‘Happiness again’: photographing and narrating the arrival of Hungarian child refugees and their families 1956–1957

Abstract

The Australian government has long been involved in creating, collecting and circulating photographs of newly arrived immigrants, displaced people and refugees. Many of these images have been used for internal and external promotional/propaganda purposes. In this article I use news reports and visual photographic material depicting Hungarian refugee children and their families, alongside an analysis of government agendas and communication strategies, to examine how these ‘new Australians’ were understood and presented to the nation. After the 1956 anti-Communist uprising in Hungary, just over 14,000 Hungarian refugees were resettled in Australia. The federal government specially sought out a number of ‘compassionate cases such as children’, and many groups and individuals within the host population offered support to care for what they imagined would be large numbers of orphaned and unaccompanied Hungarian children. These Hungarian refugees came to Australia in the context of increased government interest in public relations and publicity around immigration. A Public Relations director in the Department of Immigration was appointed in 1955 and a publicity section was also established as part of the Planning and Research Division. Discussions by the Immigration Planning Council during 1956 plainly stated that ‘business’ was now the driving force for immigration rather than ‘the “refugee” concept’. Tasman Heyes, the Secretary of the Department of Immigration, agreed but also felt that these two forces were and could be combined, pointing out that since 1951 Australia had received ‘international credit for contributing to the solution of an international problem’ by achieving the integration of these aims. This article examines how refugee children and families were positioned in relation to the fraught pairing of economic and humanitarian concerns, thus interrogating broader understandings of immigration, children and families within the Australian nation that are revealed in these moments of photographic capture and circulation.

Keywords:

• Cultural history
• visual sources
• publicity
• refugees
• children
• Australia
• Hungarian

Acknowledgement

I wish to thank Karen Agutter, Catherine Kevin, Joy Damousi, Meighen Katz, Bruce Pennay, Jordy Silverstein, Jessica Freame and the anonymous referees for their advice in developing this work.

Notes

1. Anna Haebich (2008) describes Australian National Citizenship Conventions held between 1950 and 1970 as ‘the centre-point of the government’s national celebrations of assimilation and citizenship’ (p. 135).

2. National Archives of Australia (NAA): M2607, 36 Australian Citizenship Convention, 1957 programme, p. 4.

3. NAA: A12111, 1/1957/11/22 ‘Immigration in Action’ display. Australian Citizenship Convention, January 1957.

4. Crowd reported as 1000 in The Sun (‘Laughing, Sobbing’, 1956), more than ‘1500 Hungarian migrants’ reported in The Canberra Times (‘Emotional Welcome’, 1956). In the film script for Flight to Freedom (1957) a larger crowd of ‘300 Hungarians from Sydney and 2000 Australians’ was noted: National Film and Sound Archive (hereafter NFSA), title no. 0622225, p. 2. These same numbers are also in the produced documentary NFSA, Flight to Freedom, title no. 7685-4, and the same numbers (‘about 2,000 Australians, some 300 Hungarians’) are in the Department of Immigration News Bulletin No. 24 in NAA: C3939, N1955/25/75167 PART 2.

5. NAA: A12111 1/1957/11/36 & 1/1957/11/37.

6. NAA: M2607, 36 Australian Citizenship Convention, 1957 programme, p. 4.

7. NAA: A12111 1/1957/11/37.

8. NAA: C3939, N1955/25/75167 PART 2 Department of Immigration News Bulletin No. 24 p. 1 & Hungarian Refugees Publicity, p. 2.

9. Carol Payne (2013, p. 4) uses the phrase ‘governmentally endorsed portrait of Canadian society’ in her analysis of the work of the Still Photography Division of the National Film Board of Canada.

10. ‘Immigration Photographic Archive, Fact Sheet 254’ (n.d.).

11. The two functions of the Department of Immigration when it was formed were Restricted Immigration and Encouraged Migration, see NAA: CA 51 Agency Note.

12. NAA: CA 510, Agency Note.

13. NAA: CA 511, Agency Note; for an example of interest in publicity see Publicity for the Economic and Developmental Implications of Large-Scale Immigration Minute No. 29, Agendum No. 17/1950 and Confidential Memorandum on the propaganda necessary for stimulating increased production to meet the needs of the Immigration campaign in NAA: MP598/1/4, Immigration Planning Council 3rd Meeting Melbourne 28 March 1950.

14. NAA: CA 964 Agency Note; NAA: MP1139/1, 62/66339, Commonwealth Immigration Publicity Council (CIPC), 1st Meeting 9 May 1962, p. 2. The creation of the CIPC has also been linked to managing the public image of immigration after the 1961 riots at Bonegilla (Sluga, 1988, p. 122).

15. NAA: MP598/1/0, Immigration Planning Council 4th Meeting Melbourne 27 June 1950, Minutes, Minute No. 39, p. 3.

16. NAA: A2169/1957, 32nd Meeting, Hobart, 14 & 15 March 1957 Hungarian Refugee Programme, Agenda Item No. 3, p. 1.

17. NAA: A2169/1957, 32nd Meeting, Hungarian Refugee Programme, Agenda Item No. 3, p. 1.

18. The UNHCR report in 1959 listed a ‘total influx of over 180,000 Hungarian refugees into Austria’ and 19,857 refugees in Yugoslavia (UNHCR, 1959, paras 3 and 4).

19. NAA: A2169/1957, 33rd Meeting, Brisbane, 22 & 23 August 1957, Statement by the Minister for Immigration The Hon. Athol Townley 5000 More Hungarian Refugees for Australia, p. 22. A reduction in Southern European Assisted intake for 1956/57 was noted as due to the ‘Hungarians refugee problem’ NAA: A2169, 1957, Progress in recruitment financial year 1956/57, Agenda Item No. 2, para. 3. The Australian government also made financial contributions towards the cost of ‘the maintenance of the refugees in Austria’ of at least 130,000 Australian pounds. This included an additional contribution to the ICEM Special Fund for 1957 of 12.5% of actual operational contribution for 1957 – additional $500,000. NAA: A2169/1957, 32nd Meeting, Hungarian Refugee Programme, Agenda Item No. 3, p. 3.

20. The Australian Year Book confirms this, noting 13,933 Hungarians: p. 322 Year Book Australia, No. 46, 1960 http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/free.nsf/0/B207140FE5757989CA257AF40014D933/$File/13010_1960%20section%209.pdf

21. NAA: MP598/1/33, 24th Meeting, 10 December 1956, For The Immigration Planning Council Hungarian Refugees, Agendum No. 89/1956, p. 1.

22. NAA: A2169/1957 32nd Meeting, Progress in Recruitment, Financial Year 1956/57, Agenda Item No. 2.

23. NAA: A2169/1957 32nd Meeting, 1957/58 Immigration Programme, Agenda Item No. 6.

24. NAA: A2169/1957 32nd Meeting, Hungarian Refugee Programme, Minute No. 849, p. 4.

25. The 1957/58 target was 0.85 per cent but ‘As soon as conditions become more favourable it is proposed to … make up any leeway from years when the intake fell below this figure’ of one per cent. NAA: A2169/1957 32nd Meeting, 1957/58 Immigration Programme, Agenda Item No. 6, pp. 1–2.

26. NAA: MP598/1/33, 24th Meeting, Report by Mr Dunk on his Overseas Visit, Agendum No. 77/1956, p. 4 paras 26–27.

27. NAA: MP598/1/33, 24th Meeting, Letter from T.H.E. Heyes to Mr Dunk, 18 October 1956, pp. 4–5.

28. NAA: A2169/1957, 33rd Meeting, Report by Mr T.H.E. Heyes CBE on his Overseas Visit, Minute No. 881.

29. NAA: A2169/1957, 33rd Meeting, para. 11, p. 3.

30. NAA: A2169/1957, 34th Meeting, Melbourne, 21 & 22 November 1957, Pre-School Services in Immigration Centres Annual Report 1956/57, Agenda Item No. 22, p. 2. Also see Agutter (2016, pp. 280–288).

31. NAA: A2169/1957, 34th Meeting, Admission of Hungarian Youths 18–21 Years as Unassisted and Unsponsored Migrants, Agenda Item No. 15.

32. NAA: A2169/1957, 34th Meeting, Admission of Hungarian Youths 18-21 Years As Unassisted and Unsponsored Migrants, Minute No. 926.

33. NAA: MP598/1/33, 24th Meeting, For The Immigration Planning Council Hungarian Refugees, Agendum No. 89/1956.

34. NAA: C3939, N1956/75181.

35. State Library of NSW (SLNSW), Mitchell Library, MLMSS 6164 Darby family – papers, 1902–1986, British Orphans’ Adoption Society (BOAS) file, box 59, Minutes, 19 November 1956; 356 offers noted in NAA C3939 N1955_25_75167 Part 3, Department of Immigration News Bulletin No. 25, p. 5.

36. NAA: C3939/N1955/25/75167 PART 2 Statement by the Minister for Immigration, 30 November 1956.

37. SLNSW, MLMSS 6164, British Orphans’ Adoption Society (BOAS) file, box 59, Letter to Deputy Commission of Taxation, 28 November 1956.

38. SLNSW, MLMSS 6164, BOAS file, box 59, Letter to Editor, ‘The Southern Cross’, 21 November 1956.

39. NAA: A2169/1957, 32nd Meeting, Hungarian Refugee Programme, Minute No. 849, p. 4.

40. NAA: C3939, N1955/25/75167 PART 2, Department of Immigration News Bulletin No. 21, p. 2.

41. Migration officer, Harold Grant said in an oral history interview that families with more than three children were not accepted as refugees due to Australia’s ‘capacity to absorb’ and ‘cater for’ these children. National Library of Australia, Oral History Section, Recorded Interview with Harold Grant, nla.oh-5930-0001, p. 17.

42. NAA: MP598/1/0 item 27, Immigration Planning Council 21st Meeting, 2 March 1956, Agendum No. 25/1956 p. 1.

43. NAA: MP598/1/0 item 19, Immigration Planning Council 17th Meeting, 11 June 1954, para. 65, p. 13; Jordens (1997, p. 42).

44. NAA: MP598/1/0 item 27, Immigration Planning Council 21st Meeting , Agendum No. 25/1956, p. 1.

45. Emphasis added. NAA: C3939/N1955/25/75167 PART 2, Press Statement Issued by the Minister for Immigration, 29 November 1956, p. 1.

46. NAA: C3939/N1955/25/75167 PART 2, Letter to Greg Gould 4 December 1956; Teleprinter Message To Gould Sydney, 6 December 1956 & To Edmonds Melbourne, 7 December 1956 & To Waterman, 5 December 1956; Statement from the Department of Immigration for Women’s Weekly, 6 December 1956, Letter to Miss A. Baker, Womans [sic] Weekly, 6 December 1956.

47. NAA: C3939/N1955/25/75167 PART 2, Hungarian Refugees Publicity, p. 1.

48. NAA: C3939/N1955/25/75167 PART 2, For example Letter to F. Coffey, Movietone News, 6 December 1956; details of footage available to Department with cost in Teleprinter Message To Waterman 5 December 1956; Interest by Secretary in publicity Letter to Greg Gould 4 December 1956.

49. NAA: A12111, 1/1956/5/1–49 & 1/1957/5/1–39. All are listed as refugees arriving in Australia; however, it seems likely that some photographs (1/1956/5/29, 32–49) may have been taken in Austria and Germany en route to Australia given the signage in German in some photographs and one image (1/1956/5/29) was reproduced in Martin (1989, p. 32) and titled as Hungarian refugees being processed in Vienna. There are also 10 photographs of this arrival titled Hungarian refugees at Mascot in SLNSW, Mitchell Library, Australian Photographic Agency 02615-02624.

50. NAA: A12111, 1/1956/5/7.

51. NAA: C3939 N1955/25/75167 PART 2, Press Statement by the Minister for Immigration, 27 November 1957, p. 1. These numbers reported in the press release may not be correct as details on the composition of the flights vary in reports.

52. Here I use Sara Wills’ concept of the cultural spaces produced in media coverage of migrant arrivals (Wills, 2004, p. 334).

53. NAA: C3939 N1955/25/75167 PART 2, Press Statement Issued by the Minister for Immigration, 29 November 1956, p. 1.

54. Szörényi uses this phrase in the context of analysing photographs of panoramic views of refugee camps but it can also be usefully employed here in the context of a series of photographs that closely document the arrival of displaced people, another mode of panoramic capture.

55. NAA: C3939 N1955/25/75167 PART 2, Press Statement by the Minister for Immigration, 27 November 1957, p. 2.

56. For example young girl resting on a soft toy and luggage: NAA: A12111 1/1957/5/20.

57. NAA: A12111 1/1957/5/31 (described as boys), 1/1957/5/32 (also references boys but no reference to fighting) and 1/1957/5/35 & 1/1957/5/36 (referred to as teenagers).

58. NAA: A1211, 1/1956/5/5; the NAA caption does not identify anyone in the photograph. A cropped version of the same photo is on the International Organization for Migration’s online photo gallery (2015), and is captioned as ‘Gabor (left) and Stefan Forbath, smile happily as their father present them with new watches as they arrive in Sydney. Their father, Imre Forbath, is a Sydney businessman.’ The photograph is attributed to: Australian Official Photograph 1956 – HAU0308 – T. Hood. This photograph also appears in The Good Neighbour, 1957 no. 36, p. 2 with similar description but without any attribution to the photographer.

59. The Age report, in tone, is between that of the Argus and Canberra Times and does not include any images (‘First Hungarian Refugees’, 1956); also reported in The Sydney Morning Herald (‘First 90 Hungarian’, 1956).

60. This photograph is also in the Australian Photographic Agency collection at the SLNSW, Mitchell Library, Australian Photographic Agency – 02620, Hungarian refugees at Mascot.

61. How such experiences are remembered is important to consider, see for example, Imre Molnar’s reflections on his participation in the Hungarian Revolution ‘Afterwards I couldn't believe what I’d done, how stupid!’ (Molnar, 2010).

62. Cinesound Review (1956, December). From War-Torn Hungary: Emotional Welcome for Refugees No. 1310, National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) 55032, Segment 126589; Movietone News (1956, December). Freedom Flight: Refugees from Hungary in Australia Vol. 28, No. 2, NFSA, 57672,

Segment 126589. For additional Cold War films held by the NFSA, see ‘The Cold War’ (1997).

63. NAA: A1211, 1/1956/5/3 & 1/1956/5/26.

64. NAA: A12111, 1/1957/5/3, 1/1957/5/4, 1/1957/5/11, 1/1957/5/17.

65. NAA: C3939 N1955/25/75167 PART 2, Press Statement From the Department of Immigration, 30 November 1956. The description continues: Trampling on through the darkness, the father fell heavily into a ditch, hurting his feet and drenching Andrea. When they finally reached the border they despaired to find a canal blocking their way and the road bridge broken. A companion offered to swim the canal carrying the baby on his back, but Mrs Peteri would not agree to this. Then a good natured Hungarian border guard found them and showed them another bridge two miles along the canal. The family is now in Vienna and will be among 3000 Hungarian refugees to come to Australia. This is also reported in ‘Courage, Pathos in Stories Told by Refugees’ (1957).

66. See Briggs (2003, pp. 183–184) for analysis of Madonna and child in different historical contexts.

67. NAA: C3939, N1955/25/75167 PART 2 Department of Immigration News Bulletin No. 24, p. 2.

68. NAA: C3939, N1955/25/75167 PART 2 Department of Immigration News Bulletin No. 24, p. 3.