DRAFT OF DISPLACED PERSONS FOR DOMINION LEAVES FROM TRIESTE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27092, 28 May 1949, Page 7

DRAFT OF DISPLACED PERSONS FOR DOMINION LEAVES FROM TRIESTE

NZPA Special CorrespondentCopyright LONDON, May 26 Thousands watched the departure of the Dundalk Bay from Trieste bound for New Zealand with 934 displaced persons, including 102 elderly persons —the first European immigrants m this category to be accented by any overseas country since the end of the war. _ The ship, also carried 21 displaced persons who have been granted entry permits to join relatives or friends already in New Zealand and a further 69 who are emigrating to Australia The Dundalk Bay will call at Fremantle and Melbourne before proceeding to Wellington. The voyage, which will be by way of Suez, will occupy about five weeks.

The draft for New Zealand comprised 486 Balts, 174 Poles, 48 Czechs. 35 Yugoslavs. 74 Ukrainians, 51 Hungarians, 49 Stateless individuals, and 17 others. There are 6 orphans, 102 elderly persons, 162 single men, 128 single women. 206 in family groups consisting of husband, wife, and one or two children. Few Speak Englislt A small number of the draft speak fluent English and about 20 per cent, have sufficient knowledge of the language to make themselves understood. , Most of them speak German in addition to their native language, and some speak three or four languages. One of the orphaned children, aged eight, can read, write, and speak German, Russian, and Lithuanian, and can make himself understood in English. The draft began assembling at Grugliasco camp on the outskirts of Turin a fortnight before the ship sailed. A slight outbreak of measles during the assembly period caused anxiety, but the disease did not spread. As they were not free from the risk of infection the families affected were excluded from the draft. All immigrants were medically examined before they left Grugliasco and again before they embarked at Trieste, the examinations being carried out by Dr J. W. Bartram, a New* Zealand member of the immigrant selection team Eight stowaways managed to hide themselves on trains which carried the draft from Turin to Trieste, but they were discovered before embarkation.

Educational Classes

The immigrants will be able to spend their time on 'the voyage learning something about New Zealand. Literature and maps of the country will be distributed amongst them and educational classes will be organised by Mr W. C. Collins, a New Zealand member of the §taff of the International Refugee Organisation, who has been seconded from the IRO to act as welfare Officer. Classes will include instruction in English, basic weights and measures, and units of coinage. Before the ship sailed, half a ton of New Zealand honey, sent as a gift by the New- Zealand Government, was taken on board for u§e in the ship’s dining rooms. •- . , . _ , A later message received in London stated that the Dundalk Bay had disembarked a woman and her child from the New Zealand draft to enter hospital at Port Said.