Arthur Calwell's Letter of Welcome to the New Australians

This carbon copy of a letter from Arthur Calwell is undated, but the Perth address of the Department of Immigration must have been typed over on the original, so possibly it was given to each new arrival during their Fremantle and Perth stopover.

Photocopiers were not available yet, so each individual letter probably was produced by mimeography,  involving a waxed stencil on a drum rotated by hand or an electric motor.  You probably called it a duplicator or a Roneo, maybe even a Gestetner, rather than a mimeograph -- I certainly never heard that world while they were still in use.

So here is Arthur Calwell's letter of welcome to the "New Australians" arriving on the USAT General Stuart Heintzelman (which did not think of herself as a "SS").  It's been mentioned in at least one of our recent posts.

(Double-click on the image to open a larger version)

SOURCE:

National Archives of Australia:  Department of Immigration, Western Australian Branch; PP482/1, Correspondence files [nominal rolls], single number series, 1926-52; 82, GENERAL HEINTZELMAN - arrived Fremantle 28 November 1947 - nominal rolls [sic] of passengers, 1947-52 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=439196 accessed 12 February 2025.

 

Vaclavs Kozlovskis sets off to work, from 3 January 1948, translated by Monika Kozlovskis with Janis Sakurovs

BONEGILLA, 3.1.48, Sat. A man from the employment department spoke to us in the big hall about our work, and answered questions. It turns out that we’ve been a little deceived - in Germany we were told that we would have to work for one year in a place nominated by the government, and suddenly this one year has doubled.

He pointed out that we signed an agreement specifying we would work in such a job for “at least one year”, and that by Australian law that means two years. If that’s so, that means that “at least one” can become even ten years; they’re simply having us on.

When this was revealed, the entire hall erupted in whistles and uproar, and the speaker hurried to clarify that after the first year we could change our workplaces with the permission of the employment ministry, but he didn’t say if we would be able to get this permission.*

Everyone was very upset and promised to stop work after one year. I intend to do so as well; I won’t let them lead me up the garden path. If I’ve signed up for one year, then I will work for only one, and that’s that!

This afternoon a notice was put up in the employment office, notifying the first work nominations, and my name was amongst them as well. It goes as follows:

1. Anglo Nestles Milk Co, Maffra, Victoria - 10,

2. CJ Row Webb & Anderson, Victoria - 10,

3. Moe Brown Coal, State Electricity Comm. Yallourn, Victoria

4. Masonite Co, NSW - 25

5. State Saw Mills, Perth, West Australia - 10

6. Pyramid Hill Quarries, Victoria - 7

7. South Australian Salt Ltd, Victoria - 10

8. Cheetham Salt Works, Victoria - 10

9. Flax Production Committee, Melbourne - 20

10. Ocean Salt Pty Ltd, South Australia - 6

11. State electricity trust Kiewa, Victoria - 25

12. Dept of Woods and Forests South Australia - 33

13. Miller’s Timber and Trading coy. Ltd. Perth - 10

14. Brunning Bros Perth - 10

15. Australian News Print ltd. Tasmania - 12

16. South Australian Railways South Australia - 65

17. Engineering and Water Supply South Australia - 65

18. Electrolytic zinc Co Tasmania - 12

19. Various Employers, not yet determined, NSW - 105

Vaclavs added this newspaper clipping to his diary

Source:  The Argus, Melbourne, 5 January 1948, p 3

The remainder, who haven’t been allocated to a group, will go to pick fruit, and won’t be placed in a permanent job for four to six weeks. My name was amongst the seven going to the rock quarry.

I don’t know what sort of job awaits me there, but I have peace of mind - I’ll be free at last from the crowd; we are three Latvians, 3 Lithuanians and one Estonian. The only unpleasant aspect is the doubling of the work year, but somehow I’ll get through this unexpected complication.

BONEGILLA, 4.1.48, Sun. Strange indeed is a person’s fate - you live and reach for your aims, when suddenly a completely unexpected wave of Fate’s hands occurs, and you can no longer appreciate the beauty of nature.

Today at Albury the blonde Lithuanian Vasilauskas drowned. I shared a cabin on the Heinzelman with him, and we sometimes partied together. Could this agreeable lad ever have imagined, that he would travel to Australia only to drown?

He was chest deep in the water, and suddenly suffered a stroke and drowned. It’s a pity about the young lad, did he really have to go just at the moment that his new life was beginning, after suffering the hardships and horrors of war-torn Europe?**

BONEGILLA, 6.1.48, Tues. Now soon our pleasant holiday will be over and we will have to start working. My name was announced over the loudspeaker this morning — tomorrow I will have to travel to Pyramid Hill, my new workplace.

I went to the office straight away to fill in the required form, then received a hat, pyjamas, coupons and five shillings; early tomorrow morning we’ll begin the two-hundred-mile bus journey.

BONEGILLA, 7.1.48, Wed. I woke at six-twenty, got ready straight away, handed back my bed linen, then carried my belongings to the loudspeaker. All seven of us ate breakfast, then sat in a small car. We drove to Albury, then we handed over our baggage and sat in the bus.

Bonegilla’s representative farewelled us, signalling the end of our carefree relaxation. Now, embarking on this journey, I’m also embarking on my own life; I’ll earn my own wages, and pay for everything myself. I’ve never lived that sort of life before, will I be able to adjust?

Finally the time has come when I can be my own master and ruler of my own destiny, when I can earn my own bread, and not have to be grateful for the crumbs thrown to me by others, and I will no longer have to burden any charitable institution.

After two hundred miles we reached Cohuna town, where the boss of the quarry came to meet us. We drove a further thirty miles in his car, then we were at our new home. The boss seems a very nice person, and he’d made some preparations for us.

The modern road trip westwards from Bonegilla camp in the east
to Cohuna and Pyramid Hill town takes nearly four hours;
the 1948 bus trip must have taken a hour or two longer on poor roads

Source:  Google Maps

We stopped in front of the farmhouse hired for us, where we’re sharing two rooms. Each man has his own bed, mattress, three blankets and a chair. Apart from these two rooms we also have a bathroom with a bath, a dining room and a kitchen with various utensils as new as if they’ve only just been brought back from the shop, still with the labels on them.

The kitchen table had a pile of food on it, for which we will pay at the end of the month. Food is the only thing we have to pay for ourselves, the house and contents we can use for free. The house even has a telephone, although there’s no electricity - we have to get by with petrol lamps.

The house itself, like all the others in Australia, is very lightly built and consists of only one layer of bricks. The wind blows through the cracks in the walls and floor, but in this heat such ventilation is quite pleasant.

All around our “castle” stretches a field covered in yellow grass. The soil is hard and red; it’s a miracle anything can grow in it. The groundwater, as can be seen from the ponds to water the sheep, is full of mud and the colour of cocoa. That certainly isn’t useable, and our own drinking water is collected in quite a novel way: At the end of the house stand two iron tanks that collect the rainwater from the roof. So, as it happens, we drink roofwater, but I can’t say that it tastes bad. The only thing is that in hot weather it’s warm and unrefreshing, but after all, what water is any good when it’s warm?

The house is five miles from our workplace and six from the nearest town, Pyramid, with its population of four hundred. We’ll eat lunch there in some restaurant, and prepare our own breakfast and dinner at home. We’ll be driven to and from work, and also into the town, even on Saturdays and Sundays, whenever we wish. Our wage is three shillings and threepence for every hour we work.

Everything sounds good so far. We’ll see how it is when we start work.

FOOTNOTES

*  For corroboration of the reception of the news that the contracted work period had been doubled, see Endrius Jankus' report for 20 December 1947.  The difference in dates might be due to Endrius report being based on notes rather than a diary, like that of Vaclavs.  It's also possible that the Latvians like Vaclavs were told separately and later than the Lithuanians, although we might expect such news to travel from one national group to the next via their common German language.

Also, Endrius writes that, "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."  The few days later might have been 3 January, although that actually is 14 days later.

Of the two reports, perhaps Vaclavs should be favoured as far as the date is concerned since it comes from a diary apparently kept on a daily basis.  Regardless of the date, both reports tell us how upset the men (and probably women) were.

**  For a detailed report on the drowning death of Aleksandras Vasilauskas, please see https://firsttransport.blogspot.com/2021/04/aleksandras-vasiliauskas-lithuanian-drowned.html.

*** The diary appears not have been kept on 1-2 January 1948.  Too busy celebrating the start of his first full year in Australia?

Nikodemas Skidzevičius (1925-1995): Actor and Artist, by Daina Pocius and Rasa Ščevinskienė with Ann Tündern-Smith

Updated 21 February and 1 March 2025.

It was theatre that drove Nikodemas, a love of the stage and acting that he never lost.

Nikodemas was born in Alytus, Dzūkija, Lithuania, on 14 September 1925. He attended Alytus primary school and gymnasium.

In 1944, the wave of war swept him to Germany. According to his selection papers for migration to Australia, he was “forcibly evacuated by the Germans”. This sounds like he was rounded up to provide forced labour.

When the war was ending, we find him first in Lübeck, a coastal German city once the capital of the mediaeval Hanseatic League.

By September 1946, he had moved well inland to settle in the Hanau refugee camp. Being a creative spirit, he got involved in the camp theatre activities.

Two American Expeditionary Force (AEF) DP records for Nikodemas, both dated 3 September 1945 but one completed in Lithuanian and one in English, have been digitised by the Arolsen Archives in Germany. In the English language one, he is described as a ‘scholar’, while the Lithuanian one has the equivalent ‘mokinys’. Scholar of what is not explained in either, but something to do with the theatre is a strong possibility.

Nikodemas and his older brother, Vytautas, travelled to Australia on the First Transport, where Nikodemas was a member of the Lithuanian Sea Scouts. They reached Australia on 28 November 1947 after 4 weeks on board and spent time in the Bonegilla camp after a short break in Perth.

Nikodemas Skidzevičius identity photo from his Bonegilla card

Source:  NAA, A2571, SKIDZEVICIUS NIKODEMAS

Nikodemas was sent to salt works, south of the Murray River, in South Australia, with 9 others on 13 January 1948. These salt works were run by SA Salt Limited of 91A Victoria Square West in central Adelaide.

The brothers were separated, as Vytautas was sent to work for South Australia’s Department of Engineering and Water Supply. He was one of those who had been sent to Bedford Park camp in suburban Adelaide on 7 or 8 January.

Nikodemas later worked in construction until he started working as a decorator and painter. He worked in Woomera and other country towns.

As early as 30 September 30 1949, Adelaide's Lithuanian Theatre Lovers Group staged The First Call, a three-act comedy, in which Nikodemas had a role. It was the first Lithuanian theatre performance in Australia.

Next, on 25 November 1950, the Adelaide Lithuanian Theatre Group presented Disturbed Tranquility by P. Vačiunas. Nikodemas had a leading role in this production. The play was repeated on 6 January 1951, then again in Melbourne later that month.

The long-established Adelaide Advertiser newspaper reported the large crowd at the November performance, naming Nikodemas among the performers. The popularity of the play might be why Australijos Lietuvis [The Australian Lithuanian] detailed the plot in its ‘English section’ of 1 January 1951.

Juozas Gučius arrived in Adelaide in 1951, establishing the Lithuanian Theatre Studio. Nikodemas joined immediately and participated in its first production, along with the whole ensemble, of Viršininkai, or Brass in English. 

He played several more roles in its productions. He loved the stage so much that he never refused to play even the smallest role.

Although he lived far from Adelaide then, he found time to come to rehearsals. In all the roles he took on, Nikodemas played the parts as deeply and intelligibly as possible.

According to his obituarist, Viktoras Baltutis, one of Nikodemas’ greatest achievements was the role of the Lithuanian artist in the drama Stella Maris by J. Grinius. Baltutis wrote that he gave his whole creative soul here, deeply and sensitively empathising with the character of the artist, with all his nuances.

Nikodemas as the artist in Stella Maris

Source:  Australian Lithuanian Archive

He shone equally in the role of Simas Kudirka in the drama Jump to Freedom written by the obituarist, Baltutis. The playwright thought that complete and unconditional dedication to the characters created by dramaturgy was one of his most striking features as an actor.

The Adelaide News' theatre correspondent, Kevin Crease, reported in August 1954, that Nikodemas was about to make his first appearance in an English-language production. He was in the Adelaide Theatre Group’s production of Crime and Punishment, known to the Group and its audience as ‘Niki’.

In October 1953, the News and its Adelaide colleague, the Advertiser, carried a total of 3 articles mentioning Nikodemus. In the first, the News theatre critic, CB de Boehme, wrote on 13 October that Nikodemas’ Mermeladoff in Crime and Punishment “was an astute and deeply felt study”.

The second review, by Kevin Crease and published on 23 October, was of the Lithuanian Theatre Studio production of three English-language comedies. He wrote that Nikodemas, “as the suitor who had palpitations gave a fine performance”. The News headlined the report, "Lithuanian Group Does Well". It was, reported Crease, the first time the Theatre Studio players had performed in English.

DCB in the Advertiser of 23 October also reviewed the comedies. He reported that “The high point of the evening was The Proposal. This play, dealing with a diffident but proud suitor's attempts to propose to an equally proud woman, is a very human comedy … Skidzevicius, who is pompous and proper as well as a sufferer of palpitations, also act (sic) with great heart.”

If Australian copyright law did not prevent the digitisation of newspapers by the National Library of Australia’s Trove service beyond 1954, we might know much more about the general Adelaide public’s reception of Nikodemas’ acting talent. As it is, we are left with the obituarist reporting that he had even gained a role in the Australian Broadcasting Commission’s production of The Museum of Here and Now.

In 19 October 1970, Mūsų Pastogė published a photograph of the Vaidila theatre company, of which Nikodemas was now a member. It advised that the group would be coming as far as Sydney at the end of the month.  On October 31, its members would perform the comedy Bubulis and Dundulis.  On Sunday, November 1, they would perform V. Mykolaitis Putin's historical drama Valdova. A Ukrainian community hall had been hired.

Near the end of the entry, we have a photograph of Nikodemas performing in Bubulis and Dundulis in 1995, 25 years later. If it was the same part, it must have been an integral part of his life by then.

Nikodemas Skidzevičius is third from the left in the back row of this 1970
photograph of Adelaide's Vaidila theatre company

Source:  Mūsų Pastogė

In 1983, Mūsų Pastogė announced that Nikodemas, still member of the Vaidila theatre company, was leaving Adelaide for the small town of Robe, to its east, near Mt Gambier. He had been presented with a large national ribbon at a dinner after a performance of the company’s current play, Peilio ašmenimis (Knife Edge in English).

Nikodemas (left) with actor N. Vitkunienė in Knife Edge

Source:  Mūsų Pastogė

The reporter wrote that Nikodemas participated in commemorations, parades and other cultural events, whenever a beautifully pronounced Lithuanian word was needed.

In 1990, V Skipzevičius is said, by a Teviskes Aidai reporter using the pseudonym Pr P, to have been an actor, along with  V Nekošius and the playwright, E Buliene, in two plays she had written about life in Australia called Desires and Wishes.  They were performed for the Adelaide Lithuanian Catholic Women's Society in June.  Since Vytautas Skipzevičius had died in 1983, the V must have been a misprint for N, for Vytautas' brother, Nikodemas.

This being the case, there may have been another earlier misprint when J Vasiliauskas reported in the same newspaper in 1978 that V Skipzevičius, a Vaidila actor, had read the testament of Darius and Girėnas at a 45th anniversary commemoration.

Most non-Lithuanians would not be aware of the story of Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas. On 15 July 1933, they attempted a nonstop flight from New York City, USA, to Kaunas, then the capital of Lithuania, in a single-engine plane purchased and rebuilt with the help of funds from other American Lithuanians, the Lituanica.

They crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 37 hours 11 minutes.  Both died when the plane crashed in Germany.  The cause of the crash was said to be poor weather conditions and engine problems.  They had covered a distance of 6,412 kilometres without landing and were only 650 kilometres away from Kaunas.

They have been the subject of Lithuanian stamps, a Lithuanian banknote and memorials in both New York and Chicago (where the Lituanica was rebuilt).  Darius had initiated the building of the first sports stadium in Kaunas which, after renovations, is the largest in Lithuania or the three Baltic States and is named after the two flyers.

Darius and Girėnas left their testament behind in case they did not survive the flight, pledging their patriotism and calling the Lithuanian people to action.

Two months after the first 1978 report, the Canadian-Lithuanian newspaper, Teviskes Žiburiai, carried a similar story, again stating that V Skipzevičius had read the testament at the commemoration.  The later story may well have been sourced from the first.  If V Skipzevičius was Nikodemas' brother, it is the only recorded appearance of Vytautas in front of an audience.  A reporting or editing error is more likely.  Yet another Nikodemas performance is much more likely.

His obituarist, Viktoras Baltutis, reported that he was full of enthusiasm and optimism for theatre, he urged new stage works and invited younger actors to join. He loved theatre and was devoted to it.  He never refused to recite or read poems during commemorations, putting his whole soul in to these too.

He also had been a member of the first Adelaide Lithuanian national dance group, performing around the city showcasing Lithuanian culture to Australians in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s.

He studied drawing, painted a few watercolours and later changed to wood sculpture.  His only exhibition of works in wood was in Adelaide's Lithuanian House, jointly with Viliją Petruškevičiūtę-Dundienę’s ceramics, in 1993.  His work was very traditional and religious, featuring a rupintojelis (a pensive christ), crosses, a vytis (the Lithuanian coat of arms, a mounted knight holding a shield and sword) and town crests. 

It gave him a lot of joy and pride, although he himself mentioned that much patience and persistence was needed to create more perfect works.  He had started his wood carving practice in Germany, in 1946, but amazed those in Adelaide who knew him only as an actor with this previously hidden talent.   

He obtained Australian citizenship on Australia Day, 26 January 1960. This was more than 3 years after his brother, Vytautas. Perhaps Nikodemas had been too busy rehearsing and performing to apply.

Nikodemas married and had a son and a daughter. After Lithuania regained its independence, he was able to visit his father in 1991. He was able to visit again, the last time with his grandson.

In 1992, Elena Varnienė, writing in the Chicago-based magazine Ateitis, reported that Nikodemas had taken part in Adelaide’s annual Literature and Song Evening.

The last year of Nikodemas’ life was 1995, but Mūsų Pastogė reported twice that he was engaged in public artistic activities. For the celebration of Independence Day, February 16, he recited a poem, as reported in March. In April, he acted in a production of Bubulis and Dundulis in Melbourne.

Nikodemas (left) in a Melbourne production of Bubulis and Dundulis
just months before his 1995 death

Source: Mūsų Pastogė; photographer: Birute Prasmutaite

His death on 22 August 1995 came 3 weeks short of his 70th birthday. He is buried in the Catholic section of Adelaide's Centennial Park Cemetery.

Sources

Advertiser, The (1950) ‘Lithuanian Play’ Adelaide, 27 November, p 8 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/45671297 accessed 21 January 2025.

Arolsen Archives, ‘AEF DP Registration Record, SKIDZEVIČIUS, Nikodemas’ [completed in Lithuanian] https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/69134310 accessed 21 January 2025.

Arolsen Archives, ‘AEF DP Registration Record, SKIDZEVIČIUS, Nikodemas’ [completed in English] https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/69134312 accessed 21 January 2025.

Arolsen Archives ‘War Time Card File (Registration cards, employees’ record books, individual correspondence) A-Z (SKIDZEVIČIUS, Nikodemas) https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/74921279 accessed 21 January 2025.

Australijos Lietuvis [The Australian Lithuanian] (1951) ‘English Section, Disturbed Tranquility’ Adelaide 1 January, p 10 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article280320124 accessed 21 Jan 2025.

Baltutis, Viktoras (1995) ‘Nikodemas Skidzevičius’ Šventadieno Balsas [Sunday Voice] Adelaide, 17 October, pp 4, 6, (copy held in Australian Lithuanian Archive, Adelaide).

Baltutis, Viktoras (1995) ‘Mūsų Mirusieji, Atsisveikinimas su Nikodemu Skidzevičiini, 1925. IX. 14 –1995.VIII.22’ in Lithuanian [‘Our Dead, Farewell to Nikodemas Skidzevičiūs, 14.9.1925 – 22.8.1995] Mūsų Pastogė, Sydney, p 6 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1995/1995-09-11-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 26 January 2025.

Č-kas, V. (1949) ‘Pirmas lietuviškas vaidinimas Australijoje’ [‘First Lithuanian Play in Australia’] Mūsų Pastogė [Our Haven], Sydney, 12 October, p 4 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1949/1949-10-12-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 26 January 2025.

Crease, Kevin (1954) ‘Curtain Call’ News, Adelaide, 25 August, p 16 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131250091 accessed 21 January 2025.

DCB (1954) 'Lithuanians Stage Three Comedies' Advertiser, The Adelaide, 23 October p 17 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47629322 accessed 21 January 2025.

de Boehme, CB (1954) ‘Play Explores Human Spirit’ Advertiser, The Adelaide, 13 October, p 10 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/131209992 accessed 21 January 2025.

Mūsų Pastogė [Our Haven] (1970) [Untitled photograph] Sydney, 19 October, p 5 https://www.spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1970/1970-10-19-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 1 March 2025.

Mūsų Pastogė [Our Haven] (1995) 'Iš A. Rūko "Bubulio ir Dundulio" Pastatymo Melburne' Photo caption in Lithuanian ['From A. Rūkas' Production of "Bubulis and Dundulis" in Melbourne'] Sydney, 17 April p1 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1995/1995-04-17-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 31 January 2025.

Naras, VS (1995) ‘Vasario 16 d. Adelaidėje’ in Lithuanian [February 16 in Adelaide] Mūsų Pastogė [Our Haven], Sydney, 6 March, p 3 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1995/1995-03-06-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 26 January 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, 1947-47; 654, SKIDZEVICIUS Nikodemas DOB 14 September 1925, 1947-47; https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5118081 accessed 22 January 2025.

Poželaitė-Davis, Isolda (1983) ‘Juozui Gučiui Prisiminti’ [‘In Rememberance of Juozas Gučis’] Akiračiai [Horizon] March, p 6. https://spauda2.org/akiraciai/archive/1983/1983-nr03-AKIRACIAI.pdf accessed 27 January 2025

Pr P (1990) 'Adelaide,Šiupinys' ['Adelaide, Medley'] Teviskes Aidai [The Echoes of the Homeland] Melbourne, 3 July https://spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1990/1990-07-03-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf accessed 21 February 2025.

Prasmutaite, Birute (1995) Photograph:  'Iš A. Rūko "Bubulio ir Dundulio" Pastatymo Melburne' caption in Lithuanian ['From A. Rūkas' Production of "Bubulis ir Dundulis" in Melbourne'] Mūsų Pastogė, Sydney, 17 April, p 1 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1995/1995-04-17-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 7 February 2025.

Sv Balso and SP (1995) ‘Adelaide’ [‘A†A Nikodemas Skidzevičius’ (RIP Nikodemas Skidzevičius)] Teviskes Aidai [Echoes of the Homeland] Melbourne 3 October p 6 https://spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1995/1995-10-03-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf accessed 26 January 2025.

St (1983) ‘Teatrų Veikloje, Vaidila, ’’Peilio ašmenimis”’ in Lithuanian [‘Theatre Activities, Vaidila, “Knife Edge”’] Mūsų Pastogė, Sydney, 4 April, p 3 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1983/1983-04-04-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 26 January 2025.

Teviskes Ziburiai [The Lights of Homeland] (1978)'Lietuviai Pasaulyje, Australija' ['Lithuanians in the World, Australia'] Mississauga, Ontario, 24 August, p 4, https://spauda.org/teviskes_ziburiai/archive/1978/1978-08-24-TEVISKES-ZIBURIAI.pdf accessed 21 February 2025.

Varnienė, Elena (1992) ‘Laiškas iš Australijos’ (‘Letter from Australia’) Ateitis [Eyes], No. 6, Chicago, p 238 https://spauda.org/ateitis/archive/1992/1992-nr06-ATEITIS.pdf accessed 27 January 2025.

Varnienė, Elena (1993) ‘Bendruomenės Darbų Baruose, Keramikos ir medžio drožinių paroda’ In Lithuanian [‘Community Activities, Ceramics and wood carving exhibition’] Mūsų Pastogė, Sydney, 21 June, pp 4, 7 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1993/1993-06-21-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 27 January 2025.

Vasiliauskas, J. (1978) 'Gyvas Didvrių Atminimas'  ['Living Memory of Heroes'] Teviskes Aidai [The Echoes of the Homeland] Melbourne, 22 July, p 3 https://spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1978/1978-nr28-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf accessed 21 February 2025.

Vibaltis (1983) ‘Adelaidinės pabiros’ in Lithuanian [‘Adelaide droppings’] Mūsų Pastogė, Sydney, 4 April 1983, p 6 https://spauda2.org/musu_pastoge/archive/1983/1983-04-04-MUSU-PASTOGE.pdf accessed 26 January 2025.

Vladas Mozuraitis (1922-2007): From Farmer to Jack of Many Trades by Daina Pocius

Updated 3 February 2025

Born in Keturvalakiai, a small town in Marijampolė County, in southwestern Lithuania, on 8 April 1922, Vladas Mozuraitis came from a farming family with three sisters and two brothers. After completing four year of school, the normal minimum at the time, he worked with his father on the farm and quickly learned farm work.  He later reported that he had undertaken farm work for ten years.

When the Soviet forces headed back to Lithuania in the late summer of 1944, he and his family withdrew to Germany. He resided in Displaced Persons camps where he learnt how to make shoes.

Vladas Mozuraitis

Source:  Australian Lithuanian Archive

He came to Australia on the First Transport in November 1947, aged 25. Taken to Bonegilla, he stayed there until the 12 January when he was assigned to work at the Lake Bolac Flax Mill in Victoria.

After his contracted ended he moved to Geelong where he worked in the tractor factory of International Harvester Company. He also worked for Ford as a first-class machinist.

Vladas Mozuraitis (centre, kneeling) helps cut down a tree

Source:  Australian Lithuanian Archive

A very skilful worker, he liked and understood cars.

While working in Geelong he purchased a Triumph motorcycle, which he rode 400 km to Cowra in NSW to meet a sister and her family. He gave each relative £5, a week’s wage at that time.

Vladas on his motorcycle -- clearly a print which someone carried around for a long time

Source:  Australian Lithuanian Archive

He moved to Melbourne in 1956 to be closer to other family. By then he had purchased an Austin A 40 which he was forever improving.

In Melbourne he worked in various factories, where he liked working with people. He enjoyed fishing, attaching a rod to his bicycle to catch eels and other fish.

Vladas Mozuraitis in his Sunday best

Source:  Australian Lithuanian Archive

When a sister moved to be closer to family in Adelaide in 1995, he moved also. He passed away on 26 September 2007 aged 85.

Sources

Arolsen Archives (1951) 'Resettled file (Mozuraitis, Vladas)' https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/68348649 accessed 25 January 2025.

National Archives of Australia, Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947-56; MOZURAITIS, Vladas : Year of Birth - 1922 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN : Number - 600 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203902924 accessed 28 January 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, 1947-47; 204, MOZURAITIS Vladas DOB 8 April 1922, 1947-47 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5005620 accessed 2 February 2025

Verbyla, Jonas(2007) Eulogy written by Vladas' nephew, unpublished manuscript in the possession of the Australian Lithuanian Archive.

Juozas Šuopys (1913–1997): Farm Boy to Family Support by Daina Pocius

Juozas Šuopys was born on a large farm in the village of Skaisgiriai, Sintautai district, Šakiai county in Lithuania on 9 February 1913. Together with other 437 Lithuanians, Juozas arrived in Australia on the USAT General Stuart Heinzelman, the First Transport, on 28 November 1947.

Juozas Šuopys' identity photo on his Bonegilla card

Source:  NAA, A2571, Suopys Juozas

From the Bonegilla Migrant camp, Juozas’ two-year contract was with the Flax Production Committee, Melbourne, possibly going to the Commonwealth Flax Mill at Lake Bolac with other new arrivals from the ship. He later worked at a Kellogg’s factory until retirement. This probably was the factory which the company opened in Botany, a suburb of Sydney, in 1928.

Juozas did not waste his savings unnecessarily, but even though he lived alone, he had bought a house in Botany. It was probably from this house, at 24 Page Street, that he sought and obtained naturalisation as an Australian citizen on 31 August 1966. Through this process, he announced a legal change of name, to Joseph Sopis. To Lithuanians, he undoubted remained Juozas Suopys.

Later he moved to Punchbowl, near the Lithuanian House in Bankstown, where he was a frequent guest. Juozas belonged to the Returned Services League on account of having been caught up in World War II, while supporting Lithuanian sports and other Lithuanian activities with donations.

Around 1980, he met Ingeborg, a German widow, and spent the rest of his life with her.

He never forgot his sisters and extended relatives. He travelled to Lithuania several times and was able to help his relatives, providing farm equipment and cars.

He did not forget his home parish in Sintautai, where the church was destroyed during the war. It was restored to its former state thanks to the efforts of the pastor, the prelate Maskeliūnas. Juozas was one of the biggest supporters of the reconstruction of this church.

After returning from a visit to Lithuania, Juozas felt pain in his leg. He was taken to Bankstown Hospital, where he died of complications a week later, on 15 October 1997 at the respectable age of 84.

On October 20, after mass, which was held by Fr. John Girdauskas SM, Juozas’ remains were accompanied by Inga's family and his Lithuanian friends to the Lithuanian section of the Rookwood cemetery. Antanas Kramilius gave a farewell speech on behalf of the community. At the grave, the Lithuanian National anthem was sung.

References

Arolsen Archives (1945) ‘AEF DP Registration Record’, 5 October, https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/69197342 accessed 25 January 2025.

Arolsen Archives (1946) ‘UNRRA HQ’s Team 77, DP Camp Mattenberg’ 17 June https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/81997447 accessed 25 January 2025.

Arolsen Archives (1946) ‘Transportlist (sic) UNRRA HQ Team 77, DP Camp Mattenberg’ 16 August https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/81997477 accessed 25 January 2025.

Arolsen Archives (1946) [From Folder 170: Kassel-Oberzwehren] 9 October https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/81997518 accessed 25 January 2025.

AVK (1997) ‘Mūsų mirusieji: Juozas Šuopys, 1913.03.09 – 1997.10.15’ (‘Our dead: Juozas Suopys, 9.3.1913 – 15.10.1997, in Lithuanian) Mūsų Pastogė Sydney, 3 November p 7.

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (1967) ‘Certificates of Naturalisation’ Canberra, 8 June, p 2839 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article241040447 accessed 25 January 2025.

'Kelloggs, in Australia since 1924', https://www.kelloggs.com.au/en_AU/history.html accessed 25 January 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla], 1947–1956; SUOPYS, Juozas : Year of Birth - 1913: Nationality – LITHUANIAN : Travelled per – GEN. HEINTZELMAN: Number – 1038, 1947 – 1948; https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203899865 accessed 25 January 2025.

Alfonsas Ragauskas (1914–1988): First Transporter Who Overcame Obstacles by Daina Pocius

Updated 9 February 2025

Alfonsas, known as Alf, was born on 19 January 1914 in Šiauliai, in the Lithuanian district of Joniskis, where he spent his youth. Life was not easy for him, so he emigrated to Germany in 1935.

Alfonasas Ragauskas' identity photo on his migration application form, 1947

Source:  Sestokas, Welcome to Little Europe

There he lived in even more difficult conditions, working hard until 1947, when he immigrated to Australia on the First Transport, the USAT General Stuart Heintzelman.

Alfonasas Ragauskas' identity photo on his Bonegilla card, 1947

Source:  NAA, A2571, RAGAUSKAS, Alfonsas

His first job was in the State Electricity Commission of Victoria’s Yallourn open-cut brown coal mine. Later he became an electrician in the power plant, then a pump operator until retirement.

In Josef Šestokas’ book, Welcome to Little Europe: Displaced Persons and the North Camp , Josef’s father, Juozas, writes about the Yallourn camp where both he and Alf lived initially, “All were single men. They were accommodated in tents under pine trees behind the school. Local people were friendly and welcoming.”

Alf wrote in Juozas’ autograph book, presumably in Lithuanian, in 1955, “Really we are happier here, but you could only appreciate that if, having lost your country and your people, you were so hospitably welcomed as victims of war.”

While working at Yallourn, Alf met his wife, Agota and they married in 1962. They later moved to Kew, Melbourne. Josef Šestokas reports that they were thought not to have had children.

Alf led a quiet life, keeping dairy goats and chickens in his large backyard. He was remembered in his obituary as a fun, friendly and helpful. Although his life he was full of difficulties and surprises, he was able to overcome all these obstacles.

Alf was one of those so keen to obtain Australian citizenship that he first applied on 6 September 1949, when he was still under contract to work in Australia.  He was advised to wait until late November 1952, having been in Australia for 5 years, before applying again.  This he did, although the exact date was 1 December.  His formal grant of citizenship took place on 23 July 1953.

Alf died at Box Hill Hospital in Melbourne on 28 April 1988, aged 64, and is buried in Kew Cemetery, now known as Boroondara General Cemetery. Agota was buried with him when she died 4 years later.

Headstone on the grave of Alfonsas and Agota Ragauskas, 
Boroondara General Cemetery, Melbourne

Source:  Boroondara General Cemetery

References

Anon (1988) ‘AA Alfonsas Ragauskas (in Lithuanian)’ Tėviškės Aidai [The Echoes of Homeland] Melbourne, 17 May, p 7.

Boroondara General Cemetery, Grave Locator, <Ragauskas>, https://boroondaracemetery.discovereverafter.com/ accessed 23 January 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla] 1947-1956; RAGAUSKAS, Alfonsas : Year of Birth - 1914 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN : Number – 641, 1947-1948, https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203913539 accessed 24 January 2025.

National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration, Central Office; A435, Class 4 correspondence files relating to naturalisation, 1939-50; 1949/4/4224, RAGAUSKAS Alfonsas - born 19 January 1914 - Lithuanian, 1949-53 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=6944679 accessed 9 February 2025.

Sestokas, Josef (2010) Welcome to Little Europe, Displaced Persons and the North Camp, Little Chicken Publishing, Sale, Victoria, pp 1, 87, 261. [This now is out of print but a digitised version can be read at https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Welcome_to_Little_Europe/PqDgc5KKfvIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Welcome+to+Little+Europe&pg=PT58&printsec=frontcover accessed 24 January 2025.

Kazimieras Balkauskas (1921–1986): Aussie farmer and first responder, by Daina Pocius

First Transport refugee, Kazimieras or Kazys Balkauskas grew up on a Lithuanian farm and was able to continue the farming life in Australia. Since he could see the Southern Ocean from his land, he monitored this section of coast for shipping in trouble and trained in first aid. In short, he provided valuable protection to travellers on sea, in the air and on land in his section of Australia.

He had been born in the small town of Gaurė, on the banks of the Šešuvis river in the Lithuanian district of Tauragė. He was the youngest of five sons to Antanas and Pranciška Žičkutė. His family owned a small farm and Kazimieras helped his family work the farm. He grew to love the land and agriculture, a love to which he remained loyal until his last day.

Kazimieras' ID photo from his Bonegilla card

Source:  NAA: A2571, BALKAUSKAS KAZIMIERAS

Leaving Lithuania towards the end of the WWII, he found refuge in the Displaced Persons Camp at Gross Hesspe. He indicated on his DP card that his first country of choice for migration was Canada. Instead, he became one of the Lithuanians aboard the First Transport to Australia, the General Stuart Heintzelman, arriving in November 1947.

Jedda Barber has noted already in this blog that he was one of 53 Lithuanian Sea Scouts and Girl Guides on board the Heintzelman.

On arrival in Australia, he told officials that he had been working previously as an auto mechanic but wanted to be a farmer in Australia.   Let's see how he achieved that ambition.

As a 26-year-old, he had seen too much of life already when sent to work at the flax factory at Lake Bolac, a small town in Victoria located near a large body of fresh water known for its abundance of eels. The town was in a rich wheat-growing and cattle-rearing area, 220 km from Melbourne.

One of a number of Commonwealth Flax Mills operated there from 1942 to 1959. Local farmers grew flax for processing in the factory. During WWII, young Land Army women kept the mill going until new migrants could fill the shortage of labour.

Land Army women harvesting flax

Source:  State Library of Victoria

Amongst the new migrants were several Lithuanians who were fulfilling part of their two-year compulsory contract: twelve men and one family.  The Lithuanians known to have been there include Albertas Kairys, Vytautas Mulokas, Kazimieras Balkauskas, Vaclovas Jankauskas, Povilas Kecorius and Jonas Svitra, who had all arrived on the First Transport.

Jonas Svitra's sad life story has been told already in this blog.

From their Bonegilla cards, we know that a total of 19 men were sent to the Flax Production Committee, 440 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, but we do not know to which mill the Committee sent the other 13.  

After 20 months in the job, Kazimieras was released from his contract and went to work at the Nestlé factory in Warnambool. While working there he met his future wife, a Ukrainian, Maria Steran. Their son, Antanas (Anthony or Tony) and daughter, Pranciška (Frances or Fran) were named after Kazimeras' parents.  Maria learnt the Lithuanian language and traditions.

With a growing family, Kazimieras and Maria sought better housing, but none could be found. Instead, with their small capital they brought a farm near Lavers Hill, Colac.

At first life their was very difficult. It was necessary to work a lot, and it was hard work. They grew potatoes, kept sheep and cows.

Gaining more experience and learning the secrets of Australian farming, they quickly made a living, buying two neighbouring farms, which even the largest Lithuanian landowner would envy. In 1974 they had 120 cattle, including over 70 dairy cows, grazing in their fields plus a considerable number of sheep and poultry. Their main source of income was milk production.

Frances, Maria, Tony and Kazys Balkauskas with their Ford tractor

Source:  Tėviškės Aidai

Living on the shores of the Southern Ocean and seeing its blue waters through the windows of his house, Kazimieras was like a lighthouse keeper who could see what was happening at sea. He was engaged by the authorities to monitor accidents at sea and, if necessary, to report them immediately.

He joined the civil defence service (now the State Emergency Service or SES) completed first aid courses and was committed to helping those who got into trouble at sea, in the air or even on the main highway that passed through his land.

Although living closer to Melbourne, the family were frequent visitors to Adelaide.  Kazimieras could not fully integrate into Lithuanian life, but he was always interested in it and supported it.  One reason for Adelaide visits was that the Adelaide Lithuanian Catholic priest, Juozas Petraitis, was his cousin.

Kazimieras and Maria were great hosts, with their hospitality was very well known to many.  They loved and respected guests, they waited on them, and everyone found warmth and shelter in their home.

Kazimieras turned 65, the age at which older Australians could start receiving a pension instead of continuing to work, on 4 March 1986.  This meant that he would be able to visit Adelaide, where both of his children lived, more often in his retirement.

Unfortunately, while working on his land, he seriously injured himself shortly afterwards. After three weeks in the hospital, he died unexpectedly on April 12.

Maria died 8 June 1990 in the Royal Adelaide Hospital.  This was at the early age of 67.  She is buried with Kazimieras in Adelaide's Centennial Park cemetery.

Their son, Antanas or Tony, has died already too.  His death came on 26 January 2020, at the age of only 68.  He had been a corporal in the Royal Australian Survey Corps.  He was the father or stepfather of 6 boys and grandfather to 11 grandchildren.

SOURCES

Advertiser, The (2020) 'Death notices' Adelaide, 28 January.

Arolsen Archive, AEF DP Registration Records; Balkauskas, Kazyshttps://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/document/87880689 accessed 13 January 2025.

Genealogy SA Online Database Search https://www.genealogysa.org.au/resources/online-database-search accessed 13 January 2025.

National Archives of Australia:  Department of Immigration, Central Office; A12508, Personal Statement and Declaration by alien passengers entering Australia (Forms A42); 37/46, BALKAUSKAS Kazimieras born 4 March 1921; nationality Lithuanian; travelled per GENERAL STUART HEINTZELMAN arriving in Fremantle on 28 November 1947 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7271559 accessed 13 January 2025.

National Archives of Australia:  Migrant Reception and Training Centre, Bonegilla [Victoria]; A2571, Name Index Cards, Migrants Registration [Bonegilla]; BALKAUSKAS, Kazimieras : Year of Birth - 1921 : Nationality - LITHUANIAN : Travelled per - GEN. HEINTZELMAN : Number - 428 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=203665698 accessed 13 January 2025.

Vasiliauskas, Jurgis (1974) 'Lietuvis Farmeris Prie Pietų Okeano' ('Lithuanian Farmer by the Southern Ocean', in Lithuanian) Tėviškės Aidai (The Echoes of Homesland), Melbourne, Australia, 26 February, p 6 https://www.spauda2.org/teviskes_aidai/archive/1974/1974-nr07-TEVISKES-AIDAI.pdf accessed 13 January 2025.