Two Year Contracts part II

Queensland

Tully Queensland

Many of the DP workers arrived on the third and fourth transports to Queensland to cut sugar cane.  Resident in private houses with sperate rooms.

1948 900 Balts engaged in cane cutting. Allocations were: Hambledon110. Mulgrave 40, Goondi 32,

Mourilyan 20, South Johnstone 43, Tully 90. Macknade 61, Victoria 48.

Queensland Forest

Forests belong to the Forest Department; camp is about 24 miles from Gympie.  There are three Lithuanians here.  We live in tents, food storage is a cupboard, no kitchen meals you cook yourself.  Favourite past time is a river where we swim.  24 workers, which will increase to 150.  Earn about L6.19.8 per week.  One can save up to L20 per month.  The forests are cut and what is left is burnt. New trees will be planted suitable for building material.

Vladas Koncius

Derrier Creek Camp, Queensland

Workers are all new migrants, 64 workers in tents of whom eight are Lithuanian. A small township is 8 miles away, nothing else but forest.

Barakula Sleeper Mill, via Chinchilla, Qld

Antanas Birskys
Stepa Barzdevicicus
Alfonsas Penkaitis, Juozas Stuksis, kazys Simkunas, Jonas Savickas

Dr Juozas Briedis

Dr Juozas Briedis was an agronomist who worked in Alytus, Seiniai, Ukmerge and Biržai before WWII.  He specialised in the economics of animal husbandry, deciding the most suitable type of breeds of stock for varying conditions.  He always had an interest in music and singing, such that he studied singing from 1937 – 8 at Kaunas Music School and later at the University of Bonn.  He led many choirs and vocal ensembles in Lithuania, Germany and the USA. 

On arrival in Australia, Juozas was sent to work as a labourer on the Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board project, building the Warragamba Dam, which provides water supply to Sydney. 

When his two-year contract with the government
was almost complete, Juozas sought work in his profession.  He sent letters seeking employment to CSIRO and Sydney University.  The University would have employed him, but they could not offer remuneration equal to that of a camp steward of £12 per week. 

The construction of the dam was a large-scale operation that meant the establishment of its own town, houses with modern facilities.  Unmarried workers got a bed in a dormitory at a cost of 4 shillings per day.  New arrivals got to stay in tents until a house become available.  There was a communal refectory, but one could choose to make your own food.  There was post, some shops, and a cinema that showed films three times per week.  

The surrounding area is a eucalyptus forest three miles long, ending at Wallacia where there is a hotel, shops and restaurant.  The closest train station is Penrith, 16 miles away, from there to Sydney is another 30 miles.  Come the weekend the town empties of men who make their way to Sydney for the weekend.

Work varied, from constructing barracks, excavating soil, digging tunnels, blowing rocks and concreting.  The work week was 40 hours, some areas worked in three shifts.  A worker could earn £8-10 in a week depending on the work.  

Of the first Balts who arrived on 16 June 1948, four were Lithuanians.  The town kept growing and reached 3,000 workers, mostly migrants from Europe.  The dam has been renamed DiPi Dam, based on Displaced Persons.

With Juozas’ love of music and singing he organised a Lithuanian Men’s choir of seven men from the camp.  In 1949 he conducted the Regents Park Lithuanian Men’s Choir.  In September 1950 in Penrith, Juozas sang at a United Nations International concert in the Dungowan Theatre.  The choir organised a concert in Sydney of Lithuanian folk songs which they sang in national costumes.  It was broadcasted over radio.

He became involved in the Lithuanian community in Sydney.  He was Chairman of the Board of Lithuanian Catholic Centre and wrote for Mūsų Pastogė.   In 1951 he was Vice President of Krašto Valdyba.

In 1952 he moved to Chicago where he again became involved in the Lithuanian community there.  On leaving Australia he asked that people donate money to the church rather than the community hold a tea for him.   In 1960 he was Lithuanian School Choir leader in Lemont Illinois and participated in USA and Canada Song Festivals.  He owned his own paint business in Lemont.

He died on 2 February 1991 in Chicago.

Photo 30 Nov 1978 Dirva

Two Year Contracts Part I

The Australian Government had an agreement with the International Refugee Organisation to settle at least 12,000displaced persons a year, from camps in Europe.  In exchange for free passage and help on arrival, new post WWII migrants agreed to work for the government for two years.

Between 1947 and 1953 the Australian Government assisted over 170,000 Displaced Persons to migrate to Australia.

All assisted migrants aged over 16 had to work. Regardless of qualifications men were classified as labourers and women as domestics.

So, what did they actually do?

The men were often sent to remote country places to work on the railways, work in the forest industry, cutting cane, building dams or work in mining.  

Here is a list of some places, certainly not all and with names attached if known. If you can add places, please comment below. 

New South Wales

Potts Hill (Water Board Camp) Sydney

From October 1948 a tent city grew 430 men from various nationalities.  Amongst them 75 Lithuanians.  By the camp gates a notice in German reads ‘Entry of women is prohibited’.  Many married men live here, some wives work in Sydney and could only meet out on the road. 

Two men live in each tent, there is a floor, two beds, small table and electricity. Food is made by yourself with electric frying pan, washing done yourself, in the laundry.  There are showers.

Work included laying pipes and sewers.  They earn 17-21 pounds per fortnight, of which they pay 2.6 for living in the camp. There is no large building as yet.

https://www.mhpillawarra.com.au/index.php/migrant-hostels-in-wollongong/item/105-the-balts-camp

Warragamba Dam, New South Wales

Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board project, Warragamba river which provides water supply to Sydney.  A large-scale operation that has meant the establishment of its own town, houses with modern facilities.  Unmarried workers get a bed in a dormitory at a cost of 4 shillings per day.  New arrivals get to stay in tents until a house becomes available.  There is a communal refectory, but one can choose to make your own food.  There is post, some shops, cinema that shows films three times per week.  

Surrounding area is a eucalyptus forest, three miles long ending Wallacia where there is a hotel, shops and restaurant.  The closest train station is Penrith, 16 miles away.  From there to Sydney is another 30 miles.  Come the weekend the town empties of men making there way to Sydney for the weekend. 

Work varies, constructing barracks, excavating soil, digging tunnels, blowing rocks and concreting. Work week is 40 hours, some areas they work in three shifts.  Earn 8-10 pounds in a week depending on the work.  

The first Balts arrived on 16 June 1948, four Lithuanians.  Now ten Lithuanians at the dam and four at the Mulgoa camp. It is difficult to meet up as they work odd times.  The works is said to take ten years. The town keeps growing and 3,000 workers will be here, mostly migrants from Europe.  The dam has been renamed DiPi Dam.

Waterboard requested 200 Balts to work on the dam.

Juozas Matikovas

Vincas Melnikas

Breadalbane, New South Wales

Gediminas Peciulevicius

Bronius
Tirilis

Waronora Dam, via Waterdall, Sydney

Alfonsas Praninskas

Western Australia

Bunbury, Western Australia

Main Road Board

Ten Lithuanians and two friendly Estonians.  Living near the Bunbury forest in tents.  Repairing roads, the work is not hard. Fortnight wage is around 14 pounds.

Everything they do themselves, cooking and cleaning.  Vytautas is the cook who also has a radio.  The evenings are spend listening to the radio, news from Europe.  They receive newspapers from Germany in Lithuanian which they read and pass around.  Thinking of constructing a basketball court.

Bunbury and Manjumup Pemberton Brick Yards 20 Balts

Martynas Janulis

J. Jonaitis

Simas Povilaitis

More to come.

Jonas Žilinskas the man with the iron jaw

Jonas Žilinskas (sometimes Žilinskis.  He was known as Jonaas in Australia) was born in 1919 in Kretinga.  

As a young man he became a trainee acrobat with a troupe that spent World War II entertaining soldiers. At this time, Žilinskas developed the “strongman” aerial act that he later brought to Australia.  

Jonas was part of the first transport of DP's arriving on the General Stuart Heintzelman..  His two year contract saw him cutting timber in  the Yuraygir National Park, northern NSW.   Jonas designed and built what is thought to be the first swingsaw in Australia.  It had an immediate impact on sleeper production, increasing those made form 10 to 250 sleepers per day for a 2-3 man crew. 

Before leaving the forest, Jonas built a statue of himself in the Newfoundland State Forest.  Made from concrete the life size version of himself stands on a large column. The figure is covered in a keys.  He lived in the forest in a self made wooden slab hut.  He even erected a tightrope between the trees so he could practice his circus skills.  

He never forgot his first love of circus work.  By 1950's he began working again for Australian circuses, first joining Wirth's, Sole's, Bullen and then Ashton where he remained until his retirement in 1999.  His signature act was holding a ring in his mouth while on a trapeze.  From the ring would dangle another performer. He claimed he could hold the weight of three female aerialists.  On one occasion he suffered a broken jaw while performing. 

A lovely obituary was written for him by Pixi Robertson.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/jonas-zilinskas-circus-legend-a-hard-act-to-follow-20130826-2sm4a.html 

A Shared Hope

From the speech of the book launch on 15th November 2020, by Daina Pocius.

South Australia is the state of Lithuanian firsts; the first newspaper, the first theatre group, the first and only museum and archives, and the first soccer team, just to name a few.  We have a lot to be proud of and celebrate.

As someone who grew up with four Lithuanian grandparents and in the community, I was surprised that, there was a lot of history, I didn’t know.  

I knew Lithuanians love basketball and we have had basketball teams since 1949, but I didn’t know how good they were. 

The Vytis Club began playing in in C grade and they outclassed all their opponents so effortlessly to win the premiership that next year the team applied and was admitted to the A grade.

The very first rounds in 1950, showed that the Vytis boys even outclass some of the A grade team.

I didn’t know that in 1958, Juozas Baciunas, President of the World Lithuanians Community visited Adelaide with his wife.  They spent the New Year here, which was celebrated at Centennial Hall, Wayville.  The Women’s Association had spent all day preparing food for the 500 expected guests.  

I didn’t know, After the community purchased an old church in Eastry Street, Norwood, renovations were organised to extend the complex.  In 1961, to construct the front of Lithuanian House, required approximately 300 bricks, each one costing 2 shillings.  A scheme was created that if you purchased a brick you received a numbered badge.  

In the year 1961, men and women offered their time to build Lithuanian House.  They worked 2706 hours, equivalent to 339 workdays.  The men were fed with meals prepared by the 18 women in the Women's Committee.  

I didn’t know that we had a community member who was on a crusade to ensure that Lithuania was properly represented in printed material.  Juozas Riauba would write to publishers pointing out mistakes or misguided information.  In 1969, he began to correspond with the State Library of South Australia, suggesting books that the Library could purchase about Lithuania.  He had compiled a list of books that the Library held, relating to Lithuania, 40 books in all.  Juozas appealed to the Lithuanian community in Adelaide to donate books that might better represent Lithuania in the State Library.  He went one step further; writing to publishers seeking to purchase books which he would then donate to the Library.  Within a short time, the State Library increased its collection of books on Lithuania to 67.

I did know that Vitas Gerulatis, American born to Lithuanian parents was a tennis star.  I didn’t know that he followed his father’s talent on the tennis court.  Vitas senior had won the Lithuanian tennis championship in his youth. 

In 1980 while in Australia he came to Adelaide with his father.  Here they visited another former Lithuanian tennis champion, Alfonsas Remeikis.  Alfonsas had been Lithuanian tennis champion in 1929 and 1930 and won many doubles titles.  In 1938 his doubles partner was Vitas Gerulaitis senior.

I didn’t know that the tiny town of Eucla on the Western Australia/South Australia border in the middle of the Nullarbor Plain could be seen as a micro nation of Lithuania.  The small township has six streets, a Police Station, a Motel Hotel complex with restaurant and Caravan Park.  With a population of just 50, it is literally in the middle of nowhere.  

One of the streets is Patupis street, named after Gediminas. Gediminas ended up as proprietor of Eucla's Amber Motel.

There is a 20-foot-high white metal cross with stylized tulips.  Constructed on 13th October 1969, the cross is dedicated to all Christians and to those who made the highway.  Two memorials are there are dedicated to Steve.  They both feature the Gedimino stulpai (Columns of Gediminas) an iconic Lithuanian symbol.  

After discovering these stories, I got upset that I didn’t know, that the older generation didn’t tell anyone, they didn’t pass this history on.  I soon realised that they did.  They recorded these stories in publication in the newspapers, I didn’t see it because they were written in Lithuanian.  Not being my first language, I translated the stories in English, so I could tell the stories to those who were connected to the community but no longer spoke the language. 

One of the hardest parts in writing this book was to come up with a title.  I discussed this with friends and family and we couldn’t come up with something that I thought was suitable.  So, I went back to the stories, looking for a common thread.  I found one. 

This was written on the first ship carrying Displaced Persons from Europe to Australia, the General Heintzleman which docked in Fremantle on the 27 November 1947.

The fate and sufferings of the Baltic peoples are known to the greater part of the world, to the rest we shall untiringly tell them until the day our native countries regain their freedom and independence.

At the first scout camp in Adelaide in 1955, Camp fire leader Vytenis Stasiškis gave these final words at the camp.

 Do all you can for the Motherland and never give up hope for Lithuania’s future and our return there.

In the book Adelaide published book,  Blezdingėlės prie Torrenso   The Swallows by the Torrens published in 1962, a forward was written by Juozas Bačiūnas.  In it he wrote, 

Lithuanians established themselves economically and spiritually and partook in Australian life.  It is my desire to create ties and connections between Lithuanians around the world that we all share the same hope to help Lithuania and to return when Lithuania is free.

It was every Lithuanians shared hope, that they could return home to a free Lithuania.

Again and again I was astounded by the dedication, sacrifice, and perseverance that members contributed to the community.  The time, money and effort that so many people willingly gave to see their beloved homeland free, is extraordinary.

Lithuania is free once again.  This shared hope of returning to a free Lithuania bound the community in its early years and instigated many of the clubs and events that transpired over the past 70 years.  

Now it is time to honour their hard work and celebrate their successes.

The money for the printing of this book, has been provided by the Australian Lithuanian Fund.  All proceeds from this book and going back into the Archives so we can print more about our history.  

I want the community’s history to be remembered, each of us have a story to tell, one that is unique and will be lost if it is not recorded.  I look forward to working with you in preserving our community’s history.

You can purchase the book online  for $25.00, plus $6.50 postage from the Australian Lithuanian Archive Facebook page.  https://www.facebook.com/australianlithuanianarchives/