VALERI OZOL
| First name | VALERI |
|---|---|
| Last name | OZOL |
| Country of Origin | RUSSIA |
| Date of Birth | 28/09/07 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1927 |
| Submitted by | JANICE BAILEY |
Story
MY GRANDFATHER NIKOLAI OZOL WAS THE CHIEF INSPECTOR FOR ALL RUSSIAN RAILWAYS AND TRAVELLED AROUND RUSSIA IN HIS OWN RAILWAY CARRIAGE. AFTER THE REVOLUTION, HIS POSITION CHANGED. MY FATHER AND HIS PARENTS LIVED IN HARBIN, MANCHURIA WHICH WAS THEN LEASED BY THE RUSSIAN GOVT FROM CHINA, AND MANY SO CALLED ‘WHITE’ RUSSIAN CITIZENS LIVED THERE. THE FAMILY HAD INFORMATION THAT MY FATHER VALERI AND OTHER YOUNG MEN FROM THEIR TOWN WOULD BE SEIZED AND SENT TO SIBERIA BECAUSE THEY WERE ANTI-COMMUNIST. PASSAGE WAS ARRANGED FOR HIM TO GO TO FRIENDS IN NEW YORK. WITHOUT WARNING THE NEWS CAME THAT TOMORROW HE WOULD BE SEIZED. DURING THE NIGHT HIS PARENTS QUICKLY TOOK HIM AND SOME FRIENDS TO THE PORT AND PUT THEM ABOARD THE FIRST VESSEL THAT WAS LEAVING – TO A FAR OFF PLACE CALLED AUSTRALIA. HE WAS STUDYING ENGINEERING AT UNIVERSITY.
THE VESSEL WAS A JAPANESE FREIGHT CARRIER NAMED THE ‘TANGO MARU’. HE TOLD ME THAT THEY MAINLY EAT RICE ALL THE WAY AND AFTER THAT IT WAS YEARS BEFORE HE COULD STOMACH RICE AGAIN. HE CELEBRATED HIS 20th BIRTHDAY ON THE JOURNEY AND ARRIVED IN AUSTRALIA ON 04/10/1927.
HE DISEMBARKED AT THURSDAY ISLAND AND THEN LANDED IN BRISBANE. SPEAKING NO ENGLISH AT ALL, AND FEARING THAT HE WOULD BE SENT BACK TO RUSSIA, HE WORKED AS A LABOURER. HIS FIRST JOB WAS IN THE SUGAR CANE PLANTATIONS OF QUEENSLAND AND THEN HE BECAME A MINER AT THE MT ISA MINES. MOVING TO NSW HE WORKED HELPING BUILD THE SNOWY MOUNTAINS IRRIGATION SYSTEM. This is recognised as one of the great engineering feats of the world. It took 25 years to build and is one of the largest and most complex integrated water and hydro-electric power schemes in operation. HE THEN WAS EMPLOYED ON THE BUILDING OF THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE. AFTER WORKING ON MANY OF THE PROJECTS THAT ARE NOW IMPORTANT STAGES IN THE HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA, HE BECAME AN AUSTRALIAN CITIZEN. HIS FATHER NIKOLAI HAD DIED AND DAD ALWAYS WANTED TO BRING HIS MOTHER ALEXANDRA TO AUSTRALIA, BUT MY PARENTS DIVORCED AFTER ONLY A FEW YEARS OF MARRIAGE, AND SO DAD HAD NO HOME TO BRING HER TO. I NEVER HAD THE CHANCE TO MEET MY GRANDPARENTS ALTHOUGH I HAVE POSTCARDS FROM MY GRANDMOTHER. THEY WERE BURIED IN ONE OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CEMETERIES IN HARBIN, WHICH HAVE ALL NOW BEEN DESTROYED BY THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT. MY FATHER, VALERI NIKOLAIEVICH OZOL PASSED AWAY IN ADELAIDE, AGED 87 YEARS (born 28/09/1907 – died 28/06/1990). HE LEAVES BEHIND ONE DAUGHTER, MYSELF JANICE BAILEY, AND FOUR GRANDDAUGHTERS. ELANA, LENA, SARAH and NADIA. HE NEVER LIVED TO MEET HIS TWO GREAT GRANDDAUGHTERS AMELIA and LUCY and TWO GREAT GRANDSONS OLIVER and SEBASTIEN.