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Bretislav Lukes, Czechoslovakian Migrant, 1950
Image: Driver's Licence - Bretislav Lukes, Czechoslovakia
Source: Museum Victoria
Bretislav Lukes was born on 12 January 1922 in Stankou in Czechoslovakia. During World War II he worked for the German Junkers aircraft factory. After the War he trained as an electrician while in an International Refugee Organisation (IOR) displaced persons camp. In 1950 he migrated to Melbourne, Australia, travelling from Germany via Bremen on the ship 'Goya'. When he arrived Bretislav was sent straight to Bonegilla Migrant Reception Centre in northern Victoria where he was given work on the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme and then the Australian Iron and Steel at Port Kembla in 1950.
Lukes moved to Melbourne where he lived first in St Albans and then moved to Burwood East. In Melbourne he worked in the Myer workshop as a TV repair man, before moving to Watson Victa in 1952 where he made x-ray machines. In 1960 he began working as a technician in the Physics Department at Swinburne Institute of Technology. In Australia Bretislav was known as 'Bob', he belonged to an amateur radio club, he never married, and spoke English as well as Czech and German. Over the years he returned to Czechoslovakia and other countries and stayed in touch with his family, his father Emil Lukes who died in 1967, his mother Marie Lukesova and two sisters. He died in 2004.
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Diploma - Electrician Course, Issued to Bretislav Lukes , International Refugee Organisati ...
Diploma issued to Bretislav Lukes by the International Refugee Organisation, 28 July 1949. Bretislav completed an Electrician Course at the IRO Area Vocational Training School in Schwe ...
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Certificate - Issued to Bretislav Lukes, The Marconi School of Wireless, 9 Mar 1959
Certificate issued to Bretislav Lukes by the Marconi School of Wireless, Sydney for completion of Television Theory's Practical course, dated 9 March 1959. Bretislav Lukes was born 12 J ...
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Certificate - Electrician Course, Issued to Bretislav Lukes , International Refugee Organi ...
Certificate issued to Bretislav Lukes by the International Refugee Organisation, 26 August 1949. The certificate states that Bretislav completed an Electrician Course at the IRO Area V ...
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