October 1979 Pet of the Month, Lillian Gasinska

From Russia With Laughter… our first ever Pet!

Lillian came to us in a way that would have had Ian Fleming reaching for his pen with new inspiration. A red Venus rising from the waters of Sydney harbour and capturing world headlines.

The high adventure surrounding our first pet of the month, Lillian Gasinska was an incident of Soviet v Western world intrigue. On January 14 this year, the young Russian stewardess squeezed through a porthole of the cruise ship, Leonid Sobinov, into the chill, dark waters of Black Wattle Bay and within 48 hours became the girl in the red bikini, a face, a figure and a name on the front pages of the world’s newspapers.
Photographer: Peter Caine

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From the age of 14, Lillian held a desire, soon to become a determination, to flee from Russian. “From childhood” she says “I say to myself: ‘I don’t like this system under which I live.’ I love Russia but not the system. It doesn’t work because they lie to people. They say everybody lives beautifully inside Russia, but that’s not true.”

Leaving school at 17, she contemplated entering university until a friend returned from the Odessa Sailors School and told her of the opportunity for studying for a career on board Russian cruise ships. University meant seven years of study and another three to five years establishing her name and trust with the authorities before the opportunity would present itself receive an embassy posting outside Russia.

I would have been 28 or 30 before I got to another country. Years and years of waiting. Married probably,” Lillian recalls. By entering the school she was gambling on chance. To pass her course. To get visa clearance from the Russian authorities after her background had been thoroughly investigated.

Four months out of school and on her first international cruise, Fate was carrying the 18-year-old girl towards a hazardous appointment which would change her life.

Although she knew she had to free herself, she had little idea of how she was going to achieve it, or whether she would have the moral strength to cut herself off from her family and friends. It was the stamina inherited from one person she holds dears above all others, her dear mother, that pushed her on.

Lillian thought about escape in Fremantle and Melbourne but the opportunity did not present itself. Docking in Sydney, she realised that if she did not go through with an escape attempt then, she might never have the chance again. Late on the Sunday night, she striped down to a red bikini and, leaving behind her possessions, squeezed through a porthole and dropped into the harbour. Dodging the eyes of the crew on watch as they swept a light over the water, she swam for forty minutes, trying to find a way on to land. The dank, shell encrusted wharf blocking her way.

Cold bruised, scratched and with a sprained ankle, the beautiful escapee managed to climb to dry land and wandered aimlessly until she met a man walking his dog. In broken English, Lillian conveyed that she had escaped from the Russian ship and was seeking asylum. She was taken to a nearby house and kept hidden until late on the Monday. Lillian recalls: “When I jumped, nothing frightened me. I remember every detail, but not how I jumped. Afterwards I was very nervous. Only now do I realise what I did was good.”

But at that stage it was by no means a fait accompli. What followed was a battle of wits, between Lillian, the Australian authorities, the Russian embassy and the newspapers. Detained for hours by the department of foreign affairs as they debated as the pros and cons of the situation, Lillian was still in a precarious position, not knowing whether or not she would be granted political asylum.

On Thursday, January 18, after withdrawing her request for asylum, the Immigration Department granted the delighted Lillian the right to stay in Australia as a refugee. That same day she was photographed by a news cameraman. Graeme Fletcher, the man about to figure prominently in her life.

“What I did broke my heart,” says Lillian. “For three months after I jumped ship, I could not sleep. Every night, a nightmare… Getting up each morning with a heavy head. Graeme is important for the heart. He’s been very good for me. A gentle man. Gentle for my heart.”

Now settled into a life of great contrast compared with her Ukrainian upbringing, Lillian has moved into a world of discos, show business and fashion. She has launched herself on a voyage of discovery, widening her knowledge of her new homeland, her grasp of English and her new career.

Before we get the idea that Lillian is any less a lady sensitive to womanly ways because of her daring, do, let it be said she is all woman. And a philosopher, too. “Beauty comes from within,” she says. “But it helps to have a special person to bring it out. Any person can be beautiful with the company of the right partner. Together we must be sure within ourselves.”

During her time in Australia Lillian has had to acclimatise herself to a warmer way of life in more than one. A summer far hotter than she has known in Ukraine. Plus the warmth of the people. And discovery. All the time discovery of a country she now feels at one with, of new career opportunities and the excitement of being known.

“People must remember me,” she says. “I want people to know that Lillian is a good person.” Already, as a result of club tours through NSW and Queensland, she has made contact with hundreds of young Australians enjoying their night habitat. She hopes to become more in demand for club appearances.

Her contributions to curing some of our ills is a confessed ambition to one day be a great comedy actress. Raised on a menu of French film and Barbra Streisand movies (“I’ve seen Funny Girl four times.”) in her native Voroshilovgrad, our inaugural Pet has already taken her first step off the dance floor, furthering her thespian ambitions with appearances in Young Doctors.

Just as her disco activities have allowed her to explore new places and meet new people in her chosen home, Lillian wants to expand her modelling and acting work. And Australian men we ask. “A very old question” Lillian parries. “Man is Man all the world over. America, England , Russia, Australia…They may speak different languages, have different attitudes, but are really the same. What do most men want? A beautiful girl. A girl who is clever, intelligent, fun to be with. But most of all, they want a woman to treat them as a man.” Thank Russia for a little girl…She has grown up in a most delightful way.

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