BIGARELLI, Santina (Sogni)

Santina Sogni was born in Martignana di Po which is in the province of Cremona in the Lombardy region of Italy on the 28th of October 1902.  She met and married a young handsome man by the name of Aldo Bigarelli on the 8th of August 1930 in her hometown.  Aldo was a carpenter by trade and moved his family, now consisting of three children Linneo, Mario, and Maria Pia, around between their own region and what is now Croatia in search of work.

During the war, he served as a military guard in the Alps behind Fiume.  At one time Santina and the children did not see Aldo for several months and assumed he had been killed. One could only begin to imagine how hard this must have been not knowing if your beloved husband would ever return and if not what was to become of the young family.

The year 1947 found the family still in Fiume soon to become Rijeka - where Aldo had been working as a Guard at the local Oil Refinery.  Given the choice of remaining in the new Yugoslavia under the harsh communist rule or returning to Italy, they took the latter option and made for San Giovanni in Croce where Aldo was born, and also their son Mario.  Linneo and Maria Pia were both born in what was to become Croatia.  In San Giovanni in Croce, they were housed by the local commune with five other refugee families in Villa Rocca (now restored to its former glory and known as Villa Medici del Vascello).  

Once having registered with the International Refugee Organisation (IRO), the Bigarellis were sent to a Displaced Persons (DP) camp at Bagnoli near Naples in January 1951. For a mother and her three children this must have been very trying times not knowing what the future would hold, having to depart without most of your worldly possessions, would you ever have a family home to settle back into and what was this new country all about.  

The family, one of many, were eventually taken by train from Naples to Bremerhaven Germany, housed in huts whilst waiting to eventually board a ship bound for Australia after passing medical examinations.  The Castel Bianco was a converted merchant ship full of bunks in the metal hull.

Linneo, the eldest of Santina's children, penned a diary during this time and writes of wondering if they would ever see their homeland again.  Once on board the ship the males and females got separated.  Linneo wrote in his diary how they felt humiliated at how they were being treated.  The journey on the ship was a long and arduous process full of frustration and confusion, regret and nostalgia but also great hope and excitement.

Santina experienced seasickness on the journey, it was not pleasant for her at all.  Eventually, the Castel Bianco reached Station Pier Melbourne on the 13th of March, where another medical examination would take place before boarding a train to Bonegilla, a former army camp near Albury.  The Bigarellis and a couple of other families only spent two weeks here as Aldo & Linneo were given work in a small country town in the Western District known as Dunkeld.

Santina was not well during the time here as the family first lived in the Shearers Quarters at Mt Sturgeon Station (Blue Stone huts with dirt floors and no windows)  and eventually saved up enough money to rent a small weatherboard home in the town of Dunkeld.  Aldo, Linneo, and Mario worked with a building firm building Soldier Settlement homes whilst Maria attended school in Dunkeld.  Santina would experience many hours on her own, not speaking English, struggling to find food to cook for her family that they were accustomed to, and going through the change !!!!  Things like pasta, olive oil, etc., were very hard to come by.  When asked about accessing milk for their coffee, Linneo was given a bucket and shown where the cow was !!!!

The family was well accepted by their new community.  Aldo played music and was also a music teacher.  He would play at many local town dances on a Saturday night in Dunkeld and Santina and the children would accompany him.  They met and made many new friends.  When the local Head Master found work for Aldo in Ballarat at the Railway Workshops, the town held a farewell for them, and an article about their departure made the front of the Hamilton Spectator Newspaper.  They purchased what they could afford at the time, a very old weatherboard home in Black Hill.  Santina cried when she saw the home as it was falling down and consisted of 3 very small rooms.  By this time their eldest son Linneo had been courting a young local girl who worked at the post office.  They would eventually marry.

Aldo, Linneo, and Mario fixed it up and they all eventually moved into the Sherrard Street property.  Aldo started up a music school and would teach students in a room of the house.  Santina would cook up pasta and feed anyone who came to visit.  At the side of the house, they laid down two bocci courts, many Italians and Yugoslav men would come and play and the local police were happy to turn a blind eye to the selling and consumption of alcohol !!!!

After a trip back to Italy in 1968, Aldo suffered a stroke and passed away several weeks later.  This left Santina missing him terribly.  Thankfully Ballarat now had a very strong Italian community, so Santina immersed herself into the Italian Catholic Federation and eventually what was to become the Ballarat Italian Association with her close friends Mrs. Ripani and Mrs. Ottini.  Santina would also be regular with the Ladies' Group that played Tombola once a month at each other's homes.  

Santina eventually succumbed to dementia and moved to the Queen Elizabeth Centre.  She passed away on the 31st March 1993 at the age of 90.

Santina is buried with Aldo at the Ballarat New Cemetery, Roman Catholic F Section 1 Row 1 Grave 46.