Polish Refugees in New Zealand 1944-1951
Exhibitions
Changing Status
Yalta summit 1945 with Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin. Source: Public Domain
Polish Children’s Reunion Committee 2004: The war was nearing its end. On 4 to 11 February 1945, the victorious Allies held a conference at Yalta. At that conference, Britain and the US agreed to Russia’s annexation of eastern Poland and its control of Eastern Europe. Poland received some territorial compensation from Germany, which came to be known as the recovered territories because they originally belonged to Poland.
The political and territorial changes created a great dilemma for all Poles who were abroad as a result of the war, and the various deportations to Germany and Russia. Most of them, as was to be expected, wanted to return to a free Poland and not a communist Russian-controlled and dominated state. However, Poland became a Russian satellite and Poland’s legitimate Government-in-Exile was no longer recognised by the Allies, who found it politically expedient to collaborate with Stalin and agreed to recognise a Russian-installed and sponsored communist government in post-war Poland. In practice, this meant that those Poles who decided not to return to Poland were regarded as traitors by the new communist government. Some of those who did return were either arrested or treated with suspicion for having been in the capitalist West.
The new government knew about the group of Polish children in New Zealand and made an effort to have them repatriated to Poland. The New Zealand Government offered a solution – it undertook to take care of the children. This enabled them to remain in New Zealand until such time as they reached maturity and were able to decide for themselves whether or not they wished to return to Poland. Most of them had no option but to stay in New Zealand. (p23)
… It was intended that after the war all the children and staff would return to Poland. However, after the Russians had pushed the Germans back across Poland in 1945, the Russians installed a pro-Soviet communist government in Poland and retained, with some adjustments, the territories occupied in 1939. It was at this stage that the New Zealand Government assured the children and staff that they were welcome to remain in New Zealand.
The limited financial assistance from the Polish Government-in-Exile in London soon came to an end and the New Zealand Government took over the entire financing of the camp. The Polish authorities were aware of the huge costs of running the camp, and it was decided to try to lower them by cultivating a vegetable garden and taking over the running of the laundry and kitchens. (p25)
New Zealand’s First Refugees: Pahiatua’s Polish Children (3rd edition); p23, 25
Voices
Voices
After the Allied Conference in Yalta there was a threat that the Polish Government in exile in London would lose recognition at any moment.
It was to cope with such an eventuality that the Consul-General, Dr Wodzicki, after consultation with the Polish Government and Delegate Sledzinski, asked the New Zealand Supreme Court to appoint a Board of Guardians to ensure legal care for those Polish children who were complete orphans. Those appointed to the board were: Countess Wodzicka, Dr E. Czochanska, Mrs D. Riddiford, Father M. Wilniewczyc, 0. Sygierycz, Mr J. Sledzinski, and Mr W. Jacques.
The New Zealand Government also consulted the Metropolitan of the Catholic Church, Archbishop O’Shea, about secondary education for those children who wanted to continue their schooling. At that time Catholic children in New Zealand were obliged to attend only Catholic schools run by various religious orders. Being Roman Catholic the Polish children had to comply with this ruling of the Church. (p60)
… The Polish Government’s new Delegate, Mr S. Zaleski, arrived from South Africa with his wife and daughter on April the 2nd [Editor’s note: ‘1946’].
During his term of office the camp continued on its way towards a slow liquidation but it remained the Polish Centre until 1948. During their holidays the children would flock to it from the various schools as they would to a real home. They knew they were welcome there and that the adults would greet them like their own children.
The Prime Minister and Archbishop O’Shea paid another visit to the camp within a short time.
In his speech, Mr Fraser again confirmed that all the inhabitants of the camp could stay in New Zealand for as long as they wished and he guaranteed work for the adults and education for the children. He also promised that the New Zealand Government would pay the travelling expenses of those who wanted to return to Poland. (p71-72)
The Invited; p60, 71-72
When the Polish children and their staff arrived in New Zealand in 1944, they firmly believed that their stay would be temporary and that they would return to Poland as soon as the war ended. Therefore, their schooling at the Polish Children’s Camp in Pahiatua was in Polish and all the children remained in the camp so they could better assimilate back into Polish culture. The teaching of English was kept to a minimum.
However, in February 1945, it became obvious that the children, especially the orphans, would not be returning to their homeland after the outcome of the Yalta Conference. Eastern Poland, where they had come from, had been annexed by Russia and the rest of Poland enclosed in the Soviet bloc.
As a consequence, the camp’s Polish staff and the New Zealand Government began planning the relocation of the children and their future. There was much controversy. The Government was anxious to integrate the children into New Zealand society as soon as possible. But on the other hand, the Polish staff feared that if the children went among strangers then they would lose their special Polish identity and religion. Eventually an agreement was reached between the New Zealand Government, the Polish staff and the Catholic Church on the best way of relocating the children.
NZ’s First Refugees: Pahiatua’s Polish Children (3rd edition); p334
I was deliriously happy, because after two years of being ill with malaria and the side effects of mountains of tablets of all types, too weak to climb stairs, constant hospitalisation and having to catch up on missed classes, I was at long last healthy. I could now climb hills, swim in the river and play netball. I became a normal teenager. But dark clouds gathered around us again. Our sustaining dream of a return to a free Poland was shattered. The Yalta Agreement signed by our allies ruled everything out. Eastern Poland was annexed to the Soviet Union and our allies handed the rest of Poland to communist rule.
It got worse. At the victory parade in London, only the Polish airmen who defended London and lost 1,300 of their pilots were invited to take part. The Polish army, which had fought and died beside the Allies to free Europe, was not invited, so the airmen refused to march in the victory parade. A few months later, the Polish Government-in-Exile ceased to be recognised by its allies and its funds to pay our way in New Zealand were frozen. To reduce the cost of our upkeep, the Polish staff took on additional duties, and the older children had to work during the week and study on Saturdays to catch up. We also painted Polish motifs on wood for sale in Wellington shops.
We then knew that there was no return to Poland and for me it marked the end of a dream to study medicine. It was mental anguish not knowing what will happen or what to do. Our Polish guardians were in no better state. Their own world had collapsed around them – they were stranded in a foreign land, not understanding the language or culture. Their advice to us was contradictory and they were sorely in need of guidance themselves. Classes for the oldest children were stopped. We feared our departure to New Zealand schools – it was like a second deportation. Many of the older ones were forced out to work.
A few of the lucky younger children were able to complete their higher education.
New Zealand’s First Refugees: Pahiatua’s Polish Children (3rd edition); p42-43
Prime Minister’s Letter
To Szczęsny Zaleski, representative of the Polish Government-in-Exile
Mr S Zaleski
Senior Polish Official Polish Children’s Camp
Pahiatua
17 August 1948
Dear Sir,
I wish to refer to our recent discussions concerning the arrangements which might be made to safeguard further the care and wellbeing of the Polish children in New Zealand. As you are aware, the New Zealand authorities have always regarded the children as their guests and will continue to do so, but it is possible that some of them may now, or at some later time, wish to leave New Zealand and return to Poland. They may, therefore, wish to know the extent to which the Government will assist the repatriation of those who choose to return to Poland.
It has been suggested that those who have attained the age of 18 years and over should be given the opportunity of deciding whether they would like to return or to remain in New Zealand. I would like to inform you and those young Poles that, if they wish to go back to Poland, their repatriation will be facilitated or, if they choose to remain in New Zealand, they will be welcome to do so. It is the Government’s wish that those young people should have complete freedom of choice and that their decision should not be influenced by any consideration other than their future happiness.
It is anticipated that some of those who have attained the age of 18 might not then wish to make an election. In that event, there is no reason why such young people should not have three years in which to determine whether they wish to return to Poland. The Government is prepared to meet the full cost of the repatriation of those between the ages of 18 and 21 who choose to return to Poland.
Adults over 21 wishing to return, however, will have been in employment and should have been able to save from their earnings sufficient to make full financial provision to cover the cost of passage to Poland. If, however, there should be any case in which special assistance towards the cost of passage is desired, the Government will consider, on the merits of each case, their application for repatriation assistance for the purpose of determining whether any assistance is warranted.
I would like to make the contents of this letter known to all the persons having children under their care and these persons should be requested to assist in both the letter and the spirit of the Government’s policy. Those employed in looking after the children should be asked to inform them of the Government’s decision.
P Fraser
Prime Minister
Dominion of New Zealand Prime Minister’s Office Wellington
New Zealand’s First Refugees: Pahiatua’s Polish Children (3rd edition); p28-29
The Prime Minister’s decisions: At a meeting on 1 June 1946
Present were Prime Minister Peter Fraser, members of his department, the camp commandant and Mr Zaleski, the new Polish Delegate. The meeting confirmed that the New Zealand Government accepted full financial and administrative responsibility for the Polish children in New Zealand.
The original intention was that the children were to remain in New Zealand for the duration of the war and a reasonable time thereafter, and then return to Poland. It was on this understanding that the camp at Pahiatua was established as a Polish centre. With the emergence of the present government and the great change of affairs in Poland, the position has altered and it may be that a large proportion of the children will not wish to return to their native country.
The Prime Minister confirmed his previous assurance that those who elect to stay permanently in New Zealand will be welcomed, while those who choose to return to Poland will be given every assistance to do so. Though the camp will be maintained as long as the interests of the children require, it was desirable to consider the date on which it will be abandoned, but will remain open for a further two years.
The Prime Minister said it seemed unlikely that a return to Poland could be contemplated, in view of the internal situation in Poland, at any time in the near future. Therefore, it is very much in the children’s interests if they could henceforth be trained to take their place on equal footing with the New Zealand children. This would safeguard their interests if they elected to remain here permanently.
Mr Zaleski, the Polish delegate at the meeting, was asked for his views on the future of the children. In his opinion:
● The children would be able to return to Poland at a later date
● It was desirable, in the children’s interest, that the camp be kept open until all the children completed their primary education
● The Poles themselves did not desire the adoption of Polish children by New Zealand foster parents
The Prime Minister approved the following general policy for the future:
1. Though the camp would be maintained as long as the interest of the children require, it was desirable to consider the date on which it should be abandoned. It appears that in any event it must remain open for the further two years
2. The Army Department will be responsible for the routine administration of the camp but questions of policy will be referred to the Prime Minister’s Department for decision
3. The camp commandant will be responsible for the Army Department
4. The Polish Delegate will represent all the Polish interests to the camp commandant
5. Polish employees will be regarded as employees of the New Zealand Government
6. Their salaries will be at comparable New Zealand rates
7. Polish children’s pocket money will be the same as for New Zealand children
8. Parents of Polish children will take over the care of their own children
9. The Polish employees will be subject to normal taxation rules
10. A board of guardians may yet be appointed
11. It is to be decided if the Child Welfare Branch, or someone else, is to supervise the children who live away from the camp
12. The question of secondary education is to be examined by the Education Department. If it is impractical for the children who have completed their Polish primary education to be absorbed into Roman Catholic or state secondary schools, consideration will be given for additional secondary school facilities in the camp and to bring the existing school in line with New Zealand secondary school standards
New Zealand’s First Refugees: Pahiatua’s Polish Children; p326-328
Then one morning, we woke to a great commotion in the camp, with the adults cheering and crying and shouting all around us and thanking God that at last the war was over. We didn’t know what to make of it all at first, because we were told that there would be no school until further notice, so we felt a bit lost, not knowing what we were supposed to be doing. Soon afterwards a meeting for everyone in the camp was held in the hall, to say prayers, and to give thanks that the war had ended, and that soon we would all be going back to Poland, but, in the meantime, we would have to be patient until we got further instructions from the Polish Government, in exile in London.
For two or three weeks nothing happened, and then we got some very bad news about the area in Poland where we’d come from. As part of the war settlement, the English and American powers had redrawn the Polish borders, so that the area where all of us had lived before the war was now given to the Russians. As a penalty to the Germans for starting the war part of the Polish border was moved into Eastern Germany. This was all very confusing to us children, we wondered what was happening and questioned how our land could be given away by our so-called allies. After all, as we had been taught, and we had learnt through the letters sent from the war zones, our fathers had fought with the allies for our freedom . The adults became very bitter, feeling totally betrayed, and they told us that they blamed the British, who had now broken the Polish/British alliance, which had been signed after the First World War. Now we could only wait and see what would happen to us.
This was a very uncertain time, with us being bombarded with all sorts of news every day, but no one really knew what was going on, so it was decided to start the school going again, to give us something to keep us occupied.
The Red Cross was becoming more involved at this time, because now that the fighting was over, it would be much easier to make arrangements for soldiers who were demobilized to be united with their children in the camp, as well as finding family members in Poland. In the hope that family members in Poland would come forward, it was decided to publish advertisements in Polish newspapers giving the names of those of us who had no family contact, and listing our known relatives. This caused much speculation and raised our hopes that we might find relations still living in Poland who would claim us. All we could do was wait. (p50-51)
… As more and more men arrived, the camp atmosphere changed quite a bit due to the first hand news that the men brought back from England concerning the political situation in Poland. The exiled Polish Government was attempting to create sympathy all around the world for themselves and hoping to overturn the partition of their country However, they weren’t getting much support, as everybody was sick of war, and to reverse the decision would have begun a war with Russia. The Russians made it plain that if the exiled Polish government returned to Poland, they would be arrested and tried for treason for absconding from Poland at the start of the war. Only the new Communist government, appointed by the Russians themselves, was recognised by them. On the other hand, the English were the only ones to recognise the exiled government. The Poles saw this as a cynical gesture to them for helping the English in the war against the Germans, especially when hundreds of Polish pilots fought and lost their lives, protecting England when it was being bombed during the Battle of Britain. (p52)
… Toward the end of the year we were informed that the new Polish borders had been officially recognised by the Europeans, and we were told that those of us who’d come from the new Russian sector, had no homes to return to, as the Russians wouldn’t accept us. However, these displaced people were offered resettlement on the western side of Poland, in the lands that had been taken from the Germans. The Communist government in Poland made it known that any displaced Poles who wanted to return would be made welcome.
Only few of the adults living in the camp decided to take the risk, and return to Poland with their children to start a new life. Also some of the children, whose fathers had decided to return to Poland from England, returned to their homeland too. Most of the returned soldiers decided to stay in New Zealand, with their children, and to make a home here. The majority of displaced people had no wish to go back and live under communist rule, and so thousands of them, from the many refugee camps around the world migrated to countries which had offered to take them: America, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Argentina, England, and of course New Zealand.
The exiled Polish government had now become powerless, so the New Zealand Labour government, lead by Peter Fraser, took action to implement ways of resettling us. The adults were offered New Zealand residency and were given total assistance by the government, who found accommodation and employment opportunities for them, and very importantly, crash courses in the English language were set in place. The government then decided that all of the orphans who hadn’t been claimed by anyone in Poland would be honorary New Zealanders, and until they were old enough to decide for themselves where they wanted to live, they were welcome to stay here. We were told that after the Christmas school holidays we would be having teachers to give us English language lessons, in addition to the normal school programme which was all in Polish. (p53)
… Because we were now going to stay in New Zealand, it was decided that the running of the camp was to be revised, and that the army input would be drastically reduced, with only the boiler house and the stores being run by them. The rest of the camp would now be organised by the Polish adults with army supervision. The women who weren’t teaching in the school were asked to become cooks, and the men were offered positions to supervise the boys’ dormitories, in place of the women who had been doing that previously. The huge garden was now tended by some of the returned soldiers, and the fowl run also was looked after by two of them. (p54)
One Man’s Odyssey; p50-51, 52, 53, 54
When the war finished, we found that we had no family, no home and no country to go back to. The eastern part of Poland was signed over to Russia by Britain and America. Poland was still occupied by Russia. The Polish government-in exile was no longer recognised by the West.
Poland was the heaviest loser on the winning side. In 1943 Poland was handed over by western allies to Soviet Union rule. I remember the day when this sombre news was announced in the camp. The Yalta conference only confirmed this act of betrayal. For Poland there was no sound of bells for victory, no dancing in the streets. Poland , robbed of half her territory, found herself’ under Russian reign , which continued for 45 years, until December 1990. Luckily for us, the New Zealand Prime Minister, Peter Fraser, invited us all to stay permanently in New Zealand and ignored Stalin’s demand to send us back to Poland.
Polish Kiwis; p82
I returned to Poland on 22 November 1948 with my brothers to be reunited with my mother. On the one hand there was the joy that we were back in our homeland. On the other, disillusionment at the poverty and lack of freedom – at whose restriction we were soon made aware because Poland was now under Soviet communist occupation.
When we arrived in the Polish northern port town of Gdynia on the liner MS Batory, the passengers were forbidden to photograph anything or have contact with family, who were kept far away from the ship. (p75)
After leaving the MS Batory, we were led to the Repatriation Office in a large building. There we stood in an endless queue to be repatriated. It was already dark when our turn came, with little time left until our train’s departure. (p75)
… After two hours in the train we felt really hungry, so at Warsaw we used up all our money to buy sweet buns and orange drinks. While waiting in a queue at the station in Gdynia before the train departed, we were invited to a meal. I will not forget this meal to my dying days. They gave us rusted mess tins into which they poured, or rather ladled, thick macaroni tubes. When I tasted it, I immediately realised the meaning of the warning not to return to Poland given to us by our guardian, a religious monk and our teacher in Xavier College, Christchurch. But it was too late for sorrow and grief. The return road was closed to us and that reality had to be accepted…(p75)
… The train ride from Gdynia to Lubawka was long. We travelled to Warsaw in a packed train. Everything was strange and foreign to me – people’s behaviour, their clothing and especially their speech. The travellers must have represented every ethnic Polish group – mountain folk, Kurps, Jews and people from Poznań, Warsaw and many more.
I was fascinated by the strange way they spoke Polish. Sometimes I could not understand a word they said, especially the speech of the country folk. (p76)
… We had been away too long, I felt like a foreigner in my own land.
Our clothing was a sensation to my fellow travellers. I wore the uniform and cap of Xavier College, which made me stand out among the crowd and we were often asked who we were. When I replied that we were returning home from New Zealand, I got laughter and pity – those people in the train knew to what we were returning. I did not understand at the time that things were not what I imagined them to be, though I felt it.
In Warsaw we changed to a day train and continued our journey to Wrocław. I gazed out the window at the ruined landscape of my beloved homeland. It was a pitiful sight – the towns we passed were yet to rise from their ruin, and the skeletons of houses and churches. (p76)
… Wroclaw, like Warsaw at the time, was a sea of ruins and ashes, though both cities showed signs of renewed activity – rebuilding and licking the wounds of war. (p76)
New Zealand’s First Refugees: Pahiatua’s Polish Children (3rd edition); p75, 76
On 17 April 1948 with other returning children I boarded the Rangitata, which sailed through the Panama Canal to London. In London, we boarded the Polish liner MS Batory and reached Gdynia (north Poland) on 31 May. I then travelled to Kraków with Mrs Sygierycz, a teacher from the Pahiatua camp. There I was met by my father and we travelled to Miechów and then by horse cart to my birthplace in Zarogów.
It was the wet season so the wheels got stuck and slithered on the muddy road, and the cart teetered from side to side. I thought we would sink in the mire. After an hour of this we at long last arrived home where we were met by my stepmother (my father remarried in my absence) and a small half-sister Basia. For many days and weeks afterwards the local people would come visiting, curious about me and how I looked and behaved. I was asked to speak and sing in English. Some were impressed, others simply joked about it. I was a foreigner among my own. I ignored this and after a while was absorbed into my new surroundings, though my behaviour was very distinct from those around me. (p91-92)
… In the aftermath of the German and Russian invasions the country was in ruins. The classes were held in an old and cold building. The village was overcrowded and rather poor – there was no electricity and the houses and roads were in poor condition. In summer the roads were dusty, in spring the mud made them impassable and in winter the rutted surface was frozen solid. Snow storms would cut off the village from the town and the only doctor in the district. There was also no farm machinery – all work had to be done manually with back-breaking toil, assisted only by horse power. Water was drawn from wells. The people led a quiet life, maintaining their age-old traditions.
There was also the mass exodus to the cities (which were rising faster from the ruins than the countryside), mainly of the young people to the coalmines of Silesia where work was more plentiful. So the villages depopulated. (p92)
… In 1951 I turned 14 and wanted to be a sailor, so I applied to the maritime school in Gdynia. But because I had spent time in a foreign country and a capitalist one at that, I was rejected (the totalitarian communist regimes thought staying in a capitalist country tainted that person with capitalism). I then applied to a technical school of building in Kraków, but this time I pointed out in my application that I did not know how I got to New Zealand and omitted my deportation to Siberia (we had to keep quiet about that for fear that we would be accused of anti-state propaganda. (p93)
New Zealand’s First Refugees: Pahiatua’s Polish Children (3rd edition); p91-92, 92, 93
The three years spent at the Polish Children’s Camp in Pahiatua will stay with me until the end of my days. I remember it as though it were yesterday – the excitement of taking part in the camp’s activities, such as Scouting, sport, being part of a Polish dancing group, Irish and Scottish dancing and even learning to play the violin. Another happy memory is drinking from a bottle of creamy milk with a straw during playtime. I still remember the names of the New Zealand people with whom I spent my holidays. My mother, two sisters, brother and I returned to Poland in 1947.
New Zealand’s First Refugees: Pahiatua’s Polish Children (3rd edition); p214
After Siberia, my mother and sister Teresa ended up in Iraq, then Iran and from there migrated to New Zealand in 1944. But my youngest sister, Marysia, was left in Poland when my mother was deported to the Soviet Union. My mother did not desire to return to Poland, however, she did want Marysia, who was living in Poland with her sister, my aunt. Marysia was now 11 years old, but Poland was refusing her passage to New Zealand. At that time some children were transported back from the Pahiatua camp to Poland to be with their parents. The New Zealand Government was extremely helpful, organising transport for the children’s return. Of course, there were representatives from Poland to embrace these children. As a last resort, my mother made an appointment with the then Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Peter Fraser, and explained to him her position. She pleaded for help to get back her child, telling him that both sons served in the British forces, and that one was still in England. Peter Fraser agreed to help. When he next talked to the Polish delegate, he asked politely, “You are in charge of returning children back to their parents, however, what would happen if the mother was in New Zealand, and did not return to Poland, but wanted her child back? Would Poland allow the child to be reunited with her mother?”
“Of course,” was the reply Peter Fraser went on to tell him that there was such a case in New Zealand: a woman by the name of Mrs. Dabrowska wanted her youngest daughter to be with her.
It was agreed that the child would be sent on to the oldest son, me, and my English address was given. The Polish ambassador in the UK gave permission. Sometime later, I was contacted by the Polish Embassy to tell me that my sister would be released from Poland. I made my way to the embassy, taking my friend Tadek Kowalewski with me. He decided to wait for me outside.
Before I went in, I told him, “I am going in here, but I am not going back to Poland – remember that!” 1 When I entered the building, there was a huge guy standing looking at me in my uniform “What do you want?” he shouted. “Nothing,” I replied. ”What do you mean nothing!” I showed him my letter from the embassy. He then told me to wait and I was met by a very pleasant fellow, who took me into his office. He already knew about my sister, so we discussed the procedure of her return. She was to be put on the ship in Gdynia, Poland, which would sail to England where I would pick her up. He wanted payment for the ticket. I didn’t have sufficient in pounds, so asked him to wait while I borrowed the balance for the fare from my friend outside.
In January 1948 I received advice that Marysia had boarded and was on her way so I went down to Southampton to pick her up. As I approached a young officer asked how he could help. I explained why I was there. “Oh, you have come to collect the beautiful blonde girl – come with me!” We boarded the ship, but next were stopped by a person in civilian clothes, rudely inquiring to where we were going. “Get him out of here” he added. The officer was very embarrassed and apologised. I told him I understood and went back outside to wait for Marysia to be brought to me. Apparently, after the ship sailed onto the United States, the majority of the officers and crew absconded there.
Under English law Marysia was only allowed to stay three months, but English Immigration was quite polite and agreed to let her stay longer, if necessary. Because I was in the Polish Army under British command, I received consent for myself and my family, including Marysia, for free passage to New Zealand, but it took quite some time arranging our voyage out. Marysia stayed with Stella and Ewa in the camp until our departure. (p45, p47)
… We sailed into Wellington Harbour early in a morning at the end of November 1949. It was a magnificent sight with lights flickering in the distance. After Customs and Immigration procedures we were released and made our way into the town. The city looked extremely attractive and I was very impressed, the coloured houses on the hills looked beautiful. Waiting for us, were my mother, sister and brother. It was extremely moving meeting my mother again after so many years. My mother got back Marysia her youngest child, after nearly 10 years of not seeing her. (p48)
In February 1945 school activities started again. News of the war’s imminent end had reached the camp and this spurred the teachers on to intensify their efforts to educate their young charges in preparation for the return to their homeland. Younger children mastered their Polish reading and writing skills as well as their basic understanding of arithmetic. Older students were taught Polish literature, history and geography, as well as maths and science.
9th of May 1945 was a happy day for millions of people around the world. However, while the victorious nations were rejoicing, the thousands of Poles who fought alongside the Allies for the freedom of their country felt betrayed. For Poland’s borders were shifted west, with nearly half the country ceded to the Soviet Union in exchange for territories taken from Germany and appended to the western part of the country.
Bitter disappointment at the outcome of the war cast a shadow over the Pahiatua camp and uncertainty disturbed its stable, peaceful life. For three years the teachers had been preparing the children for their return to Poland, keeping them up to date with their Polish education, instilling love for their country. That love and the unshakeable belief that one day they would go back to their homeland had always made them strong and given meaning to their lives, first in Persia, then in New Zealand. Now they’d abruptly lost the goal they’d been working towards, and all their efforts made no sense any more. “What will happen to us?” was the question on the minds of the children and the staff alike.
A few days later, on Sunday after the ten o’clock mass, the New Zealand commander of the Pahiatua camp made an announcement on behalf of the New Zealand Government to the gathered camp inhabitants. He put their fears to rest by declaring that they were invited to remain in New Zealand. The camp would stay open for another two years and the Poles could remain there while a body consisting of representatives of the New Zealand and Polish Governments, heads of the Catholic Church, and camp officials worked out a plan for integrating the camp members into New Zealand society.
The New Zealand Government gave the Pahiatua camp inhabitants the choice to stay in New Zealand or go back to Poland and offered to cover the cost of their return journey. The majority took up the invitation to stay. Only about eighty adults and children returned to their country. These were women whose husbands had contacted them from Poland, or children whose relatives had requested their return. The departure of this group was a sad moment in the life of the camp. It opened up speculations of what had happened to everyone else’s family members.
Alone: p171 – p173
Testimonies
Testimonies
Dioniza Choros describes life in the Camp after the Yalta Summit. In Polish only.
Acknowledgements
The New Zealand Museum Gallery Room “Polish Refugees in New Zealand – Deportees Forcibly Taken to Siberia, Ex-Servicemen and Displaced Persons” was created by a workgroup from Wellington, New Zealand under the umbrella of the Kresy-Siberia Foundation. The group was led by Irena Lowe (Smolnicki), and assisted by Dr.Theresa Sawicka, Wesław Wernicki, Jackie Rzepka, Adam Manterys and Mary-Anne Morgan (Baziuk).
Theresa and Wesław have provided the team with professional assistance in the field of history. Irena, Jackie, Adam and Mary-Anne are all first generation New Zealanders and descendants of family members forcibly deported from Kresy during World War II, who subsequently came to New Zealand either as children bound for Pahiatua Children’s Camp, or as ex-servicemen and women or displaced persons.
We also acknowledge all those Pahiatua children and adults, ex-servicemen and women, displaced persons and New Zealanders who have written about their own or their family’s experiences in books and journals and provided a wonderful history in text, photos and documents over many decades. The team has not set out to rewrite the history but rather to collate the existing stories in a structure so that the interested readers and the following generations can access the stories on-line and view the history as a mosaic. We are humbled by their experiences.
We are grateful to our sponsors who have enabled the publication of this gallery.
Stowarzyszenie Polskich Kombatantów SPK (Polish Ex-Servicemen’s Association)
Polish Charitable and Educational Trust New Zealand
The Morgan Foundation
Dr Zbigniew Popławski – in memory of the Popławski family
Andy and Anthony Bogacki – in memory of the Bogacki and Zielinski family
Eugenia Smolnicka – in memory of Michał and Antonina Piotuch
Jackie Rzepka – in memory of the Rzepka family
Steve Witkowski – in memory of the Witkowski family
Bibliography
Sources
Alexandrowicz, S.Monica 1998. “Z Lubcza na Antypody“. Seria: Ocalić od zapomnienia -1. Zgromadzenie Siótr Urszulanek SJK.
Beaupré-Stankiewicz, Irena, Danuta Waszczuk-Kamieniecka, and Jadwiga Lewicka-Howells. 1989. Isfahan – City of Polish Children. 3rd ed. London: Association of Former Pupils of Polish Schools, Isfahan and Lebanon.
Beaupré-Stankiewicz, Irena, Danuta Waszczuk-Kamieniecka, and Jadwiga Lewicka-Howells. 1987. Isfahan – Miasto Polskich Dzieci. 1st ed. London: Kolo Wychowanków Szkól Polskich, Isfahan i Liban.
Chibowski, Ks. Andrzej. 2012. Kapłańska Odyseja Ząbki. Original language edition. Polska: Apostolicum.
Chibowski, Dr. Andrzej. 2013. A Priest’s Odyssey. 1st English- language edition. Wellington, New Zealand: Future Publishing.
Dabrowski, Stanislaw. 2011. Seeds in the Storm. Waikanae, NZ: Maurienne House.
Ducat, Michelle, Mealing, David, Sawicka Theresa, and Petone Settlers Museum. 1992. Living in Two Worlds: The Polish Community of Wellington Wellington: Petone Settlers Museum/Te Whare Whakaaro o Pito-one
Jagiello, Józef. 2005. One Man’s Odyssey. Edition 2005. Józef Jagiello.
Department of Labour, New Zealand Immigration Service. 1994. Refugee Women: The New Zealand Refugee Quota Programme. Wellington: Department of Labour, New Zealand Immigration Service.
Lowrie Meryl. 1981 The Geneva Connection, Red Cross in New Zealand. Wellington: New Zealand Red Cross Society.
Manterys, Adam, Stefania Zawada, Stanislaw Manterys, and Józef Zawada. 2008. New Zealand’s First Refugees: Pahiatua’s Polish Children (2nd ed.). Wellington: Polish Children’s Reunion Committee.
Manterys, Adam, Stefania Zawada, Stanislaw Manterys, and Józef Zawada. 2012. New Zealand’s First Refugees: Pahiatua’s Polish Children (3rd ed.). Wellington: Polish Children’s Reunion Committee.
Manterys, Adam, Stefania Zawada, Stanislaw Manterys, and Józef Zawada. 2006. Dwie Ojczyzny: Polskie dzieci w Nowaj Zelandii Tułacze wspomnienia. Warszawa: Społeczny Zespól Wydania Książki o Polskich Dzieciach w Nowej Zelandii.
New Zealand Education Deptment. 1945. “Polish Children in New Zealand.” New Zealand School Journal, 1937-vol. 39 No 5, Part III:147-152.
Polish Women’s League. 1991. Wiązanka myśli i wspomnie / Koło Polek = A Bouquet of thoughts and reminiscences. Wellington, N.Z.: The League.
Rodgers, Owen. 2011. Adventure Unlimited – 100 years of Scouting in New Zealand 1908-2005. Wellington: Scout Association of New Zealand.
Ronayne Chris. 2002. Rudi Gopas – a biography. David Ling Publishing Limited.
Skwarko, Krystyna. 1972. Osiedlenie Młodzieży Polskiej w Nowej Zelandii w r. 1944. Londyn, Poets’ and Painters’ Press.
Skwarko, Krystyna. 1974. The Invited. Wellington: Millwood Press.
Spławska, Władysława Seweryn. 1993. Harcerki w Zwiądzku Harcerstwa Polskiego: Poczatki i Osiągnięcia w Kraju oraz 1939-1949 poza Krajem. Głowna Kwatera Harcerek ZHP poza Krajem.
Suchanski, Alina. 2006. Polish Kiwis: Pictures from an Exhibition. Christchurch: Alina Suchanski.
Suchanski, Alina. 2012. Alone : an inspiring story of survival and determination. Te Anau, N.Z.: A. Suchanski.
van der Linden, Maria. 1994. An Unforgettable Journey. Second Revised ed. Palmerston North: Dunmore Press.
Tomaszyk, Krystine. 2004. Essence. Palmerston North: Dunmore Press.
Tomaszyk, Krystyna. 2009a. Droga i Pamięć: Przez Syberie na Antypody. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Trio.
Zdziech, Dariusz. 2007. Pahiatua – “Mała Polska” małych Polaków. “Societas Vistulana” .
Other Books
Beck, Jennifer, and Lindy Fisher. 2007. Stefania’s Dancing Slippers. Auckland: Scholastic New Zealand. [Children’s Book]
Domanski, Witold (Vic). 2011. A New Tomorrow: A story of a Polish-Kiwi family. Masterton, NZ: Tararua Publishing.
Jaworowska, Mirosława. 2011. Golgota i Wybawienie: Dzieci Pahiatua od Syberii do Nowej Zelandii – Cztery Pory Roku jak Cztery Pory Życia Warszawa: Studio Jeden.
Kałuski, Marian. 2006. Polacy w Nowej Zelandii. Toruń, Poland: Oficyna Wydawnicza Kucharski.
Lochore, R. A. 1951. From Europe to New Zealand: An Account of our Continental European Settlers. Wellington: A. H. & A. W. Reed in conjunction with the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs.
Lubelski, Katolicki Uniwersytet. 2007. Z Sybiru na drugą półkulę : wojenne losy Polskich dzieci z Pahiatua. Lublin: Wydawn. KUL.
Pobóg-Jaworowski, J. W. 1990. History of the Polish settlers in New Zealand, 1776-1987. Warsaw: CHZ Ars Polona.
Ogonowska-Coates, Halina. 2008. Krystyna’s Story: A Polish refugees journey. Dunedin: Longacre Press.
Roy-Wojciechowski, John, and Allan Parker. 2004. A Strange Outcome: The Remarkable Survival Story of a Polish Child. Auckland: Penguin Books.
Szymanik, Melinda. 2013. One Winter’s Day in 1939. Auckland: Scholastic. [Children’s Book]
Turol, Sophia. 2010. Sophia’s Challenging Journey: Self-published.
Wiśniewska-Brow, Helena. Give Us This Day. Victoria University Press.
Other Materials
CraftInc. Films. 2015. Polish Children of Pahiatua. 70th Reunion – HD. Wellington: CraftInc Films. Produced by Wanda Lepionka and David Strong. [Film].
Gillis, Willie Mae. 1954. The Poles in Wellington, New Zealand. Edited by Department of Psychology. Vol. No. 5 Publications in Psychology. Wellington: Victoria University College. [Research]
Krystman-Ostrowski, Teresa Marja. 1975. The Socio-Political Characteristics of Polish Immigrants in Two New Zealand Communities, Department of Politics, University of Waikato, Hamilton. [Thesis]
National Film Unit. 1944. Weekly Review 169. Wellington: National Film Unit.
O’Brien, Kathleen. 1966. The Story of Seven-Hundred Polish Children. Wellington: New Zealand National Film Unit. [Film]
Ogonowska-Coates, John Anderson in collaboration with Halina. 1996. Exiles: The Story of a Polish Journey. Wellington: Ace of Hearts Production in Association with Polish Television. [Film]
Sawicka-Brockie, Theresa. 1987. Forsaken Journeys, Department of Anthropology, Auckland University, Auckland. [PhD Thesis]
Stowarzyszenie Polaków w Christchurch. 2004. Poles Apart: Historia 733 Polskich Sierot. Christchurch: Canterbury Telivision (CTV). [Film]
Tomaszyk, Krystyna. 2009b. The Story of the Polish Children in Isfahan – Iran 1942-1944. [DVD]
Indexes Of Names
Dundalk Bay – Ship carrying Displaced Persons to New Zealand
Goya Voyage 2 – Ship carrying Displaced Persons to New Zealand
Goya Voyage 3 – Ship carrying Displaced Persons to New Zealand
Orphanage – Pahiatua – New Zealand
S.S. “RANGITIKI” – Ship carrying ex-servicemen related to Pahiatua orphans to New Zealand
SS Hellenic Prince – Ship carrying Displaced Persons to New Zealand
Contact
Kresy-Siberia (New Zealand)
PO Box 853 Wellington 6140 New Zealand
e-mail: NZ@Kresy-Siberia.org
