė B & Pusdešris, P (1983) 'Australijos Lietuvių Metraštis II [Australian Lithuanian Yearbook II (in Lithuanian)]' Adelaide, Australijos Lietuvių Bendruomenė ir Australijos Lietuvių Fondas, pp 325 – 328.

Context Pty Ltd (2005?) ’Yarra Brae, Place No 262’ in Manningham Heritage Study pp 687-9, http://images.heritage.vic.gov.au accessed 14 June 2025.

Good Neighbour (1950) ‘Meet a New Australian’, Canberra, 1 October, p 3 https://www.newspapers.com/image/901721676/ accessed 15 June 2025.

Krausas, A (1960) ‘Vyr. Skaut. Borisas Dainutis’ (‘Chief Scout Borisas Dainutis’, in Lithuanian) Mūsų Pastogė, Sydney, 29 April, p 2 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1960/1960-04-29-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 15 June 2025.

Kyabram Free Press and Rodney and Deakin Shire Advocate (1949) ‘Scouts and Cubs' Kyambram,10 March, p 15 , http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article270432677 accessed 15 Jun 2025.

Popenhagen, Luda (2012) 'Scouting' in 'Australian Lithuanians' Sydney, New South Publishing, pp 251-53

Queensland Times (1948) 'Pan-Pacific Jamboree Great Gathering of Boy Scouts in Victoria', Ipswich, 20 December, p 3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article117112254 accessed 15 June 2025.

Sun News-Pictorial (1952) ‘Advertising, Public Notices’ Melbourne, 13 November, p 22 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/279921260 accessed 15 June 2025.

Weekly Times (1949) 'Scouts at Jamboree', Melbourne, 5 January, p30 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/224886070 accessed 9 July 2025.

Zalys, B. (1996) ‘Pėdsekys, LSS Australijos rajono 50-meciui artejant’ [‘Footprints, As the LSS Australian District approaches its 50th anniversary’, in Lithuanian] Mūsų Pastogė, Sydney, 18 November, p 5 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge /archive/1996/1996-11-18-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 19 Jun 2025.

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

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

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

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

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

Povilas Laurinavicius' photo in his immigration selection papers

Source:  NAA:  A11772, 174  

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

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

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

Povilas Laurinavicius' 1947 photo on his Bonegilla card

Source:  NAA: A2571, LAURINAVICIUS POVILAS 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Povilas' death notice

Source:  Draugas, 17 November 1969

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

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

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

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

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

Source:  Tasmanian Stamp Auctions

Namefellows

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

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

Sources

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

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

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

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

National Archive of Australia: Department of Immigration, Central Office; A11772, Migrant Selection Documents for Displaced Persons who travelled to Australia per General Stuart Heintzelman departing Bremerhaven 30 October 1947 (1947-47); 174, LAURINAVICIUS Povilas DOB 18 May 1908 (1947-47) https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=1834754 accessed 16 May 2025.

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

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

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

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

Vladas Mikelaitis (1925 –2006): 'A Good Bloke'

Updated 14 April 2025.

The tribute below was contributed to the Lithuanian-Australian newspaper, Mūsū Pastogė (Our Haven), by Rože Vaičiulevičius and published on 26.7.2006.  Its author is unknown, but I am happy to offer credit where credit is due if the author is found.

Vladas Mikelaitis was born in southwest Lithuania in the district of Šakiai on 12 July 1925. He was one of five children. His parents were Pranas and Ona Mikelaitis. His father was the village blacksmith. 

He attended Valakbudis Primary School and, as a youngster, worked on the farm. 

When WWII broke out, he worked in the cooperative shop as an assistant. when the Germans were retreating from the east in 1944, he was taken to East Prussia to dig trenches for the retreating soldiers. 

At the end of the war in 1945, he lived in the displaced persons camp in Oldenburg, in the Wehnen camp. 

On the 28th November 1947, he arrived in Australia on the USAT General Stuart Heintzelman which transported the very first post-WWII refugee migrants to Australia. He was sent to the Australian Newsprint Mills in Maydena (Tasmania), where he worked on a 2-year compulsory contract.

Vladas Mikelaitis, front of Bonegilla card

Source: National Archives of Australia

In 1951 he was married to Kateryna Tscherkasky. He lived at Battery Point for a short time where his daughter, Ona, was born. He moved to Karanja in the Derwent Valley at the time Marytė was born. He lived there for 12 years. 

While living at Karanja, Vladas built a house in West Moonah. He was a weekend builder. For 2-3 years he would work all week in Maydena, then travel to Hobart every weekend to build the house. He then moved to West Moonah in 1966. 

Vladas was transferred from Maydena to Boyer in 1975 and worked in the warehouse there until his retirement in 1986. He then moved to Glenorchy where he spent the remainder of his life. 

The Maydena workers felled the eucalypts which were turned into newsprint in this mill
at Boyer, Tasmania

Source:  University of Tasmania

He travelled back to his homeland of Lithuania on 3 occasions to visit family. On the first 2 times he went on his own, the third time with Kateryna and together they also visited her homeland — the Ukraine. Vladas never forgot his family and kept contact regularly by phone and letters. 

Vladas was a very active member of the Lithuanian community. He was involved with the Lithuanian Sports club “Perkūnas” and was part of the organising committee of the 24th Australian Lithuanian sports carnival held in Hobart in 1973. In the 80’s, Vladas was part of a volunteer group who edited, produced and distributed a local publication called the “Baltic News”. 

He loved the Australian bush and the country life. He enjoyed fishing, rabbiting, going to the football, working in his vegetable garden and gathering with friends to socialise. He enjoyed his Aussie beer and in Karanja on a sunny day would sit under the shade of the trees in his beer garden watching his veggies grow. He also had a “smoke house” in Karanja where he would smoke eels that he had caught. 

Vladas owned a home movie camera. He recorded holidays and movies of his grandsons when they were growing up. He amused the children by playing the movies in reverse. He had 4 grandsons and spent time with them in the garage teaching them to use a hammer and nails. 

In his later years his failing eyesight restricted him in many things, but he still enjoyed AFL football. He would be seen sitting inches away from the TV screen. At half time he would slip out to the garage for a quick cigarette. 

Vladas Mikelaitis at a reunion for the 50th anniversary of arrival in Australia
Source:  Hobart Mercury, 2 December 1997

He was a man of simple wants and needs. He was hardworking, honest and a man of integrity. His Aussie mates knew him as a “Good Bloke” who enjoyed a beer, a good yarn, AFL football and, of course, he drove a Holden. Vladas embraced life and both cultures with open arms.

May he REST IN PEACE.

Vladas rests with his wife in the Cornelian Bay Cemetery, Hobart

Source: Find A Grave, photo by McNooza

I thank Daina Pocius, Archivist at the Australian Lithuanian Archives in Adelaide, for bringing this tribute to our attention.

Notes:  1. Vladas became an Australian citizen on 20 August 1957 while living at Karanja.  Source: 'Certificates of Naturalization', Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, 22 May 1958, p 1640, viewed 26 June 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article240892247.  On the FindaGrave Website, a helpful volunteer (Tanya V) has recorded that he died on 14 June 2006, so less than one month away from his 81st birthday.

2.  Double-click on the images to see enlarged versions of them.