From Prison to Prosperity

The story commences in 1943 when the Italian government signed an armistice agreement with the Allies who by now were making notable progress in their resistance against Axis powers. As a result of this agreement huge numbers of Italian prisoners surrendered in the various points of conflict were distributed around the world in prisoner of war camps. Australia received many of these and when the armistice was signed those prisoners who chose an alternative to the Australian internment camps were further distributed around the country to places desperately looking for men to replace all those conscripted to fight overseas as free but supervised workers.

Most of these were taken on as farm workers and enjoyed the relative freedom of their assignments under watchful eyes of those in authority in areas they were assigned to. There was no desire or motivation to escape as the Axis powers had no means to help them escape an island continent surrounded by oceans and there was no incentive to return to a war-ravaged Europe where people were starving, and their lands destroyed by the conflict.

But with the final defeat of Axis powers in surrendering of Japan September 2, 1945, Italians who wished to return home were allowed to do so. Some of these freed Italians decided to remain as there was no presently productive land to return to in Italy where they could get on with their lives until a working economy could be established again in their ravaged home country. Some had lost whole families and wanted to attempt a new life in this new but now familiar country Australia.

Angelo was one of those prisoners of war who decided to return to Italy and was devastated to find war had destroyed his village and surrounding farming communities. His whole village had been emptied of its people and strangers on the verge of starvation were occupying properties that had been with former owner families for generations. These strangers were trying to eke out a living and laying claim to these abandoned properties. For decades after the war there were claims and counter claims to these properties. But a handful of those he’d known before being conscripted into the Italian army remained and congregated together for mutual comfort. They’d lost families, friends and had to rebuild their lives in a devastated village no longer recognizable to them because of changes and destruction inflicted during occupation.

Angelo met with this handful of original inhabitants of the village when he could find time from backbreaking work on portion of a farm once owned by cousins after fighting off new claimants. The little he could grow had to be supplemented by handouts through those now the appointed administrators of the village. In meetings at the village with the few he’d once known from among original inhabitants he became close to Clara. She was eight years younger to him and had attached herself as soon as he arrived at the village. He was the only one there who was fit and well fed from his time in Australia, and she imagined he could be a possible benefactor. There was no romance in that relationship only a shared agony over what had happened to their people and culture.

During the time he was in the village vainly trying to reclaim some of the joys of his youth Angelo had time to reflect on his time in the army, his humiliation when the whole company of soldiers decided on surrender, the captivity of the prisoner of war camps and eventual release to work on a farm in Australia while the war continued even after Italy capitulated. A conviction came to him slowly that his dreams of continuing life as it was before the war were only dreams. Italy was not the same anymore. Life had been better in Australia than it was for him now, and he knew that hard work there would eventually put him in a better position to have a fulfilling life.

There were parts of Italy that had recovered quickly but moving there would be just as much a culture shift as it would be to migrate. Many were headed for the US where there was a sizable Italian population to nurture them as they established but he was familiar with the Australian scene and knew that with the loss of so many  Australian men during the war migrants were welcomed by the government looking to the future if not generally welcomed by the population who carried lingering deep anger toward those who’d opposed the Allies during the war and been the cause of death for their loved ones. But he also reflected on the fact those who he’d served on the farm and the community in general had been friendly and supportive.

He applied to migrate and when she heard of Angelo’s plan Clara begged him to take her with him. So, they were married, and both were accepted and found their way to the small Italian migrant population of Sydney Australia where work was obtained on suburban rural properties. Angelo and Clara worked hard and saved their money and over the years were blessed with children. Enzo was their first child followed in quick succession by Flora, Lia, and Nero. Angelo eventually was able to secure his own rural property on the outskirts of Sydney and planned on educating his sons to find opportunities beyond the hard work of farming and Clara prepared her daughters for their eventual marriage.

Enzo as he matured had an ambition to become a teacher and Angelo encouraged his eldest son to work hard in the gardens and study hard so the family could support him when it came to the eventual higher learning years. Enzo and his siblings worked hard and studied hard under their parents’ encouragement.

On his return to Australia Angelo and Clara had been taken under the wing of one of the long-term Italian residents of Australia Constantine Ferrari. His family had migrated to Australia long before the war and Constantine had been interned in camps during the war along with prisoners taken, but his wife and children had been permitted to continue to run their vegetable farm and supply markets in Sydney under the watchful eyes of the war time administration. It was important to keep those rural properties functioning with so many men mobilized or lost during the war, so they needed whoever was available to work the farms and see supplies continued to feed resident and enlisted men and women.

On release from the camp Constantine with his keen sense of business expanded his operations and took advantage of those Italians released from the prisoner of war camps who decided to stay in Australia to expand his growing empire in production of fruit and vegetables for Sydney markets. His recruits were paid well but worked twelve-hour days for their board, keep and earnings.

On his return from Italy Angelo with his new bride Clara were pulled into Constantine’s orbit and slaved over the years but built up a sizable nest egg of their own and purchased rural property on the outskirts of Sydney. The soil was poor but over time he built up its fertility and the family began to enjoy the fruitage of their labors after long years of toil.

Angelo decided his boys Enzo and Nero would be given a college education so they had more choices in life than Angelo had in his growing up years and the girls would be married off within the community. In time he’d find suitable Italian brides for his sons and as was the custom looked forward to retirement near his children who’d care for them in their parents’ old age. Clara looked forward to the time when she’s enjoy having grandchildren to care for and nurture in the Italian way.

Enzo being the eldest was the first to experience a college education but continued to work along with his siblings in support of the family as a college education was a large drain on finances and he appreciated the fact there should be sufficient to cover his brother’s college education when his turn came. Angelo had initially hoped his son would choose business as his life profession and could eventually take over and expand what his father had commenced.

But Enzo chose education much to the consternation of his father and it was left to Nero to choose business and eventually take over marketing and care of family finances. When it became apparent Nero had that ambition Angelo was somewhat mollified but disappointed that privilege would not pass to his eldest son.

On Enzo’s graduation with a teaching degree Angelo made a trip to see Constantine Ferrari. It was time to begin the process of searching for a suitable bride for his eldest son. The Italian community met together frequently and planned marriages within their community around Australia and in some cases from among relatives who’d survived the war and chosen to live in Italy to preserve their way of life. Mixing their blood line with others in the community was frowned upon. While the Italian community was viewed generally as outsiders, in the minds of the Italian community all others were outsiders who’d be misfits if their children ventured to have them as marriage partners for life. They wouldn’t fit in.

Constantine was the ruler of the community and they always consulted with him before making important decisions like business ventures or marriage. Constantine ruled the community with a rod of iron and to go against his advice was considered improper. So, for such an important decision as marriage Angelo naturally sought Constantine’s advice and Constantine had been waiting for this moment. He’d been eyeing Enzo off for some time as a suitable marriage partner for his eldest granddaughter Maria. Constantine suggested several possibilities from prominent Italian families who had eligible daughters around Australia but at the head of the list he gave the strongest hint that his eldest granddaughter could possibly be persuaded. Of course, Maria was five years older than Enzo but what was that. She was well schooled in managing a home the most important thing.

Angelo knew about Maria. The age difference was of concern to him but whispered throughout the community was the fact that Maria was aggressive and quarrelsome and attempts to marry her off had proved to be unsuccessful. While there was a general fear of Constantine in the community those in the know had found face saving ways to avoid any match up with Maria and their sons. Angelo knew Maria would cause havoc as a member of his family circle and her attempt to rule his family. Nevertheless, he broached the subject with Enzo who was equally horrified at the thought and refused to even consider the possibility of a marriage to Maria. Angelo was secretly relieved at his son’s reaction but there had to be a way to save face for all concerned. That face saving opportunity would soon present itself.

Enzo was having difficulty getting a government teaching position around Sydney, but his name was wait listed in case a suitable position because available. All new teachers knew they’d first be assigned to a rural one teacher school to gain experience and would have to work their way up through the seniority barrier before getting plumb jobs in a city. So, Enzo applied to other states and within a few weeks received a letter from the education department of the neighbor state to the north saying they had an opening in a rural one teacher school.

This immediately got Angelo’s attention. He remembered when released from the prisoner of war camp to work on rural properties he’d travelled under guard on a long journey north to this state of Queensland and remembered how well he’d been treated even though under the constant watch of authorities there. He remembered being processed in the capital city Brisbane and then taken under guard to his assigned work in the country. He remembered it being remote. They’d travelled north of the capital and alighted at a rail stop in a small town. From there he’d been driven over dirt roads and eventually a gate was opened, and they travelled a further half mile to a homestead with barn and sheds on top of a hill overlooking a river and fertile fields covered in crops and cattle. He was overjoyed at the scene and wanted to see that place again as it carried happy memories.

His business would be under the competent management of his wife and children so perhaps he could spend a couple of weeks away and accompany his son on that trip north. Perhaps he’d be able to find that farm he’d worked on for a few years and see if any of that family were still there. The husband and eldest son were away at war during those years but were demobilized from the army, so he was able to meet them before being shipped back to Italy. They’d be a lot older if still alive but perhaps the people in the district would remember them if they’d moved on.

So, arrangements were made to care for his business interests during this absence, tickets bought, and sufficient money taken to care for their travel needs and enough to establish his son wherever a job was assigned by the education department in Brisbane.

The journey this time was not as tiresome as he remembered from those war years, and he was surprised to see how the capital city had developed since he was processed there during the war. He waited outside the government department office while his son was processed and noted when Enzo finally emerged it had been a two-hour period his son had been inside. Enzo proudly showed his father the letter introducing him to the retiring teacher at the little rural community of Fairfield. He’d be billeted at the Miles property as teachers had been as far back as the opening of this school in the 1930’s.

It had been a long time ago, but the name Miles stood out in Angelo’s mind as possibly the people who’d owned and farmed the property during his time there. He didn’t remember the name of the rural settlement, so the name Fairfield didn’t appear in his memory recollections. But he had the feeling this could be an amazing coincidence if his son had been assigned by chance to the property he’d been assigned to work during the war. He could hardly wait to get there and see.

Enzo bought tickets further north to Fairfield for he and his father and Angelo looked out the window trying to see if there was anything familiar about the countryside they travelled through. But when he reached the small town where they were to finish their journey and seek transportation into the rural community of Fairfield the station had not changed in appearance in all those years since his original arrival and departure. It was like time had stood still for the station though he soon found the town itself was much larger and modern and he could not recognize any landmarks there. He was excited at the possibility of a reunion with the Miles family if they were still there.

To be continued

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