Lithuanian Australians in World War 2

The recent 75th commemoration of D-Day (the allied landings in Normandy) reminded me that there were also Australian Lithuanian servicemen and women who participated in World War Two.

At least 25 Australian servicemen who served during WW2 (1939-45) recorded their place of birth as Lithuania. Some were born in independent Lithuania (from1918) while others had been born while the country was still part of the czarist Russian empire. Here are a few of their stories.

Myer ALTMAN, born 9 May 1923 in Kaunas was living in Mosman (Sydney) with his father Samuel when he enlisted at Sydney University - he was an economics student there - in October 1941. He continued to serve in Australia until discharge in January 1946.

Judah John DAVIES, born 21 October 1905 in Kaunas enlisted in May 1941 at Paddington (Sydney). He was a motor accessories traveller, married to Betty Shwabsky Davies, and saw active service in the Middle East and New Guinea before being discharged on medical grounds in September 1944.

John KELLERT (Jonas KELERTAS), born 9 June 1924 in Panevežys, enlisted at Bankstown (Sydney) in July 1942. He qualified as a radio/radar mechanic and served in New Guinea from October 1943 to May 1944, discharged in October 1946.

Harry KURZKI had been born in 1893 in Kaunas and served in the Russian army during WW1 during which time he received a gunshot wound to the head. He arrived in Australia in 1925 and enlisted at Paddington (Sydney) at the age of 49 but was discharged after one month as medically unfit.

Zalman LEVI (also known as Zale ZAPOLSKI) had been born in 1904 in Lazdijai and enlisted at Claremont (Perth) in June 1942 at the age of 38. He was married, an antique dealer, and only 5'3" tall, but recorded continuous full-time war service in Western Australia, New South Wales, and the Northern Territory until January 1946.

Walter MARCIN (Vladimiras MARCINKEVIČIUS), born 9 December 1917 in Kaunas had arrived in Australia in 1928 with his parents and settled in Arncliffe (Sydney). He had attended the Royal Art Society of NSW and the Julian Ashton Art School while completing a 5 year apprenticeship as a stained glass draughtsman. Walter enlisted with the RAAF in March 1943, served as aircrew and navigator before being promoted to Flight Sergeant and Warrant Officer and joining the RAF (in the UK) in May 1944. He survived the war in Europe and was discharged in January 1946. 

Anthony PATRICK (Antanas PETRAITIS), born 10 September 1908 in Sintautai had arrived with his family in 1928 from Scotland and worked in Sydney as a french polisher. He enlisted in May 1943 and provided 1030 days of active service within Australia until the end of the war.

As well as the above, the following Australian WW2 servicemen recorded Lithuania as their place of birth. Many were Lithuanian Jews, several were from the same family:

Isdore BERMAN (Idelis BERMANAS) from Jurbarkas;
Bernard BLOCH (BLOCHAS) from Varniai;
Max BLOCH;
William BLOCH;
Kay Kazys BRAZ (BRAZAUSKAS) from Kaunas;
Samuel EPSTEIN from Kaunas;
David GOLDBERG from Kaunas;
Hyman GRAY from Zanov(?);
Sundel HANEMANN from Memel (Klaipeda);
Maurice MARGOLIS from Vilnius;
Noel MILLER (Chane MILERIS) from Nemakščiai;
Leon PLATUS from Godz(?);
Max PLATUS;
Edgar SEEBERG from Zabelai(?);
Harry SEGAL from Žagare;
Albert SILVER from Židikai;
Leslie SILVER;
Peter Stasium STANTON (Petras STASIUNAS) from Pašvitinys.

Still others who served Australia during WW2 were the Australian-born descendants of Lithuanian immigrants; for example Lt Frank John AUGUSTUS, the son of Pranas and Magdalena AUGUSTAITIS who had arrived in 1924 from Scotland; and Aircraftwoman Frances Merle SIMKUS, the grandaughter of William ŠIMKUS who had been born around 1861 in Memel (Klaipeda) and arrived in NSW in 1886. Others included Bombardier Anthony Joseph ALANSKAS from Western Australia and Staff Sergeant Anthony Wedrien from Sydney.



Sources: NAA (National Archives of Australia) and Ancestry.com

The Australian Dictionary of Biography

The Australian Dictionary of Biography is an ongoing project of the National Centre of Biography at the Australian National University, Canberra. Eighteen volumes of biographies, covering over 12,000 'significant and representative' individuals, have been published over the last 50 years, resulting in 'Australia's pre-eminent dictionary of national biography'. It can be accessed online (click here).

The Dictionary has articles on around 20 people who had some link with Lithuania; some were visitors, others had ancestors from there, and a smaller number were born there. The latter include a few post-WW2 arrivals:

• Olegas TRUCHANAS (1923-1972), wilderness photographer and conservationist; and
• Henrikas (Henry) SALKAUSKAS (1925-1979), artist;

as well as earlier arrivals:

• Mark RUBIN (1867-1919), pearl dealer and pastoralist, born in Salantai;
• Isack MORRIS (1881-1951), rabbi, born in Zagare;
• Jacob Simon (Jack) BLOCH (1898-1961), shoemaker, born in Plunge; and
• Zalmenas (Zell) RABIN (1932-1966), journalist and newspaper editor, born in Kaunas.

All these men have interesting stories. Here are a few examples:

Jacob (Jack) BLOCH was the son of Lozer and Chaja BLOCHAS; he was named Yaacov Shimon BLOCHAS and in Lithuanian was known as Simonas Jankelis BLOCHAS. Lozer was a painter and cobbler and his son followed suite, becoming a cobbler at an early age. As well as shoemaking, Jacob had studied dance in Lithuania. After arriving in Sydney in 1930, he went on to establish a small business making dance shoes to order. The timing seems excellent, as the 1930s saw a stream of ballet troupes visiting Australia, and orders for Jacob's shoes continued to increase. Many international ballet stars visiting Australia bought and wore his shoes.

The entry on Jacob Bloch in The Dictionary of Biography, written by Valerie Lawson, notes that while his business continued to grow through the 1950s, he was not ambitious and  'more craftsman than businessman'. Nevertheless the Bloch company continued to expand after Jacob's death and is now a large and successful commercial enterprise, with 15 stores in Australia as well as stores in London and Paris. According to Valerie Lawson the company supplies the Australian Ballet with over 5,000 pointe shoes each year.

Zalmenas (Zell) RABIN was the son of Aleksandras and Zeny RABINAVICIUS. Aleksandras was a pharmacist in Kaunas but the family fled Europe just before WW2 broke out, arriving in Sydney in 1939 when Zell was 6 years old. He was active in student journalism and politics in the early 1950s and in 1954 found a job with the Sun newspaper in Sydney.

Zell's career advanced quickly, and by 1956 he was operating out of the Sun's New York bureau. He worked closely with Rupert Murdoch from 1960, and became editor of the Daily Mirror in Sydney in 1963. The entry in The Dictionary of Biography, written by Robert Milliken, notes that the Daily Mirror flourished under Zell's 'dynamic leadership'. Rabin's brilliant career ended prematurely; he died in 1966 at the age of 34.

President John F. Kennedy meets with Publisher of News Ltd. of Australia,
Rupert Murdoch (right), and New York reporter for the Daily Mirror, Zell Rabin.
Oval Office, White House, Washington, D.C, 1 December 1961
(Public domain, source: http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKWHP-ST-269-1-61.aspx)