Snapshot of the past

A photograph of popular Longwarry figure Zbigniew "Snowy" Chmielewski with his signature cheery smile on his tractor.
Australia has long been the destination for immigrants from all over the world, whether it was the gold rushes of the 1850s or rapid population growth post World War II.
Longwarry welcomed many people after the war as tens of thousands of families sought to escape the chaos in Europe. These new residents gratefully accepted the opportunities their new life offered and readily adapted to life in a small country town.
However, the locals never fully understood the sacrifices and horrors that these "new chums" had made and experienced during those days of World War II.
One of the families that adopted Longwarry as their home was the Chmielewski family, Zbigniew (affectionally known as "Snowy") and wife Veronica.
Both born in Poland, "Snowy" was from Warsaw and Veronica from Krakow.
They were just teenagers when the Germans invaded Poland. Both were taken from their homes and sent to Germany, where they were forced to work in labour camps.
Surviving the labour camps and frequent allied bombings, "Snowy" and Veronica met each other after the war and married. "Snowy" joined the Polish National Guard and was sent to Nuremberg to guard the Germans standing trial for war crimes.
When his time in the guard was up, he was recommended by the Australian authorities as suitable for immigration. Wanting to escape the chaos of Europe and looking for a better life for their family, they left Europe and arrived in Australia in 1950.
They were housed at the Bonegilla Migrant Reception Centre. As part of their obligation in coming to Australia, "Snowy" was required to undertake two years of work on the railways. This meant a move to Berwick.
Whilst living in Berwick and after completing his two years, the Catholic Church in Longwarry offered to sponsor five families. The Chmielewski family gratefully accepted the offer and moved to Longwarry,
"Snowy" had saved enough money to buy a small tractor and trailer, and began work at the dairy factory.
With the opening of the coal reserves in the Latrobe Valley, the factory had moved from wood burning boilers to using briquettes. Dozens of carriages of briquettes would be offloaded and shunted into the goods yards. The problem was that the yards were on the south side of the rail line and the factory was on the north side, with the only crossing at the other end of the main street.
The job fell to "Snowy". He would load the briquettes into his tractor and trailer before transporting them through the town to the factory.
He would use a scoop on the front of his tractor to load the briquettes into the trailer and then travel around to the factory to unload.
He did this from the beginning of his shift until the end, continuously driving up and down the street. "Snowy" always had a cheery smile and wave for everyone he passed, becoming a well-known, very popular figure in the town.
By the end of his working day, he would be covered in black briquette dust. In true Australian irreverence, he was given the nickname "Snowy".
When the factory finally moved to using natural gas for its boilers, "Snowy" trained to become a boiler attendant. Like so many other immigrants wanting to secure a future for his family, he saved enough to buy about 40 acres where he raised pigs and some cattle.
Longwarry residents welcomed many families into the town but it was never fully known what they had left behind and why they were so grateful to join the community and become a part of its history.
Information courtesy of Longwarry and District History Group with assistance the Chmielewski family. Photograph courtesy of Martin Chmielewski.