Summary

Black and white image of a group of people including Dimka and Vojislav Stojkovic (on the left) sitting in front of an olive tree in a displaced persons camp in Kassel, Germany circa 1947. Dimka Stojkovic (nee Dimitrinka Nikolova Caraschobanova) was born in Bulgaria in 1919. After long and harrowing wartime experiences in German labour camps, she met her future husband Vojislav Stojkovic, a captured soldier from the former Yugoslavia, now Serbia. They ended up in the same refugee camp in West Germany, and were married there in 1947.

The couple migrated to Melbourne via Naples on the Protea in 1948. They went directly to Bonegilla Migrant Reception Centre in Albury, although they both quickly found work in Melbourne. In 1952 they had a daughter, Nada, and in 1956 another daughter, Lily. They purchased a house in Footscray in the 1950s and took in many boarders, mostly recently arrived migrants. Dimka died in 1998 and Vojislav in 1987.

Description of Content

A group of three men and two women sitting in a field in front of an olive tree. The three men kneel in the row behind, wearing white shirts. The man on the left wears braces, the man in the centre wears a dark vest over his shirt, and the man on the right kneels on one knee, and wears dark trousers. The women are seated on the grass in front of the men. The woman on the left wears a floral dress and white headband. The woman on the right wears a white shirt, dark vest and skirt, and black shoes. A building can be seen in the distance behind them.

Physical Description

Digital image.

Significance

This photograph forms part of the Stojkovic family collection which represents the experiences of thousands of displaced persons and refugees from post World War II Europe and their efforts to survive both during the war and afterwards. It also illustrates the challenges faced by these migrants on arrival in Australia as they attempted to begin new lives often with limited English and little support.

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