Foxy,

"The post war- Lithuanian immigrants came as indentured labour.
That is, every migrant over the age of 18 had to enter into
a 2 year contract with the Australian government which
obliged the migrant to work wherever directed"

I well remember some of the anomalies; as a lad I worked on the NSWGR and we had a migrant (Balts in common usage) who was posted to the steam depot as a shed labourer, he was a noted surgeon and the District Locomotive Engineer moved him into the DLE's office as a clerk to save his hands and unofficially to have an expert on hand to back up the First Aid Post.

Another posting to the depot was a famous pianist who also ended up in the DLE's office and who used to delight the workers with impromptue lunch hour concerts; these were only two among many.

We also had one who was very handsome, tall and well built and who looked remarkably like the depictions of an idealized Christ, one day the police took him away on a charge of armed robbery, he was the only one that I knew who went (or was) bad.

Is Mise,

Thanks for that.

Walter Jona the then Victorian State Minister of
Immigration and Ethnic Affairs was quoted as saying
to a large gathering of Lithuanians in Dallas Brooks
Hall in Melbourne 26 Dec. 1976: -

"But the best thing about you Lithuanians is that on
the street you are indistinguisable from ordinary
Australians - and the worst - is that there are not
enough of you".

According to survey done - the 10,000 Lithuanians who
came to Australia have created at least 11,000 jobs.
After completion of their 2 year contracts many newcomers
established building companies, new factories, retail
shops, service and repair centres, skating rinks, tailor
shops, and even a complete town (Eucla). Others have
contributed in the fields of Art, Music, theatre, the
professions - from medicine, law, teaching, nursing,
and much much more.

To get back to religion - I should clarify that - despite
some of my bad early experiences - I did find that life
without a conscious awareness of God for me was difficult.
My father was raised by the Jesuits. And my children did
attend private Catholic schools in Melbourne.

Dear Foxy,

Take heart ! At the last Census, 0.06 % of Australians had Lithuanian ancestry, including:

* Doug Cameron

* Jason Akermanis

* Peter Malinauskas (one of SA's best politicians)

* Osher Gunsberg

* Rebecca Wiasak

* Shanina Shaik

and many other fine Australians.

Joe

Saltpetre,

You have a reading problem. The only person to make a comment at 11:51:15 was Chris Lewis. My last post before your idiotic cancel culture remarks was at 10:20:33. Nobody with your handicap should be lecturing other people.

But, how dare you say you will be "keeping an eye out" for "veiled and camouflaged (tautology) abuse" when you don't even describe this 'abuse'. Who the hell do you think you are? Graham Young? The coordinator is the only person to make such comments here, you pipsqueak.

If you have the gumption and the ability to spell out this 'abuse' that I'm supposed to have posted, do so. Just make sure you have the right post this time. And, in future, try to keep your Fascistic speech blocking threats to yourself.

Joe,

Thank You for the list of Lithuanians.

I love Osher Gunsberg. Here's a few more names to add
to your list that you may not know have Lithuanian
ancestry:

David Suchet - actor who plays Poirot.

Robert Zemeckis - Hollywood blockbuster Director.

Robert Downey Jr. - actor.

William Shatner - actor.

Pink - singer.

Sean Penn - actor.

Ruta Lee - actress.

Sir John Gielgud - actor.

Laurence Harvey - actor.

Bob Dylan - musician.

Charles Bronson - actor.

John C. Reilly - comic - actor.

And the list goes on.

How can you tell if someone was raised as a Lithuanian?

1) They love Lithuanian food.
2) Basketball is their second religion.
3) They can speak more than one language.
4) They can survive a great big fat Lithuanian wedding, feast
or family get together.
5) They most likely gifted someone amber.
6) They're a nature child.
7) They love sun, sea, and sand.
8) They get whipped once a year (for health reasons).
9) They're experienced in explaining what the hot red
soup is or the cold pink one.
10) If they're female - they're extremely beautiful.
11) They love to dance and sing - and they're very good at it.
12) And they love with strong passion.

This is starting to get really weird.

And here I was thinking LOUDmouth was the only one with mental issues.