Global True Lithuania Encyclopedia of Lithuanian heritage worldwide

Sydney, New South Wales

Sydney has the only major Lithuanian cemetery zone in Australia, full of Lithuanian memorials.

It also has Australia's only Lithuanian village for the elderly, as well as multiple Lithuanian monuments.

Sydney is among the top 3 Australian cities by the number of Lithuanians; however, its Lithuanian Houses have closed.

Sydney Lithuanian Cemetery zone

The Lithuanian Lawn at Rookwood Cemetery is one of Australia's most iconic Lithuanian sites.

Here, Lithuanian displaced persons (DPs) who ended up in Australia ~1947-1951, after having fled the Soviet occupation in Lithuania (1944), are buried together.

Lithuanian Lawn cemetery zone

The dream many of them had to come back to Lithuania and be interred there remained unfulfilled, as the Soviet occupation continued until 1990. As such, pieces of Lithuania were brought to be close to their graves: the Central Monument of Sydney's Lithuanian cemetery zone includes heaps of soil brought from various places in Lithuania. There is also a stone from the Gediminas hill in Vilnius and a heap of soil from a grave of Lithuanian exiles in Siberia - those people who did not flee Lithuania and thus were deported by the Soviets to the most inhospitable reaches of the Soviet Union, often to meet their deaths there.

Cemetery Monument

The monument was designed by a famous Lithuanian-American author, V. K. Jonynas, in his iconic white style, and constructed by Lithuanian-Australian DPs Pranas Žitkauskas and Pranas Antanaitis. It thus symbolically connects all the parts of the Lithuanian nation: those surviving in Lithuania, those expelled to Siberia, and those who fled to America and Australia.

Lithuanian soil in the monument

The monument is named "Rūpintojėlis" after a traditional Lithuanian image of a worried Christ that is incorporated into the monument (designed by Algimantas Plūkas). As the word Rūpintojėlis is hardly translatable into English, the English text uses the wording "Our Lord of Compassion and Care". The plaque says that "This monument, a symbol of the suppression of the faith and freedom in Lithuania, is dedicated to the glory of God. In memory to all those thousands who have given their lives as fighters and martyrs for the homeland and for the love of Christ. Also, to those who have died in this far land in the hope that the supreme sacrifice of their compatriots was not in vain", referring to the Soviet persecution of Lithuanian culture and Catholic faith.

Rūpintojėlis on the monument

The monument was built in 1971. The design of the Lithuanian Lawn itself was created by engineer Aleksas Jakštas.

Lithuanian Lawn is now full. As is common in the cemeteries of Lithuania, people here are buried under individual or family gravestones, each designed uniquely. In a practice uncommon in Lithuania itself, these designs often incorporate patriotic motifs (Lithuanian coat of arms, cross of Vytis, columns of Gediminas...) and quotes that are either patriotic or describe the longing for the lost homeland.

A grave of Lithuanian independence wars veteran Vincas Juzėnas. The quote inscribed means 'I go to Lithuania in winter / I'll stand like Rūpintojėlis at the crossroads / In will chime as a bell in heroes' graves / So that in the cold under a thick coat / The Lithuanian heart would not stop beating'

On the grave of Kostas Pelurytis the quote means 'You always thought to return to the home of birth / But you remained to rest here forever...'

In addition to the gravestones, there are two walls for cremated remains. The wall at the entrance includes a quote: "Lithuanians far from our homeland".

Wall for urns

Bankstown Lithuanian district and Lithuanian Houses and Clubs

While some 2000-3000 Lithuanians of Sydney settled all over the city, a large part of them (~300 families) concentrated in Bankstown and Yagoona. In the 1950s, a Lithuanian district developed there, with Horton Street nicknamed "Litho Street". Over time, though, the original Lithuanians died out or moved out, and no Lithuanian signs remain in the street itself.

Horton Street

Bankstown also hosted the Lithuanian House "Dainava" since the late 1950s. The land was acquired in 1954, a construction permit was granted in 1956, and the building designed by Izidorius Jonaitis and built by volunteer labour was opened as "Dainava" in 1959. It contained an auditorium, stage, and kitchen.

After attempts to establish a separate Lithuanian house for Lithuanians of other districts did not come to fruition, the organisations amalgamated in 1967-1973, with Bankstown becoming the undisputed heart of Lithuanian activities in the whole of Sydney.

A licensed club was established in the Lithuanian House in 1973, and it was expanded by a new building in 1981. It added a dining room, games rooms, pokies, and a bar. Upstairs, there was a second auditorium, another bar area, as well as offices ("Talka" credit union, "Mūsų pastogė" newspaper) and meeting rooms.

First Lithuanian Club of Sydney

The building was sold in 2006 and is now owned by a Greek-Australian church and school, with no Lithuanian signs remaining.

The club then relocated to new premises on the first floor of a residential building at 1/16-20 Meredith Street, where it opened in 2006 as "Dainava" but gazetted as "Meredith Club" in English since ~2009. However, this club was heavily hit by the COVID-19 restrictions and closed in 2022. The premises included many rooms, a Lithuanian school, a library, a ballroom, and a publishing house for the Lithuanian newspaper "Mūsų pastogė". There was also a Lithuanian restaurant.

Entrance of the Sydney Lithuanian House 'Dainava' / 'Meredith Club' with Vytis symbols on glass panels (2015). ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Interior of Sydney Lithuanian club 'Dainava' with a modern Vytis (2015). ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

The interior of "Dainava" was modern, with some Lithuanian elements such as Vytis signs on windows, maps of Lithuania, images of "poverty school" (illegal Lithuanian school at the time Russian Imperial regime had banned Lithuanian language), and Lithuanian presidents.

The façade after the closure of the club (2025 image)

Since then, Sydney has no Lithuanian club. Instead, Lithuanians rent premises in the Latvian House for their events, such as the annual Kūčios (Christmas Eve) dinner. Being more easily accessible by various Sydney suburban train routes, Latvian House became a more convenient choice after many Lithuanians moved away from Bankstown.

Sydney Latvian House with a sign of Lithuanian Club added (left)

Lithuanian monuments at St. Joachim's Church in Lidcombe

While, in order to promote their assimilation, Lithuanians were precluded from having their own church in Sydney, since 1963, Lithuanian mass was celebrated in St. Joachim's Catholic Church at Lidcombe suburb not far from Bankstown and even closer to the Lithuanian Lawn.

Next to this church, two Lithuanian monuments stand. A smaller metal Rūpintojėlis was built while Lithuania was still occupied and includes a quote, "Since 1944 the church in Lithuania has been crucified", as well as a Lithuanian poem. Meanwhile, the nearby traditional Lithuanian sun-cross that also incorporates columns of Gediminas in its design was built in 1992 (two years after the restoration of Lithuanian independence) and is dedicated to "courageous brothers and sisters in Lithuania, who endured 50 years of Soviet persecution, oppression and slavery and (...) rewarded by our heavenly father in restoring the independence of Lithuania". The plaque also expresses gratefulness to the parish of St. Joachim for allowing the celebration according to Lithuanian traditions.

Lithuanian cross at Lidcombe

Inscription on the cross

The 1960s plans to establish the second Lithuanian hub in Sydney concerned Lidcombe. A building was acquired by the Sydney Lithuanian community (at the time separate from the Bankstown community that was already operating Lithuanian House "Dainava") in 1965. However, the necessary permit to replace the building with a new one and a permit for alcohol sales were not given, which hampered the plans. This led to the consolidation in Bankstown.

Rūpintojėlis at Lidcombe

Lithuanian Village (Sodyba)

Lithuanian Village is a unique-in-Australia complex of buildings where elderly Lithuanians live. There are 17 apartments in multiple single-floored buildings, as well as the main building (community hall) where Lithuanian activities take place. The buildings are decorated with Lithuanian-inspired motifs, especially the community hall. It hosts Lithuanian activities for inhabitants of the Lithuanian village and Sydney Lithuanians invited from elsewhere alike. Inside, there is Lithuanian memorabilia and a plaque commemorating Antanas Baužė and his wife, Ona Baužiene (Anna Bauze), who was instrumental in establishing the village.

Main building of the Lithuanian Village

Commemorative plaque on the main building

The idea of having a place where Lithuanian DPs could spend their golden years next to each other was originally raised by the Sydney Lithuanian Women's Social Services Association.

Lithuanian Village from above

In 1970, the government assigned land for the complex (99-year lease). In 1975, the first six buildings consisting of 12 apartments (builders: Albinas Kutka, Vytautas Mickevičius) were completed, but then the government support ceased due to the economic situation. In 1981, additional government support allowed the construction of two more buildings, and the Lithuanian Village reached its current extent. It was officially opened in 1984 08 19, as written on the plaque.

A typical building in the Village

In 2018, a tree was planted in the center of the Village to mark the 100th anniversary of independent Lithuania.

Stone for the tree for the centenary of Lithuanian independence

According to the community rules, one must be aged 67 years or more to move in here (but doesn't need to be retired). An exception is made for younger spouses of 67+ individuals. There is a one-time fee and then small monthly payments.

Note: while in English, the place is known as "Lithuanian Village", in Lithuanian it is called "Lietuvių sodyba", the direct translation of which would be "Lithuanian homestead".

Commemorative plaques for Lithuanian immigrants

Australia's National Monument to Migration near Sydney's Maritime Museum hosts the names and surnames of immigrants who came to Australia. The list is not complete - only those whose relatives paid for the inscription are included. Nevertheless, there are many Lithuanian names here.

National Monument for Migration

Plaque with some Lithuanian DP names (Renoldas Čėsna, Vytas Linas Brazaitis)