MS ''Goya'' was a Norwegian refugee ship that carried hundreds of Eastern European refugees to New Zealand in 1951. Most notably it carried several men who went on to play a significant role in the development of the
New Zealand Muslim Association
New Zealand Muslim Association (NZMA) established in 1950 is the oldest Islamic institution in New Zealand. The New Zealand Muslim Association (NZMA) was formed in the year 1950, with the objective to serve all Muslims brothers and sisters with ...
including
Mazhar Krasniqi
Mazhar Shukri Krasniqi (1931–2019) was a New Zealand Muslim and Albanian community leader of Kosovar Albanian descent, businessman and human rights activist. He was both the first president of the New Zealand Albanian Civic League and Federati ...
and
Nazmi Mehmeti
Nazmi Mehmeti (1918-1995), also recorded as “Mehmetovitch” on the SS Goya.
Biography
Mehmeti was an Albanian born on 25 March 1918 in Rečane, Macedonia, near Gostivar. Between 1931 and 1935, he attended a school in Bodesti, Romania, wher ...
.
Launch
The vessel as launched by a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
company, the Woermann Line, as the Kamerun in May 1938. In May 1945 the Kamerun was ceded to Norway as part of Germany's war reparations. In 1947 it was allocated to A / S J Ludwig Mowinckels Rederi and renamed the Goya. In 1949 Mowinckels secured an
IRO contract to transport displaced persons and in 1950 the ship made trips between
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
New Zealand
The ship departed
Piraeus
Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...
, Greece, and arrived in
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
on 1 May 1951. Initially all the refugees were interned for three months at the former Prisoner of War camp in the small rural settlement of
Pahiatua
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to learn English, New Zealand law and customs.
There were over 900 refugees on board, mostly ethnic Greeks from Romania but also Estonians, Yugoslavs and other eastern Europeans. Approximately 50 were
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
men including Petrit Alliu, Fadil Katseli, Selahattin Kefali, Ramzi Kosovich, Akif Keskin, Mazhar Krasniqi, Nazmi Mehmeti, Bajram Murati, Omar Alim Pepich, Shaqir Seferi and Samso Yusovich.
Later that same year there were two more drafts of refugees with smaller numbers on board. The majority of the Muslims were
Albanians
The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...
and
Bosnians
Bosnians (Bosnian language: / ; / , / ) are people identified with the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina or with the region of Bosnia. As a common demonym, the term ''Bosnians'' refers to all inhabitants/citizens of the country, regardless ...
but there was also a
Turk, an
Azerbaijani, three
Bulgarians
Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe.
Etymology
Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely understo ...
and two
Tartars
Tartary ( la, Tartaria, french: Tartarie, german: Tartarei, russian: Тартария, Tartariya) or Tatary (russian: Татария, Tatariya) was a blanket term used in Western European literature and cartography for a vast part of Asia bounde ...
.
According to Mazhar Krasniqi, many of the Muslims observed
Ramadan
, type = islam
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, image = Ramadan montage.jpg
, caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...
whilst in Pahiatua when it started in the first week of June. Within a few years they were mostly living in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
and in close contact through the New Zealand Muslim Association. "Indian Muslims helped them in the process of settling into their new homeland".
The effect of this was to dramatically increase the number of Muslims in New Zealand and in Auckland in particular. According to the Government census the number of
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
leapt from a total figure of 67 in 1945 to 205 six years later in 1951.
In 2001 a modest commemorative function attended by
Lianne Dalziel
Lianne Audrey Dalziel (; born 7 June 1960) is a New Zealand politician and former Mayor of Christchurch. Prior to this position, she was a member of the New Zealand Parliament for 23 years, serving as Minister of Immigration, Commerce, Minister ...
was held at the Santorini Greek Restaurant in
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
to mark 50 years. In 2008 John Vakidis published his play ''Tzigane'', a fictionalised account of his parents' journey on the ship. The play was first performed at the Downstage Theatre in Wellington and won five awards at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards in 1996 (including Best New New Zealand play and Production of the Year).
Demolition
In 1964 the ship was sold to a Greece company and in 1969 it was sent to
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
for demolition as scrap metal.
References
Sources
*
*
*
* Drury, Abdullah "Once Were Mahometans: Muslims in the South Island of New Zealand, mid-19th to late 20th century, with special reference to Canterbury" (University of Waikato, MPhil, 2016), Hamilton.
* L/22/5 (Labour Department/Series 22/Reference 5) ''The International Refugee Organization Mass Resettlement to New Zealand Nominal Roll of Persons Departing from Piraeus, Greece on M/V GOYA on 31 March 1951''; and IA/52/15 (Internal Affairs/Series 52/Reference 15) ''Immigrant Name List Goya''.
:(Regrettably figures are imprecise here as someone has drawn lines through several of the names and it is unclear whether this indicates they boarded, disembarked or otherwise.)
*
* Peter Plowman, Australian Migration Ships 1946-1977, (Rosenberg Publishing, Dural, N.S.W., 2006), p.36.
* Matt Stewart, "150 years of news - Pahiatua camp a homage to United Nations' principles", Dominion-Post, 5 October 2015, http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wairarapa/72592677/150-years-of-news--pahiatua-camp-a-homage-to-united-nations-principles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goya, MS
Steamships of Norway
Immigration to New Zealand
1951 in New Zealand