Bolius (Balys) (1924-2011) and Vytautas (Vytas) (1926-1993) Kunčiūnas: Lithuanian brothers or half-brothers? By Rasa Ščevinskiene and Ann Tündern-Smith

Same father, different mothers?

Bolius and Vytautas Kunčiūnas have one record each in the Arolsen Archives.  It shows them as having the same father, Stasys Kunčiūnas and coming from the same place, Raseiniai in Lithuania.  This could either have been a small town with a population of 5270 in the 1923 Census, nearly half of whom were Jewish, or the larger county, part of Samogitia.

The difference is that Bolius’ mother is recorded as Konstancija Bendikaite while Vytas’ mother is said to be Konstancija Šilaikaite.  The two American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) DP Registration Records were signed off with the same signature on the same date (13.10.45) and at the same place, Assembly Center No. 24.

Is it possible that there is a spelling mistake with one of the mother’s surnames?  Rasa says yes, it is possible.  Ann says that the same official filling out both forms on the day, in the same place, makes it unlikely.

Also unlikely is that two successive wives might be called Konstancija, but Ann suggests that this might be one of the reasons why Stays Kunčiūnas , if a widower with a baby son, might have started talking with the second Konstancija.  By the way, there are no online records of a Konstancija Kunčiūnas dying or being buried.

Both young men are recorded as Roman Catholic on the General Stuart Heintzelman passenger list, so there was no possibility of Stasys and Konstancija Bendikaite divorcing in the 1920s, between the birth of Bolius, on 24 April 1924, and Vytas, on 12 September 1926.  Should they have separated, the baby Bolius surely would gone with his mother, so what then were the chances of the two reaching Germany together or both applying for and being selected for the same ship to Australia?

Vytautas Kunčiūnas in Australia

Someone made sure that Vytas travelled under a false name though, because he became Vytas Kuniciunas on the Heintzelman passenger list and in subsequent documents on arrival in Australia.

Vytautas Kunciunas photograph from his Bonegilla card

Source:  National Archives of Australia

When he left the Bonegilla camp for the Pyramid Hill Quarries on 7 January 1948, the same hand which wrote his destination in flowing script also wrote “unknown” in the space for his next of kin.  Whoever typed out Bolius’ Bonegilla card has recorded “brother, Vitas Kunciunas” in that next of kin space.  Ann notes that “brother” is still shorthand when the accurate relationship is “half-brother” (and also in the case of step-brother).

The person completing Vytas’ card probably had forgotten to ask him.

The evening befoore Vytas’ departure from Bonegilla for Pyramid Hill on 7 January 1948 was memorable enough for Jonas Urbonas to record it in his diary for 6 January.  The entry was republished in the Mūsų Pastogė edition of 5 August 1996, in preparation for the 50th anniversary of Lithuanian scouting in Australia.  The translation of Jonas’ entry reads as follow:

“Tomorrow the first swallow will fly away from us into an unknown future.  It is Brother Kunčiūnas.  By the burning bonfire we say goodbye to him and the other brothers who are preparing to leave this emigrant camp.  Brother Kunčiūnas' words, full of deep sincerity, touch the heart of every Scout.  He remembers the last moments spent in the Homeland, the separation from his parents, and the tears rolling down his cheeks did not allow him to finish his farewell speech.

“Then we all parted ways and left the gardens of the homeland, hoping to return to the homeland again before the storms of war hit.  We are tightly bound by our mutual promises, although the weapons of war do not ring and we are not pursued by the occupiers and our goals have already changed, but we are united by common ideas, we dare to meet in camps and at conventions.  Although the vast distances and various obstacles separate us, we press on, wishing our brother Vytas good luck and a joint flight to the Pacific Jamboree.  After the traditional words are said, we leave the campfire."

Vytautas While in Germany

As for other members of the family, an April 1946 notice in the post-War, Lithuanian language newspaper, Žiburiai (Lights), had Vytas looking for his sister, Aldona Kunčiūnaitė, and brothers Jonas and Algirdas Kunčiūnas.

Vytas was living at 6a Altenberg Strasse, Borghorst, Wesphalia. Vytas added Münster to this address, but this bombed city was close to uninhabitable at the time. Perhaps he was trying to give readers a better idea of where he was than using only the name of the much smaller Borghorst, which also offered support to DPs.

The address also shows that Vytas had found private accommodation rather than living in a DP camp.

Bolius in Germany

A mid-1947 issue of another Lithuanian-language newspaper, Lietuvių žodis (Lithuanian Word) reported on a basketball competition organised by the Reppner YMCA.  B Kunčiunas played on the winning team.  As Repner is some 200 Km from Münster, it is unlikely that Bolius was travelling that distance in the conditions of post-War Germany to play basketball.

It is worth noting that Camp 24, where both Bolius and Vytas were registered in 1945, was a Repner camp for Baltic refugees.  It looks like Vytas moved out of the camp and to Borghorst for whatever reason.

On the other hand, it looks like the brothers were communicating with each other in order for both to be interviewed for the first refugee ship to Australia.  And Vytas wasn’t looking for Bolius as well in that Žiburiai notice because he knew where Bolius was.

Bolius Kunčiūnas in Australia

While Vytas was one of the 7 sent to the Pyramid Hill granite quarry, Bolius was one of 2 sent to the sawmill at Togganoggera in New South Wales.  We recently posted what we know of the other man sent to Togganoggera, Mečys Laurinavičius.   Mečys moved to the NSW capital city, Sydney, but Bolius moved instead to Victoria’s capital, Melbourne – perhaps because his brother headed there when his time at Pyramid Hill was over.

Bolius Kunciunas from his Bonegilla card

Source:  National Archives of Australia

Bolius’ occupation on the AEF DP Registration Recorded was stated to be student. Student of what, you may well ask.  It looks like architecture, because that is where he finished up in Australia.

Presumably he continued his studies when possible while he worked in jobs as relevant as possible.  We draw this conclusion from Bolius being added to the Register of Architects in Victoria in 1964, his 17th year in Australia.  This length of time suggests that he may have had something of a struggle to obtain his registration, as did a fellow architect from the First Transport, Ernst Kesa.  Kesa, however, had qualified as an architect in Europe and was able to work in the field before registration because his qualification also encompassed engineering.

Moving as far away from Melbourne as Darwin in order to do related work shows how keen Bolius was.  We know about his time in Darwin from social notes, Diana’s Diary, in a Darwin newspaper, the Northern Standard.  In March 1953, “Diana” recorded Bolius Kunciunas among the staff of the Drawing Office of the Department of Works who met at a Darwin hotel to farewell one of their number leaving on a holiday.

The online Dictionary of Unsung Architects, in its entry on D Graeme Lumsden, mentions Bolius Kunciunas as an architect “known to have passed through the office over the years“.  Since we cannot find Bolius’ work as an architect mentioned anywhere else on the Web, we could say that there was even less singing about it than about Graeme Lumsden’s work.  Lumsden was based in Melbourne, so Bolius must have left Darwin.

Bolius, also known as Balys to Lithuanians and Bill to Australians, was in Melbourne in 1955.  We know this because that is when he married another Lithuanian, Gražina Natalija, whose family name formerly was Bitė.  He was living in the Melbourne suburb of North Coburg when he became an Australian citizen on 2 May 1957.   Gražina had to wait one month more for citizenship, until 11 June 1957.

Bolius’ electoral roll records from 1963 to 1980 have been digitised by Ancestry.  On 8 March 1963, he and Gražina still were living in North Coburg but, by 19 April, they had moved to from their inner city home to the outer suburb of Nunawading.  On both occasions, his stated occupation was draftsman.  This continued into the 1980 entry, despite his registration as a qualified architect in 1964.

What is different about the 1980 entry is that it includes two more members of the Kunciunas family, male and female, both students but clearly having reached the age of 18. This means that Bolius and Gražina had their two children 18 years before the unrecorded date on which the 1980 roll was made up, that is, in 1958 or earlier.

The Melbourne Immigration Museum has a public artwork that pays tribute to 7000 people who have made the journey to Victoria.  Located in the northern garden of the Museum, its original artwork was designed by a Melbourne-based artist, Evangelos Sakaris, and launched in 1998.  Gina Batsakis led the design for the following stages of the project, which concluded in 2002.  Immigrants were invited to immortalise their own and family names there on payment of $100 for each name.  Bolius and Gražina (nee Bitė) Kunčiūnas and family were among the names so immortalised.

Morta Prasmutiene, widow of First Transporter Karolis Prašmutas, centre,
in the Immigration Museum's Tribute Garden

Source:  Birutė Prašmutaitė in Mūsų Pastogė

Bolius died on 19 September 2011, aged 87, and was cremated in Springvale Botanical Cemetery.  When Gražina died on 1 June 2019, she was cremated there too.  The Cemeteries Trust notes that, in both instances, the cremated remains were collected. They would have no memorial gravestones.

Vytas in Melbourne

Vytas may well have settled in Melbourne before his older brother.  For instance, he married there 2 years before Bolius, in 1953.  His bride was the former Ina Irena Špokevičiūtė.

He and Ina already had become such a part of Melbourne’s Lithuanian community that their marriage was reported in the Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) national, Lithuanian-language newspaper, on 2 September 1953.  Rasa’s translation of the correspondent’s report follows.

“A few weeks ago, the local Lithuanian community was expanded by another Lithuanian family, created by two regular local Lithuanian folk dancers and members of the Aidas choir, Vytautas Kunčiūnas and Ina Špokevičiūtė.

“V. Kunčiūnas has been diligently representing the Lithuanian name in Australia since his performances on the first transport ship.  In addition to folk dances and Lithuanian songs, he is also hardworking in the scout organisation.

“The young Kunčiūnas couple settled in the beautiful Melbourne suburb of Ivanhoe, in their own brick house, which they purchased with the joint efforts of the young woman's mother and two brothers.  Good luck to the young couple in continuing to represent the Lithuanian name.”

Vytautas and Ina were naturalised together on 23 January 1958.

Vytas’ and Ina’s electoral roll entries record that they were still at the Ivanhoe address in 1958, when he had “nil” occupation but Ina was working as a nurse.  By 1968 he was living without Ina in Armadale, a suburb about 12 Km south of Ivanhoe, and working as a draftsman.  He most likely got the idea for that career from his brother, Bolius.

The next electoral roll entry, for 1968, has him at the same Armadale address, still working as a draftsman, but this time sharing his flat with Genovaite Kunciunas.  The details for their 1972 entry are the same, while no later rolls for Vytas and wife have been digitised with indexing.   While we have the marriage details for Vytas and Ina, his marriage to Genovaite was too recent for the details to be public yet.

The next news we have of Vytautas is not good.  Tėviškės Aidai reported on 20 July 1993 that he was seriously ill, being treated in the intensive care unit of the Alfred Hospital.  He received Sacraments of the Sick on 11 July.

Vytautas had died before the news of his illness was published.  He passed on 12 July, aged only 66.  The 27 July issue of Tėviškės Aidai reported that the Rosary was said at the Tobin Chapel in Malvern.  The funeral Mass was celebrated by priest Pranas Dauknys at St. Mary Star of the Sea Church, West Melbourne, the Lithuanian community’s church, on 15 July.  Vytautas was buried in the Cheltenham Cemetery.  His wife Genovaitė, family and relatives were said to have remained in deep sorrow.

Vytautas and Ina probably had been able to divorce under Australian law, much more liberal than that of Lithuania in the 1920s.  The Ryerson Index records that Ina Kunciunas, still using her married name, died when living at Safety Beach, on the Mornington Peninsula south of the main Melbourne conurbation.   As Ryerson is recording a probate notice published on 2 November 2005 in the Melbourne Age, we don’t know her date of death but can assume that it was earlier in 2005.

Vytautas had moved from the brick home in Ivanhoe and the flat in Armadale to the inner south of Melbourne, the suburb of Elsternwick, before his death.

Vytautas and Bolius Both Scouts

Mūsų Pastogė noted above that Vytas had been “hardworking in the scout organisation”. In fact, both brothers were scouts.  A history of Lithuanian scouting in Australia was published in November 1996 in Mūsų Pastogė, in anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the foundation of its foundation on the First Transport sailing to Australia.  It reported that the 46 boy scouts and 7 girl scouts on board were divided into 6 troops, with both Balys and Vytas in Troop 3.

Bolius was able to participate in the historic first gathering of Lithuanian scouts at the first Pan-Pacific Scout Jamboree on the Yarra Brae property in Wonga Park, Victoria, organised by Borisas Dainutis.  He was recorded there in a photograph of some attending published by Tėviškės Aidai in its preparation for the celebration of 50 years of Australian Lithuanian scouting.

Tėviškės Aidai published this photograph from the First Pan-Pacific Scout Jamboree 47 years later, with a caption which reads, translated, "Lithuanian Scout camp at the Pan-Pacific Jamboree near Melbourne, 23.1.49.  From left: Gabrielius Žemkalnis, Vytautas Neverauskas, Viktoras Kučinskas, Benediktas Kaminskas, an Australian priest in a scout uniform, the Bishop of Melbourne,
Dr. J. Simonds; behind the Bishop from the left, Balys Kunčiūnas, behind the Bishop from the right in the back, unidentified, next to the Bishop with a smile, Borisas Dainutis, and at the back right, unidentified.  Next year, 1997, will mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the
Lithuanian Scout Union in Australia.

Source:  Tėviškės Aidai 

We do not know if Vytas was able to attend also, as promised by Jonas Urbonas in January 1948.  The Melbourne Age of 27 December reported that Borisas with 29 other scouts had moved in already on Christmas Day.  Vytas may have been among the 22 not included in the photograph above.

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.

'AEF DP Registration Record' [Bolius KUNCIUNAS], Folder DP2214, names from KUNCAR, Jan to KÜHNE, Horst (1), 3.1.1.1 Postwar Card File / Postwar Card File (A-Z) / Names in "phonetical" order from KR /, DocID: 67916900 (Bolius KUNCIÚNAS), https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/67916900, accessed 29 March 2026.

'AEF DP Registration Record' [Vytautas KUNCIUNAS], Folder DP2214, names from KUNCAR, Jan to KÜHNE, Horst (1), 3.1.1.1 Postwar Card File / Postwar Card File (A-Z) / Names in "phonetical" order from KR /, DocID: 67916901 (Vytautas KUNCIUNAS) https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/67916901, accessed 29 March 2026.

Ancestry.com ‘All Census & Voter Lists results for Bolius Kunciunas’ https://www.ancestry.com/search/categories/35/?name=Bolius_Kunciunas+&birth=_victoria-australia_30099&location=5027&priority=australian, accessed 6 April 2026.

Ancestry.com ‘All Census & Voter Lists results for Vytautas Kunciunas’ https://www.ancestry.com/search/categories/35/?name=Vytautas_Kunciunas+&birth=_victoria-australia_30099&location=5027&priority=australian, accessed 6 April 2026.

Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria [1953 marriage of Vytautas Stasys Kunciunas and Ina Irena nee Spokevicius] https://my.rio.bdm.vic.gov.au/efamily-history/69c720acba4add19229d3dfe/results?q=efamily, viewed 28 March 2026.

Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria [1955 marriage of Balys Kunciunas and Grazina Natalija nee Bite] https://my.rio.bdm.vic.gov.au/efamily-history/69c720acba4add19229d3dfe/results?q=efamily, viewed 28 March 2026.

Bonegilla Migrant Experience, Bonegilla Identity Card Lookup ‘Bolius Kunciunas’ https://idcards.bonegilla.org.au/record/203635508, accessed 28 March 2026.

Bonegilla Migrant Experience, Bonegilla Identity Card Lookup ‘Vytas Kuniciunas’ (sic) https://idcards.bonegilla.org.au/record/203635549, accessed 28 March 2026.

Built Heritage Pty Ltd, ‘Dictionary of Unsung Architects, D Graeme Lumsden (1915-1995)’ https://www.builtheritage.com.au/dua_lumsden.html, accessed 28 March 2026.

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (1957) ‘Certificates of Naturalization’ [Bolius Kunciunas], Canberra, ACT, 3 October, page 2976 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/232986663/25082694, viewed 28 March 2026.

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (1958) ‘Certificates of Naturalization’ [Grazina Kunciunas], Canberra, ACT, 8 May, p 1438, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/240891979/25976026, viewed 28 March 2026.

Immigration Museum, ‘Tribute Garden’ https://museumsvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum/whats-on/tribute-garden/, accessed 28 March 2026.

Lietuvių žodis (Lithuanian Word) (1947) ‘Sportas’ (‘Sport’, in Lithuanian) Detmold, Germany, 31 July, p 4 https://www.spauda2.org/dp/dpspaudinys_lietuviu_zodis/archive/1947-07-31-LIETUVIU-ZODIS.pdf, accessed 28 March 2026.

Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) (1953) ‘Nauja šeima‘ (‘New Family’, in Lithuanian) Sydney, NSW, 2 September, p 4 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/259363045, accessed 6 April 2026.

Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) (1996) ‘Pėdsekys: LSS Australijos rajono 50-mečiui artėjant‘ (‘Footprint: As the 50th anniversary of the LSS Australian District approaches’, in Lithuanian) Sydney, NSW, 18 November, p 5 https://www.spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1996/1996-11-18-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 6 April 2026.

My Tributes, ‘Funeral Notice for Kunciunas, Bolius’ [Publication: Herald Sun; Date Listed: 22/9/2011] https://www.mytributes.com.au/notice/funeral-notices/kunciunas-bolius/3385212/, accessed 6 April 2026.

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956; KUNCIUNAS BOLIUS, KUNCIUNAS, Bolius : Year of Birth - 1924 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN : Number – 557, 1947-1948 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203635508, accessed 6 April 2026.

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956; KUNICIUNAS (sic) VYTAS, KUNICIUNAS (sic), Vytas : Year of Birth - 1926 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN : Number – 556, 1947-1948 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203635549, accessed 6 April 2026.

Northern Standard (1953) 'Diana's Diary' Darwin, NT, 12 March, p 4 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49484566, viewed 28 March 2026.

Prašmutaitė, Birute (2001) ‘Melbourne Imigracijos Muziejus’ (Melbourne Immigration Museum’ in Lithuanian) Sydney, NSW, 29 January, p 7 https://www.spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/2001/2001-01-29-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 28 March 2026.

Ryerson [Ina Kunciunas] https://ryersonindex.org/search.php, accessed 6 April 2026.

Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust, ‘Bolius Kunciunas, Springvale Botanical Cemetery’ https://www.smct.org.au/deceased-search/detail?id=f4310462-509a-ef11-8a6a-6045bdc2c606, accessed 6 April 2026.

Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust, ‘Grazina Natalija Kunciunas, Springvale Botanical Cemetery’ https://www.smct.org.au/deceased-search/detail?id=156f3df1-559a-ef11-8a6a-002248957765, accessed 6 April 2026.

Tėviškės Aidai (The Echoes of Homeland) (1993) 'Iš mūsų parapijų, Melbournas' ('From our Parishes, Melbourne', in Lithuanian) Melbourne, Vic, 20 July, p 7 http://spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1993/1993-07-20-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf, accessed 8 April 2026.

Tėviškės Aidai (The Echoes of Homeland) (1993) 'Iš mūsų parapijų, Melbournas' ('From our Parishes, Melbourne', in Lithuanian) Melbourne, Vic, 20 July, p 7 https://www.spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1993/1993-07-27-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf, accessed 8 April 2026.

Tėviškės Aidai (The Echoes of Homeland) (1996) ‘Rajono Vadija (‘District Governor’, in Lithuanian) Melbourne, Vic, 6 August, p 7 https://www.spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1996/1996-nr30-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf, accessed 29 March 2026.

Victoria, Government Gazette (1965) ‘Architects Act, The Architects Registration Board of Victoria, Additions To The Register Made During the Year Ended 31st December, 1964’ [1896, Kunciunas, Bolius] Melbourne, Vic, 3 March, p 468 https://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1965/V/general/14.pdf, accessed 6 April 2026.

Žiburiai (Lights) (1946) ‘Paieškojimai’ (‘Searches’, in Lithuanian), Augsburg, Germany, 27 April, p 5 https://www.spauda2.org/dp/dpspaudinys_ziburiai/archive/1946-04-27-ZIBURIAI.pdf, accessed 6 April 2026.

Romanas-Karolis Ragauskas (1924-2007) Engineer and Sports Administrator, by Daina Pocius and Ann Tündern-Smith

The Kiewa Scheme

The State Electricity Commission of Victoria had been building a hydro-electric scheme south of the Bonegilla camp, in the Kiewa valley, on and off since 1937. It was mostly off due to World War II, so the end of the War led to its resumption in an environment of increasing electricity demand.

Twenty-six of the First Transport men were sent to Kiewa on 14 January 1948, according to their Bonegilla cards. Given that the town of Bogong had been established as the base for construction of the Kiewa Scheme, it’s very likely that the men were sent there, to the Kiewa Scheme rather than the town of Kiewa. This town is only 18 kilometres south of the Bonegilla camp by road. Bogong is another 80 kilometres south, so the men were only a bit more than an hour away from their initial home in Australia.

The environment of the Kiewa Scheme -- here, work on underground Power Station 4

Source:  SECV via Wikipedia

The Kiewa Scheme became the second largest hydro-electric scheme on mainland Australia, after the Snowy Mountains Scheme, so the men were engaged for a significant project. One of them was Romanas-Karolis or Romas Ragauskas.

Romas' birth

Romas was born on 2 January 1924, born in the central Lithuanian town of Kėdainai. That birthdate meant that he turned 24 one month after arrival in Australia, so he was just under the average age of the 839 allowed to land in Australia.

Romas in Germany

The Arolsen Archives have digitised 15 documents relating to Romas’ time in Germany, so we know a lot about it still. His American Expeditionary Force (AEF) DP Registration Record was completed in Assembly Centre 16, which, if that is the same as the Team Numbers on a list available from DPcamps.org, was in Düsseldorf in the North Rhine Region of the British Zone of Occupied Germany. He was registered on 25 August 1945.

The person completing the AEF form has favoured the German language, so the handwriting which might be transcribed as “bauningineur” indicates that Romas stated that he was a Bauingenieur, a “building” or civil engineer. Given his youth, this could have been the field in which he had been training in his city of previous residence, Kaunas, but it is unlikely that he had much practical experience.

On the back of the form, we can read that he was lucky enough to have been dusted with DDT on 8 November 1945. The enthusiasm for this dangerous poison apparently was widespread among the Americans after WWII. Another Displaced Person from the First Transport, someone who had scientific training, Helgi Nirk, blamed her ill health in later life to the amount of DDT to which she had been subject in the camps.

The medical officer for UNRRA Team 35 checked his health that day, with Team 35 equating to Dieburg in the American Zone.

A second AEF form was completed in Darmstadt on 14 January 1946. It gives his occupation as “Student polit.”, presumably political science. His interests had broadened from engineering.

This form was completed in DP Camp 502, Darmstadt, according to a clear rubber stamp. The DPcamps.org list of UNRRA teams says that Team 502 was in Stuttgart, still more than 75 minutes away by modern, fast train. It looks like the UNRRA list is not a reliable guide to the camp numbers after all.

A third AEF registration has been partially typed in Darmstadt on 5 February 1946, making it much easier to read. For instance, it is now clear that Romanas’ mother was Palmira Ragauskienė, née Baliunaite, while all the forms show clearly that his father was Martinas.  (The Lithuanian spelling for his mother's name would have been Palmyra while his father was Martynas.)

Romanas’ occupation on this form again was student. And his destination is handprinted, relatively clearly, as Kranichsteiner str 59 (59 Kranichsteiner Street), Darmstadt, Grosshessen, Deutschland. Unfortunately, the additional handwritten remarks at the bottom of the form are not so easy to read.

Google Street View shows 59 Kranichsteiner Street as a private building on the corner of Kittler Strasse, possibly built to house a shop on the ground floor originally. As a student, Romanas now was “free-living”, the term used for Displaced Persons who were not housed in the camps.

Wait, there’s a fourth AEF form, apparently a typed copy of the 5 February one, but without the handwritten remarks. It has an addition in German, though, which confirms that Romanas was studying at the institution then called the Technical High School, but now the Technical University of Darmstadt.

A list shows him as a Lithuanian who was issued with documents in Darmstadt, also in the American Zone, on 5 February 1946. Another digital document is one page of a 3-page list of Lithuanians, nearly all students at the Technical High School. There are 46 of these students, but Vytautas Skidzevičius is not one of those named. This list does not have a date but another, dated 14 July 1947, has him still at the Kranichsteiner Strasse address, still studying, but having been in Brandenburg “during the War”. Another card confirms the Brandenburg presence in May 1945.

There are at least 2 copies of this ID photo of Romas Ragauskas in existence still;
one has written on the back, "Darmstadt, 15.5.47"

Source:  National Archives of Australia

The remainder of the 15 documents are duplicates, one way or another – but it is better to have duplicates than no records at all, which is the case for many of the Displaced Persons we have looked at already.

Interview for Australia

The summary of his interview with the selection team for migration to Australia, on 14 October 1947, shows that he "fled from the Russian regime" rather than being forcibly evacuated. His is one of the cases where the details of his decision to depart, the route he took, any travel companions, have not survived.

The summary recorded that Romas had only 4 years of primary education and 5 years of secondary. The team failed to record his tertiary education. Still, they realised that he had the sort of experience that they could downgrade to potential builder’s labourer.

His knowledge of English was said to be “nil” at the time of his interview. He probably focussed hard on learning the language during the 4 weeks on board the Heintzelman and 5 weeks in the Bonegilla camp.

Romas' early work in Australia

After completing his two-year employment obligation with the State Electrical Commission of Victoria, it was 26 October 1949 in his case. Was else do we know about Romanas? For a start, since the Kiewa Scheme was civil engineering, he may well have stayed on.

However, he probably was offered better pay by the SRWSC at Eildon, in Victoria, where he moved in November 1949. Ann, as a former Victorian, interprets SRWSC as State Rivers and Water Supply Commission.  Here, potable water for the city of Melbourne was a focus, in addition to irrigation and hydro-electricity.

He stayed at Eildon until June 1950. By July 1950, he was living in Melbourne and working as a civil engineer with the Commonwealth’s Department of Works and Housing.

Marriage and family

He married a Lithuanian, Danutė Balnionytė on 17 November 1952, in Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral. They lived at 19 Chapel Street, St Kilda, an inner Melbourne suburb. Danutė had arrived in Australia in April 1949. They had one son.

Danutė Balnionytė's ID photo on her Bonegilla card

Source:  National Archives of Australia

Citizenship

The Melbourne Argus and Age newspapers of 21 November 1952 carried an advertisement from Romanas, as then required by law, announcing that he intended to apply for naturalisation. It said that he had been resident in Australia for 5 years, which was close enough, being only one week short. The National Library of Australia’s Trove digitisation service has not captured the notification in the Commonwealth Gazette that he had received Australian citizenship. The file on his citizenship application still held in the National Archives of Australia shows that he received citizenship on 30 July 1953.

Recognition as an engineer?

We know from the life story of the first former DP in this blog, Estonian Ernst Kesa, that Australia had no registration or recognition of overseas qualifications system for engineers at this time. We also know already that Romas’ occupation from 1950 was civil engineer. In 1954, he and his wife left Melbourne for NSW, where he spent eleven years working in various construction jobs.

Romas was able to work as an engineer on the construction of the Glenbawm and Grahamstown dams, still significant suppliers of water in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales. His previous Australian work experience on the Kiewa Scheme, with the SRWSC and the Commonwealth Department of Works all would have helped get additional engineering employment.

In a Newcastle, NSW, meeting of the Australian Lithuanian Community for the area, R. Ragauskas was elected to be the delegate to the Community’s national congress in October 1958. When Danūte received Australian citizenship, on 3 December 1958, her address was given in the Commonwealth Gazette as Glenbawm Dam, via Scone.

Glenbawm Dam

Source: WaterNSW

Return to Melbourne

In 1965, the couple decided to return to Melbourne. Danūte's mother, brother, sister, and many friends and acquaintances lived here. Glenbawm Dam, via Scone, does not sound like an address where there were many like-minded people with whom to socialise. The education of their growing son may have been an issue also.

Romas starts sports administration

In 1970, Jonas Tamošiūnas, who was then the chairman of the Melbourne Lithuanian sports club Varpas, asked Romas to organise a golf competition for the 21st annual Australian Lithuanian sports festival. Until then, there had been no golf competitions at sports festivals. All the golfers gathered at the Albert Park golf course. Most of them were from Geelong at the time, with only a few from Melbourne. Romas was the winner of the golf competition he organised.

Jonas Tamošiūnas approached Romas again as the presidents of all the Lithuanian sporting clubs were starting an Australian Lithuanian Physical Education Union (ALFAS) board. Romas became the first secretary in 1971-1972. He was appointed chairman in 1973. Having been assured that there would not be much work involved, Romas found himself developing statutes for ALFAS and sports festivals and organising the first Australian Lithuanian trip to America.

In 1973, he was elected to the board of the Melbourne sports club Varpas and became its chairman, except for 1975, when he was the club's treasurer, until 1980.

Basketball player

Basketball results published Tėviškės Aidai in during 1975 show that Romas wasn’t just administering sporting groups, he was scoring lots of goals on the court too. Various photographs in Lithuanian-language newspapers show that Romas wasn’t tall, but at 5 feet 9 inches or 170 centimentres, he was not short either. He probably made up in agility on the basketball court what he lacked in height.

Engineers and Architects

In 1974, Engineer R. Ragauskas was elected chairman of the Australian Lithuanian Engineers and Architects Melbourne group. This group had existed for 15 years but had limited its activities to its professional members. A dinner on 21 July was organised to change this, and the majority of the 30 people attending were not professionals. Two members spoke about their work.

Chemist Kestutis Lynikas, who worked in the Reserve Bank's banknote issuance branch, gave an introduction to the production of Australian banknotes. Bronius Vingrys, an engineer with the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW), detailed the provision of water to the city. Both talks were well illustrated and two short, colour MMBW films were screened. The evening finished with coffee, cakes and wine, and a committee which hoped not to “return to the darkness of the past”.

Sports administration again

When the Lithuanian Days festival came to Melbourne in December 1976, Romas was the natural choice for sporting events co-ordinator.

The Melbourne Lithuanian Days 1976 organising committee with
Romas Ragauskas in the middle of the back row; also in this photograph,
second from the left in the middle rown, is Karolis Prašmutas' daughter, Birūte

Source:  Mūsų Pastogė

In 1981, Viktoras Adomavičius became chairman of the board of Varpas, and Romas again took up the leadership of the ALFAS during 1981-82. In 1984, he was again Varpas chairman and secretary in 1985.

After a break, in 1989-91, Romas again chaired ALFAS. This time, together with the Australian Lithuanian athletes, he participated in the 4th World Lithuanian Sports Festival in Lithuania. For his hard work, he was awarded the titles of honorary member of the Melbourne Lithuanian Sports Club Varpas and a medal of honour from ALFAS.

At a 1996 Geelong sports day, Romas stands in front of a line of other
ALFAS medal of honour recipients

Source:  Mūsų Pastogė

Later engineering career

Three classified advertisements in the Canberra Times, of September 1985, August 1988 and October 1990, shows that R. Ragauskas then was working for Roche Brothers Pty Ltd of St Kilda Road, Melbourne. In 1985, this company was organising the forecourt finishes for two areas of the now permanent Parliament House in Canberra, so was calling for subcontractors and suppliers interested in participating.

The 1988 advertisement was for subcontractors for work on the Mulwala Explosives Factory in Mulwala, New South Wales. The 1990 advertisement was for another important project near Canberra, a deviation to the Hume Highway south of Goulburn, New South Wales.

In the 1985 advertisement, Romas was named as “Ron Ragauskas”. His may well have been the office job of preparing tenders for these and other construction projects. In October 1990, he was still in the workforce at the age of 66.

There may well have been many of these advertisements in other Australian newspapers but Australian copyright laws mean that the Canberra Times is the only major city newspaper digitised by the National Library’s Trove project for the period from 1955 to 1995.

It has to be noted that Romas also was a frequent contributor to various appeals for financial support, for instance, for the Mūsų Pastogė newspaper.

Later life

He and his wife were still participating in and winning golf tournaments for Australian Lithuanians in 1999. This is the only time we see Dana mentioned in her own right, apart from a literal ‘wife in the kitchen’ comment on another activity. This probably was meant to be a thank you, but does not read well given the tremendous support Danūte must have given Romas over 54 years of marriage.

Romas passed away on the 15 January 2007, 13 days after his 83rd birthday. A notice was published in the Melbourne Herald Sun newspaper on 17 January 2007.

Danūte died on 4 June 2016, aged 86, as notified in the Herald Sun of 7 June 2016. That notification names her son as Stan, possibly an Anglicisation of Stasys. He and his wife, Diana, had 4 children, grandchildren for Romas and Danūte.

In 2006, a perpetual trophy competition in basketball in the name of Romas Ragauskas was created. It is between the Melbourne Varpas Lithuanian Sports Club and its Geelong counterpart, the Vytis Lithuanian Sports Club.

CITE THIS AS: Pocius, Daina and Tündern-Smith, Ann (2025) ‘Romanas-Karolis Ragauskas, Engineer and Sports Administrator’ https://firsttransport.blogspot.com/2025/10/romanas-karolis-ragauskas-engineer-and-sports-administrator.html.

Sources

AEF DP Registration Record, ‘Ragauskas, Romanas’, Folder DP3288, names from RAFACZ, JOSEF to RAGNO, Luigi (1), 3.1.1 Registration and Care of DPs inside and outside of Camps, ITS/Arolsen Archives, DocID: 68736986 https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/68736986, accessed 11 October 2025.

AEF DP Registration Record, ‘Ragauskas, Romanas’, Folder DP3288, names from RAFACZ, JOSEF to RAGNO, Luigi (1), 3.1.1 Registration and Care of DPs inside and outside of Camps, ITS/Arolsen Archives, DocID: 68736987 https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/68736987, accessed 11 October 2025.

AEF DP Registration Record, ‘Ragauskas, Romanas’, Folder DP3288, names from RAFACZ, JOSEF to RAGNO, Luigi (1), 3.1.1 Registration and Care of DPs inside and outside of Camps, ITS/Arolsen Archives, DocID: 68736991 https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/68736991, accessed 11 October 2025.

AEF DP Registration Record, ‘Ragauskas, Romanas’, Folder DP3288, names from RAFACZ, JOSEF to RAGNO, Luigi (1), 3.1.1 Registration and Care of DPs inside and outside of Camps, ITS/Arolsen Archives, DocID: 68736992 https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/68736992, accessed 11 October 2025.

Alekna, Ignas (1976a) ‘Pranešimas iš Australijos, Mes dar esame gyvi’ (‘Message from Australia, We are still alive’, in Lithuanian) Tėviškės Žiburiai (Lights of Homeland) Mississauga, Ont, 20 May, p 2 https://spauda.org/teviskes_ziburiai/archive/1976/1976-05-20-TEVISKES-ZIBURIAI.pdf, accessed 11 October 2025.

Alekna, Ignas (1976b) 'Australijos Lietuvių Dienos Melbourne' ('Australian Lithuanian Days Melbourne', in Lithuanian) Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) Sydney, 4 October, p 1  https://www.spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1976/1976-10-04-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 13 October 2025.

AS (1982) ‘Newcastle Kronika’ (‘Newcastle Chronicle’, in Lithuanian) Tėviškės Aidai (Echoes of Homeland) Melbourne, 13 February, p 6 https://www.spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1982/1982-02-13-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf accessed 11 October 2025.

Canberra Times (1985) 'Advertising' 7 September, p 16 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/12825394, accessed 13 October 2025.

Canberra Times (1988) 'Advertising' 13 August, p 36 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/102043242, accessed 13 October 2025.

Canberra Times (1990) 'Advertising' 13 October, p 32 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/122316695, accessed 13 October 2025.

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (1959) ‘Certificates of Naturalization’, Canberra, 7 May, p 1569 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/25980619, accessed 6 October 2025.

Kesminas, A (1990) (No title) Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven), Sydney, 29 January , p 6, https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1990/1990-01-29-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 6 October 2025.

‘Liste 2, Nationalitat: Litauen’ (‘List 2, Nationality: Lithuanian’, in German) 2.1 Implementation of Allied Forces’ Orders on Listing all Foreigners and German Persecutees, and Related Documents / 2.1.1 American Zone of Occupation in Germany, ITS/Arolsen Archives, DocID: 70305937 https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/70305937, accessed 11 October 2025.

Liuga, B (1958) ‘Newcastlis, Visuot. Susirinkimas’ (‘Newcastle, General Meeting, in Lithuanian) Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven), Sydney, 13 October, p 6 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1958/1958-10-13-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 6 October 2025.

L-tis, A (1977) ‘Pabaltiečių Sporto Šventė,’ (‘Baltic Sports Festival’, in Lithuanian) Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven), Sydney, 23 May, p 7 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1977/1977-05-23-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 11 October 2025.

Marčiulionytė, Z (1996) 'Sportas, Dėkojame!' ('Sport, Thank You!', in Lithuanian) Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven), Sydney, 1 April, p 6, https://www.spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1996/1996-04-01-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 13 October 2025.

Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) (1993) ‘Romanas Ragauskas’ (In Lithuanian) Sydney, 21 June, p 6 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1993/1993-06-21-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 6 October 2025.

My Tributes, 'Death Notice for Ragauskas, Danute' https://www.mytributes.com.au/notice/death-notices/ragauskas-danute/3981317/, accessed 11 October 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, Central Office; A435, Class 4 correspondence files relating to naturalisation, 1944-1950; 1950/4/4124, RAGAUSKAS Romanas Karolis - born 02 January 1924 – Lithuanian, 1950-1953 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=6958809, accessed 10 October 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; 645, RAGAUSKAS Romanas-Karolis DOB 2 January 1924, 1947-1947 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5005872, accessed 10 October 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956: RAGAUKAS ROMANAS, RAGAUSKAS, Romanas : Year of Birth - 1924 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN : Number – 1019, 1947-1948 recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203913544, accessed 10 October 2025.

'Original collection', 2.1 Implementation of Allied Forces’ Orders on Listing all Foreigners and German Persecutees, and Related Documents / 2.1.1 American Zone of Occupation in Germany, ITS/Arolsen Archives, DocID: 70305945 https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/70305945, accessed 11 October 2025.

PB (1974) ‘Melbourno Inžinierių Veikla’ (‘Melbourne Engineering Activity’, in Lithuanian) Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) Sydney, 18 February, p 8, https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1974/1974-02-18-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 11 October 2025.

Prašmutas, K (1972) ‘Mes Dar Gyvi Lietuviai’ (‘We Lithuanians are Still Alive’, in Lithuanian) Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven), Sydney, 4 December, p 2 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1972/1972-12-04-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 10 October 2025.

‘Ragauskas, Romanas’ in War Time Card File (Registration cards, employees’ record books, individual correspondence) A-Z, 2.2 Documents on the Registration of Foreigners and the Employment of Forced Laborers, 1939 - 1945 / 2.2.2 Various Public Administrations and Companies (Documents related to individuals), ITS/Arolsen Archives, DocID: 74421802, https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/74421802, accessed 12 October 2025.

Ryerson Index, https://ryersonindex.org/search.php, accessed 6 October 2025.

Stufe II, Liste B' (Level 2, List B), 'Stadtkreis Darmstadt, Gemeinde Darmstadt' ('Urban District Darmstadt, Community Darmstadt)', 'Nationalität Litauen, Blatt 3' ('Nationality Lithuanians, Page 3, in German') 2.1 Implementation of Allied Forces’ Orders on Listing all Foreigners and German Persecutees, and Related Documents / 2.1.1 American Zone of Occupation in Germany, ITS/Arolsen Archives, DocID: 70305941 https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/70305941, accessed 11 October 2025.

Stufe III, Liste 3  ('Level 3, List 3) ‘Litanen (Blatt 3)’ (‘Lithuanians, Page 3’, in German), Excerpts from Files of the Public Prosecutor's Office in Darmstadt, 1.2.2 Prisons, ITS/Arolsen Archives, DocID: 12070656 https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/12070656, accessed 11 October 2025.

Tėviškės Aidai (Echoes of Homeland) (1973) ‘Melbournas’ (Melbourne, in Lithuanian) Melbourne, 22 May (No 19) p 4 https://spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1973/1973-nr19-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf, accessed 11 October 2025.

Tėviškės Aidai (Echoes of Homeland) (1975) ‘Sportas, Melbournas’ (‘Sport, Melbourne’, in Lithuanian) Melbourne, 28 October (no 41) https://spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1975/1975-nr41-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf, accessed 11 October 2025.

Tėviškės Žiburiai (Lights of Homeland) (1971) ‘Lietuviai Pasaulyje’ (‘Lithuanians in the world’, in Lithuanian) Toronto, Ontario, 4 March, p 4 https://spauda.org/teviskes_ziburiai/archive/1971/1971-03-04-TEVISKES-ZIBURIAI.pdf, accessed 10 October 2025.

“Varpas” Committee (2009) ‘Melbourne Lithuanian Sports Club “Varpas” will be hosting the annual Melbourne “Varpas”v Geelong “Vytis” Mini Festival at the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre’ Tėviškės Aidai (Echoes of Homeland) Melbourne, 7 October, p 8 https://spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/2009/2009-10-07-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf, accessed 11 October 2025.

W, Alex (2009) ‘Geelongo ‘‘Vytis” ir Melbourne “Varpas” surengė mini krepšinio šventę’ (‘Geelong's ''Vytis'' and Melbourne's ''Varpas'' held a mini basketball celebration’, in English apart from headline) Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven) Sydney, 4 November, p 5 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/2009/2009-11-04-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf, accessed 11 October 2025.

Lithuanians on the First Transport After 25 Years, by Karolis Prašmutas trans. Ann Tündern-Smith

[I have taken the liberty of editing what Google Translate has done to an article which Karolis Prašmutas wrote for Mūsų Pastogė in December 1972, to commemorate 25 years since the Lithuanians on the First Transport reached Australia.  I trust that the Prašmutai and anyone else who understands the Lithuanian language either forgives me or quietly provides corrections.

Did Karolis write a commemoration?  He finished with an important question, but it seems that subsequent generations and new arrivals from the old country have answered it positively for him.  The same applies to the continuation of the Latvian and Estonian communities in Australia.

What I find particularly interesting about this article is that it starts with Karolis acknowledging that the First Transport was an experiment.  The composition of future migration intakes depended very much on how Australians greeted the first group.  We are blessed that the welcome was warm, changing the face of Australia in the 78 years since.                                                                                                              Ann]

WE LITHUANIANS ARE STILL ALIVE

A group of Lithuanians left the shores of old Europe from Bremerhaven 25 years ago. The then Australian government admitted the first immigrants (political refugees) exclusively as a pilot group for the implementation of a further immigration program. 

Since Australia, like other countries, had many economic difficulties after the War, and there was a particularly large shortage of residences, the first group of Lithuanians (and all Baltics) was selected from unmarried people.  It was easier to deal with residential issues for this group. 

In the Lithuanian group, the number of women was very irrational in relation to men, but the Lithuanian men remained Lithuanian men and the majority created Lithuanian families, which still speak Lithuanian today. The shores of Australia were reached on 28 November 1947. 

After visiting Western Australia, we had to sail further east to Melbourne on the semi-invalid Australian ship Kanimbla.  In the port of Melbourne we were personally met by the then Minister of Immigration, Mr. Arthur Calwell. 

Although Mr. Calwell welcomed us quite warmly and the sun was scorching hot, the Australian land was cold for every Lithuanian and held an uncertain future, even more so since the leftist working class of Australia opposed the “Balts”. 

In military terms, the First Transport group was supposed to create a bridgehead for  further and more numerous compatriots to move to Australia.  The aforementioned bridgehead of the First Transport was successfully completed, as a result of which a considerable number of Lithuanians settled in Australia.  Is this how it was all supposed to end? 

No, just as an army unit, having moved across a river or other natural barriers, having accomplished its task, never withdraws from the battle, but even more actively joins the main group for further campaigns. 

Also in this case, the first Lithuanian group, even after 25 years, has not been melted by the merciless environment, but has remained distinct and unique.  Undoubtedly, some of them have gone to the Other Side, some have become indifferent to everything, closing themselves like chickens in an egg, but a large percentage today are still steadfast in Lithuanian work.

They understand their task, what was required of them 25 years ago, when our national leaders sending them overseas repeated, remember that you were born Lithuanians and remain so, even if cruel winds blow you about, do not rest, work for the Freedom of the Nation, because you have lost that freedom and no one will give it to you as a gift.

Those words still ring in our ears today, although they touched our eardrums long, long ago. Here we recall only the participants of the First Transport of Victoria (because I do not know about other States), whose names are always mentioned in Lithuanian activities, or in preparations.

Today passengers on the First Transport belong to or lead several national activities boards and organizations.  Here they are: Mrs Viltis Kružienė, Kazys Mieldažys, Povilas Baltutis, Vytautas Šalkūnas, Napoleonas Butkūnas, Karolis Prašmutas, Romas Ragauskas, Juozas Keblys and Petras Morkūnas. 

Although they are not tired after 25 years and do not complain about their heavy contribution to national activities, for how long? And where are the others?  First Transport colleagues themselves should answer that question.

Click on the original article to read a more legible version

Source:  Mūsų Pastogė

Lost luggage, by Ann Tündern-Smith

Not all about the Heintzelman voyage was happiness.  Lost luggage spoiled the trip for several.

Nikolajs Bergtals: see below for his 'found' story

Source:  National Archives of Australia

Estonian woman, Salme Pochla, would have had her voyage ruined already when told that she would not be allowed to enter Australia.  She may or may not have been told the reason:  an adverse security report received after the Heintzelman had sailed.

To cap it off, some or all of her luggage, described as “packages", was lost. No trace of it could be found in Fremantle – or Perth presumably, either, since the luggage was transferred there for Customs examination on 29 November.

Then there was Karolis Prasmutas, a Lithuanian man who we have met in an earlier blog entry.  Once he had reached his first employer, the State Electricity Commission at Yallourn in Victoria, he set about making written inquiries.  He described his luggage as a square box made of “tin aluminium” painted blue.  Knowing Karolis from his blog entry, he may well have made the square box himself.

His missing box contained his professional books and tools as well as some clothes and shoes. He suggested that the value of the lost luggage of about £40, around 4 weeks  income when the minimum wage was £5/9/-, less tax.

He wrote to the International Refugee Organisation (IRO) representative in Sydney saying that the luggage had not come off the Heintzelman with him.  Immigration officials had told him that they would let him know about the luggage when he arrived at Bonagilla. However, the Immigration official he talked with at Bonegilla told him that he had no information.

It was the Provisional Committee of the International Refugee Organisation (PCIRO) which had organised the Heintzelman’s voyage from Germany on behalf of the Australian Government.

A member of the Australian Parliament’s upper house, the Senate, got involved. One reason for Senator Donald Grant’s involvement may have been that he was based in Sydney, like the IRO.  He wrote to the company which had handled the Heintzelman’s arrival in Fremantle, the Orient Steam Navigation Company, to say that an IRO staff member had passed Karolis’ letter to him. 

Correspondence on the missing box continued for nearly 6 months, until a senior Immigration official in Canberra advised that no further action was required from the Department’s Western Australia office.  The definitive advice may have been that from the manager of a transport service employed by the Orient Company who wrote that he had inquired of Stuttgart in Germany without getting a reply and had also had a thorough check done of the Perth camps, a warehouse and the Fremantle wharves.

He noted that in this instance the majority of the names on the packages transported were “impossible to read or understand whilst some 200 packages were without marks or numbers". Due to this, the company had relied on the migrants identifying and claiming their luggage at the Graylands camp. 

Although there is no mention of it on the file we have to assume, as the transport manager seems to have done, that Karolis was sent to this camp and not Swanbourne. Either that or the more than 400 at Swanbourne were bussed to Graylands to be part of the scrimmage — a possibility of which there is no remaining evidence.

Having the new arrivals identify their own luggage may well have led to a situation where nice looking luggage was claimed by someone else, especially if it had lost or badly damaged labels.

Karolis Prasmutas was not the only Lithuanian to suffer loss of his luggage. Birute Gruzas, formerly Tamulyte, told me that her luggage had disappeared before she was able to claim it in Perth. As Birute had already lost everything she was carrying when a bomb blew up the bridge she was crossing on her way to refuge in Germany, she was one tough 19-year-old to pick herself up and carry on for the second time in her life.

These are the known cases of lost luggage. How many others were there, if Birute's story is not recorded?

On the other hand, we also have one example of lost articles being found and returned to their owner.

On 5 December 1947, that is 3 days after the Kanimbla had left, a wallet was handed in at the Fremantle police station. Given the contents of the wallet recorded by the police, it may have been more in the nature of a folder or portfolio.

Those contents were a foreign passport in the name of Nikolajs Bergtals, a temporary travel document in the same name, a map of Nord West Deutschland (Northwest Germany), a visiting card, a letter written in a foreign language, two foreign doctors’ prescriptions, six personal references and six photographs. 

The man who had found the wallet had a Russian name, Ivan Estinoff. He was said to be “of the Jeanette Fruit Palace” in High Street, Fremantle, so perhaps its proprietor. Given his presence in Australia, he may well have held similar political views to the new arrivals.

The Acting Commonwealth Migration Officer for Western Australia, RW Gratwick, posted the wallet by registered mail directly to Bonegilla on 17 December.  It crossed with a letter from the Acting Commonwealth Migration Officer at the Bonagilla camp, LT Gamble, who enquired on behalf of Nikolajs on 21 December. An undated memorandum from Gamble to Gratwick, but with a December receipt stamp, records the arrival of the package still containing all the articles.

Gamble added, “The articles referred to have been handed to the owner who desires to express his grateful thanks for your action in the matter.”

Its arrival must have been something of a Christmas present.  No wonder we have another thankful new arrival.

SOURCES

Australian Government, Fair Work Commission ‘The history of the Australian minimum wage’ https://www.fwc.gov.au/about-us/history/history-australian-minimum-wage accessed 30 June 2025.

National Archives of Australia:  Department of Immigration, Western Australian Branch; PP482/1, Correspondence files [nominal rolls], single number series; 82, General Heintzelman - arrived Fremantle 28 November 1947 - nominal rolls of passengers https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=439196 accessed 27 June 2025.