In Haberfield, a small cozy area near the center of Sydney, about 15 years ago (Dec.2005), one of the parks was named after Wadim (Bill) Jegorow - a famous public figure, one of the creators of ethnic representation in the city, developed in modern multiculturalism in Australia.
The park had three high flagpoles, which were raised flags of Australia, Aboriginal and Russian tricolor, in honor of the heritage of Wadim Jegorow.
Over time, the flags broke in the wind, the Australian and Aboriginal flag was replaced, and the Russian was not.
The Sydney Baikal Cossacks learned about this and appealed to the district council of the city with a request to restore the flag. Council agreed to raise the Russian flag in a solemn ceremony on Australia Day. On January 26, a group of our compatriots gathered in the Wadim Jegorow Park, a long-term member of the Inner West council Lucille McKenna, who had worked and was friends with Vadim, came to the flag raising.
In a conversation with the editor of "Unification", a member of the council said that the park was named by the decision of the Ashfield council many years ago, even during the lifetime of Wadim, in honor of his services to the residents of the area. “He was a very active member of this community, the inhabitants of Haberfield knew him well. Wadim valued his Australian citizenship, but he was also proud of his Russian roots. Therefore, we have installed three flags here, including the Russian one. He was an active member of the Labor Party in this area of the city and always fought for fair treatment of people. Wadim was one of the fathers of the Australian multicultural policy of the country as a whole during the time of the Whitlam government, and it all started here in Ashfield”,- said Lucille McKenna.
Lucille also talked during the ceremonial part, telling about the heritage of Jegorow for modern Australia. Chairman of the Council of Russian Compatriots Marina Belkina, representatives of the Cossacks Semyon Boykov and Sergey Simonov also addressed the gathering. Speakers noted the need for a harmonious development of the Australian multicultural society and the importance for the Russian community to support the memory of people like Wadim Jegorow. Australian and Russian anthems sounded, and the Russian flag flew into the sky.
Vadim was born to a Russian family in Vilnius. When he was a child during the war, he ended up in a camp for displaced persons in Germany, and in 1951, at the age of 16, arrived in Australia as a refugee. Successfully studied, graduated from Homebush school, then Sydney University. At the age of 25, he was elected to the Ashfield City Council of Sydney, where he worked for nearly three decades, practicing law and senior legal affairs at the Commission on Forestry.
But the main purpose of his life was to work with the ethnic communities of the city. In 1974, his active work, which he carried out so persistently that people working with him called him “the Russian tank”, led to the creation of the first organization for migrants Inner Western Suburbs Migrant Group, which he headed. Later, on this basis, a Council of NSW Ethnic Communities was created. The council focused on issues such as creating translation services, teaching English for migrants and recognizing other languages, including them in secondary school exams, which helped preserve the culture in ethnic communities and provided Australia with a multilingual foundation. On the council’s agenda was the need to create a radio and television service that would reflect modern Australia and introduce programs from around the world. The Council strongly supported the formation of SBS. Soon, Jegorov became chairman of the National Federation of Councils of Ethnic Communities of Australia.
He left the civil service in 1987, although he continued to promote the rapprochement of Russia and Australia. He founded a student exchange program, according to which schoolchildren from Russia came to study at Trinity Grammar School in the Summer Hill area. Wadim died in 2006, his son Adrian lives in Sydney. The state leadership called Vadim a "multicultural giant," and his follower Stepan Kerkyasharian said that "every resident of the state is indebted to Bill Egorov."
Not many Russian flags are flying in public places in Australia, and Vadim Egorov Park is one of them. Those who want to visit the park address here: 103/111 Dobroyd Parade, Haberfield.
Vladimir Kouzmin
