This story was originally published by the Gippsland Times on Tuesday, December 20.
BRETT Osler is used to doing things differently for his birthday, with many celebrated across Gippsland since childhood. But it is other childhood memories, and the effects of Russia’s invasion on those displaced from Ukraine, that has been the catalyst for how he has chosen to celebrate it this year.
Having recently returned from Poland, Osler is conducting a Birthday Benefit via GoFundMe for two community organisations based in Krakow, Poland, where he had been located for a year.
Centrum Wielokulturowe w Krakowie (Krakow Multicultural Centre) and Fundacja Wolno Nam (Free Us Foundation), have been at the frontline of the response for those displaced from Ukraine since day one. Mr Osler himself has a strong affiliation with both, having assisted them until late June 2022 through activities such as filming, food and clothing distribution and making Aussie kids’ favourite foods.
He started making Aussie foods in Krakow for International Children’s Day, which is celebrated on June 1 in places such as Poland and Ukraine. With little planned by organisations for the refugee children, Mr Osler – who is an uncle of six and whose then partner also has two teenagers – wanted to mark the day in a way that helped the kids feel it was as normal as possible.
Mr Osler recounted that when embarking on his efforts, he had no idea what was the best way to celebrate the day, especially when most children had their dads, uncles, grandfathers and neighbours on active duty or on the frontlines defending their country.
“I had not grown up celebrating International Children’s Day and did not have members of my family on active service during my lifetime,” Mr Osler said.
“But what I did know was the impacts of war on my family members, as well as how we celebrated kids’ birthdays in Australia. So I put an Aussie spin on it.
“I made things like honey joys, fairy bread, Vegemite and cheese scrolls and frogs in a pond with a twist – using two layers of jelly in the colours of the Polish or Ukrainian flags and replacing the frog with chocolate kangaroos, koalas or maps of Australia.
“It was hugely appreciated by the young and old alike apart from the need to clean up the trails of spilt Corn Flakes from the honey joys.”
One of Mr Osler’s fellow volunteers, Oleg, appreciated it especially. Being a grandfather himself, and with his own son and grandchildren remaining in Ukraine, Oleg produced a special memento on behalf of the children of Ukraine – a 5 kopiikas coin.
Osler carries the coin, which has been withdrawn from circulation, with him everywhere – along with a one hryvnia coin, given to him by a Ukrainian mother on her return home from visiting her mother and son in Western Europe.
“When Oleg gave me the coin, it was a very emotional moment,” Osler said.
“I went home that night, found a 50c Australian coin and returned the favour. I wanted him to have something distinctly Australian and the emu and kangaroo are exactly that.”
Since returning to Gippsland in mid-2022, Mr Osler – who sits on Western Australia’s committee for Amnesty International – has felt a helplessness knowing that support for many women, children, the disabled and elderly has declined or ceased in recent times.
Under programs such as the Polish Government’s 120-day accommodation support, about A$100 per person is provided weekly to Polish residents accommodating in their own homes those displaced from Ukraine.
Initially starting as a 60-day program, it was extended to 120 days at the end of April when it was clear that the hostilities would not cease. However, it has not been extended beyond that.
“Many thought that Russia would not invade, especially because of the Olympic truce still being in place for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics (in February and March). But that did not deter (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” Mr Osler said.
“Then after the invasion commenced, many thought that it would only be short-lived and the support needed would only be a matter of weeks.”
Mr Osler, who has also studied and been engaged in international relations for more than 15 years – saw too many similarities with Putin’s rise to that of German dictator Adolf Hitler, including the use of sporting events to fuel their legitimacy, as well as other regional conflicts such as the Yugoslav wars.
“For mine, there was never a doubt that this would be an extended conflict. However, I did not believe that we could ever again see an attack on civilians and community assets in the manner that we have”, Osler said.
Due to the Polish Government’s assistance program being discontinued, as well as the impacts of inflation in Poland, which currently sits at 17.9 per cent, many Ukrainians are feeling that there is no option but to return home.
This is all at a time when hostilities against citizens have increased and energy assets have been targeted, reducing heating at a time when weather conditions are much harsher than they were last winter.
“Seeing it all unfold first-hand with the masses of women, children and the elderly arriving in Poland exhausted, hungry and with the little clothing that they could fit into a single suitcase at the end of last winter, eventually got the better of me. It still does”, Mr Osler laments.
“It was a surreal irony to our history lessons or what we know from literature and films about Krakow in World War II.
“Masses of people arrived into Krakow via trains, buses and any other means possible as well as truckloads of clothing, medicines and volunteers arriving from around Poland and Europe.”
The biggest issues for those displaced remains accommodation, food, medicines and now winter clothing and shoes, especially those who arrived in the warmer months in spring to autumn.
Being a Christmas baby – his birthday is December 21 – Mr Osler saw an opportunity to use his birthday to advantage and fundraise from Morwell to provide some ‘normality’ to what should be a time of year to share joy with family and friends, rather than being displaced in a foreign land.
“Just as with International Children’s Day, it pained me to think that these families would have little to celebrate and may not even enjoy their traditional Christmas meals,” he said.
“I just want them to know that they have friends across the globe and to show that even those 15,000kms away from the conflict really do care.
“They may even have relatives here from the migrants that arrived to work on our power stations alongside my grandfather, or those arriving after the fall of communism in Eastern Europe.”
Mr Osler is also mindful that some of those displaced may have already lost family and friends.
He learnt from a young age about the impacts of war through his own family. A number of them served across the wars with some paying the ultimate sacrifice on the Western Front in World War I and in the UK and Asia in World War II.
Instrumental on Mr Osler was the death of his Ma’s (great grandma) brother, Private George Reynolds, whose painted portrait adorned her living room in Warragul before a move to Bairnsdale.
“Ma often spoke about the loss of her brother, George, whose body still has not been found over 100 years later,” Mr Osler said.
“I have visited the Tyne Cot site in Belgium where he is understood to have been killed and Menin Gate, where he is commemorated. Both are stirring places.
“I think about those affected by the current conflict and the possibility that they too may never know the final resting place of their loved ones.
“Will they only have a war memorial in their town centres like another great granduncle, Lance Corporal Alexander Brown, who is commemorated in Warragul’s town centre and was buried in a mass grave at V.C. Corner in Fromelles, France?”
Being fortunate to have his grandparents and great-grandparents return home from service, Mr Osler also has other relatives buried across the Western Front, the Middle East, UK and Asia, as well as commemorated across Gippsland, Ypres (Menin Gate, Belgium) and Villers-Bretonneux (Australian War Memorial, France).
If his efforts supporting these Krakow-based organisations can somewhat lessen the impact on those displaced, Mr Osler believes it will all have been worth it.
Centrum Wielokulturowe w Krakowie continues to provide clothing, food, medicines and a range of programs and services (including legal) for those displaced from, as well as in Ukraine, on top of their usual multicultural offerings.
They are based near the Jewish Cemetery and Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory – made famous by Australian author Thomas Kenneally and popularised in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film Schindler’s List.
Fundacja Wolno Nam hosts about 200 persons at the old Jagiellonian University Psychology building on the edge of Krakow’s historic Old Town. This provides hostel-style accommodation, a kitchen and a playroom for children as well as access to activities.
