AMID the wreckage of postwar Europe it was the gateway to a new life in a wide brown land.
Some 60,000 European migrants lived at Benalla Migrant Camp between 1949 and 1967. Stefania Merry’s parents were among them.
Decades later, and despite living in northern NSW, Steph retains a strong link with the camp, which survives in part to this day thanks to the team of volunteers of which she is a part.
State heritage-listed Hut 11 at Benalla Airport remains as a permanent exhibition of more than 200 personal photos contributed by 40 migrant families, opening a window on life at the camp.
In November, as part of the Benalla Festival, a short documentary about the history of the camp will be shown in Benalla for the first time (see below).
Steph’s Polish-born parents, Boleslaw and Franciszka Swist, arrived at Benalla with two children in 1952. They had met four years earlier at a displaced persons camp in Bavaria, having survived forced labour under the Germans.
Steph said Benalla was mainly intended for single women with children and the families of men sent to work in allocated jobs as a condition of their immigration.
“Dad was a carpenter with the Victorian railways and travelled around maintaining houses for workers,” said Steph, the second youngest of eight.
Boleslaw remained with the railways until he retired. Indeed, he and his wife stayed in Benalla for most of their lives.
Steph said that for many postwar migrants like her parents, “there was a real search for stability” - and that having found a place of safety, people did not surrender it easily.
It helped that Benalla’s camp, unlike most, was close to town and became an integral part of the community.
Many migrants worked in town, while the camp boosted the local economy – for instance, Steph recalls suppliers like the bread truck coming to the camp.
Eventually, some entrepreneurial newcomers started up delis and began producing and delivering longed-for smallgoods for their countrymen.
Despite language difficulties – neither parent could read or write English; the children were their translators – the family become part of the Benalla scene; her dad was keenly involved in local soccer.
Even after moving to a house in the town Steph has early memories of going to back to the camp and playing with migrant children there.
Not that things were perfect, by any means. With so many people thrown together after a bitter and bloody war, old prejudices ran deep between and within some groups, Steph said.
There could be conflict at home, too. Heavy gambling, for instance, was a big problem, with breadwinners often losing large sums. Excessive drinking could lead to domestic strife.
Offsetting this were the good times: celebrations and feast days, often in national costume; friendship, love, marriage, within or outside the community; births and christenings.
Benalla Migrant Camp Photographic Exhibition. Hut 11, Samaria Road, Benalla Airport. Entry $5/$2. 10am-3pm most days.
0439-001-918, facebook.com/benallamigrantcampexhibition
Documentary. November 4, Benalla Performing Arts and Convention Centre, 57 Samaria Rd, Benalla. Tickets $5
