The wave of Ukrainian migration to Australia in 1948-1949

Размещено на http://allbest.ru

Odessa National University I.I. Mechnikov

The wave of Ukrainian migration to Australia in 1948-1949

L. Filiuk, Candidate of Philological Sciences,

Department of foreign languages for the Humanities

D. Golodetsky, A 4 ^th year student, History faculty

It's interesting how people sometimes find themselves in another part of the planet and this place soon becomes their new home. This happened with tens of thousands of the Ukrainians who had appeared on the fifth continent over 14 thousand kilometers from home, in Australia, where Ukrainian community is the youngest among Ukrainian diaspora of abroad. One of the major problems of our time is the problem of refugees. For better understanding the difficulties immigrants face with it would be useful for the Ukrainian society to recall the past when the Ukrainians experienced a similar fate.

The first Ukrainians appeared in Australia in the XIX^th century. We know that Miklouho-Maclay was here in 1870 - 1880-s. He built the first biological station in Australia, in New South Wales. It is believed that about 5,000 Ukrainians arrived here before the First World War along with a large group of the Russians who had worked on the Chinese Eastern Railway. Most of them lived in Brisbane where they were politically active. But until 1948 there weren't many Ukrainians in Australia and as a result the organized Ukrainian community didn't exist. After the adoption of immigration law by the Australian Government the resettlement process of different ethnic groups from Europe to Australia intensified. It reached the peak in 1948 - 1949. With the help of the International Refugee Organization a significant amount of the Ukrainians from the war-torn Europe arrived there. Mostly they were people who had left Germany and Austria and refused to return to the Soviet Union where they awaited national or religious oppression or prison on charges of collaboration. Australia agreed to accept a limited number of the migrants, who were physically and mentally healthy and ideologically acceptable. The total number of the Ukrainians who moved to Australia between 1948 -1950s was about 20000 people, it's 10% of the Ukrainians who left Germany and Austria after the war [1]. ukrainian diaspora australia immigrant

The migrants had to stay at the camp from three to five months. They should have gone through a mandatory course of Australian history and the English language. During studying they went in for sports, went dancing or to musical concerts [2]. The important event for the Ukrainian migrants was the ability of participation in Catholic worship that was conducted for Catholic immigrants. From Australian press of that time we could suggest that the settlers were informed about the repressions of Greek Catholic Church in the Soviet Union [3].

According to the agreement, the migrants had to work for the state for two years. They worked in heavy industry, coal mining and farming [4]. The migrants' reviews (including Ukrainian migrants) told about good conditions at camp and at work [5]. The Ukrainian composer, Anatoly Miller, said that it's “a small fee for the opportunity to live in this wonderful country” [6]. Like all other immigrants of that time, he signed a contract under which he had to work where the authority would direct him. The musician was an assistant director of the hotel for the newly arrived immigrants. “The Advertiser” noted that the Australian government was looking for the Ukrainians who wish to migrate from the camps for displaced persons in Germany to Australia. This desire was based on Americans' recommendation who spoke of the Ukrainians as good workers [7]. Among the newcomers there were the Ukrainians who had identified themselves with other peoples of Europe: the Hungarians, the Poles or the Romanians. For example, one migrant called himself a “Ukrainian-Chech” [8], but then corrected to a “Ukrainian”. Consequently, the number of the Ukrainian arrivals was considerably higher than official statistics data [9]. But on the other hand there were cases where the authorities declared Ukrainian peculiarity. The column in “The Examiner” noted that there should be distinction between the Ukrainians and the Poles. This remark was the result of several Ukrainians' refusal to undergo naturalization ceremony together with the Poles but not because those nations were in confrontation, the author added [10].

Right after arriving in Australia, the Ukrainians felt the need to unite. It was caused mostly by foreign environment and ignorance of language. So it was the beginning of Ukrainian public and church life. In the capitals of six states there formed communities, called the Ukrainian association of Victoria, Tasmania and so on. Some of them formed the branches in provincial towns. With the emergence of social institutions to support and develop Ukrainian identity and community we can say that in 1949 the Ukrainian diaspora was formed in Australia. Already in April 1949 there was created the first Ukrainian Association of South Australia, and then in the states of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. The first Ukrainian newspaper -- “The Free Thought” appeared in July 1949 [11]. At the first meeting, the Ukrainian Association of South Australia expressed its gratitude to the Australian government and the Australian people for a friendly welcome. “The opportunity of enjoying freedom and getting a job makes us very happy”, -- said the president of the association [12].

After becoming full citizens, the Ukrainians participated in the concerts and fairs presenting their culture to make a contribution to the society that had taken them to itself [13]. One of the main factors that had united the Ukrainian settlers in Australia, was religion. There were created Orthodox and Greek Catholic communities which persisted Ukrainian identity. For example, the press informs about the Ukrainian Orthodox Christmas in a Protestant church rented for it. The worship was conducted in the Ukrainian language and the people put on their national costumes [14]. B.V.Sokolov noteD that `this ethnic group in Australia had a very high degree of unity of the communities that had gathered around the Uniate Greek Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox churches” [15].

Drawing conclusions, we can say that migration had a positive impact on the Ukrainians not only due to the high quality of life, but because of the ability to practice their religion and culture which they were denied at home. Currently in Australia there are about 40 thousand Ukrainians. The Ukrainians settled mainly in the states of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland, in Tasmania. But it should be noted that the postwar migrants differ significantly from the migrants who came after the Ukrainian independence. This gap creates unstable relationships within the community. The postwar migrants moved with the idea of Ukrainian independence and freedom. Their main motive for emigration was the time of persecution and oppression of the Ukrainian language, culture and religion in the Soviet Ukraine. The majority of migrants who came the Ukrainian independence are politically denationalized, atheists and mainly focused on material wealth that create a conflict of values with the old community. During its existence the Ukrainian Diaspora in Australia supported Ukraine in its struggle for independence from the Soviet Union. The members of the diaspora held meetings and starved in support of the political prisoners. Diaspora promoted good relations between the Australian government and the Ukrainian authorities. It led to the recognition of Ukrainian independence on 26^th December, 1991. And now diaspora is protesting against Russia's aggression towards Ukraine.

References

1. A Displaced Person Finds Himself at Home // The Advocate. - 1948. - 21 October.

2. All Nations in `Balt' Migration // Townsville Daily Bulletin. - 1948. - 20 May.

3. Australia seeks Ukrainians // The Advertiser. - 1948. - 6 August.

4. Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations [Electronic resource].

Mode Access: http://ozeukes.com/ukrainians-in-australia/history-of-ukraimans -in-australia/chronological-history/

5. `Best Country In the World' // Barrier Miner. -- 1949. -- 2 May.

6. Displaced persons in industry // Daily Examiner. -- 1948. -- 16 October.

7. New Australians beginning to feel at home // Sunday Mail. -1949. - 7 October.

8. Migrant art at Cunderdin // The West Australian. -- 1949. -- 30 August.

9. New settlers score hit in concert and display // The Canberra Times. -1949. -30 May.

10. Oleinikova O. Post-Independence Ukrainian Migration to Australia / Olga Oleinikova [Electronic resource] - Mode Access: https://www.tasa. org.au/wp-content/ uploads/2013/11/Oleinikova.pdf

11. Poles and Ukrainians are different // The Examiner. - 1949. - 10 October.

12. SA Ukrainians Say “Thank You” // Bruce Rock-Corrigin. - 1949. - 11 August.

13. Бабута М.Н. История формирования украинской диаспоры в Новом и Новейшем Свете (конец XIX-XX вв.) [Текст] / Марина Николаевна Бабута // Известия Томского политехнического университета, 2013. - № 6. C. 142 - 148.

14. Соколов Б.В. Этнический состав населения Австралии [Текст] / Борис Вадимович Соколов // Расы и народы. № 14. - М.: Наука, 1984. - 256 с.

Annotation

The wave of Ukrainian migration to Australia in 1948-1949. L. Filiuk, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Department of foreign languages for the Humanities, I.I. Mechnikov Odessa National University D. Golodetsky, A 4 ^th year student, History faculty, I.I. Mechnikov Odessa National University This article examines the migration of Ukrainian population to Australia in the period from 1948 to 1949. It was the first major Ukrainian migration wave to Australia which founded the Ukrainian diaspora in Australia. It shows the causes of migration and social conditions of Ukrainian immigrants based on that time Australian press. As a result of the analysis, the author concludes that migration had a positive impact on Ukrainian population not only because of a standard of living, but also due to the ability of practising their religion and culture of which they had been deprived in the homeland. Ukrainian diaspora in Australia was established in 1949 and supported Ukraine in the future. This led to the fact that the Australian government was one of the first ones who had recognized Ukrainian independence.

Keywords: Ukrainian diaspora, migrants, migration, Australia, postwar- period

Анотація

В даній статті розглядається міграція українського населення в Австралію в період з 1948 по 1949 рр. Це була перша значна хвиля міграції українців в Австралію, що заклала основу діаспори. На основі австралійської преси того часу показані причини міграції та соціальні умови українських переселенців. В результаті аналізу автор приходить до висновку, що міграція мала позитивний вплив на дане українське населення не тільки завдяки високому рівню життя, а й завдяки можливості практикувати свою релігію і культуру, чого вони були позбавлені на Батьківщині. Створена у 1949 році українська діаспора в Австралії в подальшому підтримувала Україну. Це призвело до того, що австралійський уряд один з перших визнав українську незалежність.

Ключові слова: українська діаспора, мігранти, міграція, переселенці, Австралія, післявоєнний час.

Аннотация

В данной статье рассматривается миграция украинского населения в Австралию в период с 1948 по 1949 гг. Это была первая значительная волна миграции украинцев в Австралию, что заложила основу диаспоры. На основе австралийской прессы того времени показаны причины миграции и социальные условия украинских переселенцев. В результате анализа автор приходит к выводу, что миграция имела позитивное влияние на данное украинское население не только благодаря высокому уроню жизни, но и благодаря возможности практиковать свою религию и культуру, чего они были лишены на Родине. Созданная в 1949 году украинская диаспора в Австралии в дальнейшем поддерживала Украину. Это привело к тому, что австралийское правительство одно из первых признало украинскую независимость.

Ключевые слова: украинская диаспора, переселенцы, мигранты, миграция, Австралия, послевоенный период.

Размещено на Allbest.ru