Australian Lithuanian History

Alfredas Vitkunas was an active member of the South Australian Lithuanian community.  These are his memories about his leaving Lithuania and arrival in Australia.   Thankyou to Jura Reilly, who gave permission for her father's memory to appear here. “Faster! Faster! Can we go any faster?”. Our two horses froth at the mouth, their breathing is as laboured as mine, as I sit petrified with fear, alongside my family who are huddled together inside the cart. I’m 18 again and just a few hours earlier, while I was working at the Kaunas post office, I took a peek at some very official documents that had arrived. They are the dreaded deportation lists to Siberia and our family’s name is on one of them. I run home as fast as I can and blurt out this vital information to my family.  Without delay, we throw as many belongings as we can into a suitcase each. It’s a hot day in June 1944 and now we’re fleeing Lithuania by crossing into Germany via the townships of Kudirka...

Ruth Balint in her paper on ‘Industry and sunshine; Australia as home in the displaced persons camp of postwar Europe’  writes that the Australian government had to work hard to recruit the migrants they considered to be the ‘best types’ to immigrate to Australia.   The Australian government created a publicity drive targeting the displaced persons in order to sell Australia as a new homeland.  The campaign included film, radio programs, booklets, posters and lectures. Several films were produced, one of which was  Mike and Stefani 1948/49. Made just after World War Two, Mike and Stefani follows a family of displaced persons from their refugee camp in a devastated Germany to their new home in Australia. It features moving re-enactments of their travails in Europe, chronicling the wartime separation of the young Ukrainian couple, the difficulties of the labour camps, the loneliness and chaos, their eventual reunion and their application to emigrate. The final seq...

In 1963, World Lithuanian President Juozas Bačiunas invited her to perform in concerts around America.  She travelled with her accompanist Dorothy Oldham and gave 12 concerts to Lithuanian communities.  September 21 Detroit September 28 Cleveland October 6 Hamilton October 12 Rochester October 13 Boston November 9 & 10 Chicago November 16 Omaha November 23 Los Angeles Concerts also in Torone, Philadelphia, New York and Baltimore. Gene sang a  variety  of songs from Lithuanian composers as well as  Tchaikovsky , Schubert, Puccini. Dorothy Oldham, Juozas Baciunas, Gene Vasiliauskas  

Dorothy and Gene Vasiliauskas performing in the USA Dorothy Oldham was born on 23 November 1896 in Adelaide. Newspapers of the day referred Miss Dorothy Oldham ‘as a brilliant solo pianist and accompanist’.  Adelaide members were very familiar with seeing Miss Dorothy Oldham play the piano at Lithuanian concerts.   She would volunteer her time as pianist accompaniment, and  would also represent Lithuanian at other nationality events.    Dorothy at one time broke her leg and as a result had to call off all her engagements.  She practised with Lithuanian artists and would come to the hall to accompany Lithuanian singers who without her would be unable to fulfil their program. Miss Oldham received her training at the Elder Conservatory on a scholarship before studying in Europe amongst prominent musicians such as Mark Hombourg pianoforte.  For many years Dorothy was accompanist to singer Elena Gerhardt.  Returning t...