Polish Refugees in New Zealand 1944-1951

… We became pupils at Hawera Convent School, with the younger boys integrated among the other children in the school. Those of us who were in Standard six were in a class by ourselves, again with a teacher brought out of retirement, but this time a nun Sister Charles. (p122)

… When school ended and the summer holidays began, we thanked heaven for being released from the old tyrant at school. Quite a lot of farmers in the district had offered to have one or two boys to stay with them for the holidays so all of us had a place to go to, as there were many Catholic farmers there, and so perhaps they felt it would be a good thing to show us kindness. The only catch was that we would have to wait until after Christmas. In the orphanage, arrangements were being made for Christmas and a big tree with all the trimmings was donated, so we were allowed to put the decorations on it ourselves. (p124)

… However, it was summer time, so we began wandering out into the countryside, and to our delight we found two lovely lakes only about a mile from the orphanage. There was quite a group of us on this first trip, laughing and shouting, and when we found these lovely lakes, we got out of our clothes, and jumped, naked, into the water. The owners of the property, on hearing all the commotion, came to see what was going on, and found their lake full of small boys in their birthday suits. We told them who we were, and where we’d come from, and they made us very welcome as they had heard about us, and were a Catholic family from the local parish. Their surname was Nolan, and the lakes were named after them. (p125) … That first summer we really explored the neighbourhood within a five-mile radius, and to our surprise and delight, we found two wonderful rubbish dumps. In no time we began dragging bits and pieces, mostly bike parts that we found, back to the orphanage, hoping to use them to make up “new” bikes. In the meantime though, we hid them in the boxthorn hedges that surrounded the orphanage grounds, and hoped for a suitable time to ask Mr Tietze if we could keep these parts. (p126)

… In our wanderings around the town, we had walked past the magnificent two-storied building with beautiful gardens at the front, and with writing across the doorway that said, Hawera Technical High School. To me, this was quite awe-inspiring, with education just oozing out of it. Soon the day came for us to put on our flash new High School Uniforms and enter the great building. It was very exciting because there were lots of students, both girls and boys, and the teachers were wearing fancy “capes” of many colours. (p126-127)

… In spite of the academic difficulties I had, I loved my new school environment, especially sports, which included swimming, athletics, cross-country running, and military cadetship, which was marching, saluting and yes sir, no sir, etc. We boys from the orphanage excelled at these outdoor activities as most of them were second nature to us, and in the junior competitions we cleaned up almost all of the events, with three of us in the first three places in the cross-country. I was third, but we were all within five yards of the finishing line. (127-128)

… I discovered at High School a great love of singing, choirs and groups, and as there were very good music teachers at the school we had plenty of musical education and participation. There was an excellent school orchestra too, but of course, none of us boys were able to learn to play an instrument, as it was too costly. It was a shame, and a regret to me that I was denied this opportunity because I loved music, especially classical. (p129)

… Soon the end of term came and there were internal exams to be sat, and for me this was a big disaster. My marks were low in all subjects, as they were for all of us Poles, with the language problems being a great hindrance to our learning at any great depth. However our feelings of failure were soon overcome when we learned that we would be going to stay at some of the local farms during the forth coming holidays (p131).

… At Hawera High School the pupils were divided, for competition purposes into three “houses,” named by colours: red, blue and gold, and I was in the blue house. The blue house had two rugby teams, junior and senior, and when the football season began I was chosen to play in the junior side. Games were played between the houses once a week. I soon stood out as one of the better players in the team, and so the coaches chose me to play in the school second fifteen. This was a rare thing for a third former to achieve such a status, but I wasn’t alone. There were four others, all Polish boys, chosen as well. At last the teachers realised that although our academic performances were poor, our sporting abilities were excellent, and we were thrilled that we were recognised as having skills that were appreciated. The five of us, although the youngest in the side, were soon seen to be the backbone of the team, as we scored ninety percent of the points gained. For the first time we played football wearing boots and this made a big difference to our speed and stability on the field, especially in wet conditions. The school sides played interschool competition rugby, so we travelled all around Taranaki and Wanganui to play. We won every game that we played, with the school amassing a great pile of trophies to prove it. (p133-134)

… With the end of the school year came the final exams, with most of us struggling to earn our mediocre results, and even though we were disappointed with them, I found that my teachers were, in fact pleased with the progress we’d made, and our attitude to learning. (p147)

… In 1951 I began my second year at Hawera High School  and while the new classes for that year were being organised, I asked my teacher if there was any possibility that I could be transferred to the engineering course at the school

…  I was pleased and surprised to find that this was no problem, and I was immediately transferred. As a result, all but three of the boys from the orphanage also did the same, and so I had all my mates with me in my new class. I fitted in well to this change of education, and I really enjoyed the new, practical subjects I was learning; among them woodworking, radio electronics, welding, and metalwork. It was very interesting, and all of us boys did well, gaining high marks in our practical exams, but we still struggled with the written word. (p155)

… Soon winter was upon us, the football season began, and to my absolute surprise and delight, I was chosen to play for the school first fifteen! Three other Polish boys were also chosen for the side so there were four of us altogether. It had never happened before that second year students had been selected for the top school side.

…   I enjoyed rugby, especially the trips away from school, visiting other schools. We would be away for three or four days, and billeted our with the opposing teams, and so of course, they entertained us and took us sightseeing around their districts, and we were well fed too. The only sad part was that we weren’t able to billet any visiting teams at the orphanage, and couldn’t reciprocate the hospitality we’d enjoyed. It gave us a horrible feeling not to be able to do this for them. (p157)

… I was told in no uncertain terms that I had to leave school at the age of fifteen anyway, as the whole idea of this orphanage in the farming district of Hawera, was for it to be used as a labour pool for the farmers as the boys turned fifteen, and were able to go to work.

… Being indentured as labour for a farmer meant that we would be paid a small amount and full keep.  (p161)

… We had never been told before that this was what had been planned for us, and so it was a terrible shock, and a bitter disappointment. We later learned that the orphan girls who had gone to live in Wellington had been able to stay at school as long as they wanted, and that most of them had even gone to University, and this made what happened to us doubly cruel. Now the boys who had older brothers and sisters, some of whom were married by now, arranged to leave the orphanage to go and live with their families when they turned fifteen, so that they would have freedom of choice for their future. (p161-162)

One Man’s Odyssey; p121, 122, 124, 125, 126, 126-127, 131, 133-134, 147, 155, 157, 161, 161-162