BALTIC IMMIGRANTS PLEASE AUSTRALIA

Chronicle (Levin), 19 December 1947, Page 5

BALTIC IMMIGRANTS PLEASE AUSTRALIA

Rc.-imvim] Thursdav, 7 p.m. SYDNEY, l)of. 1S. Australians wno hava seen the Uoramuiiwealth 's .S0(» new inunigrants now 111 an ol«l Victuriaii anny cainp at Buiiegilla. near Allmry, are ruiigratulating theiiiselv •« mi the obvioim surress of the Aw.siralian scneme uf niass iinportatiou of spei-iallv seleeted Baltie youngsters. l'hysicallv and mentally, these nexv Australian eiii/.ens from Estonia, I.ithuania, and Eatvia, the eldest oi \\ hom are in their niiddU' twenties, are second to noiie. * "I liave never seen surli enthu.siasm, ' ' said Ur. ilalph Urossley, of Sydney University, who is in eharge oi' earnp edueation. " They are splendid t vpes; keen. intelligent, and rourteous; nat urally frank and ea.-y in manner, siiu-ere. "and allogether pleasant people. The iniportat thing is that thev are looking l'orward and not backward. The athletie stamp of the vouths and girls is beeoming known to the Australian public through photographs in the newspapers. All seeni to be line sw iminers, and all revel in the sun. The girls, who cave little for eosmeties,. have adopted the umisual eustom oi pasiing fresh vine leaves between their eye> to avoid freekled noses. On their arrival, Dr. Urossley tound that the eomnton mediuni of expression was Gernian, wliieh tliey had learneii during years of foreed laliour under N'azi doinination. The word "aehtung' with wliieh they were originaliy ealled together, lias now been rcplaeed bv the genlle " bitte hoeren," ineaning. " ph'itse iislen," as being less reminiseenl of slave eaiups. Tne lnigrants have been divided into 32 elasses for traiiiing, and though edinutional probleius have been eoni plicated by the faet that 418 of them have tio Englisli at all, the programrne is proeeeding snioolhly. Part of the trainiiig is designe.i to break the habit oi' subservience ineuleated in years oi foreed Jabour. On the cultural side the\ do not reqnire ntneh help as there are many talented musicians and painters in their ranks. Their arrival has pronipted the "Nl in ister of Innuigratimi (Mr. ('alwell; to suggest that people eoining to Australia l'rom abroad should be ealled 11 new Aust ralians, " not " migrauts, but the new attitude of the great .majority oi Australians towards these reeruits to the nation is well expressed bv ihe Sydney Morniug Herabl, wliieh savs: "The silly prejudiee eanuot be overcome merely by chauging the label. There is .something to be said for the title, wliieh indieated a readiness to aeeept the new arri\ uls into the Australian eominvinity, but the real lieed is tor a ehange of lieart, an altered outlook towards the stranger in nui midst. ' '