Serbians may be from Serbia, Bosnia-Herzogovina, Montenegro, Croatia or elsewhere in former Yugoslavia. There were three waves of migration, the first migration wave occurred after the 2nd World War between 1949 and 1954. Most came as displaced persons due to the Nazi occupation of former Yugoslavia. Some Serbians fled the communist’s occupation by Marshall Toto. The second wave occurred during the 1960s and the most recent wave in 1990s to escape conflict in the former Yugoslavia.
Serb Community Organisations include: Serbian community of SA, Draza Mihailovic Yugoslav Ex-service Association, Ravna Gora Serbian Chetniks Association, Serbian Benevolent Fund, Saint Sava Serbian Cultural Community Welfare Association and the Serbian Social Club. For older Serbs the church is important in their religious, social and cultural life. In SA Serbians strongly support their culture and regularly hold cultural events to maintain it.
A beautiful Serbian Orthodox Church is on site alongside the Community Centres. The Circle of Serbian Sisters Women Support Group is run from here. This amazing group of women do the catering for the Serbian cultural functions e.g. weddings, christening birthdays. It is a vibrant Church and Centre with weddings and Feast Day celebrations. Serbian Dances and Serbian music activities are organised regularly at the centres. Traditional Serbian food and a licensed bar is available on site.
Settlement
There were three waves of migration between 1949 and 1954. Most came as displaced persons The second wave occurred during the 1960s and the most recent wave in 1990s to escape conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Several staff from Pennwood were part of this wave. This enables them to share common experiences.