Tadeusz Sas-Baczynski

Story

I was born in Poland. My father was a high ranking member of the Polish Government and a captain (reserve officer) in the Polish armed forces. He joined his military unit when the World War II broke out and became a prisoner of war in October 1939 in Germany till April 1945. He did not return to his homeland after the war because Poland became a communist state as a result of the western alliance agreements in Jalta that included Poland in the Soviet bloc\’s sphere of influence.

I was then still living in Poland with my mother and sister. In September 1945 we decided to try to escape and attempt to get to the American zone of Germany where my father was. We reached Murnau Bavaria in December 1945 and reunited with my father after 6 years. There was a Polish Army based in Italy known as the Anders Army which was part of the British forces occupying Italy. In February 1946, I travelled from Germany to Italy to join the Polish Army and was stationed in Italy till September 1947.

The British Government had to return 120,000 members of the Anders Army to England under pressure from the Soviet Government. We were demobilised in 1948, became civilians and were given the option to return to Poland or to remain in the UK with the possibility to migrate to Canada or Australia.

As my parents were still in Germany where my father worked for the American forces, I chose to return to them with the possibility to migrate from there to Australia. My sister was also working for the American forces as a secretary. As our parents were in their early 50-ties their only hope was to migrate to Australia as our dependants. My sister and I applied in October 1948 to the Australian migration officer and we were both accepted. Our knowledge of English assisted us of course and we signed a 2 years contract accepting any manual work that would be offered.

On my arrival in Australia in 1949 I was immediately employed as an interpreter by the Immigration Department in Bonegilla due to my knowledge of English, Polish, German, Italian and understanding of other Slavic languages.

I worked in Bonegilla for 6 years, first as an interpreter and later as an administration officer in charge of movement control responsible for sending families to centres in all parts of Australia so that they could be near their working fathers.

In June 1954 I became naturalised as an Australian Citizen. In January 1955 I resigned my position with the Immigration Department and travelled to Europe. Through the Australian Embassy in Cologne I was offered a job as a migration officer in Salzburg Austria. After one year there I returned to Australia in 1956. I then applied to the Victorian Electricity for a clerical position in Mt. Beauty Victoria where a new power station was being built at Rocky Valley.

In 1957 I married in Albury, moved to Sydney and started to work with Greek Australia Shipping Co. later known as Chandris Lines, and became their office manager. In 1968 I moved back to Albury were my parents were living, opened a travel agency known as SAS Travel with the assistance of Chandris Lines. I also became a partner in a real estate office.

In 1982 after the Solidarity movement in Poland was crushed by the communist regime a lot of Polish citizens escaped to Germany, Austria and Greece. The Australian Government was bringing thousands of those refugees for settlement in Australia.

I was then the President of the Polish Club in Albury/Wodonga area and Vice President of the Italian Club and was able to sponsor 25 Polish families and settle them with the assistance of the Immigration Department. All the families were placed in jobs within 2 months of reaching Albury, all were given 2 bedroom rented flats and were assisted with completing all legal requirements such as registration at the department of social security and banks. They all assimilated very well and became citizens to be proud of.

In 1995 I reached the age of 65 and decided to retire. I sold my house, my real estate agency and decided to move to Cairns with my wife. We purchased a property in Trinity Beach.

I have had a wonderful life in Australia for 59 years. My wife and daughter have always said that I should write a book about my life experiences and maybe the Immigration Bridge project will further inspire me to do so.

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