3370
Ned Mauruncic - Oral History - Fairfield Belongings
Main
DescriptionThis interview consists of one audio recording and transcript. Ned Mauruncic was interviewed on 14 May 2008 by Shirley Kingsford McLeod.
This interview is part of the Fairfield Belongings project in partnership with the NSW Migration Heritage Centre in 2008.
Interview SummaryMy full name is Nedjelko Maruncic but everyone calls me Ned. I was born on 22 December 1946 in Kucice, Croatia, in what was then Yugoslavia. One of my prized possessions is my birth certificate, which has a Croatian logo in the centre of it. Even though it was Yugoslavia at the time, it showed my nationality and religion. That is my heritage and is so important to me.
Both my parents were fully-fledged Croatians. My father had suffered a very serious accident whilst cutting a tree, and was virtually a cripple from then on. My mother was the one who really went out to work in order to get us food, particularly bread. We were largely self-sufficient and grew most other types of food on our farm. After Dad’s accident we mostly grew vegetables.
When the war came to Croatia, neither of my parents fought, as Dad was crippled and Mum worked to support us. We lost two of my mother’s brothers, who were killed by the Chetniks (the Serbian Army). My young cousin watched them decapitate his father. The Italians also invaded, as did the Germans and the Partisans. It was indeed a very hard time for Croatia as we were continually in a state of invasion.
There were 10 children in our family, three of whom passed away and seven who are still living. Our house had only one bedroom and a room next to it that was used for storage of wine, potatoes and everything else. There was a shed at the back and we had cows and horses, but the house had only one bedroom with a double bed and a three quarter bed. Four of us would sleep on the top end of the double bed and the other three would sleep on the bottom.
School was about one and a half kilometres from home and we walked in the rain and snow to get there. Our nightmare was that we had no shoes and in winter our feet froze. We wrapped them in anything we could find. Life was very hard for us. When we are asked why we chose to come to Australia, as Croatia is such a beautiful country, I answer, “Yes, but at that time it was very poor.”
My brother Michael had come to Australia in 1957 and he paved the way for me to come in 1963. He had finished his trade in Croatia and had also completed his Army National Service, so he just decided to get out. He illegally escaped over the border into Austria and worked there for six to nine months and then applied, whilst in a refugee camp, to come to Australia. Australia was looking for labourers and tradesmen so they accepted him. Later Mum and Dad wrote him a letter saying that there were too many of us at home and that we were just not surviving. He then sent for me.
I was just 16 years old and when asked what I felt about leaving Croatia, I must say that I did not think about it. I just wanted to get away from the poverty. We had been so poor that the first pair of shoes I ever owned were the ones I bought to come to Australia.
I left Kucice on 21 November 1962, just as I had been called up for National Service training, so I missed out on that. My father had been to the local police and said, “Look this is what’s happening. We just can’t live. There are too many kids. We can’t survive.” And the man said, “Look take him to Zagreb away from here so nobody sees him.” Zagreb was the capital and largest city in Croatia and about 400 kilometres from my home. I travelled there by train with my mother and other brother and we remained there for about two weeks. From there we travelled by train to Trieste in Italy and then to Genoa. From Genoa I went on a barge to board the Italian ship Roma.
I only recognised one girl from my village on the ship and she was a lot older than I was, so I was virtually alone. I wished that I had been a bit older as there were a lot of free activities onboard that I would have liked to have joined. My brother had sent me three pounds with which I bought a gold watch in Genoa. It only worked until the ship sailed. I think they saw me coming.
The meals on Roma were quite good, although it was pasta for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This was good for me as all we had at home was cabbage, pork and potatoes. This was something different.
We berthed in Walsh Bay in Sydney on 3 January 1963, after short stops in Fremantle and Melbourne. My brother Michael was there to meet me. I did not even recognise him as he had been working away from home in Croatia and only returned every three months for a day or two. He had been in Australia since 1957. He called, “Ned! Ned!” and I said, “Yeah, well that’s me.” I was so thin I weighed only 47 kilograms. Skinny as anything!
He had a car and by then also a wife and daughter, and I went to live with them in Paton Street Canley Vale. I arrived on the Thursday and started work on Monday. Some of Michael’s friends had set me up with a job.
My first job in Australia was at Ernest Hiller in Woodville Road Guildford. They made suits and trousers. My foreman was Italian and he asked me my name. I replied “Yes.” So he asked me again and I said “No.” I had no English whatsoever, which made it most difficult for everyone. I remember that my wage was four pounds 15 shillings a week, which is about $9.50 I think.
My first big problem came about three weeks later, when I arrived at the station to find that the train was already at the platform. I didn’t have time to buy a ticket and so jumped onto the train so I was not late for work. The railway inspector was waiting for me. I could not speak English so he took my wallet and looked in it to get my address. They took me to court about three weeks later and I had to pay a nine pound fine. That was a good experience but not a good start to my new life.
At Ernest Hiller I first began by cutting collars for the coats. They were die cut and would produce about a thousand at a time. After six months I realised that I could not survive. I told Joe that I had to send money back to my parents and of course pay board to my brother. Joe looked at me and asked, “Who is going to give you a job? You are so young. You are like a kid.” But then he said, “Leave it to me, I’ll do something.”
A few days later he spoke to his boss and offered me a job on the press, where I was to work on a bonus system. It was so hot I’ll never forget it. The temperature was 41 degrees and everyone left the factory as there was no air conditioning in those days. But I worked using that steam presser and in the first week made 18 pounds, which was a fortune. I remained there for about six months and sent the first 80 pounds home to my parents. They used it to build half a house.
I left Ernest Hiller and went to work as a painter for a company called Roof and Building Services. We travelled to various places and also did sandblasting in tanks. I then went to work at the Sydney Opera House for about nine months, painting between the wires of the concrete roofing. After about three years I decided to go into the painting business for myself. I was in that business for about five years before going into real estate with my brother.
When I arrived in Australia I had lived with my brother for about 12 months before renting a house in Gilbert Street Cabramatta. A year later I bought my own home in Curtain Street Cabramatta. I was only 19 and was buying my own home, and by the time I married my wife Vera it had been paid off.
I have been back to Croatia many times over the years as my wife is Croatian. It is a little strange to return to our village as all the old faces have moved away or have passed away and I don’t know the younger ones. During a trip back in 1974, I bought several items as a reminder of my former homeland, such as a hand carved wooden vase and a traditionally-patterned tablecloth and cushion cover. It reminds me of the early days in Croatia when all the women made their own furnishings. I also purchased a replica donkey saddle in Split. Donkeys were used a lot, especially in rural areas, and donkey owners used special saddles on them as horse saddles were not suitable. I really value this object as it is a reminder of the days when we were so poor before we migrated to Australia.
I am now a member of the Community Relations Commission, which is a commission for all communities. I have connections with the Jadran Hajduk Croatian Club in St Johns Park and am the Vice President there. I am also on the board of the Croatian Australian Community Council and Croatian Clubs in NSW and ACT.
In 2002 I was awarded an OAM (Order of Australia medal) for my services to the community and of that I am very proud. I went to Government House in Sydney and was presented with it by the Governor of NSW Marie Bashir, which you can see in this photograph. My family was present and that award is most important to me, as a reminder that I have been able to rise from a very poor young barefoot migrant from Croatia to receive such an award from such a great lady. This country has indeed been very good to me.
This interview is part of the Fairfield Belongings project in partnership with the NSW Migration Heritage Centre in 2008.
Interview SummaryMy full name is Nedjelko Maruncic but everyone calls me Ned. I was born on 22 December 1946 in Kucice, Croatia, in what was then Yugoslavia. One of my prized possessions is my birth certificate, which has a Croatian logo in the centre of it. Even though it was Yugoslavia at the time, it showed my nationality and religion. That is my heritage and is so important to me.
Both my parents were fully-fledged Croatians. My father had suffered a very serious accident whilst cutting a tree, and was virtually a cripple from then on. My mother was the one who really went out to work in order to get us food, particularly bread. We were largely self-sufficient and grew most other types of food on our farm. After Dad’s accident we mostly grew vegetables.
When the war came to Croatia, neither of my parents fought, as Dad was crippled and Mum worked to support us. We lost two of my mother’s brothers, who were killed by the Chetniks (the Serbian Army). My young cousin watched them decapitate his father. The Italians also invaded, as did the Germans and the Partisans. It was indeed a very hard time for Croatia as we were continually in a state of invasion.
There were 10 children in our family, three of whom passed away and seven who are still living. Our house had only one bedroom and a room next to it that was used for storage of wine, potatoes and everything else. There was a shed at the back and we had cows and horses, but the house had only one bedroom with a double bed and a three quarter bed. Four of us would sleep on the top end of the double bed and the other three would sleep on the bottom.
School was about one and a half kilometres from home and we walked in the rain and snow to get there. Our nightmare was that we had no shoes and in winter our feet froze. We wrapped them in anything we could find. Life was very hard for us. When we are asked why we chose to come to Australia, as Croatia is such a beautiful country, I answer, “Yes, but at that time it was very poor.”
My brother Michael had come to Australia in 1957 and he paved the way for me to come in 1963. He had finished his trade in Croatia and had also completed his Army National Service, so he just decided to get out. He illegally escaped over the border into Austria and worked there for six to nine months and then applied, whilst in a refugee camp, to come to Australia. Australia was looking for labourers and tradesmen so they accepted him. Later Mum and Dad wrote him a letter saying that there were too many of us at home and that we were just not surviving. He then sent for me.
I was just 16 years old and when asked what I felt about leaving Croatia, I must say that I did not think about it. I just wanted to get away from the poverty. We had been so poor that the first pair of shoes I ever owned were the ones I bought to come to Australia.
I left Kucice on 21 November 1962, just as I had been called up for National Service training, so I missed out on that. My father had been to the local police and said, “Look this is what’s happening. We just can’t live. There are too many kids. We can’t survive.” And the man said, “Look take him to Zagreb away from here so nobody sees him.” Zagreb was the capital and largest city in Croatia and about 400 kilometres from my home. I travelled there by train with my mother and other brother and we remained there for about two weeks. From there we travelled by train to Trieste in Italy and then to Genoa. From Genoa I went on a barge to board the Italian ship Roma.
I only recognised one girl from my village on the ship and she was a lot older than I was, so I was virtually alone. I wished that I had been a bit older as there were a lot of free activities onboard that I would have liked to have joined. My brother had sent me three pounds with which I bought a gold watch in Genoa. It only worked until the ship sailed. I think they saw me coming.
The meals on Roma were quite good, although it was pasta for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This was good for me as all we had at home was cabbage, pork and potatoes. This was something different.
We berthed in Walsh Bay in Sydney on 3 January 1963, after short stops in Fremantle and Melbourne. My brother Michael was there to meet me. I did not even recognise him as he had been working away from home in Croatia and only returned every three months for a day or two. He had been in Australia since 1957. He called, “Ned! Ned!” and I said, “Yeah, well that’s me.” I was so thin I weighed only 47 kilograms. Skinny as anything!
He had a car and by then also a wife and daughter, and I went to live with them in Paton Street Canley Vale. I arrived on the Thursday and started work on Monday. Some of Michael’s friends had set me up with a job.
My first job in Australia was at Ernest Hiller in Woodville Road Guildford. They made suits and trousers. My foreman was Italian and he asked me my name. I replied “Yes.” So he asked me again and I said “No.” I had no English whatsoever, which made it most difficult for everyone. I remember that my wage was four pounds 15 shillings a week, which is about $9.50 I think.
My first big problem came about three weeks later, when I arrived at the station to find that the train was already at the platform. I didn’t have time to buy a ticket and so jumped onto the train so I was not late for work. The railway inspector was waiting for me. I could not speak English so he took my wallet and looked in it to get my address. They took me to court about three weeks later and I had to pay a nine pound fine. That was a good experience but not a good start to my new life.
At Ernest Hiller I first began by cutting collars for the coats. They were die cut and would produce about a thousand at a time. After six months I realised that I could not survive. I told Joe that I had to send money back to my parents and of course pay board to my brother. Joe looked at me and asked, “Who is going to give you a job? You are so young. You are like a kid.” But then he said, “Leave it to me, I’ll do something.”
A few days later he spoke to his boss and offered me a job on the press, where I was to work on a bonus system. It was so hot I’ll never forget it. The temperature was 41 degrees and everyone left the factory as there was no air conditioning in those days. But I worked using that steam presser and in the first week made 18 pounds, which was a fortune. I remained there for about six months and sent the first 80 pounds home to my parents. They used it to build half a house.
I left Ernest Hiller and went to work as a painter for a company called Roof and Building Services. We travelled to various places and also did sandblasting in tanks. I then went to work at the Sydney Opera House for about nine months, painting between the wires of the concrete roofing. After about three years I decided to go into the painting business for myself. I was in that business for about five years before going into real estate with my brother.
When I arrived in Australia I had lived with my brother for about 12 months before renting a house in Gilbert Street Cabramatta. A year later I bought my own home in Curtain Street Cabramatta. I was only 19 and was buying my own home, and by the time I married my wife Vera it had been paid off.
I have been back to Croatia many times over the years as my wife is Croatian. It is a little strange to return to our village as all the old faces have moved away or have passed away and I don’t know the younger ones. During a trip back in 1974, I bought several items as a reminder of my former homeland, such as a hand carved wooden vase and a traditionally-patterned tablecloth and cushion cover. It reminds me of the early days in Croatia when all the women made their own furnishings. I also purchased a replica donkey saddle in Split. Donkeys were used a lot, especially in rural areas, and donkey owners used special saddles on them as horse saddles were not suitable. I really value this object as it is a reminder of the days when we were so poor before we migrated to Australia.
I am now a member of the Community Relations Commission, which is a commission for all communities. I have connections with the Jadran Hajduk Croatian Club in St Johns Park and am the Vice President there. I am also on the board of the Croatian Australian Community Council and Croatian Clubs in NSW and ACT.
In 2002 I was awarded an OAM (Order of Australia medal) for my services to the community and of that I am very proud. I went to Government House in Sydney and was presented with it by the Governor of NSW Marie Bashir, which you can see in this photograph. My family was present and that award is most important to me, as a reminder that I have been able to rise from a very poor young barefoot migrant from Croatia to receive such an award from such a great lady. This country has indeed been very good to me.
Transcript
Details
IntervieweeNed MauruncicInterviewerShirley Kingsford McLeodDate of interview14/05/2008DurationTotal interview 01:07:46Transcripts availableYesRightsFairfield City Council Access ConditionsAccess open for research, written permission required for personal copies and public use
Connections
Oral History ProjectAll Oral HistoriesExhibitionFairfield Belongings - 2008
Ned Mauruncic - Oral History - Fairfield Belongings. Fairfield City Heritage Collection, accessed 06/03/2026, https://heritagecollection.fairfieldcity.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/3370