Antanas Staugaitis (1927-2003): Lithuanian DP Taxi Driver by Daina Pocius with Ann Tündern-Smith and Rasa Ščevinskienė

Like the ill-fated Ksaveras Antanaitis, Antanas Staugaitis was one of the Lithuanian Displaced Persons or DPs selected in Germany to travel to Australia on the first voyage after World War II, on the USAT General Stuart Heintzelman. Like Ksaveras, he then was chosen to be in the first group of men sent by the Commonwealth Employment Service (CES) to work outside the Bonegilla camp.

Their destination was Bedford Park, South Australia, where they lived in a tent city while building a 20-kilometre pipeline from Happy Valley Reservoir, to their south, into Adelaide to their north. Their employer was the South Australian Government’s Engineering and Water Supply (E&WS) Department. Antanas later worked for the E&WS at Port Lincoln also.

Antanas Staugaitis, ID photo 
from his migration application

Source:  NAA

Everyone on the First Transport had been told in Bonegilla that the Australian Government had changed their agreement to work, where required, for one year to a two-year agreement. Maybe E&WS hadn’t got that message, because the Adelaide Mail of 29 January 1949 reported that the DPs or Balts, as they were known also, were being permitted to transfer to other employers. If that was with the assistance of the CES to another task where there was a shortage of workers, however, it was all above board.

We know from his application for Australian citizenship that Antanas left 6 weeks after the Mail report to work with the South Australian Railways. This was initially with other Balts and Aussies at Peterborough for 6 months, then in Adelaide.

From an alien registration index card held by the National Archives in Adelaide, we find that Antanas was released officially from his “two years” contract with the Australian Government on 3 October 1949. That’s about two months short, if the contract is regarded as terminating on the anniversary of arrival in Australia, 28 November 1949.

The Minister for Immigration, Arthur Calwell, announced the early release in Canberra on 5 September 1949, according to Australian newspapers of the following date. The contracts were supposed to end on 30 September, not 3 October. The early release was due to “the outstanding contribution they have made to Australia’s labour starved economy”.

Antanas completed an Adelaide mechanic’s course in 1953. He continued to work on the railways until 1956, rising to the rank of fireman. Then he purchased a taxi license and worked as a taxi driver until retirement in 1992.

He renounced any previous allegiances and became an Australian citizen on 12 October 1956. His address at the time was on South Terrace, the edge of Adelaide’s Central Business District. Those who certified in November 1955 for his citizenship application that he was of ‘good repute’ were Railways trainers and a station master equivalent.

He loved nature and would travel to the outback, to the Northern Territory with his good friends. He was known as a smart man with a conscience. For instance, in January 1950, the infant Mūsų Pastogė Lithuanian-Australian newspaper, about to celebrate its first birthday, reported that he had donated two shillings to support it. (The Reserve Bank’s pre-decimal currency inflation calculator advises that this is now the equivalent of a bit more than $6.)

Antanas was born 27 August 1927, in Šliziai, Šakiai region, into a farming family. The Germans took him from his family and friends to work in Germany, in 1942 when he was still only 14 years old. They sentenced him to two years hard labour, claiming that they had found him carrying arms. At least the hard labour was in agriculture, so probably he got fed enough to continue working.

After the war he was in a DP camp in Oldenburg in Lower Saxony, and later in the nearby Gross Hessepe municipality, where he attended the technical school to study the motor mechanic’s trade. He did not get to finish this course as his selection to resettle in Australia on the First Transport, the General Stuart Heintzelman, intervened.

He did not marry and had no family in Australia. He died at his home in Mile End, also inner Adelaide, on 20 March 2003, aged 75.

SOURCES

Encyclopaedia of Australian Science and Innovation, ‘Corporate Body South Australian Engineering and Water Supply Department’ https://www.eoas.info/biogs/A001434b.htm accessed 23 May 2024.

Hammerton, Marianne (1986) Water South Australia: a History of the Engineering and Water Supply Department (Netley, SA: Wakefield Press) 331 pp.

Mail (1949) 'Balts Leave Govt. Jobs' (Adelaide, SA) 29 January,  p 29 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55924132 accessed 23 May 2024.

Mercury (1949) 'Migrants' Contract Time Cut', (Hobart, Tas) 6 September, p 4 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article26661508 accessed 24 May 2024.

Morning Bulletin (1949) 'Contract Terms of Migrants Cut', (Rockhampton, Qld), 6 September, p 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article56918854 accessed 24 May 2024.

Mūsų Pastogė (1950) ‘Mūsų Pastogės Rėmėjai’ 25 January, p 4, in https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1950/1950-01-25-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 23 May 2024.

National Archives of Australia, Department of Immigration, Central Office; A446, Correspondence files, annual single number series with block allocations, 1926-2001; 1956/45135, Application for Naturalisation - STAUGAITIS Antanas born 27 August 1927, 1955-1956, https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8374445 accessed 24 May 2024.

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; 292, STAUGAITIS Antanas DOB 27 August 1927, 1947-1947, https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5118002 accessed 24 May 2024.

National Archives of Australia, Department of Immigration, South Australia Branch; D4878, Alien registration documents, alphabetical series, 1923-1971; STAUGAITIS Antanas born 1927 Nationality: Lithuanian - Arrived Fremantle per General Stuart Heintzelman 28 Nov 1947, 1947-1956; https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=30038183 accessed 24 May 2024.

National Archives of Australia, Department of Immigration, South Australia Branch; D4881, Alien registration cards, alphabetical series, 1946-1976; STAUGAITIS Antanas - Nationality: Lithuanian - Arrived: Fremantle per General Stuart Heintzelman 28 November 1947, 1947-1956, https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=9222371 accessed 24 May 2024.

National Archives of Australia, Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-1956; STAUGAITIS, Antanas : Year of Birth - 1925 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN : Number – 688, 1947-48, https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203905745 accessed 24 May 2024.

Papers held in the Lithuanian Archives in Australia, https://www.australianlithuanians.org/uncategorized/adel-arkhives/ accessed 25 May 2024.

Places in Germany, City Oldenburg in Oldenburg, https://www.places-in-germany.com/22143-city-oldenburg-in-oldenburg.html accessed 23 May 2024.

Places in Germany, Municipality Groß Hesepe https://www.places-in-germany.com/111536-municipality-gross-hesepe.html accessed 23 May 2024 accessed 23 May 2024.

Reserve Bank of Australia, Pre-Decimal Inflation Calculator, https://www.rba.gov.au/calculator/annualPreDecimal.html accessed 23 May 2024.

Bonegilla 1947-1948: The Week to Christmas Day (December 19-25) by Endrius "Andrew" Jankus

This is the third part of the recollections of Endrius Jankus, a Lithuanian refugee who arrived in Australia on the First Transport, the General Stuart Heintzelman.  Endrius became known as Andrew in Australia.  He was born in Draverna in the south of Lithuania on 7 July 1929.  He died in Hobart, Tasmania, on 23 July 2014.  He sent the memoir to me in 2012.

19 December 1947 

All the Lithuanians worked hard today to erect and decorate a welcoming portal for the Archbishop of Melbourne who was to arrive in the late afternoon. Another group erected an altar in the Great Hall. 

During the celebration of Mass, one Lithuanian couple took the vows of marriage from the Archbishop. This was the second Lithuanian marriage at the camp.* 

Source:  The Advocate (Melbourne), 8 January 1948 page 7

One elderly Lithuanian woman was offering her daughter to me as a bride and prodded me to "tie the knot". She used the old Lithuanian saying that “two beggars live better than one", or words to that effect. Or "if you have to beg, two beggars will bring home more than one". Nevertheless, I remained a proud bachelor. 

20 December 1947 

The loudspeaker was working overtime and kept repeating the message. We all were called to assemble at the Great Hall as Dr Crossley had something important to tell us. He spoke to us in German and assumed that everyone understood the German language. 

He talked about our contracts, saying that Parliament had decided to increase our obligation to work under government authority to two years, instead of the one year we had been told in Germany. He tried to explain to us that the one-year contract was meant as no less than one year. 

When this drastic news sank in, there was almost a riot. Most of us felt betrayed even before we started work. There was an angry confrontation, with people shouting Nazi slogans at the Professor. He bounced up and down the stage calling us ungrateful immigrants. 

By that time Dr Crossley was screaming and asking us not to take any notice of our sergeants, inferring that some still had influence over us. There were a few ex-sergeants among us, but they were in the minority and certainly had no influence over anyone. He finally left the stage and retreated to the Commandant’s Office. No doubt, he passed the message on to higher authorities. 

A few days later, we were recalled to assemble in the Great Hall and Dr Crossley informed us of changes. Immigrants from the First Transport would have contractual obligations of 12 months, but immigrants on subsequent transports would have to serve two years. 

Unfortunately, this information was not passed on to all the employment bureaus. This resulted in threats of deportation and or imprisonment. When we left our employment after 12 months, we were all threatened with deportation from some of the Anglo-Saxon bureaucracy. The Communist Party’s inspired hatred of us lasted a lifetime. 

At night we had a dance. All the usual local Albury-Wodonga girls arrived. Some had already made romantic attachments with some of the new arrivals. It was becoming boring and the attendance from the men was dropping off. There were never enough girls to go around.

21 December 1947

Today a basketball competition was organised against an Australian team and a Latvian team. Both got a hiding from the Lithuanian Team, as basketball was a national sport in Lithuania and they were European champions. 

At lunchtime, one of the Australians employed at the camp, who used to accompany the girls moving to work in Canberra, died of a heart attack. 

We had a big contingent of Scouts. There were Air, Naval and Rover Scouts and Girl Guides among the Lithuanians. We had a meeting to organise a traditional Scout gathering for the next night starting at 8 pm. 

The centrepiece was always the bonfire with a performance of funny skits, songs and much merriment. It was just like we used to have back home in the pre-war days. Everyone had a job to do, from performing, to singing, to welcoming guests and seating them. We invited the Boy Scouts and friends from the surrounding area. 

22 December 1947 

In the morning I attended the classes organised for us in familiarisation with our new country and English lessons. 

Later, at 8pm, we had our traditional Scouts’ bonfire. Lots of Scouts from around the Albury-Wodonga area arrived and brought us a present, a case of apples. That was very nice of them. We did enjoy chomping into them later. 

The ceremony by the bonfire was an outstanding success and an eye-opener for our visitors. We selected skits which included miming with no interpreting required so that everyone watching could understand. In between, a choir sang old Scouting songs. The words were different to those our audience knew but the melodies were the same. 

The continuous robust acts impressed all our visitors, our teachers, the Commandant and his retinue and the Scouts. Amongst us we had a few outstanding performers. Two fellows carried in a stick from which hung a dozen bottles with various amounts of water in them. The "Maestro" appeared suddenly with two sticks and played the tune of "My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean”. The clapping took a long time before it stopped. 

Our "Maestro" played a few more tunes before he called it quits. Most of the audience didn’t know that less than one month earlier we had put on the same performance for the Scouts of Western Australia on one of their beaches. 

We all had worked hard in one capacity or another late into the night and decided to have a rest day. We slept late and spent the day diving and swimming in the Lake, to get away from the infernal heat. 

Inside the corrugated iron barracks was worse than outside. It was like an oven even at night. Most of us took our blankets outside and bedded down in the long grass. That was a good idea until one chap jumped up with a barbaric scream in the middle of the night, just because a friendly snake had slithered inside his primitive bed for a bit of company. That ended the sleeping in the grass episode. 

One another night as we rested on our wire stretcher beds, having a chat with one another with the doors opened at either end for some air, a snake navigated the three steps into our barrack. She was about to enter our space, when someone threw a boot at her and she beat a hasty retreat. 

24 December 1947 

Christmas Eve used to be celebrated throughout our country and most of Europe. It didn’t seem right that Christmas Eve was boiling hot in Australia. It was very unusual for us and it certainly proved to be at Bonegilla. It was obvious that our new bosses either didn’t know the significance of the day or could care less. It was a big disappointment to us. 

That night, all of us gathered in the big hall. A decorated Christmas tree stood there like an orphan. A few streamers hung down from the rafters in a careless fashion. We each received two slices of bread with butter and jam on it and an orange. To drink, we had orange juice. We sat around the Christmas tree and sang carols like we used to do at home or wherever we found ourselves to be on this Holy Night. 

Someone produced a blessed Eucharistic wafer and broke it up in tiny pieces on a plate to go around 400 Lithuanian Catholics. The plate was passed around and each of us licked the end of the finger and retrieved a tiny piece of wafer to put on our tongues. This bound us in unity to our nationality. 

The Commandant, the professor and the teachers wished us a Merry Christmas. At midnight we left the place for our quarters. 

It was a far cry from our country’s tradition, when everything had to be spick and span. Hay was put on the table and a white tablecloth was put over it. The plates were set out, including plates for the recently departed. A candle was lit on their plates to welcome the departed spirits. 

It was a feast for Jesus, with a twelve-course cuisine. That day, no meat was to be consumed. Although the Church allowed the consumption of meat, the people still carried out the old traditions. 

The eating began when the first star appeared in the sky. On an overcast day, the family elder decided when it was time to eat. The twelve dishes started with a pea gruel, a bean gruel, dumplings made from ground wheat, some traditional Lithuanian dishes, dumplings with cottage cheese, cranberry jelly, apple cakes, little Christmas cakes, marzipan and various nuts. To drink there were various fruit juices. The heavy eating was left for Christmas Day. 

25 December 1947 

On Christmas Day at Bonegilla, it rained cats and dogs as they say. The rain stopped in the evening and some of us went for a walk. The day was a non-event.

To be continued.

*  The woman in the illustration looks very like Irena Naujokatiene and the man like Antanas Jurevicius, a Lithuanian couple who were married at Bonegilla on 22 December 1947 by Fr JC Awburn, according to Jurevicius' Bonegilla card.