Information about the object:
The arrival of the American transport ship USS ,,General George Randall" to New Zealand on 31.10.1944 is one of the brightest moments of the wartime drama of the Poles deported to Siberia after 1939. On board the ship were 733 Polish orphans who had escaped from the 'inhuman land' with General Anders' army and 102 guardians. The New Zealanders welcomed them warmly, created an enclave for them - the "Pahiatua Polish Children's Camp" - and gave them every opportunity for development. The survivors dispersed around the country. Over time, they were joined by Poles from other parts of the world (e.g. Bolesław Augustis, after demobilisation from General Anders' army, came to his future wife Maria Zazulak from England).

Completed works:
The aim of the project was to query and digitise the private iconographic archives of Siberians who settled in New Zealand after the Second World War, with a particular focus on material relating to the inhabitants of the Borderlands of the Second Polish Republic, including Bolesław Augustis, a photographer of pre-war Białystok. These documents, unique to Polish history, are incomplete and scattered. As part of the task, from 1.06 - 16.11.2023 SEK Widok, together with partners: The Polish Heritage Museum in Auckland (which has polonics and contacts among Sybiraks) and the Sybir Memorial Museum from Bialystok, sorted, recorded and disseminated the resources acquired in Auckland and consolidated them in a common database.

The project was carried out by a team of 6 volunteers from Poland and New Zealand. It was also an opportunity to promote the work of Bolesław Augustis in the antipodes, where he was unknown as a photographer, and to integrate the Polish community there. The materials obtained will be made available on albom.pl and donated to the Sibir Memorial Museum.

Funding: Polonica Institute programme "Polish cultural heritage abroad - volunteering".

More about the project: https://polonika.pl

• Stowarzyszenie Edukacji Kulturalnej Widok, realizacja w roku 2023.