Bernardas Matkevičius (1922-1992) A Labourer's Life, by Rasa Ščevinskienė and Ann Tündern-Smith

Bernardas first job in Australia

We’ve met Bernadas Matkevičius already. He was a workmate of Juozas Nakas, when both were employed by CJ Webb, Row & Anderson at Thornton, in northeast Victoria’s timber country. He was the truck driver in the June 1948 photograph below.

Aged 24 when selected for Australia and 5 feet 11 inches tall, that’s 180 centimetres, he would have had the physique for which the selection team were looking. We can’t tell you anything more about his selection at this time, as his papers are yet to be digitised.

While they were still working at Thornton, Bernardas, Juozas Nakas and a third Lithuanian in the photograph below, Edvardas Lapinskas, subscribed to the fledgling Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) Lithuanian-Australian newspaper by sending £3 each. That may well have been a large slice of their savings. It was appreciated by the newspaper, which thanked them publicly in its 16 February 1949 edition.

Bernardas is in the cab with fellow workers Lithuanian Edvardas Lapinskas on the left, an Estonian, probably Helmut Nurmsalu in the middle and Lithuanian Juozas Nakas on the right:
the message on the back of this photo printed on postcard paper was dated 19 June 1948
and sent from Thornton, Victoria, where the group worked

Source:  Private collection

Later employment and residence

There is no citizenship file on the National Archives of Australia’s RecordSearch Web service and no digitised announcement in the Commonwealth Gazette of Bernardas becoming an Australian citizen. He clearly did, though, as he is on electoral rolls from 1963 to 1980. (Later rolls have yet to be digitised.)

The digitised rolls enable us to see where Bernardas lived and his stated occupation. In 1963, he was a rubber worker who lived on Bayswater Road, Wantirna, in Melbourne’s outer eastern suburbs. By 1968, he was living on nearby Orchard Road in Bayswater and had become a labourer.

Bernardas' photo from his Bonegilla card

Source:  National Archives of Australia

In 1977, he had moved again, to the suburb of Heathmont but was still a labourer. In 1980, he was still at the Heathmont address and a labourer.

We can see that Bernardas was already a rubber worker in 1957 and, probably, 1956 from a Victoria Government Gazette. The issue for 9 January 1957 contains a notice from Dunlop Rubber which includes Bernardas in a list of people for whom the company held unclaimed money. This may have been because of a pay rise where the retrospective amount was not included in his pay packet, or some other problem with his pay. The amount was only 7 shillings and 11 pence, but probably could have bought him several beers after work.

At the time, he was recorded as living in the inner, then industrial suburb of Port Melbourne, likely to have been close to his place of work.

Bernardas' early life

Also in 1957, in October, Mūsų Pastogė published a notice for him, saying that it had news for him from S. Daugėliškis. Senasis Daugėliškis was his birthplace, a village in the Ignalina district, Utena County in Lithuania.

Bernardas was a Christmas present to his parents, Anupras Matkevičius and the former Izabelė Peciulevičiūtė, as he arrived on 24 December 1922. This happiness was followed by sadness though, as Izabelė died only 19 months after his birth, on 24 July 1924. She was aged 39.

She had already born two older sons, Edmundas around 1913 and Jonas around 1917. He also had 3 half-sisters. We have this information because someone has been interested enough in him and his family to include their details on a family history Website, geni.com.

Bernardas' death

Bernardas was only 69 when he died at Heathmont on 15 October 1992. Unfortunately, whoever gave his name to officialdom misspelled it as Beranardas Markevicius. That also is how is burial in the Yan Yean Cemetery on 22 October is recorded.

At least the Melbourne Lithuanian-language newspaper, Tėviškės Aidai (The Echoes of Homeland), knew the correct spelling of his name when it carried a report of his death and burial in its 27 October 1992 issue.

Bernardas’ death certificate shows that he died from heart disease, and that he also was known as Ben Markevicius. Maybe he had noted that Australians found Markevicius easier to say than Matkevicius. But the death certificate also contains the incorrect Beranardas spelling of his forename.

Not surprisingly, given the low income occupations since his arrival in Australia, Bernardas’ final occupation was given as pensioner.

His grave is unmarked still. Presumably his estate was not large enough to cover the costs of a grave marker. Also, he may have died intestate, that is, without a will. We think this was the case since an online search for a possible will held by the Public Records Office of Victoria did not produce any results under either the proper spelling of his name or the misspelling.

Bernardas' burial site is in the middle of this photograph

Source:  Geoff F on Find A Grave

His grave might be a pauper’s grave.

SOURCES

Ancestry.com, ‘All Census & Voter Lists results for Bernardas Matkevicius’ https://www.ancestry.com/search/categories/35/?name=Bernardas_Matkevicius&location=5027&priority=australian, accessed 26 March 2026.

Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria [search for Beranardas Markevicius’ (sic) death] https://my.rio.bdm.vic.gov.au/efamily-history/69a880855cdccbdd88c2952f/results?q=efamily, accessed 26 March 2026.

Bonegilla Migrant Experience, Bonegilla Identity Card Lookup, ‘Bernardas Matkevicius’ https://idcards.bonegilla.org.au/record/203611495, accessed 26 March 2026.

Electronic Archive Information System, ‘Švenčionių dekanato gimimo metrikų knyga’ (Svencionys Deanery Birth Register, in Lithuanian) [Bernardas’ birth is recorded in the Senasis Daugėliškis church 1922 register, on page 66 as number 187] https://eais.archyvai.lt/repo-ext/view/267143226, accessed 26 March 2026.

Find a grave, ‘Beranardas Markevicius, Yan Yean Cemetery’) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/231620463/beranardas-markevicius?_gl=1*w6jern*_gcl_au*ODk2ODA1MDgxLjE3Njg0MTYwMDM.*_ga*MTU0MjMxMjQ3Mi4xNzM3Mzk2NDY1*_ga_4QT8FMEX30*czAzMTNiOWM0LTA0NjEtNGFhZi05NzkxLTU1MDM1ZGRjMzY0NSRvMjYkZzEkdDE3NzI2NTA0NjQkajU5JGwwJGgw*_ga_LMK6K2LSJH*czAzMTNiOWM0LTA0NjEtNGFhZi05NzkxLTU1MDM1ZGRjMzY0NSRvMjYkZzEkdDE3NzI2NTA0NjQkajU5JGwwJGgw, accessed 26 March 2026.

Geni.com ‘Bernardas Matkevičius’ https://www.geni.com/people/Bernardas-Matkevi%C4%8Dius/6000000070489407928?through=6000000070492006821, accessed 26 March 2026

Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) (1949) ‘Aukos Mūsų Pastogei’ (‘Donations to Musu Pastoge’, in Lithuanian) Sydney, NSW, 16 February, p 6 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1949/1949-02-16-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 26 March 2026.

Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) (1957) ( ‘Pajieškojimai‘ (‘Searches‘, in Lithuanian) Sydney, NSW, 14 October, p 6 https://www.spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1957/1957-10-14-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 26 March 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; 482, MATKEVICIUS Bernardas DOB 24 December 1922, 1947-1947.

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956; MATKEVICIUS BERNARDAS, MATKEVICIUS, Bernardas : Year of Birth - 1922 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN : Number – 857, 1947-1948 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203611495, accessed 26 March 2026.

Tėviškės Aidai (The Echoes of Homeland) (1992) ‘Iš mūsų parapijų, Melbournas‘ (‘From Our Parishes, Melbourne’, in Lithuanian) Melbourne, Vic, 27 October, p 7 https://www.spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1992/1992-nr42-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf, accessed 26 March 2026.

Victoria Government Gazette (1957) ‘Dunlop Rubber Australia Limited, Register of unclaimed money held by Dulop (sic) Rubber Australia Limited, 108 Flinders-street, Melbourne’ Melbourne, Vic, 9 January, p 117 https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/vic_gazette/1957/22.pdf, accessed 26 March 2026.

Vikipedija, ‘Senasis Daugėliškis’ in Lithuanian, https://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senasis_Daug%C4%97li%C5%A1kis, accessed 24 March 2026.

My family's memories of Juozas Nakas (1923–1975) by Diana Bučiūtė

Diana Bučiūtė, who lives in Lithuania, is a niece of Juozas Nakas. 

Juozas Nakas was born on 17 March 1923, on a Lithuanian farm, as the second of 5 children. This farm was next to the Tapiališkis village in the district of Zarasai. In 1930, the family moved to the village of Velniakalnis, close to the town of Rokiškis. Juozas spent the rest of his time in Lithuania there.

Juozas Nakas (right rear) with his family, 1937-38

Source:  Private collection

In Rokiškis he attended school and later worked as a manager of the Lietūkis shop, Lietūkis being the Lithuanian Association of Agricultural Cooperatives.

In 1940, Lithuania was occupied for one year by Soviet forces. They were repelled in June 1941 by the forces of Nazi Germany. According to memories of Juozas’ elder brother, Osvaldas, in 1943, “The Germans wanted some military help and Lithuanian politicians probably considered that a Lithuanian military unit would be useful for reestablishing Lithuanian independence. So, our famous Plechavičius made a deal with the Germans to draft Lithuanians who could be used only within Lithuanian borders. About 12,000 men volunteered.

"The Germans broke the agreement and started to round up the men for paramilitary work in Germany and other places. When news of round up spread, the majority of men escaped. The Germans caught only around 3000, but they including my brother”.

Juozas' sister Birute is 95 years old and still lives in Lithuania. She remembers that she went to see her brother when he was imprisoned in the Rokiškis primary school building. Juozas came to the window, and she spoke with him from outside. It was the last time when she saw her brother.

Juozas Nakas in Lithuania, 1940

Source:  Private collection

In 1944, war swept Juozas’ brother, Osvaldas, to Germany. According to his memories, he was trying to find out where Juozas might be, so on 3 February 1945 he went to Berlin, to the Lithuanian information centre (Central Stelle) on Friedrich Strasse, but he found no address for his brother. “And then a Fliegeralarm [air raid siren] sounded, so everybody on the streets started to run to hiding places ... I went to my U-bahn [subway] station. Later I found out that this was the biggest bombing of Berlin, with a thousand planes participating”.

Like other refugees, Osvaldas lived in Displaced Persons (DP) camp.  He had the job of camp leader. “A big part of the job was to screen and accept new applicants for living in our camp. One new applicant, when he came in, asked me whether I had a brother named Juozas (Joseph). 

"He told me that Juozas was hospitalised in Norway with a fracture of spine.  The accident happened when soldiers were transported from Norway to Germany and cargo fell on him when he pretended to be brave and did not move from a dangerous area.  I had not known where my brother was for about 2 years since he had been taken away by the Germans as a member of General Plechavičius' army. 

"Now I had a chance to get in touch with my brother, but no mail was allowed to other countries. So I asked Major B for help.  He sent my letter to a Consul in Norway, asking him to locate my brother. I received my brother’s address, in a hospital. My brother had registered as a civilian. 

"Soon all foreign or German refugees were transported to Germany, including my brother when his fractures had healed. The rule was that you could claim your relative if you could support him.  So I wrote a statement that said I am Juozas' brother and, as a camp leader, I can guarantee his support. I needed to travel to to the city of Kiel to pick him up. It was a great reunion.”

Juozas in Germany, 1945

Source:  Private collection

As Osvaldas wrote in his letter to his sister Birutė from Düsseldorf, dated 12 June 1947, he corresponded with Juozas from January 1946, and in the [northern] summer of 1946 they met at last and settled together.

Osvaldas (left) with Juozas in Germany

Source:  Private collection

Osvaldas was accepted into the Academy of Medicine in Düsseldorf. In letters written in 1947 to his sisters he mentioned that he visited Juozas in the city of Stade.

In his memoir he wrote, “My brother was quite restless in the DP camp and he signed up for emigration to Australia, England and Canada, but Australia was the first one to accept him, so he emigrated to Australia before I graduated. He used to send me some money from Australia.”

Osvaldas graduated in 1948 with a MD [Doctor of Medicine] degree, and emmigrated to the US in 1949.

Juozas Nakas arrived to Australia on the First Transport, the USAT General Stuart Heintzelman, on 28 November 1947, aged 25.  After a few days' stopover in Perth, Western Australia, he travelled with the other 838 DPs accepted for resettlement to eastern Australia on an Australian navy ship, the Kanimbla.  On 8 December, the group arrived at the Bonegilla Reception and Training Centre in northern Victoria, where they lived until a decision was made on where they would work under the contract they had signed in return for resettlement.

Juozas was one of ten men selected to work for a timber company, CJ Row Webb & Anderson, leaving Bonegilla on 14 January 1948.  The company was headquartered in the suburb of South Melbourne, but its forestry operations were in central Victoria.  Even today, the road trip between Bonegilla and Thornton takes more than two and a half hours.  There is no other means of travel between these two small places. 

Juozas (right) with CJ Row, Webb & Anderson colleagues at Thornton in 1948;
Lithuanians Edvardas Lapinskas at left and Bernard Matkevičius in the truck cabin look on,
while the man in the white shirt is an Estonian, probably Helmut Nurmsalu

Source:  Private collection

Back then you could have your photograph printed onto the other side of
preprinted postcard paper, which Juozas has done in this instance,
although it looks like the message to Osvaldas was sent inside an envelope

Source:  Private collection

On 4 May 1955 in Melbourne, Juozas married Alice Patricia Pierce, of Irish origin. He wrote to his brother that he was happy to have a hardworking, serious, honest wife and that they had bought a house in Richmond, Victoria. He became an Australian citizen on 26 January 1964, Australia Day.

Juozas (left) with Alice and a friend, Melbourne

Source: Private collection

For more than ten years, Osvaldas in USA, as well as his parents and two remaining sisters in Lithuania had no news about Juozas. In 1974, Osvaldas met a woman from Australia in Chicago who had known Juozas earlier. She promised to try to find him. This woman found Juozas, called him and gave him Osvaldas' address. So Osvaldas at last received a letter from Juozas and informed his sisters, “He writes that he is well, he still works at the port, he has his own house, already fully paid for, he has four children” (letter to Birute, 16 December 1974).

Osvaldas let Juozas know that their parents had passed away. On Christmas Eve in 1974 he called Juozas, and they had their first conversation in 27 years.

Juozas in Melbourne, a photograph sent to Osvaldas in 1974

Source:  Private collection

Osvaldas and his sisters were very happy at last to have news from their brother but he was already ill and passed away in Melbourne on 21 January 1975, aged only 52. He was buried in Springvale Cemetery.

Juozas' name has been added to the Welcome Walls of migrants who came by sea through Fremantle, at the West Australian Maritime Museum which is located there

Source:  Private collection

OTHER SOURCES with Rasa Ščevinskienė

‘Bonegilla migrant experience, Bonegilla Identity Card Lookup, Juozas Nakas’ https://idcards.bonegilla.org.au/record/203717189 accessed 17 March 2025.

Commonwealth of Australia (1964) ‘Gazette’, Canberra, 7 May, p 1675 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/241032399/25999342 accessed 17 March 2025.

Find A Grave, ‘Joseph Nakas’ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/231347053/joseph-nakas accessed 17 March 2025.

Find A Grave, 'Alice Patricia Nakas‘ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/231347052/alice-patricia-nakas accessed 17 March 2025.

Government of Western Australia, Western Australian Museum Welcome Walls, 'NAKAS, Juozas (Joseph), Fremantle Panel 132‘ https://museum.wa.gov.au/welcomewalls/names/nakas-juozas-joseph accessed 17 March 2025.

‘Nakas, Juozas, AEF DP Record’ [‘American Expeditionary Forces Displaced Persons Record’] 3.1.1.1 / 68379412 / ITS Digital Archive, Arolsen Archives https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/68379412 accessed 17 March 2025.

‘Nakas, Osvaldas, Refugee/Displaced Person Statistical Card’ 3.1.1.1 / 68379417 / ITS Digital Archive, Arolsen Archives https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/search/person/68379417 accessed 17 March 2025.

Wikipedia, Povilas Plechavičius https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Povilas_Plechavi%C4%8Dius accessed 26 March 2025.