Foxy,

You said "The Australian government
contributed only ten pounds ($20) towards each migrant's
fare. The rest of the passage was paid by various
non-Australian welfare agencies."

Ten quid represented far more than $20 of today's money; in 1949's terms it was two weeks wages for a tradesman, so today the equivalent is around $3,000.

otb,

The fair-skinned Lithuanians and other European arrivals
were seen as a tangible response to the popular call of the
day, to "populate or perish." this too was part of Mr Caldwell's
motivation. The migrants presence helped allay the Australian
population's fears of "the yellow hordes in the north" (Klaasen,
1997, p.155).

The following link may help with the brioader picture:

http://www.bonegilla.org.au/research/images/193802_Europes_Displaced.pdf

Mr Caldwell received a gift from the Lithuanians while they were
on board ship. They were naturally happy to be arriving - having
escaped from the the second Soviet occupation of their country.
I doubt if they would have given him any gifts at a later date
however.

Dear Is Mise,

This doesn't change the fact that Australia was the last country to
enter the International Refugee Organisation's Resettlement
Scheme and political rhetoric aside, "economic expedience was
by far the stronger motivation..." and that the rest of the passage
was paid by various non-Australian welfare agencies.

Dear Banjo,

My apologies for having contributed to de-railing your thread.
I shall try to stick to the topic in future.
I continue like a fool to respond to otb's stirring.
I should know better by now. I can't understand why he
doesn't start his own threads on issues he's fixated on.
I sometimes get the vibe that he's fixated on me for
some peculiar reason.
But of course I'm now being paranoid.
Silly me.

Foxy,

The truth is sufficient. No black armband. The proud migrants and the government and people who welcomed them don't need this century's victim politics. They would be embarrassed by it.

My concern is is to ensure that the history of the Lithuanian settlement in Australia post-WW2 is not re-written to accord the discourse and politics of modern victimhood.

Everyone had a tough time after the war. Australia did its very best to help displaced persons. They wouldn't have stayed on to raise their families if they didn't want to.

Foxy,

To equate a tenner of the late 1940s with $20 of 2014's money is misleading and shews, on your part, either an intention to give an entirely wrong impression or a serious lack of knowledge of fiscal matters.

unsure what the ISSUE relates..[10 POUND POMS?]
but the conversion..of pounds[weight]..into dollars..[also units of weights]..hides one of the greatest WEALTH THEFts..globally.

ismise reminds us that this so cALLED 20 BUCKS..IN Todays face vALUES
REPRESENTED 10 POUNDS..OR SAY 5 KG..OF [IN WAR TIME] SILVER COIN]..5 kg of pURE SILVER SHOULD EQUAL ARROUND 3000 dollars today.

but much depends uPON its purity..[after ww2..thEY HALVED THE SILVER CONTENT/IE DEBASED THE QUEENS COIN..INTO STERling silver..[50 percent silver]..that was of course after they took away gold money/the silver coin ended..WITH DECIMALISATION

wjen we exchanged our shillings and pence/for uncOMMON CENTS
AS TIME EVOLVED OF COURSE THEY took away our pennies and soon takeaway our coin all together[5 CENT PIECES ARE ELIMINATED FOR EXAMPLE ON QLD BUSES]..the biased unfair 'CASH' FAres
..ARE 'ROUNDED UP]

WE FORGET PENNY WAS A WEIGHT/dollar IS A WIGHT POUNDS SHILLINGS AND PENCE..ARE ALL Weights..IN FACT VALUABLE METALS-WEIGHT..EXCEPT SILVER IS A HEALTHY METAL[AND NICKLE MAKES US SICK]..REGARDLESS GOVT PUT IN 3000/real CASH value..THATS BEYOND Dispute..the 'welfare Agencies who knows..but for that many of us wouldnt be here.

BUT BANKERS HAVE LOOTED THE GOLD/SIlver
[CUE THE WIKISEED/WIKIGELD]