Recently, during the Easter break and the ANZAC remembrance, by chance I was reading the book by Ġużè Ellul Mercer – Taħt in-Nar, Djarju tal-ewwel sena tal-Gwerra (Under Fire – A diary of the War’s first year). This was about the horrible experiences in the Maltese islands during the second world war between 1940 and 1941.
It was a book that deal with a period much before my birth, but still brought back plenty of memories of discussions with my grandparents on the war period. Some stories were almost word by word what had been told to me. For example, one was about the impression that Italian bomber aircraft seemed to be fearful of the military defence systems in Malta, and had the tendency to fly high in the air, drop their bombs with little precision and make an about-turn back to where they came from.
The writer many times made the distinction from the German air force which were much more effective and deadly than the Italian one.
Ellul Mercer went into considerable detail on the damage caused, lives lost, miracle stories bringing tears to the reader about people being extracted underneath multiple collapsed floors that one might never have imagined would have any life left, descriptions of apocalyptic attacks some of which witnessed first hand in the Grand Harbour, shortages in basic life needs, the arrival of ships with provisions to the Maltese archipelago like the proverbial manna from heaven etc.
He also mentioned the many shelters hewn out of rock for the people to take refuge in during air attacks. I remember well these shelters being referred to as xejters. I had also read about them as a boy in the classic by Nicholas Montserrat ‘The Kappillan of Malta’, an English writer whose partner I remember well living in the small Gozitan village of San Lawrenz passing in front of my grandparents’ home, occasionally stopping for a chat with my family.
One piece of information I found interesting was the figure of 80,000 people who had become internal refugees during the war. This happened when Maltese families living close to the main targets of the enemy, like for example the Maltese dry docks and the military facilities of the British, went to live with other families living further away in locations considered relatively safer. The latter families opened up their homes and hearts for these refugees, nevertheless the tension undoubtedly created when living under the same roof was also cited.
When remembering that the population of Malta in the forties was around 300,000, this means that around a fourth of the population consisted of refugees, and this is quite a high proportion. It would be good for us Maltese to reflect on our own experiences as a people when hearing about the millions of Syrian refugees in Jordan and surrounding countries, or in other conflict zones.
One other piece of information of interest to me was that the Maltese diaspora in Egypt had made a collection of money which was dispatched to the home country to enable provisions to be purchased for the Maltese. This means that until the forties at least, the connection of the Egyptian Maltese with their origin country and that of their forebears was still quite strong. I still wish to learn more about the Maltese communities around the Mediterranean, like those in Egypt and Tunisia, which represents generations of economic migrants before the mass emigration after the Second World War in the allied countries – England, Australia, the United States and Canada.
This book is just one example of the resources in the Maltese language that exist here in NSW. In this state of Australia, one can simply go to the closest local library and ask for Maltese books to be lent from a collection held centrally in the State Library of NSW in Sydney. Generally after some 2 or 3 weeks, these arrive in the local library which would then inform you of their arrival, for you to then select and borrow. This service is free of charge, except if you ask for some specific book, for which there would be a small fee. I use this service often, as I find material useful for students of the Maltese language I would have or for my own personal reference, and this was the way I discovered the book by Ellul Mercer.
There are also some private Maltese collections which are not well known, such as that at the Maltese Community Council of NSW in Parramatta.
There are also some book stores from which one can purchase Maltese books.
One of the problems to the Maltese diaspora is maintaining contact with their language. Naturally, the language continues to be spoken (always at a declining rate) in the Maltese family and community. Nevertheless, as we know, the means of communications are in their great majority conducted in the language of their British colonisers. Therefore the situation of being surrounded by your mother tongue, through radio, television, newspapers, books and magazines, is absent. Transmissions in Maltese on SBS and some local radio stations, so searched for by the Maltese community, are limited.
Therefore these resources in the Maltese language are worth their weight in gold. There could be other resources, including in states other than NSW, that I am unaware of. If there is anyone having relevant information, I extend my invitation to write to me on my blog or to the editors of The Voice of the Maltese and so-doing inform the Maltese diaspora.
To my readers, I encourage you to make use of the little resources we have in this land. The relevant authorities will not be ready to invest in this minority language of the country unless they can see some demand.
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Dan l-aħħar, tul il-btajjel tal-Għid u t-tifkira tal-ANZAC, kont qiegħed naqra b’kumbinazzjoni il-ktieb ta’ Ġużè Ellul Mercer – Taħt in-Nar, Djarju tal-ewwel sena tal-Gwerra. Dan kien jittratta l-esperjenzi koroh tal-gżejjer Maltin matul it-tieni gwerra dinjija bejn l-1940 u l-1941.
Kien ktieb li ttratta perjodu li seħħ ħafna qabel ma twelidt, imma xorta qajjimli ħafna memorji ta’ diversi taħdidiet li kelli man-nanniet tiegħi fuq il-perjodi tal-gwerra. Ċerti affarijiet kienu kważi kelma b’kelma dak li kont smajt irrakkuntat lili. Waħda minnhom kienet l-impressjoni li l-ajruplani ta’ bumbardjament Taljani kienu qishom jibżgħu mis-sistemi militari tad-difiża f’Malta, u kellhom it-tendenza li jibqgħu fl-ogħli ħafna fl-ajru, jitfgħu l-bombi li jkollhom bi ftit preċiżjoni u jdawru dembhom lura.
Il-kittieb għal ħafna drabi għamel id-distinzjoni mill-forzi tal-ajru tal-Ġermaniżi li kienu bil-wisq iktar effettivi u qliel minn dawk Taljani.
Ellul Mercer daħal f’dettall konsiderevoli fuq il-ħsara li saret, il-ħajjiet li ntilfu, stejjer li jġibulek id-dmugħ f’għajnejk ta’ mirakli fejn nies inħarġu minn taħt sulari mwaqqgħin li wieħed qatt ma basar li għad hemm xi ħajja, deskrizzjonijiet ta’ attakki apokalittiċi li kien xhud tagħhom huwa stess fil-Port il-Kbir, nuqqasijiet fl-affarijiet bażiċi ta’ kuljum, id-dħul ta’ vapuri bi provvisti li waslu fl-arċipelgu Malti qishom il-manna taqa’ mis-sema eċċ eċċ.
Semma wkoll il-ħafna xelters li kienu tħaffru fil-blat biex jistkenn l-poplu fihom waqt l-attakki mill-ajru. Dawn ix-xelters niftakarhom jissemmew meta kont żgħir bħala ‘xejters’. Kont ukoll qrajt fuq dawn ix-xelters meta kont iżgħar f’dak il-ktieb klassiku ta’ Nicholas Montserrat The Kappillan of Malta, kittieb Ingliż li għadni niftakar lis-sieħba tiegħu toqgħod fir-raħal Għawdxi ta’ San Lawrenz għaddejja minn quddiem dar in-nanniet tiegħi u kultant tieqaf tgħid kelmtejn mal-familjari tiegħi.
Informazzjoni li sibtha interessanti kienet il-figura ta’ 80,000 ruħ li kienu rifuġjati interni waqt il-gwerra. Dan sar meta familji Maltin fil-postijiet li kienu jgħixu l-eqreb tal-miri prinċipali tal-għadu, bħal per eżempju t-tarzna ta’ Malta u l-faċilitajiet militari tal-Ingliżi, marru joqgħodu għand familji li kienu joqogħdu f’postijiet meqjusin relattivament iktar fiż-żgur. Dawn il-familji tal-aħħar fetħu darhom u qalbhom għal dawn ir-rifuġjati, madankollu ssemma wkoll li tensjoni bla dubju tinħoloq meta qed tgħix taħt saqaf wieħed ma’ nies li ma tafx.
Meta wieħed jiftakar li l-popolazzjoni ta’ Malta fl-erbgħinijiet kienet ta’ madwar 300,000, dan ifisser li bejn wieħed u ieħor kwart tal-popolazzjoni kienu rifuġjati, u dan huwa persentaġġ qawwi mhux ħażin. Forsi tajjeb li aħna l-Maltin nirriflettu fuq l-esperjenza tal-poplu tagħna stess meta nisimgħu bil-miljuni ta’ rifuġjati Sirjani fil-Ġordan u l-pajjiżi ta’ madwar, jew f’żoni ta’ kunflitti oħra.
Biċċa informazzjoni oħra li interessatni kienet li d-dijaspora Maltija fl-Eġittu kienu għamlu ġabra ta’ flus u kienu bagħtuha biex jinxtraw provvisti għall-Maltin. Dan ifisser li sal-erbgħinijiet talinqas, ir-rabta tal-Maltin fl-Eġittu ma’ art twelidhom u art twelid missirijiethom kienet għadha pjuttost qawwiji. Jien għadni bix-xewqa li nitgħallem iktar fuq dawn il-komunitajiet tal-Maltin tal-Mediterran, bħal dawk tal-Eġittu u tat-Tuneżija, li kienu jirrappreżentaw ġenerazzjoni ta’ emigranti ekonomiċi qabel l-emigrazzjoni ta’ wara t-Tieni Gwerra Dinjija fil-pajjiżi tal-allejati – l-Ingilterra, l-Awstralja, l-Istati Uniti u l-Kanada.
Dan il-ktieb huwa eżempju wieħed tar-riżorsi tal-kitba Maltija li jinsabu hawn f’NSW. F’dan l-istat fl-Awstralja, wieħed jista’ jmur fl-eqreb librerija lokali tiegħu u jistaqsi għal kotba Maltin li jiġu mislufa minn kollezzjoni li tinżamm fil-librerija statali ta’ NSW ġewwa Sydney. Ġeneralment wara xi ħmistax jew tliet ġimgħat, dawn jitwasslu fil-librerija lokali li imbagħad jinfurmawk li jkunu waslu biex tmur tagħżel minnhom. Dan is-servizz huwa mingħajr ħlas, sakemm ma tistaqsix għal xi ktieb partikulari, li għalih ikun hemm miżata żgħira. Jien is-servizz nużah spiss, għax insib materjal utli għall-istudenti tal-Malti li jkolli jew għar-riferenza personali tiegħi, u minnu skoprejt il-ktieb ta’ Ellul Mercer.
Hemm ukoll xi kollezzjonijiet privati Maltin li mhumiex wisq magħrufa, bħal dik fiċ-ċentru tal-Maltese Community Council of NSW ġewwa Parramatta.
Hemm ukoll xi ħwienet li minnhom jistgħu jinxtraw kotba Maltin.
Waħda mill-problemi għad-dijaspora Maltija hija li jżommu kuntatt mal-lingwa tagħhom. Naturalment, il-lingwa tibqa mitkellma (b’rata dejjem tonqos) fil-familji u fil-komunitajiet Maltin. Madankollu, il-mezzi tal-komunikazzjoni, bħal ma nafu, fil-parti l-kbira tagħhom huma bil-lingwa tal-kolonizzaturi Brittanniċi. Allura dik il-ħaġa li tkun imdawwar bil-lingwa tiegħek, bejn radju, televiżjoni, gazzetti, kotba u rivisti, hija nieqsa. It-trasmissjonijiet bil-Malti fuq l-SBS u r-radjijiet lokali, tant imfittxija mill-komunità Maltija, huma limitati.
Għalhekk dawn ir-riżorsi fil-lingwa Maltija miktuba nqishom mitqlu deheb. Jista’ jkun hemm riżorsi oħra, inklużi fi stati oħra apparti ta’ NSW, li ma nafx bihom. Jekk hemm min għandu informazzjoni relevanti, nistiednu biex jikteb lili fuq il-blogg tiegħi jew lill-edituri ta’ The Voice of the Maltese u jgħarraf lid-dijaspora Maltija bihom.
Lill-qarrejja kollha, inħeġġiġhom li jagħmlu użu mill-ftit riżorsi li għandna f’din l-art. L-awtoritajiet mhux se jkunu lesti li jinvestu f’riżorsi f’din il-lingwa ta’ minoranza għall-pajjiż sakemm ma jarawx domanda.
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