Gallery – Polish refugees in New Zealand
USS General Randall
Two boys sitting on the ship's torpedo. Stanisław Manterys (left) and Michał Petrus (right) upon the USS General Randall's arrival in Wellington. An American crewman looks on.
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: During WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: Wellington
Antoni Rybiński
A reason to smile - a proud Antoni Rybiński with his school sporting trophies.
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: After WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village:
Boarders – St Dominic’s College
Boarders at St Dominic's College in Dunedin, 1947. Back (l-r): Helen Chwieduk (1st), Anna Manterys (5th), Romualda Sokalska (6th), Dioniza Gradzik (7th), Irena Ćwirko-Godycka (8th), Stefania Manterys (12th) Front (l-r): Zofia Rombel (2nd), Krystyna Czoba (3rd)
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: After WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: Dunedin
Jan Roy-Wojciechowski
Jan Roy-Wojciechowski signs a copy of his biography 'A Strange Outcome - The Remarkable Survival Story of a Polish Child', published in 2004.
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: After WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village:
Julian Mazur
Julian Mazur on the way to Wellington from Hawera for a holiday
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: After WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village:
Maria Zielińska
Maria Zielińska (left) and Bolesława Połeć (right) at the Polish Children's Camp in 1945
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: During WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: Pahiatua
Ursuline Sisters Farewell
Farewelling the Polish Girls' Hostel's Ursuline Sisters at St Anne's Hall in Newtown, Wellington, 9 March 1958. (l-r) Mikołaj Polaczuk, Sister Bernarda Brennan, Stefania Zawada (Sondej), Stefania Sondej (Manterys), Sister Monika Alexandrowicz
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: After WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: Wellington
Woś Family Reunion
Back (l-r): Tadeusz Woś, Bronisław Woś, Jan Woś (Nawalaniec), Adolf Nawalaniec Front (l-r): Danuta Woś, Jadwiga Leszewicz
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: After WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village:
Regina (Zielińska) Villmo
Regina (Zielińska) Villmo with Peter Dobson in Devon Street, New Plymouth, New Zealand. This was the first year that she stayed with the Dobson family while attending Sacred Heart Girls' College.
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: After WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: New Plymouth
Polonaise Dance Group
The polonaise dance group at a concert in Wellington, 1953. l-r: Krystyna Niedźwiecka, Irena Niedźwiecka, Marcin Babczyszyn (also the Polish choirmaster), Teresa Czochańska, Krystyna Skwarko
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: After WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: Wellington
Aerial side view – Pahiatua Camp
A view of the camp with the girls' dormitories in front.
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: During WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: Pahiatua
Aerial view – Pahiatua Camp
An aerial view of the Polish Children's Camp in Pahiatua, New Zealand, 1945. The camp was located on the site of the old Pahiatua Racecourse. A - Main entrance, B - Garage, C - Teaching staff quarters, D - School buildings, E - Girls' dormitories, F - Camp hospital, G - Recreation hall/chapel, H - Kitchen/dining hall, I - Boys' dormitories, J - Soldiers' quarters, K - Henhouse, L - Grotto, M - Rest area/monument, N - Old racetrack, O - Old grandstand, P - Vegetable gardens,
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: During WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: Pahiatua
Arriving in Pahiatua
The children get helped off the army trucks as they finally arrive at the Polish Children's Camp in Pahiatua, 1 November 1944.
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: During WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: Pahiatua
Dining Room – Pahiatua Camp
The youngest new arrivals in the dining room on their first day in the camp. A solider (front) helps Bronisław Węgrzyn.
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: During WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: Pahiatua
Distant Aerial View – Pahiatua Camp
An aerial view of the camp with the Mangatainoka River, which is a tributary to the Manawatu River.
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: During WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: Pahiatua
Dormitories – Pahiatua
The new arrivals enter the dormitories on their first day in the Pahiatua Camp.
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: During WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: Pahiatua
Dormitory Interior – Pahiatua Camp
More than 100 women from various organisations, including Plunket and the Red Cross, made the beds for the arrival of the Polish children to the camp.
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: During WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: Pahiatua
First Meal – Pahiatua Camp
The new arrivals line up for their first meal at the camp. 2nd from left: Rudolf Szymczycha, Ryszard Nowacki, Józef Wnęk
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: During WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: Pahiatua
Henryk Dziura
The end of a very long journey. Bedtime for new arrival Henryk Dziura in the Pahiatua camp's dormitory. All the youngest children were treated with the same care on that first day.
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: During WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: Pahiatua
NZ Soliders – USS General Randall
The New Zealand soldiers returning home from the war on the USS General Randall helped to look after the children on the two-week voyage from Mumbai, India.
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: During WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village:
Pahiatua Camp 2004
The field in 2004 where the Polish Children's Camp in Pahiatua once stood.
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: After WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: Pahiatua
Pahiatua Camp Building 1997
May 1997. Inside the kitchen at Kopua Monastery, Hawke's Bay, which was once one of the buildings at the camp. l-r: Stefania Zawada, Józef Zawada, a Kopua Monastery Monk, Mieczysław Zawada
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: After WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: Hawke's Bay
Pahiatua Gymnasium Building – 1999
June 1999, Stefania (left) and Józef Zawada (right) stand outside the Pahiatua Children's Camp's old gymnasium building, which is now in Naenae College, Lower Hutt. The college was built in the 1950s when the camp's buildings were being sold or relocated.
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: After WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: Lower Hutt
Pahiatua Railway Station
With their worldly possessions on their backs, the children disembark at Pahiatua Railway Station on 1 November 1944. One of the oldest Polish staff members Bolesław Jankiewicz (middle with hat) helps them along.
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: During WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: Pahiatua
Panorama View – Pahiatua Camp
A composite view from the watchtower. Ulica Sikorskiego (Sikorski street) on the left and ulica Bora-Komorowskiego (Bor-Komorowski Street) on the right, 1945.
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: During WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: Pahiatua
Scale Model – Pahiatua Camp
A scale model of the camp in the Pahiatua Museum which was prepared for the 50th anniversary of the Polish children's arrival.
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: After WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village:
Ship – Sontay
Waiting to board the Sontay in Khorramshahr, Iran, October 1944
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: During WWII
Country: Iran
City/Town/Village:
Ship: Zdhanov
The Zdhanov, overloaded with Polish refugees, took them from Krasnovodsk in the Soviet Union in 1942. Many didn't survive the journey and died on board due to exhaustion, deprivation and disease from the years in Soviet forced-labour camps.
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: During WWII
Country: Iran
City/Town/Village:
Stanisława Lewandowska
The youngest children in Pahiatua camp on their way to the dining room with Stanisława Lewandowska, who was dedicated to looking after them on their journey to New Zealand and at the camp. She was affectionately called the "white mother" because she always wore a white coat and was a like a mother to the youngest children.
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: During WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: Pahiatua
Welcoming Party – NZ
Another welcoming party of New Zealand children wave to the Polish children as they pass by on the train to Pahiatua.
Source: New Zealand's First Refugees Pahiatua's Polish Children Polish Children's Reunion Committee 2004 0-476-00739-9
Time Period: During WWII
Country: New Zealand
City/Town/Village: