Updated 16 January 2023
Stasys Čibiras was born on a farm in Lithuania but retired from a law practice in South Australia. Learning the law means a close grasp of the meanings of words: for Stasys, known as Stan in Australia, English would have been his third or even fourth language. World War II changed the course of his life but this strong man survived and bettered himself.
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| Stasys Cibiras at age 24 in 1947, on his 'Bonegilla card' Source: National Archives of Australia |
The farm was in senas (old) Daugeliškis, where he was one of seven brothers and a sister. Born on 13 October 1923, he was a student of mechanical engineering at a trade school when the Germans invaded his country in the summer of 1941.
In 1944, he was taken to Germany to labour for the German Army, digging trenches between the opposing forces. He dug for eight months before being shot.
He was taken a prisoner-of-war by the British. At the War's end, he got himself to the American Zone of occupied Germany, to the city of Kassel. He had become a Displaced Person, able to complete high schooling there in 1946. The following year in Eichstädt he studied philosophy. Like so many other Displaced Persons, his hope was to go to America, but he answered an earlier call to consider Australia instead.
His appearance before the three-man Australian selection team took place a couple of hours away from Kassel by rail, in the town of Butzbach, near Frankfurt. Success in the selection process doubtless occurred because the team saw before it a 6-foot (183 cm) tall man who had just celebrated his 24th birthday and was healthy apart from the bullet wound. It was followed by a return to his camp on the outskirts of Kassel, hasty packing, another trip to Butzbach, then train travel to the Bremerhaven assembly point for his journey to Australia.
Four weeks on the USAT General Stuart Heintzelman were followed by four days in Fremantle and another voyage to Port Melbourne on board the HMAS Kanimbla.
After one month in the Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre, probably attending English language classes every weekday, he was one of a group of 33 men sent to Mount Gambier, South Australia, for their first Australian employment. For nearly two years, they laboured there for the Department of Woods and Forests, but were told that their two-year obligation had ended two months early for good behaviour like the rest of their fellow passengers.
Moving to Adelaide, Čibiras lived initially in a large tin shed in the western suburbs with other refugees. He continued to work as a labourer, mostly in an Adelaide factory. Later he became an orderly at the Daws Road Repatriation Hospital. During this time, he decided to study law at the University of Adelaide. This was no easy undertaking. As mentioned above, he would be studying in a very recently acquired language, at least his third after Lithuanian and German.
Those who had migrated to Australia in 1947 were not eligible to apply for Australian citizenship until after 5 years residence here. Stasys beat the gun by one day, publishing the required notices in two newspapers on 27 November 1952 when his date of arrival was 28 November 1947. He managed, however, to hold off completing his application form until 5 days later. His citizenship was conferred on 15 April 1953.
Stasys, or Stan, was already an articled law clerk when he applied for citizenship in 1952. Indeed, his law career probably started even earlier, because we know he instigated the Australian Lithuanian Student Association, Adelaide Branch, (Australijos Lietuvių Studentų Sąjunga or ALSS), with an establishment date of 25 August 1951. Members were university students or those studying at a higher professional level who had completed a diploma.
With part-time study, it took him until 1958 to graduate from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Laws degree.
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| Stan Cibiras as a successful immigrant: the full caption for this 1958 Australian Government publicity photograph reads, "When Stan Cibiras came to Australia 11 years ago from Lithuania he was employed as a labourer. Later he became a male orderly in an Adelaide Hospital. Working at night and weekends, he was able to undertake a Law Course at the Adelaide University and recently qualified as a Bachelor of Laws. He is now employed as a solicitor with the Crown Law Department of South Australia." Source: National Archives of Australia |
Meanwhile, he had involved himself in the early days of the Adelaide Lithuanian Society. A meeting was held to discuss the establishment of a Lithuanian community house and Stasys became a member of the committee to look into this. He was a member of the Australian Lithuanian community court, President of the Baltic Communities committee and became President of the Adelaide Lithuanian community for 1956-57.
While studying, and working, he even found the time to undertake a pilot's course with the University Air Squadron, attaining the rank of Flight Lieutenant.
A 1962 publication on the South Australian Lithuanian community, Blėzdingėlės prie Torrenso or Swallows by the Torrens, had a sketch of Stasys in his role as community leader. Jonas Mockunas has provided what he calls a very loose translation. "Completely straight, never wrapping anything in cotton wool, Čibiras seems not to have felt any of the attacks directed at him and always did what he was determined to do. A young, energetic lawyer, having finished his studies in Adelaide, Stasys Čibiras would dress down those who tried to insert sour notes into the life of the community. To the sorrow of his friends and the joy of his enemies, Čibiras has temporarily left Adelaide simmering in disputes and settled in pleasant Renmark ..."
After completing his articles, Stan's first job was as a crown prosecutor. While visiting Renmark, he found out that a local solicitor, wished to retire. It was agreed with the solicitor that Stan would take over his business.
Stan married a fellow Lithuanian, Dalia Pyragius, and they had two sons. The family stayed in Adelaide, so Stan travelled more than 250 Km every weekend to see them.
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| Stan Cibiras (centre) with his sons, Tony (left) and Paul (right) Photograph kindly supplied by Paul Cibiras |
After Stan's death in Canberra in February 2012, his friend and former business partner, Malcolm Daws, described his Renmark life in an obituary in a local newspaper, the Murray Pioneer.
Stan, Malcolm wrote, "lived in makeshift accommodation in Renmark while renting office space in the old State Bank building in Renmark Avenue and because he could not afford his own car to drive to Adelaide, he would ‘grab a lift’ with whoever was going there on weekends.
"After the first three months of hard work, Stan was left with just over $2 to his name.
"However, his hard work started to produce results and he then quietly prospered, being able to afford to buy a house, a car and about 10 years later, a share in the building which now houses the Renmark Medical Clinic and the Riverland Denture Clinic.
"Although Stan was able to afford to have his two sons at boarding school in Adelaide, his marriage became a casualty but nevertheless his optimism remained undimmed.
"He was proud of the later achievements of his sons Tony, a law graduate, and Paul, a mining driller.
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| Tony Cibiras (left) at his graduation with his father, Stan (right) Photograph kindly supplied by Paul Cibiras |
"During his 30 years of legal practice in Renmark, Stan involved himself in a community in which he felt so much at home. A president and life member of the Renmark Club, he was also a president of the Rotary Club and a keen participant in tennis and golf where his enjoyment of both games outshone his prowess."
Stan retired from his business, Cibiras & Daws, and from legal practice in 1990. He moved to Canberra, where his son Tony had obtained his legal education and was in practice.
Renmark High School’s annual Stan Cibiras Award is presented to a Year 12 student who has overcome adversity to become successful. Stasys donated $500 annually until 2011 when the award was taken over by the Renmark Lions Club. Malcolm Daws wrote that, "The award came about after Stan lamented that he had always intended to write a book on constitutional law but had not done this, so he regarded himself as a failure. Nothing could have been further from the truth."
By 2010, Stan's health deteriorated to such an extent that he was moved into a nursing home. He had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. When he passed away in February 2012, he had reached the grand age of 88.
Malcolm Daws finished, "That the business name of Cibiras & Daws was registered for more than two decades causes your correspondent immense pride. Stan's first consideration, when assessing a client's chances, was whether the client was 'a good bloke'. Stan Cibiras was a good bloke."
In memory of Stasys (Stan) Čibiras, 13 October 1923 – 6 February 2012, and Anthony (Tony) Benius Čibiras, 26 August 1956 – 24 August 2022.
SOURCES
Andriušis, Pulgis and Vladas Radzevičius (eds), Blėzdingėlės prie Torrenso (Swallows by the Torrens), J. J. Bachunas, Sodus, Michigan, 1962. (Jonas Mockunas advises that blėzdingėlė is also the name of a popular Lithuanian folk dance, performed by women only, so there is a connotation in the books title of Lithuanian cultural tradition being maintained in Adelaide.)
Čibiras, Paul, personal communications, 2022.
Daws, Malcolm, 'Farewell Stan Cibiras, just a genuinely good bloke', The Murray Pioneer (Renmark, SA), 14 March 2012, p 16.
Fatchen, Max, 'Their celebration was just like home', The Mail (Adelaide, SA), 30 October 1954, p 8, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58098347 viewed 12 December 2022.
Gordon, Dalia, personal communications, 2012 and 2022.
J. Kalvaitis, 'Mokslo Keliu' ('Through Learning'), Musu Pastoge (Our Haven), Sydney, NSW, 20 June 1956, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article259365397 viewed 12 December 2022.
National Archives of Australia: Australian Customs Service, State Administration, South Australia; Alien registration documents, alphabetical series, 1923-71; CIBIRAS S, CIBIRAS Stasys - Nationality: Lithuanian - Arrived Fremantle per General Stuart Heintzelman 28 November 1947, 1947-53.
National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, Central Office; A439, Correspondence files, multiple number series, Class 11 (Migrants A-C); 1952/11/8364, Cibiras, S, 1949-53.
National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, Central Office; A11772, Migrant Selection Documents for Displaced Persons who travelled to Australia per General Stuart Heintzelman departing Bremerhaven 30 October 1947, 1947-47; 534, CIBIRAS Stasys DOB 13 October 1923, 1947.
National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, Central Office; A12111, Immigration Photographic Archive, 1946 - Today; 1/1958/29/1, Immigration - Migrants in the professions - When Stan Cibiras came to Australia 11 years ago from Lithuania he was employed as a labourer. Later he became a male orderly in an Adelaide Hospital. Working at night and week-ends he was able to undertake a Law Course at the Adelaide University and recently qualified as a Bachelor of Laws. He is now employed as a solicitor with the Crown Law Department of South Australia, 1958.
National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-56; CIBIRAS STASYS, CIBIRAS, Stasys: Year of Birth - 1923: Nationality - LITHUANIAN: Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN: Number - 908, 1947-48.
(Pocius, Daina), 'Australian Lithuanian Students (Australijos Lietuvių Studentų Sąjunga (ALSS))', Lithuanian History in Australia, https://salithohistory.blogspot.com/2013/11/australian-lithuanian-students.html viewed 12 December 2022.
Riverland Weekly, 'Renmark Lions Club honour', Riverland Weekly (Berry, SA), 8 December 2011, p 4, https://issuu.com/riverlandweekly/docs/rw_207_dec_8_2011 viewed 12 December 2022.
The Mail, 'Want to be Good Australians', The Mail (Adelaide, SA) 15 October 1949, p 8, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55782457 viewed 12 December 2022.
