Journey to Australia part II

Here continues the diary of Renoldas Cesna about his trip to Australia after WWII.

We are now traveling through Bavarija. There are a lot of crosses here or some sort of holy statues. We traveled near the aerodrome (they had over the radio that whoever gets left behind will be returned to their camp) already three from our transport had been left behind.

You could now see the Alps clothed in snow. We passed through Rosenheim, Munich where we were attached to an electric wagon. Today we received five days of butter. You could see many chapels here, the hills in winter. The snow was heavy enough for sleighs. We stopped at Kufstein where we met up with the second transport. We did not know that we could not give our tickets on the train. We were informed that only German tickets. We gave the stamps to the children who were travelling to Germany. The Railway workers and Police uniforms differ from the Germans.

Second transport arrived in Australia on the 7th of February 1949 at about 2 o’clock. We stopped for a short time at Kufstein. I was able to go into the station and onto the street, were I brought two yummy sandwiches for 3 DM. I was also able to see the Kufstein castle.

It was a beautiful view, nice hills and the trees covered in snow. At the foot of the mountain you could see the villages and small towns. The homes in the hills seem better suited to winter. They have electricity, where the train is attached to heating out train. We traveled through Innsbruck then to Turing Alps, mainly though tunnels.

Deadly details

One of the best places to gain information about Lithuanian people in Adelaide is from the fortnightly newspaper that was printed. It sounds very morbid but upon a death of a member of the community a In Memoriam was printed with details of the persons life. For example:

Domas Kalikas died on 3 June 1001 at Noarlunga hospital, aged 75 years. He was born in Palanga in 1926 and had a twin sister Magdalena. Their mother died when young and the children where placed in different homes. Their father remarried. Domas sister was in a convent until she was 17 and became a seamstress. The second world war came and the German occupation of Lithuania. Domas joined the Lithuanian army but was later taken to Germany and ended up as a captive in Belgium. He was 21 years old and came on the first transport to Australia. His two year government contract was spend working ion the railroads and as a house painter in Adelaide.

In 1955 he married Genovaite Varoneckaite. They had two boys and two girls. The last two are twins. Domas was able to meet his twin sister again after 63 years apart.

Domas died of cancer. His funeral was on Wednesday June 6th. He was buried in Centennial Park.
ALZ 2001.VI.17 (136)

Combine this information with details from he National Archives, we can learn that;
Domas arrived in Fremantle on the 28 November 1947 aboard the General Stewart Heintzelmann.

If we search the database at Centennial Park we can also learn where he lived, died and age.
Domas Kalikas from CHRISTIES BEACH
Date of Death: 03/06/2001
Age: 75 Years
Interment Details: Cremation
ww.centennialpark.org.au