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National Archives of Australia
Series notes for series A11679
Function and Purpose
Indicators
Average file size: standard
Digital image charge: Standard
This series consists of Migrant Selection Documents for Displaced Persons who travelled to Australia on the ship Anna Salen departing Naples on 1 August 1949.
Displaced Persons Scheme
At the end of the Second World War many thousands of people who had been brought to Germany from occupied countries to labour in German industry were unable or unwilling to return to their homelands because of occupation by the army of the USSR (mainly Poland and the Baltic countries (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia) as well as Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Ukraine, etc) These people came under the care of the International Refugee Organization (IRO); they were screened, given the status of Displaced Person and housed in camps in Germany, Italy and Austria.
On 21 July 1947, the Commonwealth Government entered into an agreement with the IRO covering the resettlement of European Displaced Persons in Australia.
Under this agreement, the IRO undertook responsibility for provision of transport and the care of the Displaced Persons until their disembarkation in Australia. The Commonwealth undertook selection in Europe and responsibility for reception in Australia, placement in employment and care after arrival.
Eligibility for selection was initially based on standards of age, physical fitness and the ability to do manual work. At first, Australia was only interested in accepting single Baltic people, however restrictions on nationality were relaxed as the scheme progressed. As Australia's annual quota increased the Department of Immigration accepted other nationalities which included Czechoslovaks, Yugoslavs, Ukrainians, Hungarians and Poles.
On 29 April 1949, the scheme was extended to include all European nationals whose displaced person status was recognised by the IRO (the IRO constitution requires eight pages in which to list the conditions of eligibility).
All applicants within the worker age limits under this scheme undertook to remain in the employment found for them by the Commonwealth for a period of two years from the date of their arrival, and their continued residence in the Commonwealth was subject to their observing this undertaking. At the end of this period, these migrants could be granted indefinite admission to the Commonwealth.
Migrants under this scheme were eligible to receive health and medical service benefits, sickness and unemployment benefit, maternity allowance and child endowment. To ensure suitable arrangements for the reception of these migrants and their absorption into the community, the Commonwealth set up Reception and Training Centres at Bathurst and Greta in NSW, Bonegilla in Victoria, and Northam in WA. At these centres migrants were medically examined and x-rayed and interviewed individually to assess their employment potential. During their stay in the Reception and Training Centres, usually about three or four weeks, they were given a course of instruction in utilitarian English and the Australian way of life, and were paid a special social service benefit from which an amount was deducted towards the cost of their upkeep. When the IRO wound up its activities in 1951, the Commonwealth agreed to receive those Displaced Persons already accepted for migration whose passages had still to be arranged. This continued until 1954, bringing the total number of arrivals under this scheme to approximately 170,700
Physical characteristics of records
The record for each person consists of two main documents:
1. A screening card which shows the displaced person's name, date of birth, sex, nationality, educational standard, fluency of languages, IRO eligibility, address of relative in Australia, religion, particulars of dependents, civil offences, literary test, date of arrival at the Processing Centre and from where, the reason for coming to the Centre, employment in the past and suggested employment, signed undertaking, acceptance, and signature of Selection Officer.
2. The International Refugee Organisation Medical Examination Form includes the displaced person's name, date of birth, colour of eyes and hair, weight, height, name of camp and location, place of birth, passport photograph, signature and a medical questionnaire including x-ray negative.
The Ship and the Voyage
The ship's nominal roll is a list of all the passengers that were on board when the ship sailed from its port of departure. (The nominal roll for this voyage of the Anna Salen is on file A434, 1949/3/16852). Each passenger is given a nominal roll number and these numbers have been used as the item control symbols for this series.
There were 1566 Displaced Persons on board the Anna Salen when it left Naples on 1 August 1949. The Anna Salen arrived in Fremantle on 24 August 1949.http://kalgoorlie-search.mylivepage.com/image/2268...
Most of the passengers disembarked and were transported by train to the Department of Immigration Reception and Training Centre, Northam.
Some children were suffering from measles, so they, along with their families, were accommodated at Graylands.
Sources
Year Book of the Commonwealth of Australia, No. 39, 1953 and No. 42, 1956
A434, 1949/3/16852 (Nominal roll is contained in this file)
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