Polish Refugees in New Zealand 1944-1951

The boys were placed in ones and twos in private homes with New Zealand families. The billeting was aranged by Fr. Patrick Kavanagh on behalf of the Catholic Church which had initial care over the Polish arrivals. He was the parish priest of Newtown’s St. Joseph’s church, and for this reason most of the boys were first billeted with his parishioners. Some of the girls were placed temporarily in the YWCA hostel in Oriental Bay. Girls of school age were sent to St Mary’s College.

Those working paid about 30 shillings per week for board and accommodation. They ate the same as their landlords. For the evening meal they had mutton with mashed potatoes etc. Dessert was custard or bread and butter pudding. Sandwiches for lunch to work had slices of beetroot, perhaps a slice of corned beef or a slice of luncheon sausage. The New Zealand cuisine in those days was very basic. World War II was just coming to a close, so there were still food shortages, because much of it was sent to the soldiers on overseas service. Therefore much of the food could be bought only with ration cards. Those boys who had fulIboard with families ate better than girls who boarded temporarily in the YWCA hostel, which provided skimpy meals. The girls went hungry. Often a piece of bread with a thin spread of butter and jam served as a simple meal for the working girls. After Siberia their diet improved in Iran and in the Pahiatua Camp. Here they were hungry again. Poor wages did not allow for the purchase of extra food. They fared better when they went to board privately with New Zealand families in the city.

Girls working in the tailoring trade earned two pounds (40 shillings) per week and the board and accommodation cost some 30 shillings per week, or three quarters of their wage. After paying for tram tickets to work from the left over 10 shillings, little remained for other necessities, such as clothing. They could not afford the train fare to the Pahiatua Camp for the Christmas holidays, for which they waited so eagerly. Shortage of money for fuel meant that a bath could be had only once a week, usually on a Saturday. One first had to light a fire to heat the water in a copper cauldron, often located in an outhouse. The hot water had to be carried to the bathroom in buckets.

The boys arrived in Wellington in short trousers which were sewn by the girls’ sewing classes in the Pahiatua Camp. The boys’ jackets were army-issue battle dresses, army overcoats and army boots and socks, in which they were an eye-catching sight in the streets of Wellington. A new pair of long trousers cost 15 shillings.

One of the boys remembers how a group of them were brought to Wellington by train well before their permanent arrival there, to familiarise them with their future living conditions and the working environment. A Mr Rankin from the Department of Labour took them around various factories and places of employment. They knew only a few words of English, such as “she”, “he”, “is” which they were first taught in Iran. There was a severe shortage of workers in those post-war years and many employers posted “Job vacancies” signs on the front of their premises. Many paid 5 pounds (two week’s wages) for those who introduced a new employee.

Tramcars were the most common means of transport.

After a time, the boys had saved up to buy bicycles for travelling to work and to meet their Polish pals, often on street comers, such as the intersection of Manners and Cuba streets ..  The boys did not meet in their rooms, because such visits were not welcomed by the landlords, although there were exceptions. Some of them worked at Prestige in Home St, one remembers working in a tailor workshop in Panama St where two of them became apprentices. These boys travelled by train from Pahiatua by themselves. At railway station they were met by the workshop’s accountant who took them by tram to their lodgings in Brooklyn. He then showed them how to catch the tram to work in town. He bought them each a ten trip tram ticket, after which they were to buy their own.

After work he accompanied the boys to a tram stop for Brooklyn and from then on they were left to their own devices. On Saturday afternoons they played rugby. After six months the tailor gave them a rise in wages, but even that was not enough for the basic needs, after paying for the room and full board. There was not enough for the full tram ticket so they walked to work.

For Christmas and other holidays the Polish youth travelled back together to the Pahiatua Camp till its closure, if they could afford the train fare. It was like going back home. The train joumey was a time of joy during which they sang Polish songs with great enthusiasm.

There was a priest in Seatoun, Fr. Burke, who apparently understood Polish, so they went to him to hear their confession. It is not certain if he did understand, because absolution was given in English.

The Mt Cook Polytechnic next to the old museum held evening classes in English for foreigners, among them a few Poles and Romanians. The teachers were of course New Zealanders who spoke no Polish. One of the boys remembers an older Irish lady teacher who taught them to sing ‘When lrish Eyes are Smiling’.

With the help of the Catholic church authorities a Polish Youth Club was formed in the city centre in Lambton Quay, on the first floor next to a Greek restaurant, opposite the Midland Hotel (which is now a park of that name). Some 30-40 Polish boys and girls attended the club. Apparently the free use of the club rooms for the Polish youth was personally arranged by Prime Minister Peter Fraser. He also paid visits to the club. There were three rooms with a kitchen and toilet facilities, with some basic furniture with a settee, chairs and tables.

A Madame Malanger looked after the premises with the help of the older girls, though the boys also helped out. The rooms were free of charge. Dances were held there, to the accompaniment of 78rpm records played on a hand-cranked gramophone. Each record (some 10 of them) played for three minutes. After playing three such records, the needle became blunt and had to be changed. The music played was waltzes and such melodies as Blond Sailor.

Newsletters, which were produced on a Gestetner copier by Ray Scott, a friendly New Zealander. Fr Kavanagh set up a shop in the clubrooms which sold Polish handicrafts produced by the younger Polish girls who remained in the Pahiatua Camp. The expenses incurred to hold the dance evenings were met out of donation from those attending, which amounted to 3 pence, the equivalent of small serving of takeaway fish and chips. One boy remembers the Polish first New Year’s dance in Wellington. The father of his New Zealand friend was a hotel owner in Taranaki St. He generously allowed the Polish youth to hold their dance in one of the hotel rooms. He even donated a crate of beer and lemonade for the occasion. They had a most enjoyable year end celebration. A similar club was established in Auckland.

The first Polish picnic was held in 1947 at St.Patrick’s College in Silverstream. Some 20 young people attended – the ex-soldiers of the Polish Army in Exile had not yet arrived in New Zealand. Each person was provided with a bag of sandwiches and fruit, prepared by a Mrs Harrington.

When the ex-soldiers arrived in 1948, they set up the Association of Poles in NZ (Inc). The first extraordinary meeting of Polish people in Wellington was held in the Dominion Farmers’ Institute in Featherstone St. … .Prior to this there was already in existence a Polish Association in Wellington, which was set up by Jews from Poland prior to World War II. They decided to disband and to merge their organisation with the new one, and passed on their remaining small funds and structure to the association. Some of them joined the new association, and a few became active members of the new committee. The first secretary became Kazimierz Wala, who knew some English. The adults hoped that they could have the use the Youth Club premises. But the new Prime Minister Sidney Holland was of the opinion that the Poles should now manage for themselves. The authorities took the opportunity and closed the Polish Youth Club.

Once the Polish Association established itself and the rest of the children left the Pahiatua Camp, new Polish Youth Clubs were formed in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch under the auspices of the Association.

Wiadomości – October 2012, p9-20 *

*Magazine edited by the Polish Association in New Zealand