A few outstanding years - Adelaide Vytis Soccer Team

From left kneeling, J. Songaila, V. Sinusas, V. Lazauskas, B. Langevicius.
Standing: J. Lelys, M. Ciplys, A. Kitas, A. Petruska, V. Martusevicius, S. Sidabras

The formation of a Soccer team was initiated by Eddie Taparauskas and Jonas Abromas.  The first team captain was Anatolius Kitas with outstanding players such as Jonas Sadauskas, Alexandras Sabaliauskas, Aleksas Merunas, Vincas Pledzinsksas and Juozas Čizauskas.   The team increased with players Bronius Langevičius, Stasys Darginavičius, Jonas Baškus, and Vladas Sneideris and Robertas Sidabras. 

In March 1952 Vytis Soccer team became officially registered with the South Australian Soccer Association.   The uniform was a yellow top and green shorts, with a red Vytis embroided onto the pocket.

Initially Vytis was allocated to the third division.  In one match in 1952, against ETSA team they won with a record 14-0 result.  Vytis finished the season in third position.  Vytis was placed in second division which they won.  Vytis was invited to pay in the summer season where games were held in the evenings under electric lights at Norwood Stadium.  They reached the finals which was played against Budapest, losing 1-2.

A new committee was formed in 1953, Anatolius Kitas as Presidenet, Edmondas Daniškevičius as vice-president, Edie Taparauskas, Juozas Kleinauskas and Otas Ungurys. 
For the 1954 season, Vytis was placed in the top division.  Vytis now had two teams were playing.  In that year a Baltic soccer competition was established with Latvian teams from Adelaide and Melbourne.  It was held on July 8th, weekend with Vytis wining.  

About this time some members chose to move onto other clubs.  Eduardas Virba went to Juventus and played as their centre, Robertas Sidabras transferred to Enfield.  Due to a shortage of players, trainer Edmondas Daniškevičius, not having competed for 14 years dressed in the Vytis uniform. Vytis ended that year in fifth position. 

In 1955 the South Australia soccer league became a semi professional sport and players were being brought in from overseas.  The best players were recruited to other teams.  Vytis did not have enough younger players coming up through the ranks and sank to seventh position that year. 

After a few outstanding years, the soccer team folded.  Kitas went on to play with a centre for Juventus and only Edis Virba (Virbickas) had a career as a soccer player for Juventus.

The reserve team consisted of  A. Afanijasevas, Algimantas Rusinas, Edie Taparauskas L. Jaciunskis, Algimantas Ignatavičius, Robertas Ramonaitis, V. Motuzas, Leonardas Žierdavičius. 

Sydney Lithuanian chronicle, 1950

Written by A. Auga

Published in Australis Lietuvis 1950 sausio 23 p.11-14

Twenty years earlier and far from Lithuania the first arrivals were pioneers.  There were nine first initiators of the group, J. Vedrinaitis, A. Skerys, P. Kazlauskas, V. Dapkus, J. Jasiukevičius, J. Geryba, M. Marcinkevičius, O. Marcinkevičienė and J. Zeleniakas.   On 27 October 1929, the ALD (Australijos Lietuvių Draugija) was formed.  The society kept ties with Lithuania, organised various national celebrations and family gatherings and tried as much as possible to strengthen the name of Lithuania and Lithuanian matters in local Australian press.  They attempted within the community to maintain the Lithuanian language and keep the ties with Lithuania alive.  ALD from its very early years involved itself in Lithuanian press, books and newspapers.  It created ties with the American Lithuanian society and press.  In 1933 a society library was established which was in the home of Antanas Baužė.  Some books were donated by Lithuanians in various ways, some were obtained from Lithuania.  Until the second world war the Library received  daily and weekly newspapers. 

The first president was J. Vedrinaitis, later came Kazys Brazauskas and Antanas Baužė.  The society’s statute was written by V. Dapkus and J. Jarinkevičius.   As the statutes were applied to a small group of Lithuanians coming together in one neighbourhood, the arrival of exiled Lithuanians to Australia in large numbers of and the growth of the Society necessitated reassessing the statutes.  On the 30^th  December 1948 at a meeting, members undertook a new statute project.  It was published on 26 January 1949 when the society began to publish its newspaper Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven).

1949 was a year of growth, the ALD branched out where there were large Lithuanian groups.  Ten clusters were created: Adelaide, Bathurst, Beechworth, Bonegilla, Brisbane, Canberra, Greta, Melbourne (1948.IX.11), Sydney and Woomera.   At the 30 December 1949 meeting it was decided to adopt the World Lithuanian Community constitution and join the World Lithuanian Community.  ALD through 20 years in Australia held onto a lively Lithuanian spirit and were happy to meet the new arrivals who strengthened and broaden their ties.  ALD united all Lithuanians into one national unit.

Translated from Lithuanian.

This country doesn't want me

One Lithuanian couple arrived in Australia in February 1948, after being accepted as displaced persons. This part of the story is no different to the other 10,000 Lithuanians who came to Australia, but where the story becomes almost too hard to believe is that this couple ended up living in caves at Killarney Heights, a suburb of northern Sydney for nearly 20 years.

The true story of Stefan and Genovefa Pietroszys, is not clear as it changed many different times.

Stefan was born in 1898 in Vilnius, Lithuania, while Genovefa was born about 1910 in the Russian city of St Petersburg.      No sooner had the couple arrived than the authorities assessed Genovefa as having a mental illness and she was placed in a mental hospital.

The authorities also realised all was not well with Stefan – he was given a job at a timber mill near Perth but the mill owner told the authorities that Stefan was unable to work and appeared to have a mental illness.  By mid-March 1948, the authorities were recommending sending Stefan and Genovefa back to Europe.

Before this was initiated the couple fled but was soon caught and sent to the Bonegilla Migrant Centre in northern Victoria but they ran off again before reaching Bonegilla.  They remained at large for the next four years before being arrested and charged with vagrancy. They were returned to Bonegilla where papers and jobs would be found for them.

Again the couple ran off, later being found in Sydney.  They were ordered to return to Bonegilla but they left the train at Wagga and later that month were found living in a disused quarry near Wagga suffering severe malnutrition and exposure, and were taken to Wagga Base Hospital.

Immigration officials intimated that the couple could face deportation from Australia.  Stefan was being driven from Wagga to Bonegilla, when he dived out the window of the moving car, cracked his skull and was knocked unconscious.  He was placed in hospital under police guard.  Genovefa having been taken back to Bonegilla escaped again.  The couple were reunited somehow and in 1954 were arrested on charges of vagrancy and sentenced to three months.

For the next fourteen years little is hear of Stefan and Genovefa until 1968, when the Salvation Army was told about a couple living in primitive conditions in a cave.  The Salvos visited them regularly over the next 11 years. To avoid the public, they moved about the Middle Harbour living in caves.

The couple were considered odd, locals are recorded as referring to them as eccentric Russians.  Both had been interned in German labour camps before coming to Australia and they feared returning home.

In February 1979, Genovefa died of a heart attack, aged 68.  Stefan agreed to move into a Catholic aged care home at Marayong, where he died in October 1982, aged 84.

Stefan and Genovefa lie side-by-side in Frenchs Forest Bushland Cemetery.

 

Genowefa and Stefan from their Immigration Papers

Adelaide Soccer Star, Tony Kitas

The name Kitas is a war cry for Vytis soccer team.  Anatolius Kitas  became a centre forward soccer player for Adelaide Vytis Sports Club.  Born on 27 March 1927, arrived in Melbourne on 18 August 1950.  He worked by day as a porter with the SA Railways.  He excelled at soccer but was also a first class basketballer and table tennis player.  In the DP camps of Germany he played soccer for Lithuanian in international games against several European countries.  For a short time he was a German professional soccer team.

He was fast, had perfect dribbling skills and could be all over the oval. He kicks goals from either foot and any angle.  During 1953, in 15 league matches he scored 65 goals, in one game scored 10 gaols.

From 1952 to 1957, Kitas was chosen to be part of the South Australian Soccer team, and an Australian XI which the team which included six new Australians.

In 1954, he scored more goals than any other player in the summer series.  When the Vytis soccer teams folded, Kitas joined Adelaide’s Polonia team, first as a plyer and then as a coach.

He  passed away in 1989 aged 62.

 

 

Adelaide Vytis Soccer team, 1950's. A. Kitas is standing second from left

Lithuanian Elderships in Australia

Today there are active Lithuanian community groups in Adelaide, Canberra, Brisbane, Geelong, Sydney, with smaller communities in Hobart and Perth.

Soon after arrival in Australia there were numerous small community groups that were too small to create a society so became Elderships.  Many were located where Lithuanians completed their two year contracts soon after arrival in Australia.  Released from contract many Lithuanians migrated to larger towns and joining their groups and the Elderships closed. 

 

Snowy Mountain Eldership

Approximately 250 Lithuanians worked on this scheme, some as part of their two year Government requirement, some staying longer.

A Snowy Mountains Lithuanian Eldership was formed on the 23 November 1952 with Albertas Alyta as Elder.  The first committee consisted of Aleksas Saulius and Petras Pilka. Other members include Dr Konstatin Stancikas, Petras Burokas, Kostas Vasaros. Bonifacas Mateciunas joined the Eldership in 1952 and Petras Kerulis I 1953.  The Eldership was only active for two years.

There is a record of donations made by the group to various organisations (V-16 school in Germany, Tautinio solidarumo mok. Zenkla (National Solidarity), Stop genocide , tautos fondo zenklai (National Fund).

Most worked at Kaiser and Guthega.  At Guthega a Power station and dam was constructed.  The dam was the first to be completed in 1955, one of the sixteen major dams completed.

From this information and that gathered by Ronaldas Cesna a list of 255 Lithuanians has been compiled which contains information on where they worked, their position who they were employed with and where they went when they left. 

Series 31 Council of Snowy Mountain Scheme ALB Snieguotųjų Kalnų projekto lietuvių Seniunija

Surge tank Selmer Eng comp 1954.
Norvegas, R. Čėsna, vengras, Vytas Kranauskas, vokietys, lenas, vengras, australis, australis, airis.

Australian Lithuanian History

It has been awhile since I have posted.  It has been a busy year and now I think its time for a change.  This blog has focused on South Australian Lithuanian history, mainly because that is where I am, but its time to expand this history to include all of Australia. 

I am working more heavily in the Australian Lithuanian Archives and so hope to bring you stories and information from what we discover.

We welcome contributions from readers who have a story to tell about Lithuania and Australia.