They came here in search of a better home, accompanying the Siberian deportees and units of the Polish Armed Forces in the USSR (1941–1942), the later formations of the Polish Army in the East, and the 2nd Polish Corps (known as Anders’ Army).

Polish children in Pahīatua, New Zealand

In late summer 1944, an appeal by Red Cross representatives appeared in the New Zealand press, urging everyone who could to bring gifts and sweets for the children, “who for years had had neither toys nor books”. This was intended to be

“a wonderful help in restoring to them a normal, happy childhood after the terrible hardship and fear they had endured since the start of the war”.

There was no need to repeat the appeal; donations poured in in great numbers . Polish refugees, young and old alike, found a safe haven in the Antipodes and, many years after the war, recalled:

“We were always cold and hungry. There were maggots and lice everywhere, and many people died of starvation and disease. […] We settled into a routine [in Pahīatua – author’s note] where we knew we’d get three meals a day and whatever we wanted. That’s when we really began to recover our strength.”

There were over 700 children , most of whom were orphans from Polish families who had been deported to Siberia. They arrived here after a five-year odyssey, at the invitation of the New Zealand government, accompanied by 105 carers. Among them were their parents, nuns, a clergyman and others. They were all to find a better home here, and – as it later turned out – a second homeland.

The efforts of Maria Wodzicka and Kazimierz Antoni Wodzicki

Who knows how their lives would have turned out had it not been for the involvement of Countess Maria Wodzicka ‘Wodjeeska’ , the wife of Kazimierz Antoni Wodzicki, an eminent zoologist who served as the Polish Consul-General in New Zealand (1941–1945). The couple spent a great deal of time with units of Anders’ Army and Polish exiles.

On the ship sailing to Iran, Wodzicka was most moved by the plight of the children, many of whom were orphans. Although the ‘trail of hope’, to use Norman Davies’s phrase, on the journey from the Siberian labour camps was exceptionally well organised – it was not a suitable place for children . What is more, everyone seemed to believe that the camps for Polish refugees, being set up in places such as Iran, India, the British colonies in East Africa and Palestine, were merely temporary, and that once the war was over, their inhabitants would be able to return to Poland.

The charismatic Wodzicka persuaded the wife of the then Prime Minister of New Zealand, Janet Fraser, to persuade the New Zealand authorities to agree to accept a group of over 700 children along with their carers. To this end, a centre was to be established where Polish would be the language of instruction and where Polish customs and native traditions would be taught.

Our Lady of Częstochowa in Pahīatua

The youngest children were placed in the town of Pahīatua, situated in the southern part of the North Island, on the shores of Lake Wairarapa. Previously, there had been a camp here for citizens of the Axis powers. However, the internees were moved elsewhere, and the buildings were prepared to accommodate the children. “A ‘Little Poland’ was created for us here, with a school, a church, medical care and the Polish Scouting movement,” recounted one participant, now an adult. Spiritual care for the children was provided by Father Michał Wilniewczyc , a Siberian deportee, and the Daughters of Charity – Maria Aleksandrowicz and Anna Tobolska .

The symbolic boundary of the settlement was marked by a white grotto with a statue of the Virgin Mary. It was built from stone quarried from the Mangatainoka River, and from that time onwards the place became an informal yet vibrant religious centre. When, years later, the shrine had fallen into disrepair, in the 1970s the Committee for the Remembrance of Polish Children called for a design for a new monument to be drawn up and accepted the idea proposed by the New Zealand sculptor, Tanya Ashken . Historical remnants were incorporated into the new monument, and to this day the Polish flag can be seen adorning it.

The Our Lady of Częstochowa also arrived in New Zealand as a painting from Italy. The artist behind the work – the painter, a prisoner of the labour camps and a soldier of the 2nd Corps – Staff Sergeant Feliks Krzewiński created it following the liberation of Loreto in the summer of 1944. A copy of the icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa found its way to the settlement of Polish children in Pahīatua, accompanied by soldiers of the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division of the 2nd Corps of the Polish Armed Forces in the West. They took the image to the Antipodes as if it were a precious relic. It thus joined several dozen other copies of the image of the Black Madonna scattered across the globe.

In New Zealand, the icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa served as a patroness to children who had been doubly orphaned – having lost both their parents and their homeland – as well as to their carers. Interestingly, the New Zealanders employed at the camp – often war veterans – also took part in services, whether at the chapel or before the Marian icon, which, in 2010, , on the 70th anniversary of the deportation of Poles deep into the USSR, Polonusi donated to the local parish of St Brigid . This is commemorated by a plaque in front of the church entrance . Since then, every year, 26 August marks a celebration dedicated to Our Lady of Częstochowa.

Poles in New Zealand after the Second World War

The healthy, well-fed and well-cared-for children were to return from Pahīatua to a free Poland as soon as the ominous echoes of the war had died down. However, this did not happen. The camp was closed between 1949 and 1952 ( varying dates are given), when Poland, whilst formally independent, remained within the Soviet sphere of influence. Not all refugees were willing or able to return to the People’s Republic of Poland . Some of the former soldiers of the 2nd Polish Corps (Anders’ Army) decided to join their loved ones in Aotearoa, as New Zealand is known in Māori.

Successive generations of Pahīatua youngsters grew up to become beautiful and intelligent young people. They graduated from local schools and became not only part of the Polish diaspora, but also rightful residents of this friendly land . This was also guaranteed by law, and Prime Minister Fraser repeatedly stated:

“The New Zealand authorities have always considered, and will continue to consider, that Polish children are their guests in this country. […] It is our government’s wish that these young people should have unlimited freedom of choice and that their choice should be based solely on their future happiness.”

Not everyone was in favour of such a policy. There were also voices of disgruntled locals who complained about the government’s excessive generosity. In response, it was argued that the Polish children’s stay in New Zealand was largely funded by the Polish government-in-exile . What is certain, however, is that without the kind support of the locals, their warm commitment and material assistance, nothing would have been possible. And the Poles repaid their new homeland in the most beautiful way they knew how. Here they married, including in mixed marriages, and here subsequent generations were born. Many former exiles went on to become respected engineers, economists or lawyers. Yet they never forgot either their country of birth or Pahīatua’s Little Poland.

The Polish chapel and museum in Pahīatua

After the Pahīatua campus closed , a farm was established, and the only remnant of the Polish children’s presence during the war is a small stone chapel. Today , a Polish community centre operates here , featuring a small museum where visitors can see, amongst other things, a scale model of the camp and ‘streets’ marked on the plan with familiar-sounding names, such as Warszawska.

In St Brigid’s Church there is also a commemorative plaque, erected in 1969 by the camp’s residents – now adults – who in this way expressed their gratitude for the support they had received 25 years earlier.

Amidst the green New Zealand grass, an unusual monument was erected in 1975 to commemorate the site of the camp. The white stone sculpture was designed to cast a shadow, when the sun’s rays fell at just the right angle, in the shape of a mother holding a child in her arms. Unfortunately, the workers erecting the monument were not informed of this and installed the sculpture at a rather haphazard angle . Consequently, the interpretation of the play of light and shadow is now left entirely to the viewer.

Almost 80 years have passed since the events described, and most of the exiles are no longer with us. It is therefore not surprising that memories of those bittersweet years – one of the children from Pahīatua recalled that it was in the camp that they tasted sweets for the first time in their life – are fading from memory. We can only hope, however, that the good we have done will come back to us, and that perhaps now we, in turn, will be able to repay someone in the same way.