In September 1939, German forces invaded Poland, while at the same time the Russians moved into Belarus.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
The Zolnierczyk family lived on a farm near the small Belarusian town of Bakszly.
The Germans began rounding up everyone under the age of 16 and over 40 and herded them into a farm house, which was boarded up.
The soldiers’ intention was to shoot those inside, before burning it to the ground.
Inside the house were members of the Zolnierczyk family.
It proved to be their lucky day as the two officers in charge had quite an argument and the benevolent one saved the day and the lives of many local people.
Within an hour, the group was hustled into cattle trucks and trucked into Germany, where they were fortunate to remain as a family.
Instead of being sent to a concentration camp like thousands of others, they spent the following three years producing food on a small farm near Lubeck.
When World War II ended in 1945, the family resettled in Lubeck.
Wasyl Zolnierczyk met and married Zofia and not long after came the arrival of the couples’ first child, a son, Eugene.
By this time, there were many thousands of displaced persons in Lubeck and the family’s farm had been taken over by the Russians, so there was nothing to return to.
While the family members were considered to be white Russian, on the paperwork given to them, it stated they were Polish, so Polish they became.
Taken under control by the International Refugee Organisation, truckloads of food were delivered daily to countries and districts suffering severe shortages.
However, the family had a future to consider and Wasyl became their major decision maker.
Notices were pinned on boards daily for people to fill the void made by a shortage of men who had been killed during the war.
Australia, the UK, Canada, the US, Brazil and Argentina were among those nations in dire need of workers.
Ultimately, Australia came to their rescue in September 1948, when Wasyl and three of his brothers applied for work in Australia and were accepted.
They journeyed to Australia aboard the SS Wooster Victory, courtesy of the IRO, on a free trip offered to displaced persons.
Wasyl and his brothers were among many countrymen from neighbouring Baltic countries who were considered displaced persons.
On arrival in Sydney, the brothers were sent to a forestry camp at Greta near Bathurst, where they learnt skills required to cut down trees under a two-year contract.
They were then sent to live in a farmhouse between Broadford and Kilmore East.
The men would visit their families at the weekends after attending English classes at the Broadford Primary School or head to the local pub for an Aussie thirst quencher.
While English was difficult for the refugees to learn, they were treated well and soon began to settle into their community in Australia.
The men were well paid, with an income of five pounds, 15 shillings per week plus an extra 10 shillings per week in lunch money.
They needed to establish credibility so they could support their family back in Germany, and there were no handouts for resettlement.
By the time the contract was completed, Wasyl had saved much of his wages and bought a house in Broadford for £200, while two of his brothers found employment at the paper mill.
Meanwhile, Sofia and two-year-old Eugene arrived with other family members aboard the SS General Sturgis.
After undergoing a similar initiation, Sofia secured work at a clothing factory in Broadford riding her bicycle five miles each way five days a week.
For little Eugene, who was much loved and had many family members to look after him, it was not English they spoke to the little chap, but Belarusian.
By the time he was ready to begin school, he had still not grasped the English language.
His first weeks were challenging and while there were about four to five other refugee children in his class, they each spoke different languages and were thus unable to communicate.
However, with the resilience of the young, they gradually learnt both the language and their lessons.
Eugene reflected that, despite his difficult start, he completed school purely because of his strong determination and his parents’ expectations that he should have a good education.
Having to repeat his matriculation, he scraped through the following year and was awarded a teaching scholarship, under which he was paid $44 per fortnight with $22 for accommodation.
Life was great!
However, studies seemed to come second to everything else and again Eugene didn’t quite shape up. He lost his scholarship and went to Bendigo Teachers’ College.
However, a little maturity kicked in and he worked hard.
He got his scholarship back and graduated with a primary teaching certificate in 1968 and was appointed headmaster at Strath Creek, with 11 students over seven class levels.
From there it was to Fitzroy, where he taught Grade 6, with a class of 40 children, most of whom were refugees from Macedonia, Yugoslavia and Greece.
Besides becoming involved on various committees, playing tennis and other sports, joining Apex Australia, and fundraising for the Royal Children’s Hospital, Eugene also gained his librarian’s certificate at Melbourne Teachers’ College.
In 1974, Eugene became the librarian at Corryong Consolidated School for two years. He also learnt to play golf, a pursuit he continues today at the age of 78.
Over the next 42 years, Eugene taught at a number of different schools, including Cobram Consolidated School.
He became actively involved in each individual school’s community, including in Walwa, where he spent the best 10 years of his life.
He loved the children, their parents and his fellow teachers, and there was nothing better than fundraising for a good cause.
Eugene and his two brothers, Leon, a primary school teacher, and Roman, a chemical engineer who lives in the Netherlands, made their parents proud.
Despite the traumatic experiences of the family in Europe, they adapted to their new lives in Australia, became Australian citizens and proudly and unreservedly call the ‘Land Down Under’ home.
Footnote: People Scape – Celebrating Australians.
In February 2001, the National Council for the Centenary of Federation called for nominations of people who had significantly influenced their communities or nation.
More than 4000 people were chosen and requested to decorate a life-size cut-out of their chosen ‘hero’.
Assembled on the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra, Wasyl and Sofia Zolnierczyk were honoured by the family’s nomination and attended a dinner and concert in the Great Hall on November 25, 2001.
Wasyl was interviewed by the respected journalist Indira Naidoo at the event.
Contributor