Summary

Black and white photograph showing men in the Mess Hall at Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre, 1950.

This photograph documents the Kucan family history. In 1949 the Kucan family migrated to Australia as displaced persons after World War II. They had stayed in a displaced persons camp in Austria for four years but their country of origin was Ukraine. During the first two years in Australia, they lived in migrant camps in Bonegilla and Benalla. The men had to work off the cost of their passage in a contract to the government. When their contracts were completed, Ivan Kucan and a group of his friends joined together to buy land and help each other build their own houses in Newport, a western suburb of Melbourne.

Description of Content

Men eating at a mess hall at a migrant centre. Light bulbs are strung across the ceiling and the men sit on wooden chairs at two long tables covered in tablecloths. The mess hall has a wooden floor. Three windows witih curtains are visible at right.

Physical Description

Digital image file. A digital photograph was taken of the original black and white print.

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